PREACH. Tired of mopeman. Time to get back Supes to the idealism and optimism he once proudly wore. Superman is a character that should feel approachable to any individual, be it an 89 year old granny or an 8 year old child. A person you could just stop and rant about your horrible day and he'd listen, because despite being a god and having the capacity to kick us around like bacteria, he actually genuinely cares and there's nothing he'd like more than to help any human no matter how little the issue. That's humility you can't buy. We saw that with Reeve and now we're seeing that with Hoechlin.
Idealism and optimism have little correlation with being approachable and humble. Cavill's Superman was idealistic and optimistic, too. It was his world that partly wasn't, and the part that was Lex attempted to manipulate into losing faith in Superman. Despite all the darkness in his world, Cavill's Superman sought to speak to the woman from Nairomi who testified against him. He spoke to ordinary people when he felt they didn't deserve to suffer from a vigilante acting as judge, jury, and executioner. He reassured Lois that he knew he hadn't killed anyone in Africa and that in time, through his faith in the government, the truth would reveal itself. When that didn't happen, he joined the conversation at the Capitol. He did wobble a bit after that, which is a proper response consdering he would question how he missed the bomb and he would question if his presence is doing more harm than good. Still, he doesn't just give up. He engages in introspection that restores his confidence in the form of wisdom from his father and love for his girlfriend. He returns to Metropolis ready to continue the fight and his mission to inspire humanity only to confronted with his mother kidnapped and Batman ready to fight and unwilling to listen.
Yet, he apologizes to Batman and tries to reason with him instead of fight him. When that doesn't work, his last words are to save his mother, which saves him. He works as part of a team to defeat Doomsday, including sacrificing his life for a world that had and still did hate him and put his purpose in doubt; but he didn't doubt. He died embracing Earth, despite its troubles, as his world. His last act in this life was one of hope and idealism, and as such it inspired and restored hope and idealism in the heroes (Batman and Wonder Woman) and world around him. In life, Cavill's Superman saved people from a fire on another continent and from a flood. We're told (by Bruce at the library gala) that he's even saved cats from trees. He works as Clark to save criminals from unfair punishment and advocating to Perry for the value of telling their stories in the press. He is not a man who demonstrates a lack of caring for others. He does not behave arrogantly. His was a story about hope and idealism with him being hopeful and idealistic. It was just told in a different way than maybe you prefer or you are used to.
Meanwhile, we have Hoechlin's Superman who the show even proclaims is acting arrogantly by having J'onn describe his behavior as "showboating." With Reeve, he uses his powers to physically assault bullies who attacked him earlier when he was powerless. He cared so little about all of us that he gave up his powers that save and inspire humanity so that he could have sex with Lois Lane. He did his fair share of moping, too, if you'll recall. He doesn't proclaim Earth his "home" until
Superman IV (he refers to his previous status as merely a "visitor"), and he gets encouragement during down moments, too.
“Well, if he wasn’t able to manage...if he really was in trouble, then I’d want to tell him some things. I’d want to tell him that I cherished the time we spent together. And I never expected anything from him. Even if I only saw him for a few moments, it made me happy. And I’d want to tell him that I love him and that I'II always love him. And no matter what happens on this world, I know he tried his best to help us.” – Lois Lane, Superman IV
Maybe all of the bright colors, cheese, and nostalgia that superficially covers some of these films and
Supergirl the show masks or makes you forget the darker nuances while the heaviness of Cavill's Superman's world makes you miss the good in it, but it's all there. These Superman stories and these characters are not so different. And, look, I love all of them. I think they're all in different contexts and they serve those contexts well by bringing out important and core aspects of Superman within the stories they are placed. None are perfect, but they're good, heroic men.
