Superman vs. ‘Superman'? Dean Cain cries ‘woke' after James Gunn calls hero an immigrant

Los Angeles Times

3 days ago

Dean Cain, the former star of 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,' laments Hollywood's newest take on the Man of Steel — one that likens his story to the immigrant experience in America.
In a recent conversation with TMZ, Cain — who starred as Clark Kent/Superman in the hit 1990s TV series — wondered: 'How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?'
The 58-year-old actor railed against filmmaker James Gunn and his latest take on the Kryptonian icon after the director declared in an interview with the London Times that 'Superman is the story of America.' In the interview, Gunn described his hero as 'an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country,' adding that his film, starring David Corenswet in the title role, is 'mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.'
Gunn, who has been an outspoken critic of President Trump, made his comment as the Trump administration carries out its aggressive crackdown on immigrant communities across California. Since raids in Los Angeles began June 6, federal immigration agents have arrested nearly 2,700 undocumented individuals, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Cain was clearly not a fan of Gunn's remark. Cain, who has not seen the film yet, criticized the idea of 'changing beloved characters' and suggested creating new original characters instead. When he starred in 'Lois & Clark,' Cain was the fourth actor to portray Superman onscreen, filling in the red boots of Kirk Alyn, George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. He claimed that the superhero 'has always stood for truth, justice and the American way.
'The American way is immigrant-friendly, tremendously immigrant-friendly, but there are rules,' he added, before his aside about people coming to the U.S. to seek opportunity. Speaking more broadly about immigration, Cain said he believes in enforcing limits on immigration, otherwise 'our society will fail.'
In another clip from his conversation with TMZ, Cain asks why immigration agents and federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, 'are being villainized for enforcing the laws that our lawmakers, our elected representatives created.' Videos shared on social media have documented numerous incidents of masked immigration agents forcefully detaining civilians and confronting other people attempting to interfere in the arrests.
Cain said he thinks it 'was a mistake by James Gunn to say, you know, it's an immigrant thing,' adding that he thinks the movie will suffer at the box office as a result. Cain said he was looking forward to Gunn's take on the comic-book hero and is rooting for its success, but ultimately contends, 'I don't like that last political comment,' referring to the Marvel alum's description of Superman.
Gunn's 'Superman' is now in theaters and also stars Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced. In her review, Times film critic Amy Nicholson writes, 'This isn't quite the heart-soaring 'Superman' I wanted. But these adventures wise him up enough that I'm curious to explore where the saga takes him next.'
Amid the latest 'Superman' discourse, the White House on Thursday shared a photo on social media of Trump's face superimposed onto Superman's body on the film's poster. In response to the odd digital alteration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office fired back with a familiar point.
'Superman was an undocumented immigrant,' the tweet said.