Why Superman Director Zack Snyder Is Under Fire for Calling Kal-El an ‘Immigrant’
If I had to endure one more Hollywood virtue signal, I’d retire to a cave—oh wait, that’s Superman’s deal. Look, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but here we are: Zack Snyder just stirred the pot by labeling our caped crusader an “immigrant,” and now the internet is doing backflips of indignation. For those keeping score, Snyder’s remarks dropped during a recent Variety interview that was supposed to promote his next DCEU project, but instead fans and pundits pounced, calling the director “superwoke” and accusing him of shoehorning politics into a beloved comic-book mythos.
As reported by New York Post and later echoed by The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder explained that Kal-El’s journey from Krypton to Earth is fundamentally an immigrant story—a point he argued adds modern resonance to Superman’s outsider status. He said, “He leaves his home planet, lands here with nothing but hope and alien DNA in his veins. Isn’t that the immigrant’s struggle in a nutshell?” Okay, sure, except most Superman fans just wanted to hear about epic flights and laser eyes, not socio-political manifestos.
Predictably, Twitter (or X, if you want to impress your niece) erupted with hashtags like #NotMyKalEl and #Superwoke, denouncing Snyder for injecting woke buzzwords into a franchise that’s historically been more “truth, justice and the American way” than “welcome mats and policy debates.” One fan on X sneered, “Next thing you know, Batman will be a union organizer.” I told you so: anytime Hollywood tries to be profound, it trips over its own cape.
But it’s not all fan fury—some defenders pointed out that creators have always reinterpreted icons to reflect contemporary issues. Variety columnist Richard Lawson argued this was “a logical extension of Superman’s immigrant allegory,” and even a DC Films spokesperson clarified Snyder’s take is his own creative lens, not a hard editorial shift for the entire franchise. Yet nothing diffuses outrage better than a director tagged “woke” in 280 characters or less.
Interestingly, Snyder isn’t the only one veering into policy territory. Earlier this year, Wonder Woman’s showrunner addressed female empowerment as political activism, drawing similar backlash (as noted by The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire). So yes, I told you the next trend in superhero storytelling would be op-ed essays in spandex.
At the end of the day, Superman’s origin—baby from a doomed planet finds refuge on Earth—has always invited metaphor. If labeling him an immigrant resonates with some audiences, great. If it sends others storming the Bat-signal with pitchforks, equally expected. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
