Hello, everyone. This is my first time making a post in the DC forum, so I thought it would be a good idea to make a post about Superman, my favorite DC character ever. To be more specific, I want to talk about Superman's portrayal in the DC Extended Universe.

Now, for better or worse, back when Superman's movies in the DCEU were in full swing, Superman's portrayal has been one of the most debated and argued-over topics in the history of DC Comics. There are two firmly-entrenched sides, those who refuse to accept this is Superman and can't be considered a valid interpretation of the character and those who think that this is genuinely Superman and that he is a valid interpretation of the character, not to mention all those people and fans somewhere in-between this debate and have probably become tired of it all.

Anyway, with the Superman saga on hold for now and Warner and DC going back to the drawing board to decide where do they want to take Superman and his community next, Superman fans are left to debate the merits and flaws of these movies, and in this case, Superman's portrayal. Whether you like this version of Superman or not, and no matter how good your argument on defending/criticizing Superman is, some people will never change their minds about this because, to be fair, I've read some really good arguments from both sides and I want to believe I've made some good arguments myself. Personally, I did enjoy the Superman we saw in the DCEU and I'm not ashamed to say that this is one of my favorite versions of Superman ever. Still, people on both sides in the debate have never budged in their beliefs and neither have I, and this makes me believe that there isn't and there can never be a definitive answer about what an actual person named Clark Kent living in the city of Metropolis with his life experiences would have done in the same situations we saw in those movies because he's not actually real.

And yes, I realize that's obvious and I'm not trying to insult your intelligence by pointing it out or make myself sound like an idiot for figuring it out. Instead, I'm trying to highlight the fact that not only does Superman himself not actually exist, which doesn't mean he isn't or can't be important (I'll write about that later); furthermore, every situation he finds himself in his contrived life or set up by a creator (be that a writer, a filmmaker or whatever). Literally everything that has happened or will happen in his life is contrived.

There is no actual causation in fictional stories, only the illusion of it and it's the creator's job to mask that dirty little secret to the best of their ability. It's their job to feel that everything that happens is natural or organic, like it's happening in a completely linear fashion. Even though, oftentimes and usually, when you're creating a fictional story, you're working in anything but a linear fashion. A lot of times, you know the end or, at the very least, have a rough idea of where you wanna go with the story or what you want to say with your story before you even begin. In other words, you need to create a beginning and a middle that gets you to the end you want, and again, you need to deliver the illusion of actual causality and hide the fact that everything is indeed contrived.

And again, I know that I'm saying a lot of obvious things here, but sometimes, people kinda forget them and even if you work in a sort-of linear fashion when writing, even if you start with some characters and come up with something to happen to them, you have no idea on how you want the story to go, much less end, you're still the one making the choices for the characters, even if you're making them based on how you think they would act and then deciding what happens to them as a result.

For example, when it comes to the DCEU movies and how Superman was portrayed in them, Zack Snyder and his creative team were faced with the question "how can we make Superman interesting for a modern audience?" and I'm assuming this is how they approached and went on about it, but they then decided on what would make for the most interesting story, in their opinion at least, is that humans don't have a lot of confidence in Superman's ability to protect them and, instead treat him with suspicion and even hatred, something that understandably disturbs Superman, because he just wants to do the right thing. Then, Snyder and his creative team would have to come up with a situation that would make Superman change his mind and do something heroic again.

So, what it all comes down to is whether you agree or not something like that would be a believable or organic scenario for Superman to experience and whether or not you agree his reactions to that scenario are understandable. While we can certainly debate it, and we do, it is impossible for know for certain because, again, he's not real and every single real person has different experiences and reactions in their lives. And though, sure, we could theoretically, through it would probably never answer this question, imagine what other versions of Superman (comic books, movies, TV shows) would do if they experienced the exact same situations DCEU Superman experienced and I think most of us would respect that answer, whatever it may be.

But still, we wouldn't have a 100% definitive answer because, it would still be an arbitrary decision made by the creators of those stories, not the reaction of a living person who, again, lived a life like DCEU Superman had and/or had the limits or mental fortitude he may or may not have.

And look, we can never know for certain how someone would react to something until they actually face it or know how someone named Clark Kent would have reacted to those experiences, contrived or not, because there are those in the real world who come out bold and strong, like they're full of courage and ready for anything, but then give up and then turn their backs on everything for the smallest of setbacks or the first hint of danger. There are way too many examples of people you'd never think they'd give up and over things that some would consider minor obstacles at best. But there are also examples in the opposite direction. There are people perceived as weak or go through awful tragedies and come out on the other side somehow stronger and wiser for them. Tragedies that, by all rights, no one should have to deal with even though, yes, one universal truth of life is that we will all face adversity or tragedy or loss. It's just part of the deal, which is why Superman can be and is so important to me, for many different reasons.

Because of how he persevered, fictional character or not, shows us that we, too, can persevere through our own trials in our time, and sure, some people, myself included, can and do love Superman in these movies because, to us, he feels very human. We think he had a very human response or a very genuine reaction to his experiences, and for some, he might remind them of how they went through or got through some struggles of their own or some dark times.

But others hated him that way because they never wanted him, or the DC Universe itself, to be an entirely accurate reflection of humanity or us as individuals, but rather they see Superman or want to see Superman as some sort of ideal that represents the best we could potentially be, one that might be forever out of reach, but one definitely worth striving for, nonetheless; which, no, isn't to say they wanted Superman to be perfect or god-like and I see people saying that all the time. They didn't want a perfect and flawless Superman to always save the day, to always have the answers and to never show any emotion beyond eagerness to do the right thing. In reality, they just wanted a Superman that was, yes, maybe a little bit more powerful than what we're used to, but wanted a Superman that didn't give up and thus betray the ideal they placed upon him and believed in.

They would have been absolutely okay with Superman facing new struggles, even failing to some degree, but they still wanted him to embody this belief that there are those among us who simply do not break or give up no matter what, that they would always fight and find some way to overcome and that maybe, just maybe, we can be like that, too; that the impossible in our lives might just become possible.

But to see Superman fail and give up because of it is a reminder of our own fragility as humans, that some things might just be impossible to overcome or achieve, no matter how hard we try or fight for them, which is, again, not why they watch or read Superman. They don't want to be reminded of their past or potential failures but instead, they want to be dared to dream about what could be, what could they accomplish.

And look, whether you love or hate the way Superman was portrayed in these movies, that's perfectly fine, I have no problem with that. It's okay to disagree about something and to discuss as rational human beings, even in the end, all we accomplish is agreeing to disagree, and I'm not trying to say that you're pessimistic if you like these movies or you're overly optimistic if you don't. My message here is that was really to say that we all look at things and see them and, ultimately think of them and treat them, differently, not to mention we can all want something different out of the very same thing and to each their own when it comes to DC and what it does or doesn't mean to them and it can be as important or unimportant to you as you want it to be and there's really no reason to fight over it or make fun of others who are passionate about it nor should we be angry or attacking others over the actions of a fictional character, especially when you have to keep in mind that, it is all just a series of fictional contrivances conjured up in the imaginations of writers.

That doesn't mean, that for fun or for the sake of a good and spirited debate, that you can't treat DC as some sort of documentary about the lives of superheroes or the characters or events are real or actually happened, which is something I encourage. I love treating these characters and stories as if they were real and talk and think about them as if these characters are real people and did perform these events. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't get emotional over the stories DC tells. If anything, that goes to show how important and powerful storytelling can be when it's done right. We can literally be influenced and inspired by stories made up by other people. We can want to do better and be better in the real world because of fictional characters like Superman and, really, there are few things greater or more important that we can do as people than to help or inspire those around us.

Well, that's all I have for you this time, now it's your turn to tell me what do you think about Superman in the DCEU. This meant to be friendly discussion, so please be polite and argue your points in a civilized manner. We are all DC fans here, we just see things differently. Posting comments on this website doesn't make my opinions greater and more valid than yours and I'm just glad I have the privilege and the opportunity to share my opinions with you. So, leave a comment below and thanks for your time.