America has lost its way. Perhaps the only way to save her is with the help of Superman. Not the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) version of Superman which introduced a more violent version of the superhero who made habit of destroying Metropolis and other cities as he and others fought off their enemies, but the more heroic man of steel who sought “truth, Justice, and the American Way.” This “American Way” is what America has lost and is why Warner Brothers and DC Comics dropped the motto in their re-invention of Superman. The DCEU turned Superman into a generic superhero of the mid 2010’s little different from Batman, Captain America, or Spider Man. Batman always had a dark side, Superman adopted that dark side to the point that Batman held the moral high ground and thought he needed to take out the Man of Steel using Kryptonite.
This is not the Superman America needs in 2025. What America needs is the Superman that first arrived in the 1930’s as a small child and who, as an adult fought for never-ending battle for truth and justice… and by the 1950’s for the American Way. Unlike Batman and others of their time, Superman was different. He was not a man born into wealth, or one who was transformed into a superhero as the result of a bug bite. Superman was everything that epitomized America in the middle of the 20th century. He was first and foremost an immigrant who believed in America and the American dream.
Much like the vast majority of Americans or their ancestors, Superman was not born in America. He was not only an immigrant, but he was a refugee sent to America by his parents as his home faced disaster and calamity. The catchphrase for Superman did not actually include “the American way” until radio broadcasts during the second world war. It became synonymous with the man from Krypton when he came to television in the 1950’s in The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves. However, ever since his inception he always stood for truth, justice, freedom and even tolerance.
Kal El didn’t just battle criminals, communists, fascists, and strange invaders from outer space. In a 1946 radio broadcast, titled “Unity House,” Superman took on the Ku Klux Klan in his quest for truth and justice. In the 1978 movie Superman starring Christopher Reeve, Superman tells Lois Lane in an interview he is here to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. In response Lois tells Superman he would have to fight every elected official in this country. Such cynicism may seem unsurprising in the post-Watergate and post-Vietnam 1970’s, however it is telling about how lost American was becoming.
Another telling sign of what American has become is how we treat each other today. Superman was not just a refugee, he was also what we would call today an illegal immigrant. Because he came here as a child, and his origin was hidden from the world by his American parents, he would likely fall under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy or DACA. Outside of the Superman of the DCEU, it seems Superman has not broken any laws, has dedicated his life for truth, justice, freedom, tolerance, and the American Way, protects the defenseless, and only fights for what is good. It would seem there is a lot American could learn from Kal El regardless of his immigration status. He is better than American ever was, and should be a model for Americans to emulate. We should look towards the Superman of old to find our way again, and turn away from the jaded, cynical, and anti-hero versions of Superman and others that dominate modern cinema. In this way, Superman can be a model for returning America to the greatness it once strived to become.