James Gunn’s Superman is finally available on streaming, giving fans a chance to dive into all the film’s tiny details. That’s taken a step further thanks to the extensive commentary track from Gunn that can be found on the home video release, and Gunn dives into any number of major moments from the film. That includes Superman’s most controversial twist, and not only does Gunn not shy away from the discussion, but also his view on it being retconned or changed down the line.
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Gunn’s commentary plays over the scene in which Jor-El and Lara’s full recording is revealed to the public by Lex Luthor, and it also marks the first time Superman sees the full recording. Gunn explains why he ultimately chose this twist for the story, as well as his view on the choice moving forward (via @JuanEdizs).
“Here we have the big shocker. Now this is probably the most controversial thing I did with Superman’s origin,” Gunn said. “I am a big Superman fan. I don’t want to change important integral things about Superman. His goodness, his goodness of heart, the fact that he won’t kill. The fact that he’s in love with Lois Lane, you know, even the curl on the head, all these things. I want to keep Superman Superman.”
“So the question is what can you add to the mythos that’s a little bit different that doesn’t really essentially, in any way change who the character is, and although you know Clark’s parents usually in the comics are benevolent, that isn’t always the case,” Gunn said. “It hasn’t always been the case. There have been stories in which, even in canon, that that hasn’t been the case, and Jor-El is not always treated as a benevolent character.”
“They’re benevolent to their son. They love their son obviously, but they aren’t necessarily benevolent in the way they think about human beings. They think of human beings as less than in this version. So that was the thing that was the twist,” Gunn said. “I think it works. It is not something that’s going to be retrofitted in the future. It is the fact of Superman’s life. He was sent by his parents to Earth to save him primarily, but also they hoped he would continue the Kyrptonian heritage and sort of take over Earth as its ruler, and that isn’t who Superman thinks of himself as being at all.”
Superman the Human Being
As the film continues to the scene where Superman is talking to the Justice Gang after the news became public, Gunn explains how this change impacts Clark in the short term, but also how it showcases the person Clark has and always will be, regardless of whatever views his parents held, and that’s ultimately his human journey.
“So this moment here with Clark is so important because he’s always seen himself as doing, as having this destiny. My parents sent me to Earth to be a good man and to save people and to help the Earth, and so he’s always thought that what he was doing was for a reason outside of himself. That his ethics were born of something that wasn’t interior but exterior,” Gunn said.
Gunn continued, saying, “And when he’s confronted with the fact that that exterior source is not at all what he thought it was, it creates a personal crisis, and that’s what he’s dealing with in this moment, but as the movie goes on, we discover, and more importantly Clark discovers, that what he’s doing is not because of what his parents told him to do. What he’s doing is because of who he is, as a human being.”
It would appear that this choice is going to remain a key point for Superman moving forward, so don’t expect any major revelation that the video was fake or that someone manipulated it down the line. That also means we could see that play a part in future stories revolving around Krypton and others from the planet, including General Zod, but we’ll just have to wait and see how that all turns out.
Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow is slated to hit theaters on July 9th, 2027.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
