Grant Morrison Talks on Superman in the DC Extended Universe

Superman comic book writer Grant Morrison, talks on Superman’s character in DC Extended Universe in an interview with Forbes magazine, after being asked on his opinion on the approach that’s being taken with cinematic Superman, more so now with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice when it comes to addressing the social issues with the character.

Morrison goes on to explain how Superman in the DC Extended Universe is different from the previous version of him, he no longer the boring boy scout, who was kind of the American rightwing type of hero when it came to his values.

What’s your opinion of the new cinematic DCU? In particular, we see the approach with the previous film — and now more so with the new film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — addressing the social issues surrounding the arrival of Superman, including reflecting real-life xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments in the U.S. these days. And then there’s the idea of America as a beacon of hope that can use its power for good, but also this fear so many people have of the danger from potential abuse of that vast power.

I think you’re finding the Superman that’s developing now is interesting again, because he seems to be quite against society in a lot of ways.

For a long time, Superman was seen as quite boring because he was a “Boy Scout” and he stood for kind of American rightwing values rather than the leftwing values he’d been created with. And for a long time, he was seen as sort of a policeman figure, or a father figure, this patriarchal idea.

Now what we’re seeing is a Superman who slightly embodies the alien a little bit more, who stands for counter-culture or what remains of the opposition — because there’s not a lot of opposition in the world that we now live in, to the monoculture; now everyone’s under surveillance, everything’s under control, they know what we’re doing and they’re watching our emails. So strangely enough, Superman has oddly mutated again into this kind of progressive figure who’s fighting our battles on behalf of us with his incredible strength.

To read the full interview head over to Forbes.com.

Thanks to @juanmies for the heads up!