Superman has long stood as one of the most iconic superheroes in pop culture. He symbolizes hope, strength, and the eternal struggle between human vulnerability and godlike power. Yet, every era reinvents the “Man of Steel” to reflect their own values and cinematic vision. Both Zack Snyder’s Superman and the newer James Gunn version of Superman are extremely popular, but who has the superior version of Superman?
In the newest version of Superman, James Gunn creates Superman out to be magnificent as a person. He refuses to kill and cares for the well being of the city, saving many lives, including wildlife. He even goes as far as risking his own life to save a squirrel during the movie. Whenever he fights villains, he tries to minimize damage, caring for the villains as well. For example, Superman wanted to help the Kaiju that Lex Luthor released onto Metropolis before Mr. Terrific and the Justice gang executed it. In the movie people think he is some alien, some god, but he is just as human as everyone else. Superman even went as far as to say, “I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that’s my greatest strength.”
The movie features a variety of famous characters like Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mr Terrific, Superman’s dog and sidekick, Krypto, and Metamorpho. It also features many famous villains like Ultraman and the Engineer, and finally, the main villain, Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor has done many evil deeds including kidnapping Superman’s dog, Krypto, made an evil clone of Superman, and started a war just to have an excuse to kill Superman. From this, one can conclude that Gunn’s version of the superhero ideal, Superman, focuses more on the people and friendships Superman creates along his journey in self discovery.
One of the things noticed is that Superman’s parents Jonathan and Martha Kent were more active later in the movie when Superman needed advice and comfort the most. The dad talk scene was one of the best moments of the movie. It showed that no matter what people say or what they might think if you are still a good person at heart then that’s all that matters. The music was phenomenal. It really just fills you with hope for some reason and it’s a beautiful feeling that so far no other movie song has made me feel like that in a long time.
Meanwhile, Zack Snyder’s iteration of Superman is more interesting. This iteration of Superman has a more realistic style to it suits, unlike the comic book style of James Gunn. In the movie you can see Superman’s home world and how it came to an end, which is something that James Gunn didn’t do. Unlike James Gunn, Zach Snyder’s Superman had a darker approach for many things. For example, there’s not many bright colors in the movie that are shown in the suits as well, unlike James Gunn’s more comic-accurate style. There’s also not as many characters within the movie except for the main villain, Zod. Zod is what most would consider ruthless. With his world engine destroying roughly 15 to 20% of Metropolis, it is safe to say that Zod will destroy anything in his path. Zach Snyder’s movie was more focused on Superman finding his kryptonian origins and coming to terms with it which is something that was not shown in James Gunn’s version. You could really tell this movie was more action packed than James Gunn’s Superman and more tense. But just like the fighting scenes, the music for “Man of steel” matches that as well, giving the audience a tense feeling during the fights which enhances the experiments as a whole. Zach Snyder is an amazing director, no doubt. With the fight choreography and suit designs, it is shown that he can be considered one of the best in his industry, but you could tell he didn’t really understand Superman the same way we do.
During the fight with Zod, Superman was careless and fought in a populated area instead of forcing Zod to fight in a more isolated area, resulting in many casualties. Zach Snyder said that over 5000 people were killed during the fight with Zod. Not only that, he was more stoic and stern, unlike James Gunn’s Superman. One of the biggest emotional scenes in the movie is when Superman killed Zod, and after Superman did so, he cried in despair for feeling that he had no choice but to kill Zod for there were innocent lives on the line. This marked his first kill, forcing him to confront the reality of his power, demonstrating his internal conflict as the sole survivor of his race. It is poetic in the way that he wanted to save his people, but he killed the only one who can bring them back.
If all things are taken into consideration with James Gunn’s masterpiece of a theme song, amazing script writing to Zach Snyder’s costume, designs, and fight choreography, you have to ask which one is better? Taking all that has been said into consideration, who do you think has the better iteration of the man of steel?
