Some view new Superman as Christ figure

updated 2:19 p.m. ET June 26, 2006

LOS ANGELES - First there were the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Now, for many Christian moviegoers comes another gospel.

As the hype machine shifts into high gear for the upcoming release of “Superman Returns,” some are reading deeply into the film whose hero returns from a deathlike absence to play savior to the world.

“It is so on the nose that anyone who has not caught on that Superman is a Christ figure, you think, ‘Who else could it be referring to?”’ said Steve Skelton, who wrote a book examining parallels between Superman and Christ.

As one of society’s most enduring pop-culture icons, Superman has often been observed as more than just a man in tights.

In his early 1930’s comic-book incarnation, he was a hero of the New Deal, aiding the destitute and cleaning up America’s slums, said Tom De Haven, author of a book about Superman’s status as an American icon and a novel about the hero’s high-school days.

By the 1950’s, fears of postwar urban lawlessness had turned him into a tireless crime fighter, while his early television persona envisioned him as an idealized father figure, De Haven said.

More recently, Quentin Tarantino had the villain of “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” wax philosophical about the Man of Steel: “Clark Kent is how Superman views us... Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.”

Some have also seen the hero as a gay icon, forced to live a double life with his super-self in the closet. A recent edition of the gay magazine “The Advocate” even asked on its cover, “How gay is Superman?”

Father, who art in Krypton
But the comparison to Jesus is one that’s been made almost since the character’s origin in 1938, said Skelton, author of “The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Superhero.”

Many simply see the story of a hero sent to Earth by his father to serve mankind as having clear enough New Testament overtones. Others have taken the comparison even further, reading the “El” in Superman’s original name “Kal-El” and that of his father “Jor-El” as the Hebrew word for “God,” among other theological interpretations.

“Superman Returns,” which premieres June 28, has been drawing its own comparisons to biblical accounts, especially after the appearance of its trailer earlier this year.

Review: ‘Superman’ is back on track Unknowns: More powerful than locomotives Sex and the Superman Are we having fun yet, Kevin Spacey? Newsweek: Bryan Singer takes a flying leap Fit List: The Superman workout

The preview shows the hero with his eyes closed as the voice of his father — Marlon Brando’s, courtesy of 1978’s “Superman” — tells him he was sent to Earth because humans “lack the light to show the way.”

“For this reason,” continues the voice, “I have sent them you, my only son.”

Online message boards and Web logs quickly latched onto the biblical resonance of those lines.

“The allusion to Jesus Christ could hardly be accidental,” wrote Christian blogger Tom Gilson.

“Is this a new Superman for the new Evangelist red state America? Superman as Jesus?” asked one contributor to the Portland-based blog site Urban Honking.

MORE FROM SUPERMAN RETURNS

Review: ‘Superman’ is back on track

Review: ‘Superman’ is back on track Unknowns: More powerful than locomotives Sex and the Superman Are we having fun yet, Kevin Spacey? Newsweek: Bryan Singer takes a flying leap Fit List: The Superman workout It’s a bird, it’s a plane ... it’s a Super-quiz! Superman: A who’s  who   Images: Meet the many Men of Steel Cosmic Log: The science behind Superman   Add Superman Returns headlines to your news reader: