"You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders."
Yeahhhh... not exactly what Kal-El's Kryptonian parents had in mind for their son when they sent him to Earth in James Gunn's Superman.
The movie begins with the Man of Steel suffering his first ever defeat at the hands of the Hammer of Boravia. When Krypto drags the hero to the Fortress of Solitude to be healed by the sun, the Caretaker Robots play the message his Kryptonian parents Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Von (Angela Sarafyan) sent their son to Earth with. We then learn that the second half of the message was damaged in the crash.
Later on, Lex Luthor gains entry to the Fortress and The Engineer manages to decipher the corrupted part of the message. It turns out that Clark Kent's biological parents actually sent him to Earth as a conqueror, and specifically chose the planet because its people are weak and will be easily dominated. There's also the implication that Kal-El should impregnate as many of Earth's women as possible in order to restart the Kryptonian race.
Luthor uses this information to turn the public against Superman, who is initially under the impression that the message must be fake - as are we. But no, in the DCU, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Von are more like the Viltrumites from Invincible than the heroic figures that are generally depicted in the comics and all previous adaptations of Superman's origin.
Though this change to the lore does work well for this story and Superman's arc, it's certain to be controversial, and we can see it emerging as the most divisive aspect of the movie.
Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
The cast also Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."