[0:00] For more than a decade, superhero fans
[0:01] keep circling back to the same tired
[0:03] idea. What if Superman were evil?
[0:06] Welcome back ScreenCrush. I'm Ryan Arey,
[0:07] and today we're going to dissect the big
[0:09] problem with an evil Superman. We're
[0:11] going to look at the most famous evil
[0:12] Superman in recent years and explain why
[0:15] this idea always falls apart in the long
[0:17] run and how over time it's even started
[0:19] to change Superman himself. From
[0:21] Injustice to Homelander or even
[0:23] Invincible's Omni-Man, we have seen
[0:25] countless iterations of a Superman who
[0:27] just snaps, who goes too far, or who was
[0:29] never even good to begin with. Somewhere
[0:31] along the way, we started to believe
[0:33] that Superman is only interesting when
[0:35] he breaks bad. But that says less about
[0:37] Superman and more about how we
[0:39] fundamentally misunderstood this
[0:41] character. What do you mean? Well, these
[0:43] evil Superman stories aren't actually
[0:45] about Clark Kent. They're about our
[0:47] inability to believe that someone with
[0:49] that much power would choose to be good.
[0:51] Let me explain. We all know the story of
[0:53] the classic Clark Kent Superman. He was
[0:55] created as the champion of the
[0:57] oppressed. Superman's creators, Jerry
[0:59] Siegel and Joe Shuster, are even cited
[1:01] as saying that they created him as a way
[1:03] to tell stories of hope during times
[1:05] when things looked hopeless. For years,
[1:07] we have read stories of a Superman who
[1:09] helps those in need, loves his ma, and
[1:11] says stuff like,
[1:12] >> Golly.
[1:13] >> So then, what happened? How did we go
[1:15] from the Superman who saves cats stuck
[1:17] in trees to one playing judge, jury, and
[1:19] executioner? Well, people started to
[1:21] mistake the super part of Superman as
[1:23] the power that he has rather than his
[1:25] restraint. I mean, think about it.
[1:27] Superman spends his entire life
[1:28] surrounded by people who, by comparison,
[1:31] have the power of an ant. But rather
[1:33] than look down on them, he treats them
[1:34] with dignity, respect, and most
[1:36] importantly, he loves humanity.
[1:38] Superman's biggest power has never been
[1:40] his physical strength. It's his
[1:42] emotional strength. Writing a Superman
[1:44] that kills people is easy. He can just
[1:46] let go, unleash all of his pent-up
[1:48] aggression, and rule the world. We have
[1:49] seen that become the end goal in every
[1:51] single evil Superman story so far. It is
[1:54] much harder to write a Superman who
[1:56] wields that power accordingly and
[1:58] doesn't make the alien god the most
[1:59] important aspect of Clark's life. The
[2:01] idea of an evil version of Superman or
[2:03] an anti-Superman has been around,
[2:06] basically forever. Bizarro, although not
[2:08] necessarily one of the evil Superman
[2:10] we're talking about, was invented just
[2:12] 20 years after Superman. So, a
[2:14] villainous Superman is not a new
[2:15] concept. However, it did gain widespread
[2:18] popularity through the Injustice
[2:20] universe. In 2013, DC released
[2:22] Injustice: Gods Among Us, the prequel
[2:24] comic to the fighting game of the same
[2:26] name. In that comic, the Joker drives
[2:28] Superman insane when he kills a pregnant
[2:30] Lois Lane. Driven angry with grief,
[2:32] Clark kills the Joker and one thing
[2:34] leads to another, leading to Superman
[2:35] declaring to save the world by doing,
[2:37] quote, "Whatever it takes." Injustice
[2:40] was pretty much Superman's one bad day.
[2:42] At first, Injustice worked as a fresh
[2:44] new take on Superman and the DC
[2:46] universe. The comic also validated the
[2:48] audience's growing suspicion of an
[2:50] entirely peaceful Superman. We see the
[2:52] amount of grief that Clark goes through
[2:54] and understand his anger. It makes sense
[2:56] that he would snap like that. However,
[2:58] because the concept itself was for a
[3:00] video game, every comic issue in each
[3:02] game needed to create new reasons for
[3:04] the conflict. When he begins to continue
[3:06] killing after the Joker, we become
[3:08] almost numb to the cruelty of the
[3:10] character or it becomes shock value. So,
[3:12] not only does this snap go against
[3:14] everything we've known from Superman,
[3:16] but it also
[3:17] well, it just gets old. More recently,
[3:19] take Homelander for example. While he
[3:21] obviously doesn't have the same alien
[3:23] history or even human upbringing as
[3:25] Superman, he was created as a satirical
[3:27] parody of Superman. He is a version of
[3:29] Superman that shares the same immense
[3:31] power, but lacks all the morality and
[3:33] compassion. The thing with Homelander,
[3:35] though, is that he wasn't ever a
[3:36] character that we viewed as the paragon
[3:38] of good. Homelander is all the super
[3:41] without the man, and there was never a
[3:43] belief otherwise.
[3:44] >> You're nothing at all.
[3:45] >> Throughout every season of The Boys, we
[3:47] watched as Homelander became more and
[3:49] more depraved. From the second he was on
[3:51] screen, we were aware of his morality.
[3:53] So, it becomes less jarring or out of
[3:55] character when his goal of world
[3:57] domination is finally being pursued. It
[3:59] also works for The Boys because
[4:01] Homelander is not the hero. Homelander
[4:03] made for an interesting villain because
[4:05] we got to see this unstoppable force get
[4:08] taken down by a group of rowdy
[4:09] underdogs. However, like I said, it does
[4:12] come to a point. Towards the later
[4:14] seasons of the show, complaints began to
[4:16] rise about the show's constant need to
[4:18] one-up itself with kills. Homelander
[4:20] worked best in the early seasons
[4:21] because, like Injustice, it feels like a
[4:23] new take on a famously good hero. Once
[4:26] we know, though, that this character is
[4:27] willing to cross that line, the shock of
[4:29] them doing so entirely fades away. Take
[4:32] another, even more similar, evil
[4:34] Superman adaptation, Omni-Man from
[4:36] Invincible. Omni-Man is directly
[4:38] inspired by Superman. Invincible
[4:40] co-creator Robert Kirkman even said that
[4:42] Omni-Man's original name was Supra-Man.
[4:45] Parody names aside, they do have a
[4:47] similar power set. They both come from
[4:49] alien worlds. a badass. And prior to
[4:51] Nolan's turn, they are both beloved by
[4:53] the public. I mean, even Viltrum is
[4:55] similar to some iterations of an evil
[4:57] Krypton with their manifest destiny
[4:59] approach.
[5:00] >> Rule it over the planet as the last son
[5:02] of Krypton. Our most trusted [music]
[5:04] officers were each given a planet to
[5:07] weaken by themselves.
[5:09] I was one of those [music] lucky few.
[5:12] >> So, it's a shock to everyone, both in
[5:14] universe and out, when the real Omni-Man
[5:16] is revealed. This is their world's
[5:18] Superman being revealed as a
[5:20] world-conquering homicidal sociopath.
[5:22] But, see here, it works because, despite
[5:25] their immense similarities, Nolan is not
[5:28] the Clark Kent allegory of that world.
[5:30] Mark is the Clark Kent of this universe.
[5:33] Invincible's main theme centers around
[5:35] the human experience and how that is
[5:37] what makes Mark good, or at least not a
[5:39] conqueror like his father. While
[5:41] Omni-Man has a backstory similar to
[5:43] Superman's, Mark is technically the
[5:45] Superman of this story. However, Nolan
[5:48] does have a face turn and aids Mark in
[5:50] saving Earth from being conquered.
[5:52] Eventually, while he does still kill, he
[5:54] does return to the classic Superman
[5:56] values of being a champion for the
[5:58] oppressed.
[5:58] >> There's a statute where it's Superman.
[6:00] >> Right, but they were still super men.
[6:02] And that's important because this means
[6:04] that the problem isn't just evil
[6:06] Superman. It's the assumption that this
[6:08] much power will make anyone evil no
[6:10] matter what. Like with Injustice, it's
[6:12] the belief that Clark Kent, like anyone
[6:14] else, is just one bad day away from
[6:16] snapping. And while Zack Snyder Superman
[6:18] doesn't become a dictator or take over
[6:20] the world, he does work under some of
[6:21] these same assumptions. Snyder Superman
[6:24] ultimately falls into the same trap that
[6:26] all evil Superman storylines do. Man of
[6:29] Steel is definitely both a product of
[6:31] its time and its director. Coming off
[6:33] the heels of Nolan's Dark Knight
[6:34] trilogy, Man of Steel emulated the same
[6:36] dark gritty tone of that universe.
[6:38] However, you can't really ground
[6:40] Superman in Smallville or Metropolis the
[6:43] same way you can ground Batman in
[6:44] Gotham. Now, while we often compare the
[6:46] two or pit them against each other, they
[6:48] are ultimately built for different kinds
[6:50] of solo stories. Batman can easily take
[6:52] on a gritty and dark tone all while
[6:54] keeping his same motifs. Superman,
[6:56] however, cannot. Unlike Batman, Superman
[6:59] doesn't start his journey in darkness.
[7:01] He begins as the light. To have Superman
[7:03] spend an entire film grappling with
[7:05] himself further alienates him as a
[7:07] character and this is part of what makes
[7:09] Snyder Superman feel so
[7:12] un-Supermanly. The challenge with
[7:14] grounding Superman is that Superman
[7:16] isn't grounded by his powers. He is
[7:18] grounded by his humanity. Man of Steel
[7:21] places a lot more emphasis on Clark's
[7:23] alien side than his human side. Instead
[7:26] of a Superman that feels deeply
[7:27] connected to humanity, we get a Superman
[7:29] who spends a lot of the runtime
[7:31] questioning whether or not the human
[7:32] race deserves his help.
[7:34] >> What was I supposed to do?
[7:36] Just let him die?
[7:37] >> And that is an important difference.
[7:39] Superman has never been inspiring
[7:41] because he's Kryptonian. He is inspiring
[7:43] because, despite being an alien, he sees
[7:45] the best in humanity and chooses to be a
[7:48] part of it.
[7:49] >> You trust everyone and think everyone
[7:52] you've ever met is like beautiful.
[7:55] >> And this is where Man of Steel starts to
[7:57] brush up against the same idea that
[7:59] powers so many evil Superman stories.
[8:02] Not that Superman is evil, but that
[8:03] eventually Superman, like anyone else,
[8:06] will break. When the film reaches its
[8:08] climax, Clark is presented with an
[8:09] impossible choice. Kill Zod or let him
[8:12] laser a group of people. Superman
[8:13] ultimately picks the former.
[8:16] >> [screaming]
[8:19] >> Now, while you can say that he had no
[8:21] other choice, that only emphasizes the
[8:23] misunderstanding of the character. If
[8:25] your Superman story gives Superman no
[8:27] other choice than killing someone, then
[8:29] you have forgotten a key aspect of his
[8:31] character, hope. Superman will always
[8:33] find another choice. As he said, there's
[8:35] always another way. That aside, this
[8:38] breaking point where he does kill Zod is
[8:39] exactly where this fantasy of evil
[8:41] Superman hits a wall. Superman snapped.
[8:43] He lasered someone. He snapped someone's
[8:45] neck. So, now what? See, getting
[8:47] Superman to that point is dramatic.
[8:49] You're on the edge of your seat waiting
[8:51] to see if he'll actually do it. And when
[8:52] he does,
[8:54] that's it. Now that he's crossed this
[8:55] line, he can do it again and again and
[8:57] again. And eventually, every evil
[8:59] Superman story ends with dictatorship,
[9:01] murder, intimidation, etc. This new
[9:03] immoral Superman just lost all of the
[9:05] tension that makes Superman interesting
[9:07] because we now know that he doesn't have
[9:09] a problem crossing that line. There's a
[9:11] great story in the comics called
[9:13] Superman Exile, where it explores just
[9:15] how distraught Clark gets after killing
[9:18] somebody. After being forced to execute
[9:20] three Kryptonian criminals in accordance
[9:22] with Kryptonian law, Superman is haunted
[9:25] by his actions. He decides to exile
[9:28] himself from Earth before he can hurt
[9:30] anyone else. Evil Superman only works
[9:32] when Superman stops being Clark Kent.
[9:35] Homelander can be evil because he was
[9:36] never Clark Kent. Omni-Man can be evil
[9:38] because he was never Clark Kent. But,
[9:40] the moment that Clark loses that
[9:42] compassion, empathy, and humanity that
[9:44] define him, he stops being Superman, and
[9:47] he becomes a different character
[9:48] entirely. For a while, we looked at an
[9:50] evil Superman as the logical conclusion
[9:52] of the character. But, the more popular
[9:54] those stories become, the less they
[9:56] became about Superman, and the more they
[9:58] became about us. Superman is a hero
[10:01] because he chooses to do good with the
[10:03] powers that he has, something that to
[10:05] most of the human race is unfathomable.
[10:07] This evil Superman trend rose because of
[10:10] our own cynicism and our own belief that
[10:12] corruption is inevitable with that much
[10:14] power. But, Superman was never
[10:16] interesting because he had the capacity
[10:18] to destroy the world. He is interesting
[10:20] because he wouldn't. We stopped asking
[10:22] whether or not Superman could ever abuse
[10:23] his power, and as a society, we started
[10:26] assuming that he would. The fantasy was
[10:27] never about Superman turning evil, it's
[10:29] about proving that our own cynicism was
[10:31] right. Evil Superman is easy. Superman
[10:34] is hard. And luckily, I think we're
[10:36] finally coming back around to
[10:37] recognizing that. Shows like My
[10:39] Adventures with Superman are making
[10:41] Clark Kent just as important as
[10:43] Superman.
[10:43] >> Well, maybe he's a nice guy who has
[10:45] powers [music] and just wants to use
[10:47] them to help as many people as he can.
[10:49] >> Clark, if you had powers, you'd do that.
[10:51] >> In the show, we meet a relatively new
[10:53] man of steel. He's just discovering his
[10:55] Kryptonian heritage, but instead of
[10:57] isolating himself and becoming further
[10:59] alien, Clark is actively seeking out
[11:01] human connection. He wants friends. He
[11:03] wants community. He wants to belong. We
[11:06] saw something similar in James Gunn's
[11:08] Superman. Despite being an alien,
[11:10] Superman gets his strength from his
[11:11] humanity.
[11:12] >> But, that is being human, and that's my
[11:15] greatest strength.
[11:16] >> These newer adaptations remind us what
[11:17] Superman was always supposed to
[11:19] represent, not power or invincibility or
[11:21] the ability to rule over everyone else,
[11:23] but hope. The belief that someone with
[11:26] every reason and opportunity to abuse
[11:28] their power would choose not to abuse
[11:31] power. When you have a character whose
[11:32] entire premise is helping people who are
[11:34] oppressed, you fundamentally can't have
[11:36] them be evil. The question was whether
[11:38] or not what happens when Superman snaps,
[11:41] it's why doesn't he snap. We're not
[11:42] looking to see a story about a god being
[11:44] lured to the dark side. We want a story
[11:46] about a man who defies all odds and
[11:49] chooses to do good. After decades of
[11:51] creating characters and plotlines that
[11:53] validate our cynical fears about what
[11:54] someone with that much power would
[11:56] become, we seem to finally be
[11:57] discovering why the man part of Superman
[12:00] is so important. [music] Big shoutout to
[12:02] Lee Mazio who wrote this video, you can
[12:03] find his links down below. And let us
[12:05] know what you think about the concept of
[12:06] evil Superman down in the comments or in
[12:08] our free to join Discord server. And if
[12:09] it's your first time here, please
[12:10] subscribe, smash that bell for alerts.
[12:12] For ScreenCrush, I'm Ryan Arey.
[12:16] >> [music]
[12:22] [music]
[12:28] [music]