Superman (DCEU, pre Justice League)

Superman [[File: |300px|center|]] Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's--MARTHA! Gender: Male Type: Superman In Name Only Age: 29 - 35 years old Species: Kryptonian Portrayed by: Henry Cavill Status: Alive Media of origin: DC Extended Universe First appearance: DC Comics Man of Steel

Superman (aka Clark Kent) is one of the main heroes in the DC Extended Universe. He is portrayed by Henry Cavill.

Not So Super Qualities

NOTE: These pointers mainly apply to his character as depicted in both Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and in Joss Whedon's theatrical cut of Justice League (2017), as he redeemed himself in Zack Snyder's 2021 cut of Justice League (2017).

1. Superman is extremely out of character.
   • Rather than Clark becoming Superman due to his kind, hopeful nature and desire to help the people of his adopted planet, the only reason he does it is because Jor-El tells him to. During most of Man of Steel, has Clark wandering aimlessly and listening to others tell him he's Jesus without saying much or showing any personality.
2. There's a lot to talk about Superman's relationship with humanity, but Superman never shows any real interest in humanity.
3. In Man of Steel, Superman is treated as a Jesus allegory with a lot of extremely heavy-handed Christian symbolism. Some very obvious examples include:
   • Superman turns himself over to Zod to save humanity, before doing so he talks with a priest while sitting behind a clearly visible mural of Jesus.
   • He undergoes torment while imprisoned and is tempted by a vision (which is the least tempting temptation in history).
   • He makes a cross pose when he escapes from the ship.
   • Superman reveals himself to the military by slowly floating with a beam of sunlight behind him.
4. Superman doesn't even bother to prevent any destruction and in fact, causes more himself. (Though, to be fair, this is due to his inexperience at being a hero at this point, considering the more realistic take on the character that Man of Steel was going for)
5. As a young boy, we see being treated like an outcast and a freak at the hands of his bullies, along with the trucker, Ludlow according to his father, Jor-El and it shows.
6. The CGI on his upper lip in the theatrical cut of Justice League is rushed and laughably bad.
7. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he has only 43 lines of dialogue!
8. Speaking of said film, he was even more flanderized than he was in Man of Steel, where rather than being the iconic symbol of justice that gives people hope, Superman is an eternally depressed grump who almost never smiles: even when he's saving people or having blatant Jesus symbolism foisted on him, he still looks depressed all the time.
   • In fact, this incarnation of Superman can be compared to Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi very easily; both were iconic heroes who were flanderized from being optimistic, yet still heroic to being grumpy and showing negativity all the time. The only difference is that Superman was always a young man, and Luke Skywalker is older in their respective cases.
9. Superman dies in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and that was even only the second film in the franchise! His death is even more pointless because he was resurrected in Justice League (both the theatrical cut and the Zack Snyder cut).
10. His appearances in Shazam and Peacemaker are only stand-ins where his face isn't shown and not portrayed by Henry Cavill.

Super Qualities

1. He was a much better character before the DCEU and redeemed himself after the DCEU.
   • Furthermore, He became more likable on Justice League, having better development and more personality.
2. This version of Superman looks similar to the New 52 version of Superman.
3. His suit has a very realistic look which is mythical, gorgeous well designed and a masterpiece, especially the first one from Man of Steel along with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League, and it's own director's cut as well.
4. Despite everyone getting so upset over the infamous Zod-neck-snapping scene, it's actually a very emotional moment and it shows that's he going to have to make some tough choices, considering Superman wasn't looking forward to finishing off the other survivor of Krypton's destruction.
5. He made a surprise cameo in Black Adam, where he confronts Adam and suggests that they should talk.
6. Henry Cavill portrays this version super well alongside with Dylan Sprayberry playing the younger version.
   • But, he did get a more prominent role in Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League. But, his suit is just a black redeco of his 2016 suit. However, he redeem himself in the film where he became more in-line with his comic book counterpart.

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