Superman returns to theaters this week in what looks to be an action-packed extravaganza starring David Corenswet (“Pearl”) and directed by James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”). We get to see Superman spar with criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult, “Nosferatu”), battle kaiju-like monsters and super villains, and still have to show up to work like the rest of us.
However, there is one part of the movie in particular that has piqued the interest of viewers: Superman’s personal involvement in a war.
The movie’s official trailer shows the Man of Steel getting involved in a yet-to-be-named conflict, and then shows reporter Lois Lane grilling him over acting unilaterally.
This is a significant departure from other cinematic Supermen who tried to stay out of human wars and instead stuck to super villains and alien invaders (sometimes with the help of the U.S. Air Force).
The one exception was “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” where our guy decided to steal all the world’s nuclear weapons, put them in a big net, and hurl them into the sun… yeah, there’s a reason why that one bombed.
Still, Superman and the military do have a bit of a history, especially when we had to go and fight the war against the fascists. World War II was so big that the United States had to go all-in, in every conceivable way. Factories were retooled to make tanks and planes. There were drives for scrap metal and rubber. Americans had to ration food and gasoline. The movie industry began producing films for the War Department. Even comic book heroes got involved.
But long before America entered the World War II, a “Superman” comic strip titled “How Would Superman End The War?” showed Superman single-handedly beating the Nazis, Soviets, and Japanese and dragging Hitler and Stalin to the League of Nations. It was, of course, a nice fantasy that a superhero could prevent war.
In the real world, however, war did break out, and comic book heroes joined it (at least, on paper). While some superheroes went to the front lines, Superman’s writers had a problem: the character who was supposedly invincible could end the war in a flash. How could they nerf Superman so they could incorporate him into stories set in the real war without ending it?
Easy. By making Clark Kent flunk his Army eye exam (although you do wonder how Supes would have done with the hearing test we all had to take). Declared unfit for service and lambasted by Lois for not serving, Clark stayed home and so did the Man of Steel, but that didn’t mean he stayed out of action.
Instead, the comics had Superman taking on saboteurs and fifth columnists who might help the Nazis or Japanese. And he still took on supervillains to give kids an escape from the war, not to mention the GIs reading abroad, who probably wanted to be anywhere else but at war.
Of course, that wasn’t all Superman was used for. It turns out that while German propaganda was hailing themselves as supermen, DC was showing that a true Superman would not be a fascist. Comic covers and art showed Superman hanging with the troops, throttling Nazis, roughing up enemy leaders, and projecting to the American people that we were on the side of right.
READ: The German Reich was not happy with how Superman ended World War II
Of course, the side of right is subjective at times, even in World War II. Superman was used to explain the internment of the Japanese and justify the reasons for it. Not a great moment for this country or for the comics. And of course, there were comics of the day that dived into the prejudices of the time. Those things can’t be ignored, but Superman was also used to educate Americans that, despite the government internment, Japanese Americans were, in fact, patriotic.
Superman was not only painted on the sides of bombers and landing craft, but he was also used to raise money for the war through radio ads selling war stamps and war bonds (Ah, remember when politicians had to ask us for money to go to war?). Superman comics were so popular with the troops that the Navy Department declared them essential to the cause. The Navy even taught sailors and Marines how to read by breaking down words from Superman comics into syllables so they could be sounded out.
Lastly, there’s the story of an infantry officer looking over his men in a landing craft on D-Day. “When I saw one of our boys in our landing craft nonchalantly reading a copy of Superman, I knew everything would be all right.”
And that’s why we go to see Superman in the theaters. The idea that someone can solve all the world’s problems in an instant is a fantasy (one politicians love to sell as real). But, as we confront the ongoing troubles of the world, we can escape to a world where one person can make a difference and put our minds at ease.
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