Superwoke or Super-Weapon? How Online Mobs Weaponized Ideology Against the Man of Stee

After a turbulent couple of years, DC has entered the mid-decade with the right foot, with its latest installment of the red-caped wonder receiving an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and up to 125 million in profits. While an overwhelming majority of audiences have enjoyed James Gunn’s Superman, the film has faced notable backlash over its major themes, with critics calling the feature “Superwoke” and preachy. “I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn told The Times. “An immigrant who came from other places and populated the country. But for me, it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”(Gunn, 2025) In response to such quote, conservative radio host Clay Travis has stated that he is “going to skip seeing Superman now. Director is an absolute moron to say this publicly the week before release,” (Travis, 2025) Even Dean Cain, who played Superman the 1993– 1997 TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” has criticized the new Superman movie as “woke”. Cain, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, has said to TMZ: “How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? (…) Why are they going to change these characters to exist for the times?” (Cain,2025). Fox News host Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, described the movie as an ideological “lecture”, and said that “We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology on to us,” (Conway,2025). If basic human kindness is an “ideology”, then perhaps the whole of the creative industries and perhaps even the whole of the media industry are at peril, I would say.

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