Superman confronts a new villain: white supremacists

WASHINGTON - No longer are planet-destroying extra-terrestrials or billionaire evil geniuses the villains: Superman, the DC Comics superhero, has a new mission protecting hard-working immigrants from white supremacist bullies.

In the latest edition of the "Action Comics" series, which has published Superman's adventures since 1938, the "Man of Steel" intervenes to stop an out-of-work factory worker as he is about to kill some immigrants.

Wearing a blue work shirt and red-white-and-blue bandana, the moustachioed cartoon villain embodies all the cliches of the poor blue-collar American.

Gun in hand, he threatens veiled women and rails at Hispanic workers, accusing them of stealing his job.

"You work cheap, don't speak English so you can't talk back or even ask for a penny more. You cost me my job! My livelihood! For that… you pay!" he says, as he opens fire.

Just then Superman steps in, bullets bouncing off his chest, to save the day.

"The only person responsible for the blackness smothering your soul is you," Superman tells the white supremacist.

The passage echoes the recent violent protests by American rightwing extremists.

In August, a 32-year-old woman was run over and killed by a Nazi sympathizer after a violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In 2015, Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, shot and killed nine black worshipers at a Charleston, South Carolina church.

American comic books have often taken on social issues, finding up-to-the-minute material in contemporary public conflicts and debates.

Marvel Comics, for instance, launched a new version of Spider-Man in 2011, making him half-black, half-Hispanic.

In 2016, DC Comics published a seven issue mini-series called "Superman: American Alien."

In it, Kal-El (Superman's real name) struggles to reconcile his extra-terrestrial origins with his new life on Earth.

Superman is in effect an immigrant, who left his doomed home planet Krypton when he was a baby and was taken in and adopted by an American couple in Kansas, in the rural US heartland.

Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were both Jews of European descent, and Superman's story parallels the flight of European immigrants in the 1930s seeking peace and prosperity in the United States.

"The Man of Steel," whose caped costume is inspired by the Stars and Stripes, grows up on a farm and embodies the American dream

But Superman's patriotism, like that of Marvel Comics' Captain America, has been interpreted differently at the hands of the various writers who have scripted his adventures.

In the 1986 series "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns," for example, Frank Miller presents Superman as president Ronald Reagan's elite fighter, deployed to combat the Soviets or to restore order in the United States, neutralizing Batman.

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Ben Affleck to play Batman in 'Man of Steel' sequel

LOS ANGELES - Actor Ben Affleck will play Batman in an upcoming Superman sequel that will see the two caped crusaders face off against each other, film studio Warner Bros Pictures said on Thursday.

Affleck, 41, will take on the role of reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter-ego, in director Zack Snyder's 2015 sequel to this year's Superman reboot "Man of Steel," starring 30-year-old British actor Henry Cavill.

"We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics' most enduringly popular super heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some. His outstanding career is a testament to his talent and we know he and Zack will bring new dimension to the duality of this character," Greg Silverman, president of creative development at Warner Bros Pictures said.

The announcement that two iconic comic book heroes will face off against each other was made by Snyder earlier this year at San Diego's annual Comic-Con, a convention celebrating comic-book and pop culture.

"It's beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest super heroes in the world," Snyder said.

The director's "Man of Steel" has been a successful reboot of the Superman franchise this year, making $650 million at the global box office. The yet-to-be titled sequel, slated for release on July 17, 2015, will reunite "Man of Steel" stars Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.

Affleck joins a list of actors who have donned Batman's black mask and cape, including Michael Keaton, George Clooney and most recently Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy. Both Batman and Superman are part of the DC Comics universe, which is part of the Warner Bros Entertainment division, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

Nolan's "Dark Knight" films, which explored a darker and more complex portrayal of Batman, made more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office between 2005 and 2012, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Affleck, who directed and starred in this year's Best Picture Oscar winner "Argo," will also be in upcoming gambling drama "Runner Runner," opposite Justin Timberlake.

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Dark 'Man Of Steel' reboots Superman franchise

LOS ANGELES - "Man of Steel," the latest iteration of the Superman series, lands on the big screen in the US on Friday with the hopes that the dark, action-heavy film can revive the classic comic book superhero as a Hollywood franchise.

But director Zack Snyder, who is best known for 2007 action film "300" and 2009 superhero flick "Watchmen," told Reuters that it was a delicate balance staying faithful to Superman's story without retreading earlier film and television versions.

"I think a mistake would be to consciously ask, 'What mistakes have they done in the past?' That type of reactive approach - that's going to end in disaster," Snyder, 47, said.

"The way we looked at it was like, 'Let's say we just found these comic books under our bed and this character, Superman, seems pretty cool to make a movie about,'" he added.

The Superman comic, which artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegel debuted in 1938, has been brought to the big and small screen about a dozen times, most notably in the four-film series starring Christopher Reeve from 1978 to 1987.

"Man of Steel" tells the origin story of the DC Comics superhero, played by British actor Henry Cavill, setting up the film as a springboard to reboot a franchise that failed to take off in 2006 with director Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns."

Studio Warner Bros. enlisted director Christopher Nolan - whose three Batman films grossed more than $2 billion worldwide between 2005 and 2012, according to box-office tracker Boxofficemojo.com - as a producer and story writer to help shepherd the film along.

"He treated me probably how he would want to be treated," Snyder said of Nolan. "If I had a problem he was there to say, 'What's going on? What about this?' offering advice and counsel whenever I needed it."

All-American alien

"Man of Steel" begins with Superman's birth as Kal-El on the planet Krypton. As the last hope for his society's survival amid an insurrection, his parents send him to Earth where he is raised as Clark Kent in Smallville, Kansas.

By framing "Man of Steel" as a coming-of-age story, Snyder is also able to tap the science-fiction unique to Superman that other superhero stories, like Batman, do not have.

"He's able to look at humanity objectively because he's not human, and that element combined with the sci-fi school made me really go after that aspect of it as hard as I could," he sal elaid.

The film documents the young life of Clark Kent from bullied and sensitive schoolboy to itinerant loner endowed with otherworldly strength, laying the groundwork for a consistent, relatable Superman that Snyder said he wanted in the character.

"We didn't have to have this crazy transformation go on when he became Clark Kent," he said. "He's not even aware of it ... I feel like in a weird way, he's also easier to hook onto because he's coming from the same point of view all the time."

Snyder also said he leaned on Clark Kent's all-American values and farm-boy upbringing by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) when it came time for Superman to emerge to save the planet from Kryptonian warlord General Zod.

"He's like a first-responder. ... He's a volunteer in a lot of ways, and I think that because he's that ultimate, selfless character, you end up (with) a personality type that goes along with that," Snyder said.

"I think as soon as you start to work on him it's going to be muddy and weird," Snyder said about his reluctance to modify Superman from his comic book origins. "There's a pure thing inside of the Superman character."

"Man of Steel" also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as General Zod.

Warner Bros. is part of Time Warner Inc.

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