A former Superman is throwing some culture war kryptonite at James Gunn‘s new film.
Dean Cain — who played the iconic superhero in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman — took issue with Gunn’s recent comments (below) suggesting that his new Superman is an allegory for immigration about “about politics.” The film has also reportedly used the phrase “truth, justice and the human way” in product marketing instead of the Superman’s best-known motto of fighting for “truth, justice and the American way.”
Related Stories Superman, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. (left), David Corenswet as Superman (center), Maria Gabriela de Faria as The Engineer (right), 2025. MOVIES 'Superman': What the Critics Are Saying Sarah Jessica Parker defends eating condom
Speaking to TMZ, Cain pointed out Fox News host Jesse Watters’ joke that Superman’s cape should now have on it “MS-13” — the name of a Salvadoran gang that’s designated as a foreign terrorist organization — and that the host makes “great political points.”
“How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?” Cain asked. “How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters to exist for the times?”
Continued Cain: “For Superman, it was ‘truth, justice in the American way.’ Well, they dropped that … I don’t think is a great idea. I think if you want to create a new character, go ahead and do that. But for me, Superman has always stood for ‘truth, justice, and the American way’ — and the American way is tremendously immigrant friendly. But there are rules. You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America because I wanted to be more like Somalia.’ Well, that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here — so it doesn’t make any sense. If people are coming for economic opportunity, let’s take a look at your government and why you don’t have that economic opportunity … And there have to be limits, because we can’t have everybody here in the United States … our society will will fail.” Cain reportedly added that Gunn’s comments weren’t necessary because, “We know Superman is an immigrant — he’s a freaking alien.”