To save their child from the impending destruction of Krypton, Jor-El and Lara send their infant son to Earth. There, he’s raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent and grows up to become Superman. This is one of the most well-known origin stories in comics, but James Gunn added a wrinkle to that classic tale in his recently released Superman movie. We’ll be getting into some SPOILERS here, so consider yourself warned.
In the movie, Kal-El finds comfort in a loving message from Jor-El and Lara, but part of the message is corrupted until Lex Luthor decodes it. It’s revealed that Jor-El and Lara have urged their son to take as many wives as possible to restore the Kryptonian race and to conquer Earth if needed. While this has been explored in the comics on a few occasions, it is a big departure from what we know. While speaking with IGN, Gunn spoke about the change to Superman’s origin.
“I’m a huge Superman fan, so first of all I had to trust myself that I was going to honor the pieces of Superman that we needed to keep the same,” Gunn said. “And also allow myself to make changes where changes might work and wouldn’t go against the integrity of who the character is.“
Gunn continued, “And so I think that was […] simply dealing with allowing ourselves to change part of the story in a way that was interesting for the DCU, but that wasn’t [something] that went against who Superman was. And has been something that’s been played with in the comics before.“
At the end of the film, Superman views footage of his Earth parents instead. Will this change have ramifications for future DCU stories, or was it simply a way to help Superman embrace his humanity? I suppose we’ll find out.
Superman is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out the (very different) reviews from our own Chris Bumbray and Tyler Nichols, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the film as well!
What did you think of the change to Superman’s origin?
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