Dean Cain, who played Superman from 1993 to 1997 on ABC’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” recently told TMZ (via Entertainment Weekly) that he’s wary about Hollywood making the Man of Steel “woke” in James Gunn‘s upcoming “Superman,” where David Corenswet takes over the title role. The movie has faced conservative backlash ever since Gunn told The Times of London that Superman is an “immigrant” and “the story of America.”
“How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?” Cain said. “How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters [to] exist for the times? For Superman, it was ‘truth, justice, and the American way.’ Well, they dropped that… They came up with ‘truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.’ Changing beloved characters I don’t think is a great idea. If you want to create a new character go ahead and do that.”
“Superman has always stood for ‘truth, justice and the American way,’ and the ‘American way’ is immigrant friendly, tremendously immigrant friendly,” Cain continued. “But there are rules. You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America, because I want it to be more like Somalia.’ Well that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here… There have to be limits, because we cant have everybody in the United States. We can’t have everybody, society will fail. So there have to be limits.”
When Gunn said that Superman is “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country,” MAGA supporters and conservative pundits were quick to react by saying they would skip the movie. Fox News branded the film “SuperWoke” as network host Jesse Watters wisecracked: “You know what it says on his cape? MS-13.”
“We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology onto us,” Kellyanne Conway added about the movie.
Cain told TMZ: “I think bringing Superman into it… I think that was a mistake by James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing, and I think it’s going to hurt the numbers on the movie. I was excited for the film. I am excited to see what it is… I’m rooting for it to be a success, but I don’t like that last political comment.”
Gunn was unbothered by the conservative backlash when talking to Variety at the “Superman” premiere in Los Angeles, saying he doesn’t have “anything to say to anybody” spreading negativity around “Superman” and adding: “I think this is a movie about kindness and I think that’s something everyone can relate to.”
Gunn’s brother, the actor Sean Gunn, who plays Maxwell Lord in the film, also weighed in: “My reaction to [the backlash] is that it is exactly what the movie is about. We support our people, you know? We love our immigrants. Yes, Superman is an immigrant, and yes, the people that we support in this country are immigrants and if you don’t like that, you’re not American. People who say no to immigrants are against the American way.”
“Superman” opens in theaters July 11 from Warner Bros.
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