But where did they pull this notion from? It doesn't correlate to the character's comics mythology. Which means they willfully chose to do a 180 on the character at a conceptual level. Which makes him not Superman, but Dr. Manhattan.
Yep. Superman stories aren't about "how would the world respond to a god who might be good" they're about "what would a good man do if he was given godlike powers." If the filmmakers wanted to touch on the first theme as an original concept of theirs, that's fine. But you can't do that by replacing the second theme, which is the crux of the character.
1. They got it from their imaginations. But, also one of the basic ideas of Superman:
That he's an alien with godlike powers, who was raised as a human, and decides to help humanity.
They wanted to explore/emphasize an aspect of the character that (due to Superman always being portrayed as a Jesus-like figure of perfection, and being immediately accepted by everyone except Lex) is rarely, if ever, explored:
His own humanity, and how the world sees him. They didn't want to recycle the same old take that's been used in Superman adaptations since the 1940s
2. If you honestly thought they were trying to say he's like Doctor Manhattan (a cold, godlike being with no real attachment to Earth, and who is often willing to leave it behind for his own selfish reasons), you just didn't get it.
And I hate to say that since its become almost like an insult and a cheap defense to people who don't like MOS/BvS, but it's the truth.
Snyder pairs heavy Jesus imagery with scenes of a Superman/Clark Kent that makes very human mistakes is clearly emotionally vulnerable. That, to drive home the idea that this Superman, at his core, is NOT a god. He's not Jesus. And while he is from another world, Clark Kent is (for all intents and purposes) human.
It's a heavy contrast of how the world sees him vs how he truly is.
Quite literally, God vs. Man.
3. Lastly, they haven't abandoned the idea of Superman's story being "what a good man would do if he was given godlike powers" They've shown that this Clark Kent is very good natured, and just wants help people. Even from a young age, he was willing to help people (at risk of exposing his powers) without hesitation. And while he honored his Earth dad by not coming out to the world until absolutely necessary, he was still helping people.
This is still very much that story. But its also "what if people hated him for doing the right thing?" Or rather, "what if everyone judged him by what he is, rather than what he does?".
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......Agreed in all counts.
