Why does Superman keep getting turned into a dictator?
Superbad
This week, Sam Barsanti weighed in on Injustice 2, the latest DC Comics fighting game from Mortal Kombat creators NetherRealm Studios. These games come packed with a relatively elaborate story mode, and the original established a plot that involves Superman turning into a ruthless, murder happy monster in the name of “good” and Batman as the leader of his opposition. But RobertPostsChild thought the roles should maybe be reversed:
Is it weird to anyone else that Superman is the fascist dictator and not Batman? Like, if you were gonna put money on which of the two would eventually lose it and decide they had to rule the entire world, it’s probably the mentally unbalanced control freak who plans how to murder his friends in his spare time.
This kicked off a really great discussion about Superman’s character and its malleability over the years. First off, let’s get a little more context for the Injustice storyline from jmar:
I think it’s less to do with simply that Superman went into dictator mode after experiencing a tragedy and more what he does as a result of that tragedy and how that changes his thinking on things.
So, the bad shit happens and Superman is essentially tricked into killing his wife by the Joker. Superman kills the Joker in retribution. Fine, makes sense. Even though Batman didn’t want Superman to kill the Joker, he pretty much gets it. It’s not at that point that dividing lines are drawn.
But then, logically, if you’re Superman, your power is so immense that you COULD stop almost all tragedies from occurring if you so choose. Superman suffers a tragedy and the way he feels causes him to kill the Joker. So, the next time he sees a villain or criminal kill someone, what’s the right thing to do? He only kills when it personally affects him? That doesn’t really hold as a philosophy either. Or he could start killing these bad guys and ensuring that good people are not constantly getting blown up.
This is a view that ultimately most of the heroes come around to, save Batman who sticks to his no-kill rule. Wonder Woman, Aquaman (both of whom have shown on several occasions they’re not really opposed to killing), Flash, and Green Lantern all agree with Superman that his new approach is better and leads to more peace.
Superman continues to cross the “kill” line, including killing Darkseid’s son by crushing his skull when he threatens the Earth. He eventually takes over the protection of the Earth with his Regime, which is fascist in a sense but ultimately the idea isn’t “I’m the best, fuck all of you,” it’s “If you are a criminal I’m going to kill you so we can all live in peace.”
It’s not till years later that he kills heroes, and it’s because in his mind they are threatening the stability and peace that he has brought about.