Godawa on Superman Returns

“Superman Returns, written by Dan Harris and Jerry Siegel, returns to the comic hero’s religious mythology. Superman is likened to deity throughout the film The recurring thematic phrases ‘I have sent you my only son’ and ‘The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son’ refer to Superman’s metaphorical link with his father, Jor-El (an obvious derivation of a name of God in Hebrew: El). While not exactly orthodoxy Christian doctrine, this relational incarnation is certainly derived from Jesus’ own words, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son’ (Jn 3:16), and ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father’ (Jn 14:9).

“A bad guy compares Superman to Prometheus and the gods, and ultimate bad guy Lex Luther responds jealously, ‘The gods are selfish beings, who don’t share their powers with mankind,’ thus expressing the spiritual hubris similar to the original sin in the Garden. In response to Lois Lane’s claim that ‘the world doesn’t need a savior and neither do I,’ Superman flies her up into the stratosphere, where we hear the prayer-like cacophony of billions of people in need of his saving powers ringing in his ears. Like an omniscient deity, Superman compassionately replies to Lois, ‘Every day I hear people crying for one,’” B. Godawa, Hollywood Worldviews (IVP, 2nd ed. 2009), 64-65.