Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

“Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” When Alan Moore wrote those words in 1986, I can’t help but wonder if he knew just how much people like me might be asking that question here in the present day. 

Cartoons and comic books are two of my favorite things in the whole world. I grew up with stories full of action, adventure and the occasional laughs from my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. But as I write this, there is one character who comes to mind. He is my favorite superhero. He is the embodiment of optimism and altruism. He is… Superman. 

Oh, brother. I can hear the comments now—“Superman? Seriously?” “Superman is boring!” “He’s too powerful!” “He’s outdated!” And that’s OK. You can dislike him all you want. We’re allowed to have different opinions. I’m just kindly asking (and hoping) that you read this with an open mind. 

Superman is my favorite comic book character. I have a poster of him in my dorm and several comic book collections on my shelf. The 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve is my fourth favorite film, and the upcoming James Gunn-directed reboot is the film that I am looking the most forward to seeing next year. 

Last semester, I wanted to start a Superman fan club at TMU. I thought it would be fun to discuss the character and maybe watch some of the movies or cartoons the occasional night, but such a club never came to fruition. Why, you might ask? Because nearly everyone I told gave me more or less the same responses: “I don’t really like Superman” or “He’s too powerful.” 

This bothered me. It really did. But it’s true. Many people today just don’t like Superman, which is, frankly, surprising, because he was the bestselling character in American comics from his debut in Action Comic 1 (1938) until the 1980s. He and Mickey Mouse were arguably the two most popular and widely merchandised characters at the time. His first two movies (starring Christopher Reeve) and his 1950s television show were huge successes. But then something changed. 

Starting in the ’70s, readers and audiences started to get bored with a character who was seemingly “too nice” and “too good” of a person to be compelling, which is why other DC characters like Batman started to become more popular. Superman became dead in the water. I have nothing against Batman. I love him too, but Superman’s popularity is not even half of what it used to be! 

Comic book runs like The New 52, and films like “Man of Steel” tried to modernize the character and revamp him to make him more “relevant” for today’s audiences, but they didn’t work because they changed the core attributes of Superman. He is wholesome, optimistic, altruistic and considerate, but the stories I listed remove Superman of those elements, which is why they fail as Superman stories. Despite being an alien, Superman’s character trait is not being an outsider. That is the story of characters like Starfire. Clark Kent spent almost his entire life on Earth, raised by two kind farmers from Kansas. Despite being an alien, he is the most down-to-earth person on the planet. He is meant to show how a little love and kindness go a long way. This is why he doesn’t kill his enemies. He cares about everyone and believes that everyone deserves a chance of redemption. He is the embodiment of the command to love our neighbor. 

It saddens me when people say a character as optimistic and kind as Superman is outdated. Why is it outdated for a character to have good morals? People say that he’s outdated now, but really, he was outdated back then, too! He was created during the Great Depression. People in those days had grown cynical, doubting that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel, but Superman swooped in faster than a speeding bullet and made them smile through his altruistic acts and optimistic persona. Marvel Studios proved that a seemingly outdated/goody-two-shoes character like Captain America can still work in the modern-day world. If he can still be relevant, then why not Superman? 

Superman is very powerful. There’s no denying it. But to me, I don’t think he’s any more powerful than characters like Wanda Maximoff or Goku. Superman has plenty of weaknesses besides kryptonite (radioactive minerals from his destroyed home planet), including magic, lead, mind control, red sunlight and being deprived of our yellow sun for too long (as that is the source of his powers). But even then, Superman stories are not about whether or not he’ll save the day or stop the bad guy. The best Superman stories are about the little things, like comforting a young woman and talking her out of suicide, and taking time out of his day to take a class of terminally ill children on a trip to the moon. 

If you have mixed feelings about Superman or doubt that he’s a great, compelling character, then I highly recommend watching the original 1978 Superman film, the animated “My Adventures with Superman” TV show, the comic book  “Superman: For All Seasons,” or the 1990s Superman: The Animated Series episodes “The Late Mr. Kent” and “Mxyzpixilated” (trying to say that five times fast, or once for that matter). 

To repeat, I love Superman. In this day and age, I think characters like him are what movie screens need—characters that strictly adhere to wholesome, biblical values. This is why I am practically bouncing off the walls for James Gunn’s new 2025 film. Hopefully, this upcoming film will reignite Superman for the general audience and remind them of the importance of truth, justice and the American way. 

“Superman” flies into theaters on July 11, 2025.