Superman can't save us

[@cosmoissleeping]

Luthor is a villain. And like many real life villains, he's a rich Uber capitalist

[@strivingtobalance]

I was born in 65, so my childhood in comics was the 70s. I was also raised in a very small town in the US South. Marvel comics were largely limited to Spiderman, and even in the 70s Batman and Superman were cultural icons already, so those were readily available. I gravitated toward Spiderman and Superman as a kid. But realize, in the early 70s of my childhood we got very strange DC comics that were cycled back to us from the 50s and 60s, Same with Batman. Everything was -goofy- as fuck. Of course, the cinematic release of Superman was also another cultural moment and it was needed. The 70s were weird for a kid in the United States, and the cinematic Superman of that era was a sort of reminder that there was fun in life and good in people. Donner's Superman was just goofy enough to pull in us kids raised on goofy Superman comics, and just sincere enough to instill a sort of admiration for the human ability to be better. In the 80s came The Dark Knight, The Watchmen, V For Vendetta, showing that adult storytelling could come through in the comics medium, which leads us to what we (hilariously) thought was a dark, grim 1989 Batman. Of course, the 80s until Batman was a wasteland of Howard the Duck and terrible Superman movies that practically destroyed the genre's ability to get to screen. Two 'dark' Batman movies slowly slid us straight back into goofy territory in the 90s and the genre was again poisoned for decent silver screen releases. People tried. Tank Girl is an underrated bit of dark and goofy mashup that let us start dipping our toes back into comics making it to screen again, despite its box office failure. Then Spiderman, which gave us a good movie, a great movie, and a mixed bag movie. Then... -more- Spiderman? But also, a taste of something new with Iron man. The aughts were a mixed bag, but Iron Man was what the kid within my adult self had been striving for because it was a reminder of Donner's superman: goofy when needed, sincere when needed, with a just complex enough protagonist to not feel like a Superman re-hash. Then... Man of Steel, which I did not see. I did not see any of the modern DC movies at all. Marvel may have felt simplistic to cinephiles and filmmakers, but to a certain set of gen-xers like myself, it felt inside of us when watching the way we felt as kids reading comics. That feeling is complicated, and I have seen more than a few struggling efforts to verbalize it that usually end in frustration from both writer and reader. Frankly, as a fan of fantasy, scifi, horror, and just great visual storytelling, I found the MCU a refreshing run of joyful cinema-going. Simplistic? Sure. But life isn't. I enjoy complex, intellectual, and adult storytelling as much as the next person, but to say that is the only legitimate storytelling misses the heart of why humans are drawn to stories to begin with. Yes, it is good to see those types of stories and the many things they have to say, to tell us, to compel us to think and face truths. But man... let me have some fun. Let me indulge my childhood. Let me have the hope of a sincere Superman and Captain America that are good people that want to do good things. We can't -be- superheroes. Hell, some of us can't even be regular heroes. But it's important for our humanity to see it as an option, even if it's fictional. And it is important to be reminded of fun storytelling that sparks our childhood giddiness when we see this trailer and see that goofy superdog's face full of devotion toward his friend, to feel our own childhood sadness of loss of a broken toy as a friend when we see Kal-El grieving the loss of his robot caretaker. We have an entire lifetime of amazing dramatic cinema in our past, present, and future, and we understand it's importance to contributing to our humanity, but if that is all we take to our hearts as representative of cinema, then we are extinguishing a piece of joy that I myself am already having a hard time keeping alive as a get older. I'm not ready to let that joy being extinguished just yet. I am willing to let someone keep trying to show me a Superman that keeps that goofy wonder of my childhood lit a while longer.

[@jmalmsten]

I'm just glad that we're getting a Superman who clearly wouldn't hesitate to save a bussload of drowning children. No matter if he would expose his identity to do it.

[@DamienWalter]

Unless it's a busload of children of healthcare CEOs

[@JimmyDaKoik]

He didn't hesitate in Man of Steel. Did you even see the fucking movie?

[@schm00b0]

​@@DamienWalter Being a privileged piece of shit British garbage no one is surprised by you saying that you feel anything about a mass murderer such as Brian Thompson. Where do you live? What do you pay for your monthly expanses? Why do you live where you do? No one murdered 'a busload of healthcare CEOs children'. But a Healthcare CEO murdered a busload of people. And not just one busload. But a load of busloads. And this is your comment about a piece of media potentially bringing up hope? Even if it is a piece of capitalist media. You are a privileged piece of shit that thrives on your privileged lifestyle. Pretending that you're meditating and giving a shit. You're exactly the same piece of shit as Elon Musk, Bezos or any other assholes you pretend to dislike. Not only aren't you a progressivist democrat, you're a full blown liberal who loves all the privileges that 'global north' provides you.

[@ahobbyist9520]

@@DamienWalter *busload of CEOs. Children are innocent.

[@pnptcn]

Gunn is pulling inspiration from Grant Morrison's All Star Superman. If Gunn distills the right bits and translates them to screen effectively (and I think he's the guy to do it) we just might get a metamodern Superman story.

[@cane6074]

I'm kind of hoping they go for a Alex Ross style Superman story, that being Superman can perform great miraculous physical feats that can save lots of people but he can't fix the world's problems by himself. A man who has great faith in the human condition but humanities less appealing aspects often stopping short of such a faiths tenants. That being it shows that Superman can do great things Even though he can't fix the world, but the values he fights for are very much worth it and a lot of good comes from them. Despite humanity's limitations it's still something worth fighting for. The reason why is that even though fighting from won't get perfect results, not fighting for them would be much worse and humanity would be worse off as a result.

[@qwertyuiop1st]

If I was running either Marvel or DC I would contact Martin Scorsese and ask him to - working with writers he picks - direct a 'superhero movie' that counts as 'cinema'.

[@Earwithfoot]

Ok… I wasn’t expecting to cry the in the first two minutes. I love my dad. Seeing him age is difficult.

[@websurfer5772]

We're supposed to save ourselves.

[@stormhawk31]

No. Man of Steel failed because Zack Snyder doesn't understand Superman. Seems few in Hollywood do. Not surprising, given the times in which we live.

[@Egg-mr7np]

That shot of who was praying for Superman was noticeable, and it was next to a shot of a crowd of westerners/USians jeering him. Will the theme be: we have forgotten what to be thankful for?

[@DamienWalter]

Certainly in that ballpark

[@steveb9713]

What we want are authority figures who do the right thing, but sometimes we settle for ones who are just a little better than the bad ones

[@calogerohuygens4430]

Maybe This Superman movie could represent to us what the real Superman finally meant to be a hero, an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacle.

[@kanguruster]

A modern Superman could show us how when he fails at his act of individual heroism, we can survive, or even overcome, in coalition. That'd be a nice moral, except for the people of X, who don't believe in them.

[@rmj8905]

What do the people of X believe in?

[@schm00b0]

The only change comes from activism, not a 'special' 'chosen one'.

[@kanguruster]

@@rmj8905 Individualism. Successes are theirs and failures are down to someone else, probably the government.

[@vokoaxecer]

I think this movie is going to disap point you.

[@The_Rude_French_Canadian]

Oh look at Mr. Generalizations here…Superman would likely be against all you woke-tards trying to censor people in the name of “democracy”… People acting like the bad guys and believing censorship is ok is so laughable to me…

[@willmosse3684]

Great insights and questions. Cheers

[@DamianDocherty]

Thanks

[@DamienWalter]

Thanks Damian

[@haydnwr]

It's just too heavy for Superman to lift.

[@bryanbryan2968]

I just saw a historic video on Jimmy Carter giving one of his last speeches as President. It was considered a controversial talk he gave because he seemed genuinely upset at the people. He did offer his aid and experience. It was the late 1970s and we had a whole host of economic and political problems. His usual small town calmness was disappearing. He seemed to be gently implying that it is us who must come together and make this a better world. As in the new Superman, a leader or hero truly needs help and cannot do it alone.

[@Thyinternet]

1:13 🖤 damn, you didn’t waste time. Well put.

[@pmsteamrailroading]

I feel that the problem with many Superman movies is that they spend too much time with Superman, and forget about Clark Kent. It says something about our society that people like Clark Kent are forgotten about. Clark gives us a chance to view our society from an outsiders perspective and how hard that really is.

[@stormhawk31]

Nope. Sorry. Gotta vehemently disagree. I don't know how James Gunn is going to do with Superman, but the character of Superman itself is deeply meaningful and important, especially considering the dark and increasingly dangerous and depraved world we live in. And by the way, that is NOT the lesson we learn from our fathers. The lesson we learn from our fathers, or ought to at any rate, is to do what's right, BECAUSE it's right, and no matter how hard the world hits you, get back up and keep going.

[@Anarcath]

I hope it's a Superman where his powers can only be used to show that we can empower ourselves, that we don't need another hero, that we don't need to look upwards but inwards where the real hero is.

[@muddlewait8844]

I’m not sure I’d put it that way, though I might be misunderstanding. I think Superman is about giving people expectations about how power *should* be used, whether we have it ourselves, or whether someone else does.

[@pixelneer]

THANK YOU! I have been trying to come up with the right 'way' to explain why I loved both Joker movies.. ".... masterpieces in anti-fantasy." I have been stumped as to why/ what other people didn't get and it has been bothering me. This summed it up perfectly.

[@DamienWalter]

There's a critique on the channel with more detail

[@gerardojg]

That's a bleak message. I hope you're mistaken. I've always believed cinema to be an escapist medium. A means for the populace to be distracted from real world problems, IMO.

[@DamienWalter]

Jailers love escapism. It's escape they can't stand.

[@gerardojg]

@@DamienWalter True.

[@AxeMan808]

I appreciate that inclusion of Quitely Supes.

[@Miata822]

Even as a kid in the '60s & '70s, Superman never did it for me. God-like power, super-clean morality, yet he wears a suit and spends most of his time not saving people. Without your video today I would never even have watched the trailer. The streaming series has taken the place of cinema. Even your Homelander call-out confirms that. Still, I am on the edge of my seat waiting to buy a ticket for Myth of Man.

[@JForrestFisher--76]

Streaming for deep stories and games for smaller-scale and/or more complex action stories. Mostly what cinema is left with is a few works of genius that are too rare to build an industry around and big, simple action.

[@mikekz4489]

Okay. Don’t be even remotely interested in this movie because it presents a character who doesn’t exist in real life and creates a fantasy in people’s minds, preventing them from taking real action themselves. Got it.

[@tskmaster3837]

I miss "being Superman is awesome". I wonder why we can't have that anymore. I guess by trailer reactions people want the Superman they can look down on? [reads the comment] Yeah... HS. I've already lost hope in this Superman, now I'm doubting humanity. "We need to bring down our heroes before we meet them, that will make things easier". Or, get this, they can be genuinely great people? Are we so jaded that even our ideal heroes have to be broken before we even meet them?

[@AvvieLanche]

I for one am hoping that Rachel Brosnahan will finally portray a Lois that I like. I also love Amy Adams but did not like Snyder's script for her...because, of course, Snyder can't write.

[@Cisreyyah]

I just hope that Clark Kent is just as important to solving the plot problem as Superman

[@jorgemendez9082]

Hard truths for the current state of corporate cinema

[@rmj8905]

Is it really a hard truth? I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who thinks about it for even just a minute.

[@strivingtobalance]

Rebuttle: Krypto

[@DamienWalter]

Maybe the dog can save us, but first we must save the dog...

[@personzorz]

​@@DamienWalter Recent parasitic financial technology means that name has a different valence now.

[@alexxx4434]

Can James Gunn kill super-hero fad?

[@fellowcitizen]

President John F. Kennedy, March 1962: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" Narcissist or not, Luigi is 80% Hero 20% spoilt rich kid, and got the job done which the corrupt US system could not.

[@DamienWalter]

Luigi is a hero only to spoilt rich kids.

[@SMunro]

Superman was an ordinary kryptonian civilian. Zod was a military kryptonian. The difference should be a soldier vs a civilian. And then superman is way above humans.

[@TheBeird]

I couldn't get all that excited about it, but I will give it a go because it's James Gunn. Doubt they'll surpass the original Christopher Reeves movie. And I highly doubt this new film is gonna 'unite' the culture, or whatever the fuck. It'd be nice though.

[@kieranng1172]

Many people would not admit it but just like the 2 verisons of Dune, the CR one's was the most endearing because the movie had 80s all over it but not so for the rest, hence ad nauseum

[@CordellPotts]

Unite Humanity

[@boris_a8580]

I wish you were right!

[@DefaultProphet]

For all the “we need to act collectively” going around I feel like basically every collectivist effort has been led by a great person or a few great people?

[@durwoodmaccool890]

Some kind of 'vanguard' or something.

[@RamingtonStilll-x4b]

Could you imagine a movie about a populace that votes in a way in a democracy to better their own lives? That would be the greatest superhero film ever made. And it would flop.

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

the new superman movie will be about the j question.

[@michaellumovich8325]

Real cinema is an oxymoron, imaginary imagery is not constructive it's only hubris.

[@chrisregister8021]

Nice to actually hear a grain of truth for once...👍

[@micdavey]

Superman could never save us. What would be hilarious is if Lex is a greedy corporatist whose business practices are causing mass social suffering and death and Superman stops him from ever doing that again. Frankly though, the only thing I expect from this puke show with a terrier is more propaganda for American individualism.

[@rmj8905]

American "individualism." Contrary to what you guys think we're not a hyper individual nation. We're a pseudo-individual nation. The type that makes people think they're unique for shopping at Hot Topic or displaying a bumper sticker on the back of their car. This truth was admitted to in the movies Network and Easy Rider decades ago.

[@kf1559]

We all need to create new stories. Any fan of this channel, already has good enough taste ...to try. 🙏🌍

[@Bloor005]

A reboot of a reboot of a reboot is no way to run a franchise. This is what makes viewers bored. It should have been left 10 or more years. Same with Batman.

[@Bestape]

Look at the "S" ; geometry revolution dawn

[@JForrestFisher--76]

Well said there. Crazy world these days. The stuff AI safty researchers are finding going on with the most advanced LLMs is crazy too.

[@freymartell3408]

Top!!

[@DeepTalks-PaulAnleitner]

Brilliant as usual, Damien!

[@JamesBorealis]

I might pirate this movie

[@KamikazeJedi]

That trailer did nothing for me. I’m not hyped.

[@DamienWalter]

Why would you want to be hyped?

[@KamikazeJedi]

@ I don’t know…. Hey! I just discovered your channel recently and really impressed with your content and ideas. Good stuff. Calling the Dune Prophecy writers talentless was a bit much. Don’t you think it got better towards the end? I thought it was very well done, but yea, it wasn’t really a Dune story. More like a Star Wars Sith story…

[@johnmaynard869]

I can’t wait until someone creates a pious Superman and calls it “Holy Superman.” 😜

[@DamienWalter]

There is a Miracleman.

[@johnmaynard869]

@ I prefer a hero with muscle and a suave personality, like Zod from Superman II, or Zap Brannigan! kzbin.info/www/bejne/amGZfKSEecx-q6ssi=z4CkIiDw1RubngYi

[@user-so8fx3yp4s]

He had tons of Christ symbolism in the Donner film and even more in Snyder. He also has Moses parallels and Samson and Hercules, even Krishna. There was an article about his similarities to him when Superman Returns came out. He's a secular savior

[@johnmaynard869]

@ From Moses to Moses, there is no one like Moses. lol

[@johnmaynard869]

@ “Oh Superman, oh judge, oh mom and dad “ Laurie Anderson

[@DarinRWagner]

I never read a Superman comic to be "inspired."

[@DamienWalter]

Well, I guess that's your loss?

[@DarinRWagner]

@@DamienWalter Now, now... that wasn't a jab at you.

[@DamienWalter]

Try Grant Morrison's take

[@DarinRWagner]

@@DamienWalter Didn't care fore it. I prefer Byrne/Wolfman's take.

[@durwoodmaccool890]

@@DamienWalter How about Niven's take?

[@djdksf1]

I'm choosing to believe in Gunn, for the moment. This trailer actually took me back to my childhood for a moment. This feels a lot more like the Superman I grew up with than anything with him on film since the '70s.

[@alexandretorres5087]

I don't like James Gunn and will never ever watch this movie in cinema. Perhaps when is appears in streaming, just because I already pay for the kids. And the kids don't give a damn to superman, DCU or marvel either. In the end, every superhero, American superhero, is fascist agent of US imperialism over us. It is more than time to repeal.

[@saucevc8353]

Superman was invented by Jewish writers to satirize the idea of the Nazi Ubermensch. Before he ever fought aliens or mad scientists, he fought warmongers, corrupt industrialists, and abusers.

[@sudd3660]

superman was from my childhood, nothing good came out of after 1990's and now in a half years time Damien is way to early to talk about an upcoming movie, that sounds like a Trump approved plot. by and main superman actor i never seen or heard of before or a director i not heard of before or liked any of his previous work. Chronicle is a more memorable modern superpower movie. oh and let me guess about this 2025 superman movie, people fiddling on "smart" phones and wireless tech everywhere.... puke... you can tell i am excited about the movie.

[@anthonynicoli]

:-(

[@daveward9785]

This is sad stupid and cynical. When someone has murdered their hope and begs you to do the same.

[@DamienWalter]

If Superman is your hope you have problems.

[@kanguruster]

@@daveward9785 it’s not hope that died, just faith.

[@cyclonasaurusrex1525]

The “great man” theory needs to die.

[@ebaab9913]

Be fun if he was a fentanyl addict who overcame his addiction...

[@user-so8fx3yp4s]

​@@DamienWalterthat's why he took off so hugely when he debuted. Americans desperately needed hope in 1938 with the Depression, Dust Bowl and WW2 looming. Jewish immigrants created Superheroes mainly with a few Irish and Italian creators to cope with the existential threat of the Nazis. Ironically since the Nazis embraced Nietzche's Ubermensch ideal even if they distorted his already crazy and incoherent philosophy. Superman was very liberal at first, fighting slum lords and saving people from lynch mobs. Captain America was made to punch Hitler and say things like "There's a better way! We can find a better way! We're Americans!" Orwell was against Supes as he thought he would encourage bully worship or something but he's really the champion of the underdogs and proletariat. Red Son gave us a Soviet Man of Steel. Not as much hope in that take lol

[@DrAnarchy69]

To quote the Song of the United Front: “The emancipation of the working class is the task of the workers alone.” No one from on high will save us from capitalism, white supremacy, cisheteropatriarchy, etc. Only we, the workers, can save ourselves

[@kh9242]

Man of Steel was a cinematic masterpiece. Perhaps one of the best Superman movie ever made. There i said it.

[@cyclonasaurusrex1525]

Fucking brilliant!!!

[@littleredbicc609]

Well, hopefully he could atleast HELP us save ourselves. Thats the point of myths, in my opinion, and while superman may not be real, his innate goodness is present within all man and woman, as untapped potential in this modern , selfish world. Superman cant save us, but the most he can do, is help us remember, remember atime when we saw the world as a family, and we had the courage to help in whatever way we could, without fear of judgement. Thats what i hope anyways. And hope is a rarity nowadays anyways.

[@daddycool228]

someone once said ( cant remembet who) that revolutions are monuments to the dead.

[@DamienWalter]

ask the AI then tell me