Thread by @ClarkJoeDCEU

It’s a new Monday, so time for a new entry to the #BatmanvSuperman references to the DC lore series. Today is all about the Superman was Never Real scene. And mostly it is me dissecting thoroughly just one (but big) homage in the 🧵 below! #RestoreTheSnyderVerse #BvSMondayMood

Just to warm up, first we get a shot of Superman next to the Washington Monument. There have been several comics with Superman in Washington (and next to this monument), but I really like this cover from Action Comics #679 as a reference.

We also get Superman saying he didn’t see the bomb, and this is similar to a dialogue Superman has in Final Crisis #3 between Clark and Jimmy Olsen. Given Zack Snyder’s love for Grant Morrison stuff (and Final Crisis) this might not be a coincidence.

And now onto the big homage (with a long deep dive in the following tweets) in the dialogue between Superman and Lois. Superman is implicitly asking the question must there be a Superman. And the answer he has at that moment is probably not.

I’m not the first one to find this one, but this type of dialogue resembles quite closely a talk between Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy in Superman: Grounded (specifically from Superman #713).

I found this homage/reference so interesting, but not because of how similar they are, but because these stories are going to take a vastly different approach into turning that no answer into a yes in response to the question “Must there be a Superman?”.

In the comic (Grounded), after Superman talks to Kara and Conner he goes as Clark into a coffee shop to write the story of why it is better if there is no Superman. In there, he meets with a huge Superman fan who is going to explain to him why he doesn’t understand Superman.

In order to show Clark (and Superman) why he’s wrong about Superman, they are going to go around talking to people on the ground. Every little story is about how these people were positively affected by Superman and love him unconditionally.

It’s a hopeful story of an imaginary world, where everyone loves Superman. How can’t you love Superman. Superman wouldn’t kill anyone. Even in the comic there is a story about saving a cat out of a rooftop (not a tree but almost).

Even in the final fight where Superman realizes they might destroy a city a convenient portal opens up taking the fight elsewhere. Even when he almost kills (accidentally) Lisa Jennings the magical portal is right there at the last minute to take her to the hospital and save her.

Reading the last two issues of Superman: Grounded made me remember of that video about living in a dreamworld. Nothing seemed very realistic in the story (which is completely fine since that is the story they wanted to tell).

This is very much different from the story being told in #BatmanvSuperman. The movie is about Superman in our very real world. And realistically there would be consequences of him just existing our world.

There would be lots of people hating him (either because they think he didn’t save them on purpose or didn’t save a family member). Our world is super polarized on everything, imaging the polarization regarding the most powerful being on Earth.

And this is exactly what Clark is feeling in this scene. Overwhelmed, depressed, when trying to do good he is either deified or vilified. On top of that, everywhere he goes death seems to follow. He doubts if this is what he should be doing. Maybe Superman was never real.

And while in Grounded the resolution of these doubts if for him to be meeting random people that love him unconditionally, this is not the story in the movie. Even with Lois suggests that he is all that some people have, that is not going to help him going back to Superman.

Personally, I think this also relates to the real world. Hardly ever the solution for self-doubt/anxiety is looking for people that are going to judge you in a good way (because you can easily find the opposite people too).

But rather a good way of working on it, is with self-reflection, trying to remove yourself from that situation. Being happy for who you are, trying to stop thinking about other people (which is very hard). Find something/someone that grounds you.

Lois is about to become that someone for Clark just as Martha was for Jonathan. He’s about to find out that she’s his world, and that will help him overcome his nightmares. For him to find the yes answer to the question “Must there be a Superman?”.

For me this is such a powerful scene! Every time I watch it, I get emotional. Even for Superman, things are not easy, he feels he does not belong. He has questions about his role in the world, a very complicated world. Such a human moment! #RestoreTheSnyderVerse

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