In Superman #204, the first issue of the year-long "For Tomorrow" storyline by Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee published from 2004 to 2005, a Catholic priest is in quiet contemplation in his church somewhere in Metropolis when he receives a special red-and-blue clad visitor: Superman appears before him, floating in the air. The priest is about to get down on one knee when Superman stops him, saying "I don't think you want to do that."
With that brief sequence, Azzarello, and possibly DC Comics editorial, sent across a pretty straightforward message to their readership and anyone else: no, Superman isn't Jesus and we're not trying to portray him that way, so please stop treating him that way. I'm not sure exactly why they felt the need to make this clarification or who, if anyone, they were responding to, given that the Christopher Reeve movies that featured Superman as a messiah were decades in the past, but it is possible that they had glimpsed the scripts in the pipeline for the Superman reboot-sequel. In Brian Singer's doomed 2006 sequel Superman Returns the Superman-as-Jesus theme isn't quite front-and-center, but it does feature quite prominently. In 2013's Man of Steel the reference is even more blatant as Clark Kent actually sits in a church as he ponders what to do. As he disembarks the Kryptonian ship in space, he actually assumes the pose of the crucified Christ.
Most recently the notion of Superman as Christ was pushed quite aggressively in the superhero film Batman vs. Superman, where Superman dies in his climactic battle with the monstrous Doomsday, a creature fashioned from the corpse of General Zod and Lex Luthor's blood. In the scene in which Batman and Wonder Woman are handling the fallen Superman's body, he is wrapped in his cape and a cross (or something that looks exactly like it) is quite visible to the left of the screen, which seems to symbolize being taken down from the cross. The imagery is about as subtle as the sledgehammer Batman swings against a tire earlier in the film, and while few of the vitriolic reviews that I have read of this film take issue with this, I have to say that I do.
I'm no theologian, but I'm fairly certain Jesus hasn't done any of the boneheaded things that Superman has done, whether in the comics, the cartoons or movies in which he's been featured, thanks to the idiosyncrasies of the dozens of people who have written him over the decades. Jesus' history, his life and ministry, are contained in a very specific volume of books, which, while it has had different versions over hundreds of years, has not been serialized or been subjected to countless "reboots."
My own convictions aside, though, there's another reason I detest (and yes, I know this is a somewhat strong word to use), the "Christification" of Superman.
An atheist, a Catholic and a Muslim all walk into a bar and start talking about comic books and pop culture. That's not a setup for a joke. That is a description of my Facebook feed, where I have at least one Muslim friend on FB who happens to be a huge pop-culture nut, and at least two atheist friends, probably more, who are similarly-inclined. While we certainly share common interests (many of us are lawyers), we do not often talk shop, especially since, as lawyers we have different specializations.
In pop culture, however, and in particular superheroes, we have a common ground that enables us to relax and speak freely. We are voracious consumers of superhero fare, whether in print, on television or up on the big screen, and we love to talk about it. It's our safe zone.
On a related note, it makes me feel good when I'm sitting in an airport and I see a Muslim-Filipino lady with a little boy wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt. It's nice to feel that common ground with them, especially in view of the decades old conflict between the government and a portion of the Muslim-Filipino community (with some, obviously hard-core Muslim-Filipinos even taking exception to being referred to as "Filipinos"). This is more a conflict dictated by resource allocation than religion, but the differences (and prejudices) are there, which is why pop culture is something of a comfort to me; it's a language that, these days we all speak. It may not be a fundamental belief system, but at least it's something we can commonly claim as our own.
Superheroes, in particular, are a beautiful thing to share; they stand for all that is good in humanity, or at least the collective good that the writers believe in. Fortunately, for the most part comic book writers these days tend to have enough social consciousness to at least try to identify what is truly beneficial to society as a whole. The X-Men stand for equality among all, Superman stands for truth, justice, etc. Different religions have deeply-rooted differences that date back thousands of years, and it's no surprise that these differences are among the most difficult in the world to iron out. Our superhero mythology, by contrast, is only about eighty years old, and while Marvel and DC fans can often get each other's hackles up, I've never heard of wars being started over whether Batman could beat Captain America, or even suicide bombings. In fact, people can be (and often are) fans of both Marvel and DC (and Image, and many, many other comic book companies besides), something that cannot exactly be said about different religions.
And lately, diversity and inclusiveness have been top priority among the "Big Two" comics publishers, DC and Marvel. One of the most important new superheroes in the last several years is Kamala Khan, the Pakistani-American and Muslim who took on the Ms. Marvel identity vacated by Carol Danvers when she was "promoted" to Captain Marvel. She was very well-received among comic book readers and media and showed that Marvel recognized that many of its readers were no longer pimply-faced white Americans and were ready to have their characters reflect, at least to an extent, the diversity of their readership. Kamala Khan is no token, either; she has her own book and is a prominent member of the Avengers. DC Comics is doing something similar; they're introducing a Latin American Green Lantern and a Chinese Superman in upcoming comics.
It's kind of bad enough that the majority of the "big superheroes" remain and will probably always be heterosexual Caucasian males, but to an extent, at least having them religion-neutral keeps them from belonging to one specific demographic.
By making Superman a Christ analogue, Warner Brothers and whoever in their brain trust thought of it, are basically closing the door on that notion; that by not having any religion, Superman can belong to any religion. "Superman's for Christians only!" seems to be the declaration, and I can just about hear the thick Southern drawl of an imaginary televangelist pronouncing it.
At a time when truly evil people seek to divide humanity along racial and religious lines, whether with hateful words or unspeakable acts of violence we could really use something to help keep us together. It's a small thing in the great scheme, I know, but sometimes we need the small things.
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