Superman: Defining The Ideal Man of Steel

Ryan Mayer Ryan Mayer
Contributor
August 26th, 2016

I am a Sport Management major and Business minor at St. John's University in Queens, NY. I am a writer for ComiConverse.com, ThePennyFace.com, and TheJetPress.com. I also am the Twitter manager of ComiConverse.com. I have always been in love with comics and football and hope to one day make a career out of it!

Superman has few fans on this planet more devoted than our own Ryan Mayer. Here, in an epic opinion piece, Ryan defines his ideal version of the character, and lays out what he considers to be the Man of Steel's essential traits.

Superman: Defining The Ideal Man of Steel

Superman has and always will be one of the most loved and iconic superheroes to ever grace media and popular culture. He has survived generations upon generations of creators, each of whom have had their own version of America's favourite alien. 

“Their Superman”.

With each passing generation people began to grab onto the different iterations of the Man of Steel and latched onto that version's ideals and behaviour; making that edition of Superman their own. One of the versions that many became attached to was the boy-scout-like Christopher Reeve's character. This Superman was a bright and colourful man, but one who still knew what to do in any situation. He knew good from evil and rarely, if ever, made a mistake. He also dealt with any problem with a smile and charisma, rarely showing pain unless the death of a loved one was involved.

This Superman became the "go to" one for a legion of fans and was even the inspiration for the Superman Returns movie, back in 2006. While DC Comics focused on continually developing this character into a more complex one in comic books, the movies stuck to the more boy-scout-esque image and went on to shape most of modern society's view of the Man of Tomorrow.

Man of Steel Superman The Animated Series

Credit: Superman The Animated Series

When it comes to trying to define who “My Superman” is, you have to look at the endless amount of content that has come out over the years which has slowly developed the Superman I look up to and idolize. One of the first things that really influenced my take on who Superman was when I was a child was Superman: The Animated Series and the Justice League Unlimited series. These two shows painted the perfect picture of Superman, but also began to continue the process that the comics had been building for years, of showing that Superman, despite his ideals, is a flawed person. He's a character that isn't always perfect and doesn’t always know what to do. This is a Superman who was prone to getting angry when people got hurt and when his friends were threatened or harmed by a villain.

I think my favourite episode from the Justice League Unlimited series is when Darkseid - one of Superman's main villains and the main villain that will be showing up in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) - invades earth and begins to go toe-to-toe with Batman and Superman. He throws Batman to the side like a piece of paper, yet Batman continues to fight. In an aside-comment, Darkseid mentions how unrelenting Batman is and proceeds to hurl Batman to the side, knocking him down for a bit. Superman takes this time to in his own words to “cut loose” on Darkseid. He then proceeds to say a monologue that rings true for my idea of the perfect Superman.


[Pins Darkseid against a wall] That man won't quit so long as he can draw breath. None of my teammates will. Me? I've got a different problem. [Punches Darkseid through the wall] I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking care not to break something, to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment, or someone could die. [Punches Darkseid again] But you can take it, can't you, big man? What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose, and show you just how powerful I really am. [Punches Darkseid across the city with a single blow]

Superman may be a character that is overpowered - capable of taking on any problem that writers can think up for him - but he will always be a character that is stuck within himself and conflicted. The character has evolved into a god trying with all his might to be human. He is a god who has grown up in our world and feels he has to isolate himself in certain ways to keep from hurting anyone else.  Doing so makes him feel disconnected from humanity, the same people he grew up with for his entire life.

Superman The Man of Steel Batman v Superman

Credit: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

While many would describe their perfect hero as the "boy scout" - a hero that brings hope to the world - I look at who I believe Superman is and I see a god trying hard to be human.

I see a being who feels distant from the world he loves, but tries with all his might to be as close as he possibly can to it. As the above quote shows Superman isn’t always happy and is not always the perfect hero, but he strives to be better. So when I try to sit down and describe to you who "My Superman" is, I have to say the flawed hero is my choice. A perfect example of who my Superman is, is role payed by Henry Cavill in the DCEU. Now I know many people reading this will roll their eyes and say “You’ve got to be kidding me!” but it's true.

The Superman I think I connect with most is the character in Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I see the character for what he is, and that's a flawed hero who has all the powers of a god who is afraid to use them for fear of being shunned by the world he has grown up in. The DCEU Superman is the perfect subject and example for the type of Superman I idolize.

Through both Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, this character has been evolving, faced massive trials and thought of countless questions as to who he is. The Superman seen in these films is the flawed hero, and one that we could possibly see being turned into the ideal Superman everyone wants, while still having relatable problems and challenges.

The reason I look at the DCEU and see "My Superman" are precisely because of his flaws. He has his doubts, insecurities, worries, and fears and each one of those things builds upon the character for me. Superman is meant to bring about hope and all the right ideals that we should strive to follow, but without going through any trials or hardships how can you take the character seriously?

It’s like a kid who gets straight A’s in everything they do and then hands out advice. In your head they are just the goody-two-shoes who has never seen an ounce of hardship. What they say has no credibility because they don’t have that experience.

For this iteration of Superman, one of the first major trials I think the character goes through is the decision as to whether or not he should use his powers and reveal himself to the world. In Man of Steel, the perfect situation occurs where Clark’s school bus crashes into a pond and, in a very hero like way, he pushes the bus out of the water and saves one of the kids from drowning.

Clark then has a discussion with his dad (Pa Kent) where he asks the question, “What was I supposed to do? Just let ’em die?”.

This question is probably one of the most real questions Clark has asked his father with any version of this character. What adds to it is Pa Kent’s fatherly response of “Maybe".

There’s more at stake here than just our lives, Clark, or the lives of those around us. When the world…when the world finds out what you can do, it’s going to change everything. Our…our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human, everything. You saw how Pete’s mom reacted, right? She was scared, Clark.

This response is probably the best way to answer such a question. Instead of previous versions of our story where these characters live in a perfect world, this Pa Kent looks at what his son can do and is afraid of what the world will do in reply.  The fact that Clark had saved that woman's son but she remained afraid of him shows that Pa Kent's fear of how the world would react could ring true.

Superman Man of Steel

Credit: Man of Steel

This aspect of the flawed character is what draws me to this Superman. He isn't in a perfect world that will just accept him. He must decide when he believes the world will be ready for his reveal. This adds layers to the character that have been missing, in my opinion, when it comes to the past versions.

One other example I want to give as to why the DCEU Superman is "My Superman", is when he is fighting with General Zod. Here, he doesn't have a leg-up on the villain just because he's the hero. In the movie, you can see the obvious inexperience from this Superman. He is quick to act on his emotions and is inexperienced in terms of how to fight an enemy. This is immensely evident when he comes barreling into Zod after he threatens his mother. This one scene shows that while General Zod acts and fights with the experience he has gained from being a warrior on Krypton, Superman is being fueled by his emotions and the need to try and do the right thing.

The anger Superman displays in this one scene shows exactly why I adore this version of the character. He’s not perfect and he allows his flaws to show, but even with all these flaws, he attempts to do the right thing in a world that largely rejects him, as we saw in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Superman #52

Credit: DC Comics

When it comes down to it, when I have to describe who "My Superman" is, it goes like this...

In a nutshell, he's the flawed hero. The one that tries with all his might to do the right thing, but can sometimes fail at doing so. The god that wants to be human and the hero that questions himself.

That's why the flawed DCEU Superman is, in my eyes, the perfect Superman for me. I also feel that with every passing movie that involves him he's slowly developing into that epic hero that most people want to see and it's the journey that I believe will make this Superman one of the best that we will ever see.  

 

Do you agree with Ryan's take on the Man of Steel?

What are your thoughts in regards to the ideal version of the character?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Ryan Mayer is a Contributor to ComiConverse. Follow him on Twitter: @RMayer94

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