Superheroes, Superman

"You say the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear them crying out for one." — Superman, "Superman Returns"

Superman is one of the oldest, most familiar superhero tales. He made his debut in "Man of Steel" in June 1938, but was actually created six years earlier, in 1932, by writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in Cleveland, Ohio. He was created by two men who were Jewish during the height of the Great Depression.

Those might not seem like important details, but I think that really informs the attributes of Superman and the way the character has been embraced and perceived in culture. In considering the aspect of their Jewish heritage, there is an interesting parallel to be drawn. One of the reasons many didn’t recognize Jesus as our Savior during his own time, and the reason Jewish people don’t recognize him as our Savior to this day is that they expected something different. They expected the savior to be a powerful, conquering king who would overthrow the wicked rulers of Earth and bring peace and salvation to believers. That’s one of the reasons the crowd was thrown off when Jesus turned toward the temple during the Triumphal entry. They expected him to march on Herod’s palace and put him in his place, instead Jesus went and cleared the temple.

And, of course, in the early going, Superman was somewhat of a transcendent crusader. He was bigger than governments and social issues, seemingly ruling Earth and creating something better for his people — humans. That juxtaposition between superhero and savior was always an integral part of the Superman mythology, and it was intentional from the beginning.

That's not to say that it hasn't been heightened through the years. Superman is the most deistic of all superheroes — that is to say the most God-like. In the documentary on the history of Superman — “Look Up In the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman” — he is referred to as a secular messiah. I think that's what Superman has become, especially in the cannon of films dating back to 1978.

It would be easy to say that director Bryan Singer, who directed "Superman Returns," really ramped that up. He is on record saying that he believes that Superman is a Judeo-Christian parable. But one of the most striking parts of "Superman Returns" — a voiceover that makes an undeniable parallel between Superman and Jesus Christ — is a piece of audio recorded by Marlon Brando for "Superman" director Richard Donner in 1978. It wasn't in that film, but Singer weaved into his re-boot.

In that voiceover, Superman's father says, "They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son.” That, of course, bears a striking resemblance to John 3:16, a reference to the gift God gave us all in Jesus Christ.

What bothers me most about this, and about what we've done with Superman as a stand in for Jesus Christ, is that it fundamentally changes what having our savior means. In Christianity, salvation is a gift from God. It's about His love for us, His sacrifice, and the trust and obedience we owe Him. With Superman, it's about our worth as humans. We deserve a savior, and we don't owe him a thing. That's just wrong.


I John 4:9-16 says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

One thing I agree with is when Superman says to Lois Lane, “You say the world doesn’t need a savior but every day I hear people crying out for one.” It’s just that he’s not our savior. Our world is broken and there are many people searching for hope, crying out for salvation. The beauty is that all we have to do to receive it is put our trust in Jesus, the real Savior of the world; the one who came, bled and died on our behalf.