James Gunn stands by his decision to tweak the well-known origin story involving Superman and his parents in his Superman movie. The first entry in Gunn’s new DC Universe introduced a new iteration of the Man of Steel, played by David Corenswet. The movie was a hit with both critics, with a “Certified Fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score, and audiences, earning $615 million worldwide.

The movie takes place three years after Corenswet’s Superman reveals himself to the world, meaning he already has established relationships with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and other characters, including the Justice Gang (Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl). While not an origin story in the traditional story, Gunn did make a significant tweak to Superman’s lore.

As we learn over the course of the movie, Superman’s parents, Jor-El and Lara (Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan), did not send him to Earth to be its protector, but to rule over humanity. Superman wasn’t aware of this because the message was damaged during his travels to Earth, but Lex Luthor discovers it and shares it with the world to get them to turn on Superman; Mr. Terrific ᴀssures Superman that the recording is not a fake despite Lex’s involvement.

This became a key inflection point for Superman’s arc, but it was also a point of dispute among some fans. Traditionally, Superman’s parents urge their son to bring out the best in humanity. Gunn, in director’s commentary available for Superman on iTunes, explained why he made this change:

“So the question is what can you add to the mythos that’s a little bit different that doesn’t really essentially, in any way change who the character is, and although you know Clark’s parents usually in the comics are benevolent, that isn’t always the case. It hasn’t always been the case. There have been stories in which, even in canon, that that hasn’t been the case, and Jor-El is not always treated as a benevolent character.”

“They’re benevolent to their son. They love their son obviously, but they aren’t necessarily benevolent in the way they think about human beings. They think of human beings as less than in this version. So that was the thing that was the twist. I think it works. It is not something that’s going to be retrofitted in the future. It is the fact of Superman’s life. He was sent by his parents to Earth to save him primarily, but also they hoped he would continue the Kryptonian heritage and sort of take over Earth as its ruler, and that isn’t who Superman thinks of himself as being at all.”

What This Means For Superman Moving Forward

As Gunn said, this characterization of Superman’s parents isn’t going to be retrofitted. In his DC Universe, this is Superman’s origin.

However, as we see in the movie, Superman makes the choice to ignore his parents’ desire for him to rule and proclaims that he is as human as anyone as he attempts to do what he can to make the best choices.

What will be interesting is to see if, and how, this new backstory impacts Superman in the upcoming sequel, Man of Tomorrow, or even his cousin, Kara (Milly Alcock), in her own movie, Supergirl.

Our Take On James Gunn’s Superman Retcon

I agree with Gunn completely on this. We all know Superman’s origin story so well, it was refreshing to have a new angle to it, and it gave the character an added layer that hasn’t been explored in past iterations.

Gunn still gave Superman a hopeful ethos in this version, which is now, arguably, even more powerful. He wasn’t told by his parents to protect humanity, he is doing it because he believes in them.