If you had an infinite amount of monkeys at an infinite amount of keyboards hooked up to an infinite amount of internet, could Donald Trump could President forever? That is one of the “subtle” philosophical queries within the latest iteration of Superman, as Earth’s greatest hero suddenly seems mortal and fallible at the same time, thanks to physical attacks by a formidable foe and political attacks with formidable focus.
First off, Superman gets his ass kicked. I can’t really stress this enough. Yeah, we’ve seen Superman “lose” fights before, but they all seem Kryptonite or circumstance-aided. At the start of this film, somebody actually beats Superman in a fair fight all the way to where he has to be rescued by Superdog (that’s a thing?).
When Superman (David Corenswet) recovers enough to face his demons, he discovers more of them than ever existed before. You see, right before getting pummeled (by whom? And how?), Superman stopped an aggressor nation [read: Russia] from invading a smaller, poorer, less militaristic nation [read: Ukraine]. Oh yeah, this movie isn’t terribly subtle. We can see that justice has been done, but that doesn’t leave the press without questions. And it is clear during interview prep with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), that Superman is not prepared for the press.
This is exactly what evil billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) wants. He has somehow engineered Superman’s physical defeat and Superman’s diminishment in the public eye. The latter is far more important than we initially perceive; we’ve gone through a dozen Superman movies seeing him rise and fall, but prior to now, everything seemed based on physical ability and health. We never really doubted his morality.
Welcome to the modern world, Superman. On Planet Earth in 2025, Donald Trump is a hero to millions of people. Why? Because RW propaganda is a more powerful tool than any other in this universe. If you want people to loathe Superman and have a ton of money, you can make that happen. It is, in fact, surprisingly easy in a world in which President Trump is lauded for his character and deeds.
And Superman has several problems in this film, the least of which is his current PR milieu. Clearly, Lex Luthor has found a way to best him physically, which we didn’t think was possible. By the time Superman submits to private prison for his “crimes,” the whole world is in a mess o’ danger thanks to corrupt billionaires and evil statesmen.
Huh. Where have I heard that before?
This won’t go down as my favorite Superman, but I quite enjoyed re-imagining how the innocent alien might fit into the modern world, especially a xenophobic one. For a character who is – by now- 87 years old, this particular iteration of Superman is probably the most insightful reflection on modern American politics to date. Is that important? Always, especially in 
the Hellscape that is Trump’s America. Is the film good enough to get to a top-10 list? I don’t think so, but I’m willing to hear arguments.
The best part of this film might also be its cheesiest. This Superman made a huge point of showing how the greatest defender of democracy and the American way is, in fact, an immigrant. This fact combined with the message of Right-Wing media influence show you exactly where the politics of this film lie … and they ally not one little bit with Trump or MAGA. If I have any quibble with the presentation of such, it is not so much the heavy-handedness as the complete lack of comeback. We live in a world where the most moral figures in our news are slandered, often, by the least moral … and the public often chooses the wrong side. The mere fact of “President” Trump is Exhibit A. The effect of this is, sadly, an American public that has completely lost its moral compass. Hence when the liars, cheats, trolls, and criminals are exposed as they are during the climax, I expect not for the film to end, but instead a pivot to greater lying, slandering, or -as so often with Trump- a complete puerile and dangerous non-sequitur.
If this film truly wanted to make a relevant accusatory statement, that’s how the film should have ended.
There was once an alien ideal
Who grew to be the “Man of Steel”
And, yet, modern trolls
Made him fall in the polls
Inspiring outrage we can hardly conceal
Rated PG-13, 129 Minutes
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Genre: WTF, Superman?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Pro-immigration folks
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Xenophobes
