So, there’s a rumor circulating that the upcoming “Man of Steel” film — which looks bloody magnificent based on the trailers — contains a fairly substantial change to the Superman mythos. I’m hoping that it’s fanboy/troll nonsense, because if it isn’t you can almost guarantee there’s going to be a nerd revolt.
Okay…Spoiler Alert Countdown (last chance to turn back):
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Superman’s home world of Krypton? It isn’t destroyed.
If the rumors are to be believed, “Man of Steel” changes Superman’s back story so that all Kryptonians are genetically created, with DNA that designates the rank, role in society, etc. But Superman’s parents, Jor-El and Lara, chose to ignore the mandate, and had their baby the good-ol-fashioned “cue the mood music and Courvoisier” way.
At some point a civil war breaks out ( whether this stems directly from baby Kal-El or not is uncertain). As a result of the chaos, Jor-El and Lara send baby Superman to earth.
Going back and watching the most recent trailer with this in mind, three moments appear to lend credence to this rumor:
- The first actually close to the beginning and it’s a voice over (around 0:35) by Russel Crowe (playing Jor-El) where he says “What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society intended?”
- Next, we see Zod (played by Michael Shannon) asking “You believe your son is safe?” and then shouting (around 2:14) “I Will Find Him!” It’s believed that Zod is leading the charge to ensure that all the kids remain genetically manufactured, and so he’s telling Jor-El that he will not rest until he finds the baby.
- Finally towards the end of the trailer (2:35) Lois Lane asks the willingly incarcerated Superman about his emblem. He explains that it’s not an “S.” He elaborates, “On my world, it means hope.”
Note that he doesn’t say “On my world, it meant hope” — past tense. Now it’s possible he still means that, the same way that someone might say “T-Rex? He’s the most ferocious of all the dinosaurs.” However my gut is saying no, and in fact Zack Snyder has in fact spared Krypton.
The thing that makes Superman so special, other than the leaping the tall buildings and so forth, is the fact that he’s “The Last Son of Krypton.” Though our planet is his adopted home, his true home, his family, his entire race are dust in the solar winds. Surrounded by friends and millions of people on Earth, Superman is still utterly alone.
(Okay, his cousin Supergirl, several pets and villain like Zod have cropped up over the years, but we digress).
Yet, despite that solitude, he embraces the love, guidance and teachings of his adopted parents as well as the purpose for which his biological parents sent him to our planet: Not only to escape their planet’s destruction, but to become a champion for good — a symbol to help us strive to become better.
And now…that’s gone.
This feels like a change just for change’s sake. It’s not the only one either in the film. By now most people know (mini spoilers ahead) that Perry White is played by Lawrence Fishburne and Jimmy Olsen is (allegedly) a girl. And Superman’s costume has lost its red underwear.
Those are all minor things we can live with. But Krypton surviving? That’s iconic.
There are things you just don’t mess with. Batman’s parents must always die to push him into a life of crime-fighting. You can make the killer Joe Chill or pre-Joker Jack Napier, but without their deaths, Bruce isn’t going to dress up as a bat and hang around in caves with Dick (there’s a joke in there somewhere, but let’s stay PG-13 for now).
If Krypton still exists, what stops Superman from saying “Later Earthlings” and flying off back home? His moral upbringing by the Kents I suppose. Maybe Snyder believes it would be more powerful a message to give Kal-El a choice, and in the end he chooses to remain Earth’s protector.
Will this really be a big deal? I guess it will depend on the rest of the movie. Again, the trailers look amazing, and I do like how Clark starts out as an “unknown hero” helping people as he’s trying to figure out his purpose in the world. As long as the spirit of who Superman is remains intact, then it shouldn’t matter right?
What do you think? Is changing Krypton’s fate a deal-breaker for you, or not a big deal so long as the story is well-told?
UPDATE 05/24/13
Been meaning to circle back around to this, but a few weeks ago, Russell Crow — who plays Jor El in the upcoming film — posted a tweet that seems to squash the rumors regarding Krypton’s demise:
“ahem…as I was saying…my name is Jor El, of Krypton, as my planet dies I send 2 you my son, Kal. So he may live. He will arrive June 14″
Now we can take Russell’s post at face value and assume Krypton goes bye-bye. But…there are many ways for the planet to “die.” The original history saw Krypton explode due to its unstable core. Other retellings have seen completely different reasons for the planet’s end. A recent retcon for example showed Krypton’s demise at the hand of hostile aliens.
Plus, there’s the fact that what we’ve seen so far supports the idea of some sort of civil war taking place on Krypton. Perhaps the planet death is more of an extinction event than an explosion. If that happens, then where does that leave the whole Kryptonite aspect of the Superman mythos? Fortunately we only have a few more weeks until we find out.
In the meanwhile we have the “World’s Finest” rumors to start freaking out over.
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