Warning! Major spoilers ahead for James Gunn’s Superman; article also contains spoilersThe BoysandInvinciblecomics.
To the surprise of many comic fans, several critical plot points in James Gunn’sSupermanparallel iconic elements of bothThe BoysandInvinciblecomics…but rather than cause for criticism, this might be the movie’s smartest creative choice. After years of Superman being paid homage to, parodied, and used as an archetype, Gunn’s film brings things full circle.
In the week sinceSuperman’srelease, the movie has been critically and commercially lauded, with comic fans in particular praising Gunn and his team for inaugurating an exciting new era of cinematicSupermanadventures.
Yet some have rightly pointed out thatthe movie’s biggest twists were notinfluenced bySupermanstories, but ratherThe BoysandInvincible.
Superman’s Ultraman Twist Has Its Roots In The Comic Version Of “The Boys”
Ultraman’s Parallels To Black Noir, Explained
Let’s start with Ultraman. In Gunn’sSuperman, the powerful antagonist is revealed to be a clone of Superman, created by Lex Luthor to use as a weapon against the hero. This immediately struck a chord with fans of Garth Ennis’The Boys;near the end of that series,the character Black Noirwas unforgettably revealed to be a clone of Homelander.
More than just mirroring this plot point, Ultraman’s design inSupermanis also a clear visual nod to Black Noir. The similarities are especially notable because Amazon’sThe BoysTV adaptation, which is currently gearing up for its final season,deliberately moved away from the Homelander/Noir clone twist, departing from the comic source material and crafting its own ending.
With that in mind, it seems that James Gunn adopted the twist for his take on the Man of Steel, who, of course, serves as the model for Homelander, an infamously dark take on the Superman hero archetype. Gunn’s version of the plot plays out differently, but it is hard to argue thatThe Boyswasn’t an influence on the film version.
As the saying goes, “greatness borrows, genius steals,” and inSuperman, James Gunn does a bit of both.
It should also be noted that precedent does exist in DC Comics for Ultraman as a version of Superman, but the specific “clone” story beat is indebted to Ennis. Still, this shouldn’t rub fans the wrong way. As the saying goes, “greatness borrows, genius steals,” and inSuperman, James Gunn does a bit of both.
Superman’s Revelation About The Man Of Steel’s Parents Mirrors The Big Twist In “Invincible”
Jor-El And Omni-Man’s Overlap, Explained
The other significant parallel that astute comic readers noticed in James Gunn’sSupermaninvolves the reveal about the hero’s parents. In the film, a pivotal moment comes when Superman’s message from Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van is translated to indicate that they want him to conquer Earth, rather than protect it.
The Boys
This evokes the major twist early in Robert Kirkman’sInvincible, in whichMark Grayson’s father, Omni-Man, turns out to be an advance agent for the alien conquerors known as the Viltrumites. Invincible’s first major test as a hero is his refusal to join his father and the Viltrumites and betray his Earth heritage.
James Gunn’sSupermansets up a similar conflict for the new cinematic Man of Steel in a future film or TV series. Again, this story beat isn’t entirely without its precedents in the near-century ofSupermanlore, which has at times played with the idea of a less-than-altruistic version of Jor-El. Still, the connection toInvincibleis hard to ignore.
Invincible
Once again, though, it stands out because Omni-Man and Invincible themselves, as heroes,are modeled after Superman. In other words,if the maxim is “greatness borrows, genius steals,” creative geniuses Robert Kirkman and Garth Ennis already “stole” liberally from Supermanto create their characters; James Gunn is just returning the favor.
Why Incorporating Elements Of “The Boys” And “Invincible” Was A Smart Move On James Gunn’s Part
The Vast Legacy OfSuperman
James Gunn’sSupermanhas largely managed to satisfy comic book fans' rigorous expectations for the movie, with these plot points mirroringThe BoysandInvinciblestanding out asone of the few points of contentionin the immediate aftermath of its release. Arguably, though, this shouldn’t be a knock against the film, because it is part of a larger storytelling tradition.
Gunn’s remixing and recontextualizing of familiar plot beats fromThe BoysandInvincibleultimately serves a creative purpose beyond simply adding action and drama to the film.
That is, all superhero stories “borrow” and “steal” from one another. In a way, James Gunn’sSupermanserves as a synthesis of ninety years ofSupermanhistory. Importantly, that history extends beyond the page, and includes the character’s cultural influence, including his impact on the superhero genre, which has in many ways been defined by the Man of Steel.
So, incorporating elements from popular superhero stories that, in turn, took cues from Superman, is a smart way of reasserting the character’s central importance to the genre. Gunn’s remixing and recontextualizing of familiar plot beats fromThe BoysandInvincibleultimately serves a creative purpose beyond simply adding action and drama to the film.
In this sense,Gunn’sSupermanpays homage toThe BoysandInvincible, by highlighting their contributions to theSupermanmythos from the outside, even if it came in the form of parody, or subversion of tropes. TheSuperman-esque characters from those franchises are still apart of the DC hero’s legacy, and Gunn’s film capitalizes on that.
