Man of Feelings
Superman builds to a thundering crescendo with the Man of Steel battling the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría) and Clark’s own brutish clone with nothing less than the fate of the planet at stake. But that’s not really the climax of the film. The climax comes when Superman confronts Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor in the evil billionaire’s headquarters.
Of course the human Luthor cannot physically compete with the Kryptonian Superman, a point that Lex brings up in one final, sputtering declaration that ends with him spitting the word “alien” as if it were a slur.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Luthor!” Superman forcefully responds. In a surprisingly emotional rejoinder, Superman explains how he tries to do his best and often fails, and that makes him just as human as anyone else. The confession doesn’t stop Luthor—for that, Superman had to rely on the ever-unruly Krypto—but it does remind the audience, and possible some of the LuthorCorp employees, how much we all have in common.
The speech underscores a theme running throughout Superman: this guy truly loves humanity and wants to be a part of them. Rather than reveling in the elements that make him Superman and the power he can exert over those weaker than him, Clark Kent longs to connect with others.
The desire to be with humanity obviously sets Gunn’s Superman apart from that of Zack Snyder, who imagined the Man of Steel as a god who resented those who needed him. It also differentiates Gunn’s take from the one in Superman Returns, which treated Superman as a Christ figure come to inspire humanity, but who must ultimately remain separated from it—as demonstrated in the somewhat creepy scenes of Superman watching Lois Lane from a distance. By contrast, Gunn’s humanist Superman goes even beyond the iconic Christopher Reeve version of the character. That beloved iteration definitely put on a show as Clark Kent and certainly had his emotional connections to Margot Kidder’s Lois, but he was also ultimately an alien with amazing powers. He couldn’t be with Lois in Superman II, because his abilities also made him destined to be alone and elevated above we mere mortals.
Gunn’s Superman wants so badly to be part of humanity that Luthor’s claims that he isn’t actually human hurts his feelings. It’s a genuine hurt, one that goes deeper than the various cuts and breaks that Superman sustains throughout the movie. And its a hurt that not everyone initially understood.
