Ahead of Superman's release in theaters last month, James Gunn described the movie's lead as "the story of America." He then elaborated on that point, saying, "An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost."
The filmmaker's comments were taken out of context and quickly weaponised against the DCU reboot (even FOX News and newly minted ICE agent Dean Cain got in on the action).
Talking to Josh Horowitz about Wednesday season 2, Smallville creators and showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar confirmed that they've yet to watch Superman. However, they're fully in agreement with Gunn and likened his vision to an early episode of the popular DC TV series, where they too faced pushback for exploring Clark Kent's immigrant status.
Miles Millar: It's also interesting, we always saw Superman as a great allegory for immigration, that he was the ultimate illegal alien. The fact that James said, and it's so controversial, was sort of like...I couldn't believe, I was like, 'That's so embedded in what it is.'
Al Gough: We did an episode in season 6 with, where we sort of talked about it directly. Clark finds a boy who's working on one of the farms. I remember, at the time, thinking, [because] this is, again, 2006, the network was like, 'I don't know...this feels a little political for the show,' and we're like, 'It's literally the Superman story [laughs,] what do you want?'
Miles Millar: The fact that it's still [this] controversial idea...that's [what] is so great about the Superman story, that I think that's why its legacy has been so powerful. It really speaks to what the American dream is, and all those sort of elements of Americana.
Superman being an immigrant to America from the planet Krypton has been a huge part of the character's story since he was introduced in 1938. However, when immigration is such a hotbed topic, it's hardly surprising that the usual suspects tried tearing down Gunn's vision for the hero.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Millar and Gough reflected on working on Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, revealing the studio wanted more scenes with Peter Parker talking without his mask on. They also considered introducing Black Cat in the sequel, only to decide that she was one character too many.
There was talk of the anti-hero appearing in Spider-Man 4, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would later introduce Felicity Jones as "Felicia." That never went anywhere, and neither did plans for a Silver Sable/Black Cat team-up movie, Silver & Black.
You can hear more from the duo on Smallville, Superman, and Spider-Man 2 in the player below: