Superman 2025: The film 'Israel', US do not want you to see
By setting Superman's latest battle in the fictional nations of Boravia and Jarhanpur, the film delivers an unmistakable critique of imperialism, propaganda, and the weaponization of public perception to justify war crimes, with Boravia standing in for the Israeli Occupation and Jarhanpur as Palestine. And for once, a Hollywood blockbuster has the guts to say it, even if through allegory.
The story centers on Superman (David Corenswet) intervening to halt Boravia's invasion of Jarhanpur, a smaller, less militarily equipped nation populated by non-white inhabitants. Boravia, a US ally, is backed by billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), who question Superman's motives and frame him as a dangerous alien threat.
- The disinformation machine -
Superman's intervention is not celebrated; it is vilified. Luthor orchestrates an elaborate smear campaign, deploying monkeys as online trolls to flood social media with disinformation portraying Superman as violent, dangerous, and untrustworthy.
This is Hasbara by another name: 'Israel's' well-documented propaganda network, which tirelessly reframes Palestinian resistance as terrorism and paints anyone who supports Gaza as an extremist to justify military action and ethnic cleansing. Superman's defense of Jarhanpur is spun as aggression simply because it threatens US interests, exactly how pro-Palestine voices are silenced in the real world with accusations of anti-Semitism.
Additionally, the film takes a jab at Western media during a scene where Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) interviews Superman, echoing American mainstream media by asking him accusatory questions and framing him as a villain for attacking a US ally. Superman explains he simply acted to protect Jarhanpur's defenseless civilians.
This is Western media in a nutshell, where saying 'Palestinians deserve to live' can get you labeled anti-Semitic, and condemning genocide is treated as supporting terrorism.
- Pinkwashing and orientalist tropes -
The film also tackles pinkwashing and orientalism head-on. Boravian president Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Burić) accuses Superman of maintaining a 'harem' of Boravian women, a baseless claim steeped in orientalist tropes that paint non-white cultures as primitive and misogynistic. The choice of the word 'harem' is not accidental. It evokes Orientalist tropes used for centuries to paint Arabs as backward and hypersexual.
This mirrors 'Israel's' narrative following October 7, 2023, when it falsely accused Hamas of rape and kidnapping, allegations that many critics say were used as pinkwashing to justify the mass killing of Palestinians under the guise of defending women's rights.
- Is Lex Luthor a stand-in for Donald Trump? -
Luthor's rhetoric, calling Superman an 'alien' with malevolent intent, doubles as a critique of xenophobic narratives used to justify wars and occupations, from US immigration policies to 'Israel's' dehumanization of Palestinians.
Hoult's Luthor, with his brash, self-aggrandizing demeanor, is an unsubtle stand-in for Donald Trump, particularly in his envy-driven quest for greatness. Luthor's obsession with outshining historical figures like Galileo parallels Trump's documented jealousy of Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize and his own pursuit of global acclaim, even at the cost of chaos.
Trump, on multiple occasions, belittled former US President Barack Obama's Nobel Prize win.
'When Barack Hussein Obama got nominated, he didn't know why he was nominated,' he said on one occasion. 'It was like right at the very beginning. He didn't do anything. He did nothing. And he got nominated."
During another event, he stated, 'Can you believe it? [Obama] won the Nobel Peace Prize. They probably will never give it to me, even what I'm doing in Korea, and in Idlib Province and all of these places. They probably will never give it to me. You know why? Because they don't want to.'
He has frequently argued that his own efforts were far more deserving.
- American complicity -
The film spares no punches in exposing America's role in the Gaza genocide. By the final act, it is revealed that the US has been funding Boravia, supplying weapons, and actively encouraging its territorial expansion into Jarhanpur.
Boravia's military is built on US funding and weaponry, an unmistakable parallel to the billions Washington pours into 'Israel's' arsenal to attack Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, and Iran.
- Distraction through manufactured crises -
Luthor's schemes also resonate deeply with 'Israel's' real-world tactics.
In one sequence, he triggers a catastrophic black hole threat, forcing Superman to divert his attention, while Boravia quietly escalates its invasion of Jarhanpur. This strategy, creating global distractions to bury atrocities, mirrors 'Israel's' pattern of escalating attacks on Gaza during major world events like the Oscars, Met Gala, or when launching strikes in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran to push Gaza out of the news cycle
- Superman reimagined -
Superman has long stood as a symbol of American nationalism, a near-mythical figure embodying the ideals of truth, justice, and the so-called 'American way.'
Traditionally, he has been portrayed as a defender of US interests, a superhero who reinforces the narrative of America as a global force for good. However, this new interpretation of Superman turns that legacy on its head, directly challenging the myth of American moral superiority. Instead of blindly serving US interests, he defies them, siding with the oppressed against a US-backed aggressor.
Superman (2025) is not for those who want escapist fantasy. It is for anyone willing to face the truth: justice is not comfortable, and standing with the oppressed means making enemies among the powerful.
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