All Things Superman: An Open Discussion (Spoilers) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 94

[smallville fan]

Never write him like Peter Parker. Or any Marvel character for that matter. He's supposed to set an example in morality for us, not be a bundle of neurosis or angst.

Smallville went in that direction and it did well for 10 years and people liked it. At the end of the day, he grows into that "example". Man of Steel's Clark is still growing into that figure.

"Flawed" is the wrong word to use, really. It's not entirely incorrect, but it's too strong a word.

How about "Humanized"?

Remember folks, he was raised by ordinary people as an ordinary human being and lived like a human being facing human problems while at the same time struggling with the fact he's more than human.

 

[Fizicks]

I have a question concerning a negative review I saw: this one person (I think of him as a fanboy, in a negative sense) said that MOS got Superman, the character, wrong and that they got his core concept wrong. He also added that he didn't like the idea that he was a flawed hero, pointing out that he is a hero and nothing else should be said about it. Now, what's confusing about these reviews is that, I SAW Superman in that movie, and got him; way more than I did from SR. He was Superman, nothing more nor less. Flawed, relatable, fallible, but in the end, he was still the idealistic hero we know him to be at the end of it.

So my question is, a) what did that guy mean by what he said, and b) what's your overall POV of that criticism?

At the end of the day, he grows into that "example". Man of Steel's Clark is still growing into that figure.

Exactly what Smallville Fan says. I've read criticism like this so many times and it's starting to annoy me. People say that Superman should be that idealistic superhero like the one in the Donner films, instead of the flawed, more humanized Clark seen in Man of Steel. What they do not realize is that Man of Steel was kind of like a "Superman Begins", where we see Clark discovering his powers, learning to cope with it, as well as finding his identity. In Superman: The Movie, Clark was already Superman for quite a while and is thus already the idealistic superhero. Certainly he didn't get to that point immediately! As Smallville Fan said, Man of Steel is the first act of a large story where Clark will eventually grow into that more ideal superhero where people look up to.

I'd suggest books like Kingdom Come where we see Superman as a complex flawed character. As well as that perhaps have a look at Earth One or watch episodes of Smallville where we see him with very human flaws, I mean for god sake he's lived and raised as a human being.

I actually didn't like the take in Earth One. Yes it did give Superman a more human and imperfect side, but it also put in the element of revenge and made him into a reluctant hero, which I think is taking the "flawed" character a bit too far.

 

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