I was initially ambivalent about MoS's portrayal of Jonathan Kent, but over time I have come to both accept and appreciate it as having a really strong integrity of its own in this film, which gives us a
new vision of the Superman character and his story.
This, to me sums up the updated vision of Superman that Snyder is attempting to craft in MoS:
I never felt like a [superhero] movie should exist in the real world before, but I feel like Superman should... All the Superman movies that have been made exist in some weird stylized world where everyone's, like, apple pie and Chevrolet and it's... like the American Dream in a weird way... [T]he thing I find interesting is... being able to release the character from that world, where he's been stuck and shackled, and bring him to our world and see what he does.
I have come to view this film as much a modern science fiction film as the traditional story of Superman. He's an extra-terrestrial who forced to leave his home planet and inhabit an alien world. He's a Stranger in a Strange Land. There are also themes in the film that I think hark to the Greek demigod myths--and the Greek myths are usually not happy ones.
In that sense I see MoS's Superman as a somewhat tragic figure, actually
. This might sound a little whacked, but I think he comes about very much in the way that Hercules does (Jor-El having parallels with Zeus). Hercules is a kind of wandering, almost damaged soul, who gets great burdens placed upon him in addition to having his powers. And like Hercules, Superman is a very human character who can, and does, make mistakes like the rest of us--although obviously the stakes are epic and enormous, unlike our more mundane daily struggles.
However, the film is also ultimately hopeful in its outlook because MoS's Superman is also a character who in the face of tremendous adversity perseveres and overcomes extraordinary obstacles. It's all about resilience--and the power of individual choice.
Anyway, Jonathan Kent is crafted for this film to support such a characterization of Superman. And that's fine with me. I was ready to see the Superman character finally brought into the world that we actually inhabit today. I think Snyder is a genius for doing this, and the effort is extraordinary.
Snyder knew MoS would be a lightning rod of a film! How could it not be. It's a decisive break from a kind of rose-colored 'childhood' in the evolution of the character. Superman is finally growing up in film.
