Superman Isn't Jesus. 

Sequel ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kTEravRT0zo.html

You know I love this scene in the cartoons, where Clark takes J'onn (aka Martian Manhunter) home for christmas. And he acts so normal, like a normal human, and this isn't a facade he puts up. When asked about this side he just says:"That's why I like coming home for the holidays, I can just be myself." He isn't saying "someone else" he says himself. And later on when the Kents are like "Oh yea we wrapped his presents in lead foil so he couldn't see through", he just is like a child and is "You mean Santa did it" and Martha just goes "Oh sure honey." This scene is so great to me, it shows that Superman doesn't put on the Clark mask, Clark puts on the Superman mask. It humanizes him. And also the Kents haven't taken in Superman, because they had to, because they saw a message from Jor-El when the ship crashed saying: "This boy is the savior of humanity, raise him well", they just took him in, cared for him dearly and that's why he turned out this way. Not because of a predestined path he had to follow.

They need to make Superman‘s personality similar to a normal guy. He likes barbecue. He keeps up with basketball. He visits his parents. He makes corny jokes. They need to inject more personality into the character because what makes him so compelling is when he’s forced to really be the super part of himself you really don’t want to see that guy. Take notes from the DC animated universe.

Personally, what I find interesting about Superman, is that he has all this power and fame, and yet he doesn't use it. Superman can work in a darker world, as long as he is the light in a world of darkness.

The fact that Lex Luthor could not Fathom that Superman is Clark Kent, a down to earth normal guy should be telling. Superman at his core is a regular guy with a massive heart. It's how he and batman can be best friends

Comparing Superman to Jesus means the writers don't understand Clark Kent. Superman is nothing without Clark. He is not an alien. Clark can be literally anything with his powers but chooses to be a hero because of Johnathan and Martha Kent. Humans inspire Clark as much as Superman inspires them.

What makes Superman so beloved and good is that at his core, he isn’t above us mere mortals. He’s “just a guy from a small town trying to do the right thing “

I always thought that Kal-el making a conscious choice to destroy the entire ship of pre-natal Kryptonians was WAY more damning of an action, compared to a single neck snap. He literally commits genocide when he says "They had their chance!" and then blows up the cradle ship. After that, him snapping a single neck seemed fairly trivial to me.

Superman is what people call him. Clark Kent is who he is and is proud to be. He's a awkward farmboy who just happens to have superpowers because of his origins. He just wants to have a simple life like many of us,wants to spend time with his family and have a job to provide for them. He helps people not because of some higher purpose,he does it because every life matters to him. Saving a girl from suicide is as heroic to him as saving the world from a big monster.

Making Superman a Christ figure can work. Making a darker, grittier Superman who can get his hands dirty and is tortured by doubt, and pain can work. Doing both at the same time? Obviously cannot work.

Surprisingly, the CW show Superman and Lois actually does a great job of portraying Clark as human rather than an alien or a godly entity. He has his faults, he gets angry, sad, he spends time with his family, he has his ups and downs, and he strives to be better with each problem he faces.

I've been a. Christian and a Comic fan my whole life. I always thought it was dumb to compare Jesus to Superman and vise versa, however I never thought why. But the fact you had brought the story of Moses up and had explained the parallels is the exact reason I needed to explain why Supes isn't Jesus. Instead he's a man with a godly gift who does good because he wants to and has the ability to, not because it's his destiny, it is his choice to be the hero that had the ability to change the world. I love you bro. This is my first video and I don't need to watch another to sub and like.

Hey. Jewish former comic book history major here. This is a great video. Another quite Jewish piece of Superman mythology is his name: Kal-El, which translates in Biblical Hebrew to “voice of God.” Granted, someone could also use that to hype up the Jesus connection. Another connection I’ve noticed is the way his cape is used and folded, which sometimes reminds me of the Tallit, the traditional prayer shawl

On this matter, I love how Superman’s “bizarro” in tv, homelander, is LITTERALLY portrayed as Jesus, (more or less) and homelander is self aware to the fact that people see him as a god and a higher power. And it immediately goes to his head.

Hiring a director who couldn't comprehend the idea that someone as powerful as Superman isn't capable of being a down-to-earth guy and shouldn't care about what "normal" people think about him was a mistake

A superman movie set in the 40s how the character was originally written would be super interesting

Ironically, reimagining Superman from a pseudo-socialist, looking out for those weaker than him, into an "All American, honorary police man" is more accurate to how Jesus is portrayed in America.

Honestly diaspora/immigrant Superman is my fav interpretation. Jesus allegories tend to be so surface level and very painted on, and end up doing a disservice. I also like the Moses allegory, but even then part of it is that Moses leads his people but dies before he gets them to the promised land. Clark as Diaspora is something I adore. It's the feeling of wanting to learn about and connect to a heritage that's gone, but being so shaped by the new world he grew up in he wouldn't fit in the old one even if he could magically get it back anyway. Trying to both fit in, but also help and be true to your heritage and identity. The fact Superman has two names- Clark Kent and Kal-El- that are both his name but have very different contexts and implications is so interesting and impactful. It's like how many immigrants to the US took anglicized names to fit in.

Ever since I learned that Superman's power is genetic (all kryptonians have them) I never took the "godly" thing seriously, it was just a story about how humble origins can make someone powerful good. And knowing someone powerful out there can go to save you out of goodness is what makes him a symbol of hope for me.

The appeal of Superman is despite having godly power he's just a regular dude at heart who likes to help others. He was taken in, raised with affection and now seeks to use what he's learnt from his parents.

As many others have pointed out before, imo, Superman is at his best when he's human. When the story plays into his emotions and not into his "I'm literally a god" side of him, that's when we get the truly fantastic and heartfelt stories

I got to know Superman during the late 80s when John Byrne took over as writer/artist and rebooted him. During that time I saw him as the immigrant who felt he was more human than alien, who wanted Lois to love Clark not Superman, and where he was a boy-scout but flawed. He even killed (for justifiable reasons) and paid for that action. He was an inspiration, but as a man blessed with ultimate power who carried it out like a servant of the people. He was one of us. More human than messiah. The moment he died and came back, everything changed. His powers became over the top, his mission was more divine, he was a yes-man to authority (even to Lex-flipping-Luthor as President) and his TV and movie adaptions seemed to take that idea and kick it up to 11 all for profit. I know I'm letting my boomer-ness show, but I must say, I miss the immigrant who still thought he was human.

Writing for Superman is always a fascinating thing to analyze, because I genuinely think you can gauge how a person feels about superheroes or even people as a whole by how they view the big blue boyscout. He has a past, he has a family - an adoptive one at that - who raised him to be a nice, humble, loving farm boy. He married a reporter explicitly because he admired her determination and ethics, practically seeing her as a role model herself. And when his son was taken by a monster he could not reason with, he was willing - if only for a moment - to do something he would regret to see his son returned safely. Clark Kent isn’t a god or an abhuman, but the purest form of a human being with the unlimited potential to help or harm others. So when you have writers who choose to emphasize his grandiosity over his humanity, it makes you wonder what truly is going through their minds about the world and others, when the best way to represent the peak of what it means to be human, by making him as inhuman as you can get, by leaning into the supreme and the divine.

I'm just gonna put it plainly that I like it when superman is like... a dude. Don't compare him to god. Or jesus. Or some holy figure. He is a kid born on earth that found out he is something more but instead of using his power for evil or his own benefit he simply wants to do good. He is above all not benevolent, not preachy he is just a kind dude that wants to help. My image of a superman is someone who isn't just concerned with doing miracle acts inspiring hope or punching out of the pure evil villain but rather someone who'd see you almost fall of the stairs and break your arm, catch you, give you a goofy smile and ask if you're fine and fly off. The whole thing about him for me is not that because of his whole godly power he needs to step up and inspire humanity but rather despite being so big and godly he can still relate to just being a human and help out those in need.

Superman isn't Jesus; Superman is The Golem.

Can we just get ONE superman movie made by people who really understand the character? I don't want grimdark dragon ball knockoffs or corny attempts at shoehorning religious allegory. He's supposed to represent human potential when people are properly connected to community, family, and life. There can be realism and skepticism but the tone of the film should neither be messianic or cynical.

Important note, Superman is one of a bunch of superheroes that is heavily influenced in his role by the Jewish Golem. An indomitable force standing for truth that intrinsically stands in support of the oppressed

As someone who didnt like the character as a child, but I recently learned so much about him from people who loves the character, and for them, Superman is the representation of everything that I love about superheroes, a person who tries to do good with what he has, who prefers hope rather then despair

Kal-El is literally Hebrew. It means "voice of god" and looks like "קול-אל" (Notably, it's the Yiddish pronunciation, which matches Siegel and Schuster's Ashkenazi upbringings.) Superman isn't just Hebrew on a thematic level, his Jewishness is written into his very identity.

Superman & Lois is the best characterization of Superman we’ve had in decades. Superman is literally just some guy with a family that was given powers. He does his best. He has his failures but he has his successes. He’s just some guy trying to do the right thing. I hate how underrated the show is.

We really need a superman that can inspire hope and optimism now more then ever.

A Reddit comment I saw today said the perfect Superman adaptation would be like Paddington with superpowers. He doesn't have much of a character arc himself, but makes the lives of those around him better.

I really think that if they took the “foreigner outcast that despite all the hate and cynicism he faces still chooses to believe in good and humanity” angle that the creators of this character took, they would be way more successful with connecting to audiences.

The biggest fantasy aspect of Superman is that he has so much power but is a humble, nice person. People ruin that by either making him Jesus or creating evil versions of him.

I’ve never looked at Superman and thought he was Jesus in any movie. He’s the hero we all want to be, but not the hero that DC knows how to portray.

You don't understand, they don't think superman is a god. He's a symbol of hope, he helps people. He shows that the humanity can be save if everyone helps each other... God and a real hero is different.

"A messy jumble of references" is probably the best description of Snyder's Superman that I've ever seen. I completely agree, btw; they need to stop with the Jesus imagery. One thing I will note, however, is that the "Death of Superman" story wasn't set up as inspired by Donner's Christ allegory - in fact, it subverts it. After Superman dies, worshippers show up at his memorial, and when the 4 Supermen arrive, the Super-cult splits. Once Superman himself comes back, he finds this group and basically chases them off, telling them his not their messiah and that they have to think for themselves. In fact, the Rebirth era of Superman that you read is, in spirit, a continuation of the Triangle Era of comics that the Death and Return of Superman is the apex of.

I'm so tired of people comparing Superman to Jesus, and writers paralleling him to Jesus. I think it strips away from his character.

WB: we don't know how to make Superman relatable or relevant. Superman and Lois show: exists

I had a school assessment comparing Superman to Jesus no joke

Yeah, I think its honestly stupid to make Superman seem like a God or deity like figure because the thing I notice people tend to love about him is the MAN part of Superman, the fact that underneath all his godlike powers and responsibilities, he's still a person like you or me and he himself sees it that way. I also notice that a lot of popular stories featuring Superman (or a pastiche of him) show just why its a bad thing when Superman acts like a god. Red Son, Kingdom Come, Justice Lords, Injustice, even Squadron Supreme, once Superman decides he must take over the planet or have more power and authority than others, that's when things go wrong and interesting enough with these stories, Superman either willingly or unwillingly loses his link to mankind first which is what pushes him to this more darker path he takes in these stories. Essentially, once you take the man out of Superman, he stops being the symbol for Truth and Justice and ends up becoming a tyrant whether he realizes it or not. Some people may think Clark Kent is just a stupid disguise for Superman but in reality, Clark Kent is Superman's real self, Superman is the alter ego, Clark Kent is the person. While his clumsiness and awkwardness are more of an act, that is likely how he'd be if he didn't have super powers and even still, there is some truth to this act. Superman is merely Clark Kent's way of helping people, putting on a brave face and a hopeful smile to inspire people but inside he's just as fearful and nervous as any normal person would be. You can't take the man out of Superman, and we see why in countless stories because when its just Kal-El, he ends up either becoming just another alien tyrant trying to take over the world or he becomes someone who bit off WAAY too much more than he can chew and his machinations to improve things only make it worse. His human half, his true self, is very much important to his character as well as the bonds he shares with his colleagues and friends. Lets remember that while Superman is incredibly powerful, he still helped form the Justice League, because even HE can't do everything and defeat everyone by himself. You want to make Superman be more relevant? Then focus on the MAN part of him and you will. People would love to see his cute and fun relationship with Lois, hell isn't that Clark and Lois show really popular? People would also love to see the dorky farmboy who loves his pa and ma, who'd go out and play fetch with Krypto with a tree and people would definetly love the bromance he'd have with Bruce and the relationship he'd have with both Connor Kent and his own son, Johnathan Kent. Hell, as far as I recall, a lot of people actually loved seeing fat Thor in the MCU, seeing a god go through legit depression with clear physical effects. They gave a LITERAL god a human conflict, Clark isn't a god but an alien who gets super charged by the sun, it should be EVEN easier to give him human conflict people could relate to.

I actually love that this video actually goes into some of the 60's Silver Age stories, which are often ignored for modern era interpretations because readers may think Silver Age is full of too much weird stuff (which there admittedly is a lot of), but there's still a bunch of fantastic stories that greatly inform the character's overarching mythos and depth. Keep in mind that Silver Age Kryptonians have photographic memory, and Kal-El in that continuity was *three years old* when he left Krypton. He may love his foster family and accept his human identity as Clark Kent, but Kal-El has enough memories of Krypton *as it was exploding* to mourn the loss of his parents and his home.

I don't have a problem with the messianic imagery in and of itself, so long as it is within the proper context. It makes sense that the outside world would at least initially see him that way, because they don't understand him. What has to happen from there is that Clark needs to correct the error, whether explicitly or implicitly, and communicate that he's just a normal Midwestern farm boy who wants to help people in need and try to do the right thing, not some perfect, godlike being above the masses like he appears to those who don't know him or even hate him. This is why I think Lex projecting his problems with theodocy and his resentment towards the idea of a benevolent God in BvS makes total sense, not because Superman is literally God, but because Lex wrongly believes that Superman fancies himself a god and often projects onto Superman what he isn't and never claimed to be in the first place. Ironically, this humble humanity and service to others, even in the little acts of kindness, is actually what makes him Christlike, not in the way people typically think with his awesome displays of otherworldly power. True, trying to literally make him Jesus doesn't really work simply because that's not who he is (and if anything, he's more comparable to Moses), but when done right, Superman is actually very Christlike often in the same way the Bible calls regular people to be more like Christ. People make the mistake of thinking he's inspirational because "he's basically Jesus." No, the real reason that Superman is a hero is because he's just a regular dude who does the best he can to aspire to that highest ideal through love, humility, self-sacrifice, and service to his fellow man, and through that example, he shows that we can aspire to that heroic ideal too, because underneath the godlike superpowers, we're exactly the same in all of the ways that matter. Superman is inspirational because if he, a regular guy, can be heroic and do what's right, so can we.

Makes me excited that James Gunn has cast a David Corenswet (a Jewish actor) to play Superman! He does a lot of research for the characters and he’s a big fan of Superman so I have a feeling Superman: Legacy will lean more into the Moses aspect or at least remain true to the original character in some regard

Superman is a friend from Smallville who believes in dreams and the one who stands for truth, justice and the American way.

Stop making Superman Jesus or he'll turn into a House in the Ocean.

He is more of a Moses figure than anything.

Yeah I don't really get why WB has a hard time with Superman. It's simple: He's a really good dude who was raised well by good parents and does good because he's a good dude.. also he happens to be an alien with superpowers. There's obviously a lot more to it but that's basically the core of Clark/Superman. It's not super complex nor should it be hard to adapt.

Superman: Is created by 2 Jewish dudes, has a really close Moses analogue, has a myriad of Jewish symbolism in his character and stories Hollywood: Ah yes this character is definitely an analogue for the Christian depiction of Jesus Jokes aside, great video. The Jesus symbolism has never really worked for me and I’m glad that you made a very detailed breakdown as to why exactly that is. I’ve known about the Moses parallel in regards to his origin before but it was great seeing you do a more detailed look into it. But yeah I agree 100%. I’d love to see more Superman videos from you in the future just bc I really love the character and there’s a lot to unpack about him that isn’t explored often in Hollywood that has lead to the “Superman is boring” criticism. Anyway great vid once again.

As someone who is Jewish, I would like to thank you for making this video. As great as Henry Cavill looked as Superman, Snyder and the writers destroyed the character by making him Jesus. They knew absolutely nothing about the history of the character. Superman is very much an allegory to the Jewish experience in America. To the point, Superman even physically looks like many Ashkenazi Jews with his wavy black hair and light-colored eyes. “Smallville” only had the Jesus imagery in the Pilot episode. The rest of the series focused on the Jewish heritage and Moses and Samson allegory.

One factor you haven’t mentioned: Power creep. The original Superman was of limited ability. As the character became more powerful over time, he approached the status of a god. As such, Christological archetype became a more natural fit.

Even as a Catholic, I never liked Superman as a Jesus figure, because for it to work, it usually misunderstands Jesus or Superman heavily.

But he is I saw him during Vietnam

I've long held the belief that the most interesting and compelling Superman stories focus not on Clark as a Super man but on him as a super Man. For whatever villain that needs punched, Superman can punch it. For whatever structure that needs lifted, Superman can lift it. But he can't be everywhere at once. Clark's super hearing allows him to hear countless people in peril all of the time, and he has to CHOOSE who gets saved and who doesn't. He has this unspoken burden of being God in that his decision to act, or not act, means people somewhere else die. All. Of. The. Time. And yet, he'll also spend an entire day and night watching over a suicidal women atop a building, waiting for her to be ready to talk because he won't "save" her without her permission (an acceptable Jesus connection). This was the one part of Man of Steel I really liked, Superman responding to all of these disasters around the city while the villain gets away. It's his race to save as many as possible, but I also would have liked to see him fail in some parts of that. This is the story that matters- how he copes with not being able to save everyone. In the Kingdom Come story, Flash became so distraught that he endlessly runs around his city to stop crime, never taking a moment to rest, because just that one time he wasn't fast enough to stop someone he cared about from dying. I want to see Superman go through that and come to terms with his inability to be God. No its not an action-driven story but a character-driven one (though there would be opportunity for many action set pieces of him zooming from disaster to disaster). That is the Superman I want to see in a movie.

The irony of writers viewing Superman equal to Jesus is one of many reasons why Lex Luther hates Superman so much

Funny thing, the Japanese character Ultraman probably has more Jesus parallels than Superman does, despite coming from a largely non-Christian nation. The reason being that his creator Eiji Tsuburaya was a (decidedly rare) Japanese Catholic. Though, as the series developed, the Ultras started to seem more like angels than messiahs.

Meanwhile Nixonverse superman become jesus literally

Humanity, hope, and love. The pillars of Superman. They missed on pretty much every one of them.

Ironically, taking a person who fought for the oppressed and went against establishments, and turning him into an easily digestible, pro establishment figure is perhaps the biggest parallel between Superman and Jesus possible. Add removing all Jewish influence from an originally Jewish figure, and the ironic parallel is complete. I also really like the idea of Superman as Moses. Moses was a messy man. He was exiled for striking an Egyptian abuser down and killing him. When thevpeople he helped exit Egypt worshiped a golden Calf, he melted the gold and forced them to drink it. Importantly, he also never actually saw the promise he was given. He died before ever getting to the Promised Land, constantly foiled in his attempts to do good by the very people he was helping. Moses was also a human. He didn’t want to huge responsibility, tried to argue against God’s command to go against the system in such a radical way. He stood in all of this pain, and still tried to stay in the sidelines. Finally, he reluctantly became the leader doing the good that needed to happen. He was human. He was flawed. He was messy. He had weaknesses. He can still be used to inspire ordinary people today, because of all of this.

Superman is the story of a man who has the power to make a change. Everyone has that moment where they wish they could help people or solve a problem but they physically can't. Superman has that desire, but he also has the ability to do so. He can fly down to a spilling oil rig to stop the pollution, he is powerful enough to stop a speeding car that is heading for a child, he is fast enough to save everyone in a natural disaster. Superman is meant to be an everyday man who is frustrated with the world and he has the power to do something. He understands what it means to be human, he grew up on Earth and knows the issues people face. He isn't doing what he does because humanity is beneath him or because he is a god, he does it because he wants to. He wants to do better.

Personally I miss the stories about Clark. Just a humble farm kid from Kansas that woke up one day the hero. I miss those stories where even he is amazed by the things he can do. That is Big Blue at his most relatable in my opinion.

This was a great and thought-provoking analysis on Superman as a Christ allegory. While saying this was done intentionally for profit is quite a blunt way of putting it I've always felt that it was done to help Superman, a character from the 1940s, maintain relevance. Superman is the superhero that almost every superhero afterwards modelled themselves after and thus he holds this transcendent cultural value. The issue is that Superman being the archetypical superhero makes him quite limited as he HAS to represent a good that is almost fundamental to the role of a superhero. Thus, it would make sense that writers would take inspiration from Jesus as he is the biggest embodiment of an infallible pursuit of good from a mythological and theological sense. The ultimate purpose is to shield Superman form critiques of being deemed boring for being too powerful and/or unrealistically unwavering as writers can place a level of importance to him that (on the surface) takes precedence over entertainment value. In fairness, I believe the Christ allegory works best when modelling Superman's themes around hope similarly to the Temptation of Christ (where Jesus staves off Satan's temptations) rather than around Christ's crucifixion.

It's ironic that people compare Superman with Jesus, because Superman was made by jewish authors.

Honestly, if they really want to have a dark go at Superman my recommendation would be : make him the light that shines in the dark, the one that never loses hope and always carries on and inspires people. That's the basis of this whole thing, you can have a broody Batman to compensate and act as a foil in the JL for example, but it should work that way regardless. But if you REALLY want it dark, the follow the previous points highlighted except that after sometime, Superman snaps and lets all of the darkness of the world consume him whereas Batman doesn't change his moral compass, he is still a bit dark but still a positive force and so the two clash. Did I basically describe the basic premise of Injustice? Yes, but even if it has some problems it works for making a very dark Superman representation that has a purpose and isn't purely gratuitous, but for it to work you need to first establish the status quo. I'd honestly really like it if there was an Injustice movie entry (an actual one, not the god awful Injustice movie that butchered the storyline to hell and back. Like wtf The Flash was probably the best part of the Injustice storyline and they killed him at the start for no reason), I'd like it much more than most of the DC movies we've had (seriously, why is it that a game whose premise is "Superman is evil", as outlandish as it sounds, sets up the Clark/Bruce relationship perfectly and makes for an infinitely better confrontation between the two than the movie solely dedicated to it ?! Sorry, we're not talking about BVS , I shouldn't rant about it)

IF THINE EYE BE SINGLE THY WHOLE BODY SHALL BE FULL OF LIGHT EYE FOR AN EYE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD MINE

Thanks for this video, I used to be in the camp of Superman not being interesting but after talking to a friend who had the same thoughts, I realized I was falling into that unfair viewpoint. Yeah I don't like how they portray him as godlike or he has to be cold at times. People defend DCEU Superman a lot but I can't get through it. I don't hate it. My favorite version is DCAU Superman and my favorite live action version is the Arrowverse version. Superman can work but people aren't willing to try. Also stop making him lose to Batman in non comic adaptations.

I like the Justice League version of Superman. It's only very late in the show that we get to see a glimpse of his reality through Lex Luthor's reactions to suddenly 'becoming Superman'. He sees 'everything'. He has a buttload of power. Suddenly he can do pretty much anything. Superman is not a boy scout. He is kind of an idiot and oblivious sometimes. But he knows the destruction he could cause. He's just a person, but he has great power, and with them come responsibility. He may not be as relatable as Batman to normal people, perhaps, but he's very much a source of inspiration.

But he is Jesus. Jesus and Moses in one.

I saw the thumbnail and said “Yes!”

The critique of him not saving the kryptonian codex 6:15 is a weak one. Jesus wasnt put forth to save the gods and lucifer (the parallel of the kryptonian species and Zod), he was put forth to save those he lived among- the humans. Quite a few of these criticism fall flat. There are a myriad of problems to tackle with these parallels but yours are… weak

Great video, but my only gripe is with the Christ-figure not being inherently and explicitly anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian is a bit low resolution. There’s a veritable holy ghost of literature on liberation theology, a sect of theology that focuses on Jesus as an incredibly focused figure for liberation, the proletariat, and raising power to the masses. It really spins a whole new world on the norm that modern organized churches and the machined papacy has about christ being a symbol for the status quo Still, cool video Pillar. Keep it up

Damn Nixon really be fictionalising last lost very hard

Yeah, but the Last Son of Alcatraz and the D-DAY Knight idea is cool, Alcatraz Checkmate realists.

Just imagine a kingdom come movie trilogy with Brandon Routh as superman, John Hamm as batman and Jamie Alexander as wonder

The creator made Superman a savior based on certain religious aspects. Kal El is Hebrew for "Voice of God." The creator was Jewish. When making this critique, we can't dismiss the creator's intentions. Those who have issues with other people's characters should start making their own.

The slap heard across the world aka "keep my wife's name out your frocking mouth"

I’ve never been a fan of Superman as a messiah, but my biggest issue with DCEU Superman was how dark and serious he is . He’s supposed to be able to face serious threats and still be able to crack a smile.

I'm gonna say this as an agnostic: The problem is the modern writers (like Snyder) understand Satan quite well, but do NOT understand Jesus at all.

I'd never heard of "supersessionism" before. Thanks for teaching me a new thing!

I enjoyed this vid, and I learned a lot! My main critique is that you seem to have only discussed the category of allegory, but bypassed typology, which is a similar, but much looser type of literary parallelism. Generally speaking, the potential to see both Jesus and Moses typology in the original stories is there, but there aren’t enough ties to call Superman a Moses allegory. IF Superman is primarily a vigilante, he is not a lawgiver, does not teach God’s law, does not lead a nation of liberated slaves, does not give instructions about the tabernacle cultus, is not an intermediary before Yahweh. The analogy breaks down, as all analogies must. And I think you are very correct in noting, at varying points, that there is some plasticity to be expected when it comes to allegory, inspiration and subtext with a character like Superman. In a similar way, Superman will miss huge parts of the Jesus story because Superman is not a healer (usually; I am aware of the heat vision surgery on Lois in MoS), not a teacher, does not interact with historic sacred texts or the popular interpreters of those texts who form a political pressure group (i.e., who are Superman’s Pharisees?), does not defeat unseen tyrannical cosmic powers or pay a debt with his sacrificial death. And that’s just a start. So both analogies break down eventually, and neither is good for much more than typology, although Superman IMO is flexible enough to be used a broad variety of ways, depending on the skill of the creators. As a Christian who finds supercessionism generally distasteful, I’m less concerned with that being to blame for changes to Superman’s theological underpinnings than the poor treatment of Siegel and Schuster, who iirc were paid something like $300 for the character and had to fight tooth and nail to get any credit and royalties from DC in the long term. I think it’s also compelling that Christian responses to ‘Superman as Jesus’ interpretations seem to have been quite varied. Ultimately, whatever Superman’s tightest typological symmetries, I’d rather have something coherent (which I’m not expecting from Goyer, who appears to be a sci-fi guy, or Snyder, who is above all a visual stylist) than something particularly ‘faithful’ to the story of one religious paragon, tradition or other. I’m skeptical of the ability of those working on popular franchises to represent theology well.

What makes Superman so great in my opinion is he is an alien but is the most human being. He gets angry and has to control himself and he gets sad. What makes him so great is his humanity and his willing to help others in need.

As Christian and a big superhero fan, I came in skeptical. I'll be totally honest, you converted me. Remembering the story of moses and comparing it to everything involved in Superman/Clark's life it fits much better. Being sent away, mixing with people who didn't know who he truly was. Being scorned, finding one of the people who didn't love him and staying marrying them. In the New Testament there are Jews who even think that Jesus is the second coming of Moses. What some evangelicals will say is that Moses is a "type" of Christ. Representing similar ideals and life that Jesus ends up perfecting. The biggest problem is how they often make Superman seem perfect. This goes back to the point about the earlier comics being the most accurate. Moses was kind of a mess. He was good, and did great things but he was definitely prone to anger, fear, and all the other human emotions. Jesus was perfect and by portraying Superman as perfect they try to fit that mold. I think in some ways, the Injustice series show a more Moses-esque style, with a Superman who gets hurt and angry at the actions of others. Great video, I've definitely been convinced.

I disagree with pretty much every one of your complaints about 'Man of Steel', which I've watched about six or seven times since its release, and love today as much as I did the first time I watched it. It's a visual treat and provides a great deal of food for thought. It's frustrating watching your video, because every two minutes or so I want to go "no!" or "you've missed the point" or "why SHOULD you take a single allegory - like the parallel between Kal-El and Jesus - to its literal extreme? Just note the superficial parallels and then watch their stories diverge, because of the very different circumstances they've found themselves in." It grinds my gears when I hear people say Kal-El spent most of his early life doing "nothing" when we see him on multiple occasions, rescuing and protecting people, but doing so while preserving his anonymity. It's irksome when you say he "doomed" the Kryptonian species when what he actually did was to choose to protect a living species - humanity - instead of allowing that species to be wiped out in order to resurrect one that's already (almost) dead. Krypton DID have its chance. Wiping out humanity to resurrect Krypton would definitely not have been a "Christ-like" act (if you insist on returning to that clunky allegory). I mean, the point is that Superman is NOT Jesus, but a lot of humans - weak, vulnerable and scared as they are - would probably see him that way. Isn't that the point the movie ends up making? Look, here's this man who fell from the heavens who can literally move mountains and save us in our hour of need! He MUST be Jesus! But ... then he gets into a fight that wrecks Metropolis. Not so Jesus-like any more, hmm? Isn't that the point? Much of humanity is hungry for a perfect savior, while others are convinced that power ALWAYS corrupts. Superman is not corruptible, but neither is he perfect - and therein lies his "humanity". Man, I could go on and on and I haven't even touched on the reasons why killing Zod was justified, but nobody'll read this anyway so I won't waste my energy. 'Man of Steel' is great, and should not require any defense or justification.

they're trying to show how people would god worship him, but they themselves god worship him, so it feels like the character is treating himself as a god. then they try to humanize the character and it conflicts with the god complex and you end up with a problem that a character needs to grow but frombegining to end both he and the world think he's perfect.

The"Superman and Lois" show is perfect, he's over powered yet in a grounded non miraculous way, time reversal pulling, moons and the craziness of the past is not being done.

amazing video it’s always bothered me how superman became one of the most misunderstood superhero’s despite being the first

I'm glad you made this video. I constantly tell people that Superman isn't Jesus. He's a Samaritan.

This is why I like the New 52 Superman so much. He's a dorky, normal guy with superpowers

Having grown up in a very religious family, this essay hit on some really good points which I think I subconsciously knew but couldn't articulate. I love the comparison of Superman and Moses too, hadn't heard of that until now.

We use to call him a "boycott" because he knew he was flawed like humans. And he always expected others to do their best even if we are all flawed.

They should make superman either more human, not by making him be evil or bad or "flawed" or whatever, but just showing us more Clark kent, his upbringing, parents, friends from work etc. that scene from 2001 justice league where he invites J'onn to his parents home for christmas was such a great scene for him. Or go more into his Kryptonian Heritage, theres some DC media where they say that his ship had all this information about krypton on it in the hopes that Kal-El would have access to it and learn more about his people, i would love to see a cinematic superman thats more Kal-El-ish whilst embracing that hes still human, not unlike Goku remember that "Im a saiyan, raised on earth" line? That was awesome, but you cant just have him say it you gotta make it mean something.

Clark is just a kid from Kansas raised by good parents, who is trying to help people out. Without that foundation there is no Superman.

Let be honest, the whole would see him as a Jesus like figure. Quoting Perry white from Man of Steel "Can you imagine how people on this planet would react if they knew there was someone like this out there?". Hence the problem with all superheroes.

Very interesting and well researched video! Really enjoyed it. I have a tiny tip though: when showing quotes, let the text stay on screen a little longer, until you finish saying it. It would be easier to follow :) Anyway keep up the good work!

Yeah he's a dude who chooses to do the right thing by the people around him. There's a huge wealth of story telling there. Even to the point that you could tell stories about our society via his stories. He's a guy living amongst us who just happens to be super. It never comes before the man. Even if it's written that way.

I greatly admire your video essays and this is no different, but I have a few things to say in regards to the Man Of Steel segment. I cannot help but notice the big jump between “this film has some Jesus parallels” to “EVERYTHING IN THIS FILM IS JESUS”, that just kinda opens the door for some obvious incompatibilities not really because of the film, but due to judging it on something its not aiming to be. There being religious parallels in some points doesn’t mean *the whole* story is aiming to be that, of course killing Zod is a bit iffy if you look at it in the lense of “fake Jesus kills fake Satan”: but WHY do that, though? Of all the blatant and unsubtle stuff in this film, there is no indication that is how the scene was meant to be viewed. Clark was sent to Earth to survive and Jor El described what he COULD become, but Clark did the whole “superhero” thing all by himself: he wasn’t sent nor meant to be a “hope advetiser”, lets say. Clark did NOT “doom the species”: Kryptonians were already gone, and Zod was trying to forcefully bring back a flawed system that destroyed itself at the expense of a functioning one. THAT is what he destroyed, you kinda made it sound like he went back in time and blew up the planet himself. (Wouldn’t THAT be an Elseworlds..). Diana was busy holding Doomsday still and Clark wouldn’t have let someone else risk their lives if he can help it, nor was he bringing the same level of inspiration he did while being alive than when he was dead, because during one of those he wasn’t there anymore but his SYMBOL was. His death ultimately brought back Diana and Bruce to heroism, it made the world see who he truly was, it attracted new evils from beyond. There IS a narrative flow to it. Overral there’s unfortunately popular common pitfall of criticizing Snyder’s Superman on the basis of “what it isn’t/should be” and very rarely what it is, but the rest of your video is spot on and as well thought out as usual! 🙌🏻

You've legitimately given me things to think about, which is getting rarer with anything-including RU-vid videos. I think at the end of the day, Superman as Jesus is going to have far broader appeal than Superman as Moses, even if the latter is closer to the character's conception. You're quite right, I think, that you get more mileage with Superman as Moses than you do as Jesus, but the Jesus allegory can work well if done correctly. I fully agree Snyder didn't do that.

Superman and Louis does Superman good, I can’t wait for season 3 to come out one of my favorite shows. Mix between superhero stuff and really relatable human stuff!!

27:14 I feel like the DCAU's take on Superman is one of the best because it basically boils down to the fact that yes, he may have extra-terrestrial origins and superpowers, but what makes him Superman is simply that he was raised to be a good person by the Kents. He identifies as human because they taught him to be kind, humble and down-to-earth, to work hard and to not compromise his morals. The Justice League episode "Comfort and Joy" does a perfect job of identifying Clark as human, especially from the point of view of J'onn, an alien who didn't grow up on Earth, through his relationship with his parents. I'd recommend any Superman fan to check out the "Martian Manhunter joins Superman's family for Christmas" clip.

Why I'm okay with Superman dipping into Jesus territory is because the character's roots are a little more inspired than this video gives Siegel and Shuster credit for. Besides the circus strongman, which was the most modern reference for the character at the time, Superman was an amalgam of ancient myth. There was Moses, Samson, and Hercules cited as inspirations. But two out of three of those are biblical heroes. So I would say because Superman has biblical roots, it's okay for him to get messianic. He is a savior after all. As long as the character doesn't lean too heavily into any one of its component elements and stays the blend that he is, I see no harm in it.