WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Superman. Read at your own risk.
James Gunn’s Superman is finally here, and movie fans are showing up to the cinemas in droves. The film itself is a comic book brought to life, which is bound to please DC Comics fans and will prove to be an exciting cinematic outing for casual moviegoers. There’s a lot to love about the new Superman movie: gorgeous cinematography, a bright color palette, high-octane action, Lois and Clark’s romance, and a storyline that genuinely understands its characters and fully embraces the fantastical world of the DC Universe.
Interestingly, one story beat that’s quickly proving to be a major point of conversation is the mystery surrounding the Kryptonian message of Superman’s biological parents. There are many theories floating around, many of which have valid points. One recurring theory is that Lex Luthor altered the footage to create the narrative he wanted to help discredit Superman and later kill him. Another strong theory is that the message is legitimate, which could explain Kara’s drunken behavior and why Clark Kent later switches to seeing footage of his childhood with the Kents to soothe him. While fans are definitely enjoying thoughtful discussions, unfortunately, many are missing the message’s true narrative purpose.
Superman’s Kryptonian Parents’ Message Is Purposely Ambiguous
Throughout Superman, James Gunn presents two strong, plausible explanations for the Kryptonian message’s contents. The most likely explanation is that the footage is doctored, given Lex’s own motivations in the story. As revealed by Lois Lane’s reporting, Lex wants to purchase a foreign country to rule over without interference from Superman. To that end, Lex colludes with a foreign president to stage a conflict between two foreign countries in order to facilitate one country’s invasion of the other.
Once the invasion is complete, Lex can successfully rule over the invaded country, while the foreign president maintains control over his own. In order to get Superman out of his way, Lex has every reason to doctor the footage in order to create the narrative he wants that will easily discredit Superman to the public and justify killing him. The other reason to believe the footage is doctored is the fact that only one person in James Gunn’s DCU can realistically translate Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van’s message, and that is Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl.
Unlike Superman, Kara did grow up on Krypton and is old enough to remember its culture and language. No one else on Earth – not even Mr. Terrific – can speak a Kryptonian language, whether it’s Kandor or Argo City (where Kara is originally from). In fact, it’s established early on that Superman’s robots translate his parents’ Kryptonian message for him, indicating he himself doesn’t speak the language. Furthermore, there’s no way for Lex’s Engineer or Ultraman to know how to translate the message’s contents. This is especially true of Ultraman, who is revealed to be an imperfect clone of Superman in the movie. Furthermore, it wouldn’t take a day for Earth-based linguistics experts to decode an alien language.
Ironically, Kara herself may be the strongest evidence that Lex’s translation of the Kryptonian message may be true. This is largely hinted at by Kara’s drunken behavior when she returns to Earth at the end of the movie. Not only does Superman confirm that Kara has been traveling to planets orbiting red suns to get drunk, but learning about Krypton’s true purpose in sending both her and her cousin to Earth could shake her enough to drink. But this wouldn’t explain why Superman himself doesn’t know the message’s true contents if Supergirl herself knows. Additionally, Mr. Terrific would have the technology to identify altered footage, even if he himself can’t translate the language.
Which version of the message is true is up for fan debate. But it ultimately doesn’t matter, because the contents of the message isn’t the point – the message is all about Superman’s interpretation of it and what it says about him as a person, not his Kryptonian origins.
The Kryptonian Message Is All About Superman’s Interpretation of It
DC Studios
The biggest point that Superman makes about the Kryptonian message is that Clark Kent himself interpreted his parents’ message to mean he was sent to Earth to help its people, not conquer it. While the possibility of his parents being authoritarians who want him to rule over a planet populated by simple-minded people does shake him, it ultimately reminds him of his own values. After all, he only knows about the first part of the message, not the second half, because the footage was damaged when he landed on Earth.
Furthermore, Superman’s adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, confirms the narrative point of the Kryptonian message: the fact that Clark himself interpreted the message to mean he was sent to Earth to do good speaks more to his character than his alien origins. Ultimately, Pa Kent confirms that where he comes from doesn’t matter, because who he is as a person, what he values about life on Earth, and how he uses his gifts to help humanity matter more. This is even reflected in the final scene of the film when Superman opts to see footage of his childhood memories with the Kents instead of that of his biological parents.
Though Clark doesn’t reject the fact that he’s an alien, he ultimately embraces the upbringing that makes him truly human. He is who he is because of the people who raised him, not the people who gave birth to him. Loving and accepting Kal-El as he is (alien powers and all), giving him a human name, and raising him like their own son is what ultimately shapes Clark’s character. His relationships with the Justice Gang, the Daily Planet staff, and his romance with Lois Lane only add to his growth as a human being.
Superman’s humanity is the larger message of the movie, and the narrative purpose of the Kryptonian message only adds to that bigger message.
Superman is now playing in theatres.
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