Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice has two familiar but also nearly unrecognizable titular heroes. This isn’t about the movie, I started with it only because it’s fresh in my mind.
This Batman kills. He tries not to, but he doesn’t dwell on it when he has to. He’s so afraid that he’s actually become cruel.
This Superman isn’t sure he wants to be Superman. He feels like a fraud, following only what his father wanted. He’s filing a role he didn’t choose.
Some say that’s a disservice to the character. I disagree. I grew up with the Christopher Reeve Superman, reading the comics where he was sometimes tempted but never tainted. He was perfect. Some people found that boring, even writers thought the best way to make Superman more believable, more relatable, was to weaken him, take away his powers.
I’ve always disagreed.
I’ve come to realize how everyone has, at one point or another, truly felt alien and alone. That is something we all share, even the most social among us can identify with the convoluted feelings being different or apart brings.
That’s rarely emphasized. When it is, we get the best Superman stories.
There’s another reboot of the Superman comics. It actually just started today with Superman #51. I won’t spoil it, but it’s an admission of failure. All reboots have just tried to make Superman more hip, as if it’s his hairstyle or uniform that made him ‘uncool’. The movies are even ashamed of him, of the goofy source.
Here’s what I’d do to make “Superman relevant”:
1. Make Clark a millennial
Under-employed, sharing an apartment with other strangers, a bit lost. As a millennial he would have landed in an age where everyone has electronic records. He wasn’t born in America, making him an illegal alien (get it?). Sure, there are records of him having hospital visits, going to school, but a social insurance number?
2. He’s a fireman
Clark, at his core, is a humanitarian. He cannot watch someone get hurt, even a criminal, if he can do something about it. Mysterious rescues, rumours of vigilantes, this is something Clark actually learns to foster. He wears more than one blue shirt or the uniform. He changes it up, sometimes even uses gimmicky stuff to seem like there’s a team. He knows about surveillance, how easy it is to be tracked if a pattern emerged. But he’s just putting out fires.
3. Clark doesn’t know he’s an alien
He knows he’s different. Martha and Jonathan found him out in the field, near the crash site, but the fact that he’s Kryptonian is unknown to them. This gives him the drive to seek the truth, core to his character. He finds the truth and sticks with it, no matter what. It makes him an excellent investigative reporter, but he’s not one. He can’t afford the spotlight. So he scours social networks, patrols, trying to piece together who the big bads are and taking them down.
4. Superman doesn’t take on over threats, because there are no alien invasions (early on)
He’s an urban legend. Or rather, the source of many urban legends. He can expose corruption at City Hall, show evidence of human trafficking by Lexcorp, or illegal dumping by Wayne Enterprises.
5. “In the world but not of the world”
The stories need to be more personal. I am utterly bored by fistfights or clever kryptonite traps. Why did Clark’s neighbour lose her job then get it back the next day? He saw her crying, sadly, afterwards. Maybe she was told there was a way to keep her job if she kept her boss happy. Clark cares enough to do something about it. But he never tells her directly. He’s not Superman yet.
That, I feel, is something younger people can relate with. We don’t need Earth-ending events to cheer for our superhero.
