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Jon Bogdanove, co-creator of Steel and the longtime artist on Superman: The Man of Steel, thinks the most controversial plot point in James Gunn’s Superman was a great idea that “[corrects] a major retrofit to canon” established by 1978’s Superman: The Movie.

That film, which remains such a key touchstone that it defines Superman for many casual fans, played fast and loose with some elements of the comic book canon. One significant piece was establishing Jor-El — Superman’s Kryptonian father — as a key figure in the hero’s development.

James Gunn’s take on Jor-El flies in the face of that, with the Kryptonian patriarch suggesting that his son ought to sire as many children as he can, and subjugate Earth to his will to establish a new Krypton. Some wonder whether the story will be retconned out of future Superman movies, but for now, it’s the official backstory of Gunn’s DC Universe.

In Superman: The Movie, Marlon Brando was paid a princely sum of money to play Jor-El, and so it’s no surprise that producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind wanted to use him as much as they could. The result? A white-clad heavenly father who sent his only son to…well, you get it.

Bogdanove, posting to The Death and Return of Superman group on Facebook, says the change weakened Superman as a protagonist. Here’s his take:

Supremacist Conqueror Lara and Jor-El—whether or not that interpretation remains canon—edifies the key themes of Superman by correcting a major retrofit to canon committed by the Salkinds.

As Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created him, the only parents Superman ever knew were The Kents. In the comics, Superman never met his biological parents (barring some weird, time-travel stories of the silly Silver Age and an “Imaginary Tale” or two). He never received any mission from his outer-space bio-parents—neither to be a heavenly savior nor a supremacist conqueror. He chose his mission himself, as a naturalized Earthman, without thought or reference to Krypton. He was an active protagonist who chose his own path.

It was The Salkinds, in 1978’s Superman: The Movie who added the recorded message from Jor-El/God. They had an extremely expensive major star in Marlon Brando, whom they wanted to make the most of, and so they decided to impose the whole Jesus metaphor. It was a fine idea for marketing to a Christian audience, but it weakened the main character—Superman himself—by making him a passive protagonist.

Instead of choosing his own mission, based on the dictates of his own heart, Superman became a pawn on an errand for a Heavenly father he never even knew. He spends years in the Fortress—off-screen—being indoctrinated by Marlon’s hologram, and emerges a completely different man—literally. We never get to see the emotional journey that transforms him—which not only violated basic “hero’s Journey” story-structure, but gave us a Superman that people couldn’t relate to the way they relate to say, Batman, or Spider-Man or any Marvel hero, actually.

This was the start of the “Superman as a misunderstood alien God” interpretation of Superman that made Superman “unrelatable”. It took him from being DC’s flagship character and all-time best-selling hero, to being a stolid back-bencher, with sales as low as 5,000 copies/month by the time John Byrne and Mike Carlin took over the books in 1987.

By destroying the God-sending-his-only-son-to-be-Earth’s-Savior trope, James Gunn not only brought Superman back to his roots and made him an active protagonist again, he also corrected a sacreligious appropriation of the Bible story.

Mike Carlin, the longtime Superman group editor referenced in Bodganove’s post, chimed in as well, taking a swipe at Jonathan Kent’s characterization in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

“And made us people of Earth (embodied by the Kents) an important part of Superman’s make-up and mission,” Carlin posted. “No matter what Jor-El and Lara’s stated mission is, evil of benevolent, nothing is changed about their essential contribution to Superman— which only NEEDS to be DNA/Genetic composition. What makes Superman good is the Kent’s’ contribution— his humanity. Contrary to what Kevin (Pa Kent) Costner would have young Clark Kent (and audiences) believe.”

Earlier today, DC Studios co-chief and Superman director James Gunn officially announced a Superman sequel — tentatively titled Man of Tomorrow — will release in 2027.

Supergirl is set for release on June 26, 2026 in theaters, followed by Clayface on September 11. After Man of Tomorrow‘s July 2027 release, Reeves’s The Batman Part II will finally roll out on October 1.