DC ‘Action Comics’ Writer Mark Waid Rejects ‘Superman’ Immigration Outrage: “It’s Only An Issue Now Because Of The Desperate Efforts Of Conservative Media To Get Attention For Itself”
While many an ‘anti-woke culture warrior’ have taken exception to Superman director James Gunn’s recent assertion that the Last Son of Krypton’s immigrant status makes his story that much more American, current DC Action Comics writer Mark Waid says that not only is such outrage completely unfounded, but that its gravity is also being completely overblown by conservative-leaning media.
As previously reported, the fuse that led to this latest round of superhero-related discourse was first lit by Gunn himself during a recent Superman-centric interview given to UK-based news outlet The Times.
Asked whether he had given any thought to how the Man of Steel’s background as an undocumented-migrant-turned-eventual-US-citizen would play with audiences, especially given the Trump Administration’s current ‘cruel and unconstitutional’ approach to immigration enforcement, the DC Studios Co-CEO asserted, “I mean, Superman is the story of America.”
“An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost,” he added. “Yes, it plays differently [in red or blue states]. But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them.”
Following the interview’s publication, Gunn’s comments were quickly seized upon by conservative pundits, with personalities ranging from Ben Shapiro, to Piers Morgan, to former Superman actor Dean Cain pointing to them as objective proof that Superman would be liberal propaganda.
Fox News even went so far as to decry the film as ‘Superwoke’ for its “embracing” of “pro-immigrant themes”.
And while this outrage eventually drew a ‘no comment’ from Gunn, a stark rebuke from his brother and Maxwell Lord actor Sean Gunn, and the observation from Guy Gardner actor Nathan Fillion to that “somebody needs a hug“, it has now drawn an additional response from the aforementioned Waid.
The veteran comic book scribe, whose notable DC credits include The Flash Vol. 2, Young Justice Vol. 1, and the currently ongoing Batman/Superman: World’s Finest Vol. 1, offered his first public pushback against the above discourse via a July 11th post made to his personal Facebook page.
Sharing an image of Superman being arrested by ICE agents, as illustrated by an artist known only as ‘Thorne’, Waid wrote, “Please don’t listen to former actor Dean Cain and his attention-starved cohorts. Despite what conservative media wants you to believe, the message of the Superman movie is *not* ‘rah, rah, immigants!’ It’s ‘look at the amazing values, ethics, and morals someone not from here, no matter their native land, can learn from people who are good and kind Americans.’ How is that not the most patriotic message imaginable?”
Further insight into Waid’s opinion would then be provided by Forbes, who less than 20 mins later would publish an interview given to them by the New History of the DC Universe Vol. 1 writer earlier in the week on this very topic.
“If you haven’t noticed that he’s been an immigrant refugee for the past 87 years, I don’t know what to tell you,” said Waid. “There are no merits to that argument. It’s only an issue now because of the desperate efforts of conservative media to get attention for itself. The whole point of the movie is that a child came to America with nothing and no knowledge of how to act, and he learned what is good and noble and right by growing up here. How is that possibly anti-American?”
“Every day, Superman is learning to be a better human,” he continued. “I don’t see why that’s a political message. The point of the movie is that we need to be kinder to each other, and that kindness is a virtue. Bullies hate that because kindness takes their power away. It’s their kryptonite. Any hint of compassion or kindness is perceived as weakness and derided as ‘woke.’ And boy, that’s not just the message of Superman, but of every superhero that I’ve written, and every superhero I can think of.”
Drawing his thoughts to a close, Waid ultimately urged audiences to avoid trying to force real-world parallels onto Gunn’s Superman and instead engage with it on its own merits.
“Most superhero movies are about bringing superheroes into our world,” the writer opined. “In Superman, we’re stepping into his world. It’s a world of black and white [morality], where someone interfering in a war to save lives makes perfect sense in context. That’s the kind of thing the character was built for. And it doesn’t come across as corny in the film; it comes across as earnest. That’s a fine line, but they pulled it off.”
