Why The DCEU Needs To Show Superman’s Biggest Strengths Are Also Weaknesses

Why The DCEU Needs To Show Superman’s Biggest Strengths Are Also Weaknesses

Superman is often criticized for being overpowered, but future DCEU movies could show how Clark Kent’s apparent perfection can lead to tragedy.

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Why The DCEU Needs To Show Superman’s Biggest Strengths Are Also Weaknesses

If the DCEU continues Superman’s arc, future movies need to depict his own power as the main source of problems. Superman’s god-like power is a tricky thing to depict accurately in a two-hour movie. His dreamlike abilities and almost flawless sense of morality are what make him the textbook definition of a superhero, but this same lack of vulnerability often plays against him in the long run. In fact, Superman’s unlimited power is also his biggest weakness, as the naturally compassionate Clark Kent can’t possibly save everyone in the world even if he tried.

The DCEU has struggled with this theme in each of the hero’s appearances, but Henry Cavill’s Superman has come close to the basis of the conflict. For instance, Clark Kent couldn’t prevent either of his fathers’ deaths, and his fight against Zod led to the deaths of thousands of Metropolis citizens. This, coupled with the montage sequence from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, suggested Superman struggled with the wellbeing of the world and his own peace of mind. Unfortunately, the plot of each movie shifted focus toward Superman’s brute force, indicating that he’s just too perfect to evolve as a character.

Although not a typical representation of this idea, 1985’s For the Man Who Has Everything comic book story from Superman Annual #11 is one of the storylines that best manifests Superman’s inability to solve every problem with sheer strength. In it, the alien warlord Mongul submerges Superman in a dream where he had two children and Krypton’s destruction never happened. The dream slowly becomes a nightmare as Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman fight Mongul in the real world, and Superman is left to witness his fake life come apart. The story is given an even darker adaptation in the animated series Justice League Unlimited, where Superman cries while he says goodbye to his son after realizing his whole life is a lie. This kind of conflict reveals that Superman’s unconscious guilt over the death of his family and home planet makes him feel responsible for all the tragedies on Earth – something that pushes him to try and save everybody and often leads him to cause even bigger tragedies.

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Numerous movie iterations of Superman have dealt with this psychological battle in different ways. Some have learned to turn off their ability to sense every calamity happening around the world. Others have learned to tough it out and only intervene when they can, and others – mainly in recent stories – have become self-centered, tyrannical, and downright evil overlords who don’t give a second thought to the misfortune of others.

The DCEU’s version of Superman should tackle Superman’s moral dilemma with compassion in an era where superheroes are the norm. Such a change would transform Superman’s principles into his superpower and separate him from other near-invincible yet flawed heroes like The Flash, Green Lantern, and even Wonder Woman. Superman’s personality has often been criticized as boring, but this exact issue could be turned into an advantage in a movie that explores the struggles of a regular human being who just so happens to be a god on Earth.

Superman’s stories are arguably at their best when the hero confronts his own nature. Without this crucial conflict, Superman movies can be as comic-accurate and well-crafted as they come, but will never truly get close to the core of Superman’s character. As seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, kryptonite can only do so much to weaken the Man of Tomorrow, but as Wonder Woman 1984 revealed, the DCEU can also begin to explore stories where the heroes face problems that can’t be fixed with punches and superpowers. Perhaps the DCEU’s future Supergirl will embody this kind of moral quandary more accurately than Superman ever could.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dceu-superman-strengths-weaknesses-biggest-also-why/

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