So far, so good, right? Well, it turns out that Superman\u2019s parents didn\u2019t really have the best intentions in mind for Earth. Superman\u2019s nemesis Lex Luthor later exposes the missing portion of Jor-El and Lara\u2019s message, revealing a sinister, imperialist plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jor-El tells his son, \u201cThe people there (Earth) are simple and profoundly confused, weak of mind and spirit and body.\u201d So Jor-El commands Superman to \u201clord over the planet as the last son of Krypton\u201d and to \u201crule without mercy\u201d. Lara twists the knife with this <\/em>spectacular advice: \u201cDispatch of anyone unable or unwilling to serve you, Kal-El. Take as many wives as you can so your genes and Krypton\u2019s might and legacy will live on in this new frontier.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, Clark and the denizens of Earth don’t receive this message so well. So, a distraught Clark turns to his adoptive human father, Jonathan Kent, for advice. Jonathan, in a tenderhearted tone that reflects his down-to-earth wisdom, tells his son that \u201cparents aren\u2019t for telling their children who they\u2019re supposed to be\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can already see how Superman<\/em> (2025) changes Clark\u2019s Christian origins somewhat radically. Instead of godlike, benevolent parental figures, Clark\u2019s Kryptonian parents are chauvinistic and authoritarian. Clark\u2019s messianic mission is nothing more than an imperialist plot. And we learn that not only should Clark\u2019s biological parents be rejected as moral guides, but actually no <\/em>parent should tell their children who they\u2019re supposed to be (including divine parents?). It\u2019s not hard to see how these are all significant departures from the Superman of previous films.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Superman turns more humanist as Jonathan Kent reveals more of his philosophy of identity. Jonathan says, \u201cYour choices, Clark. Your actions. That\u2019s what makes you who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students of existentialism will recognize this message very quickly. It is the classic existentialist motto, \u201cexistence precedes essence\u201d. Existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre taught that the fact that <\/em>you exist (existence) comes before facts about what <\/em>you are (essence). In other words, you start off in the world as an existing thing, but we have no idea what kind of thing or person you are. Why? Because it is your<\/em> own<\/em> choices<\/em> that define what or who you are. Until you start making your own choices and defining who you are for yourself, you are a blank slate, and your essence is indeterminate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his book Existentialism is a Humanism<\/em>, Sartre explains his philosophy in detail. He writes, \u201cWhat do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? (…) If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This view sharply diverges from traditional philosophy, which holds that essence precedes existence. For example, there is such a thing as a universal \u201chuman nature\u201d which human beings participate in or take on when they are conceived. But Sartre writes, \u201cthere is no human nature, because there is no God to have a conception of it\u201d. Beyond rejecting traditional philosophy, this statement illuminates the atheistic element of Sartre\u2019s existentialism. It also closely relates to Superman\u2019s origins in Superman <\/em>(2025). <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we saw, in stark contrast to the previous Superman films, Superman does not have benevolent, quasi-divine parents to define his identity and mission for him. His parents, like all forms of \u201corganized religion\u201d, turn out to be moral frauds, and Clark must cast their teachings aside. Since he has no guide (like Sartre has no God)<\/em>, Clark must figure out the meaning of life for himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As Clark himself declares to his nemesis Lex Luthor at the climax of the movie, \u201cI\u2019m as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time. But that is being human. And that\u2019s my greatest strength.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe nobody created Superman\u2019s new origin story with an anti-religion or anti-theist agenda. But it\u2019s still telling that Superman<\/em> (2025) not only replaces Superman\u2019s Christian origins and mission, but conspicuously and intentionally subverts them.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Superman (2025) subverts Superman’s Christian origins and turns the superhero into an existentialist figure rather than a Christ figure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[90,92,91,19,8,93,85,86],"class_list":["post-3912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","tag-christ","tag-existentialism","tag-james-gunn","tag-movie-review","tag-movies","tag-philosophy","tag-superman","tag-superman2025"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artandthekingdom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Kryptonian-Message-from-Superman-Parents-1024x683.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMessage Denied<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artandthekingdom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/95596c371c28c978ea1959ff28042bc1.avif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSartre’s Superman<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artandthekingdom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hq720.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nKryptonian Enlightenment <\/h2>\n\n\n\n