James Gunn’sSupermanmight be a box office success and a hit with fans and critics, but that hasn’t stopped the DCU’s first big movie from causing a stir of controversy. Social media is already a hate-filled cesspit, but James Gunn andSupermanlit a spark so big that even former Superman actors and Donald Trump got involved. There is some basic trivia that everyone knows about Superman, mainly that his Earth name is Clark Kent and that he comes from the planet Krypton. However, since the character’s creation in 1938, some people have slowly forgotten the latter fact and turned Superman into a Homelander-esque American hero. The theme of immigration is intrinsic to Superman as a character, yet it has become a buzzword for certain political groups and pundits to fight back against James Gunn’sSuperman. Two people who know all too well how politically charged Superman can be areSmallvillecreators Al Gough and Miles Millar, and the pair recently chimed in on how ridiculous theSupermancontroversy actually is.
Speaking to Josh Horowitz on theHappy Sad Confusedpodcast,Smallville’s creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar, were asked about theSupermanimmigration controversy and their take on the matter. As you’d expect from two people who had written season after season of Superman stories, they were strongly on James Gunn’s side and agreed that the theme of immigration is part of the core of Superman’s character. “We always saw Superman as a great allegory for immigration,” Millar began. “He was the ultimate illegal alien. The fact that James Gunn said that, and that it was so controversial… I couldn’t believe it.”
“It’s so strange,” Millar continued. Despite thecontroversy swirling around James Gunn’sSuperman,the film still raked it in at the box office. It has grossed just shy of $600 million at the time of publication, and broke several opening weekend records when it debuted on July 11. While some fight against Superman being a political character, Millar and Gough believe that the cause of the “controversy” is why people are so obsessed with the character, as Millar continued:
“The fact that it’s still a controversial idea. That’s what’s so great about the Superman story, and I think that’s why its legacy is so powerful. It really speaks to what the American dream is, and all those elements of Americana.”
‘Smallville’ Addressed Superman’s Immigrant Status Far More Overtly
IfSupermanis the mainstream example of theMan of Steel being targeted for including themes of immigration,Smallvilleis the older hipster who did it before it was cool. During the interview, Al Gough recalled whenSmallvilledirectly addressed Superman’s status as an immigrant, and the weird reaction from the studio surrounding the plotline.
“We did an episode in Season 6 where we talked about it directly,” Gough began. “I remember at the time, this is 2006, the network was like, ‘I don’t know. This feels a little political for the show.’ We’re like, ‘It’s literally the Superman story.'”
