James Gunn’s “Superman” is a film that is based on what’s going on before to stand out alone. The central character of David Corenswet is serious, sincere, silly and above all, good. After 15 years of gravelly and upset superhero films, having Superman arguing to save a squirrel in the middle of a Kaiju fight looks like the last nail in the coffin of cynical and edgy superheroes.
We can say that the biggest achievement of “Superman” is to know how it does not only feel like the beginning of the DC universe, but rather as a central chapter in a vast story that started well before the opening ramp, and goes far beyond what we see on the screen. James Gunn has created a film that really looks like a big universe that can support stories of all kinds of tones and styles – like a Clayface horror film and a Booster Gold television series.
If we have to take not only the many cameos but also the Easter eggs in the film at its nominal value, it is a universe that already had a team of superheroes long before the gang of justice (the name is not final). This is true, James Gunn included a nod to the very first superhero team in the history of comics: Justice Society of America.
A long history of metahumans
Easter egg occurs when we enter the headquarters of the Gang justice for the first time, which is a familiar show for fans of comics and animated DC series. James Gunn fired on the spot at the Cincinnati Union terminal, which is the basis of the headquarters of justice League in the Hanna-Barbera “Super Friends” cartoon of the 1970s. Since then, the emblematic look of regional parameters has followed Justice League through comics and shows, to and including “Young Justice” and Arrowverse.
Inside the Hall of Justice, we get a look at a flashing and what you do not hold a wall painting, which is based on the film’s opening text ramp and the 300 years of metahumans history on earth. The most eminent and recognizable is the heavy goods vehicle boxer Wildcat, a hero who appeared in shows like “Arrow” and “Stargirl”. We also see what looks like Specter, Sandman and even the original Flash by Jay Garrick. These characters are all members of justice Society of America, known as the first team of superheroes in the world, making its debut in 1940 in “All-Star Comics”. The Society justice, of course, made its debut live on the big screen in the unfortunate “Black Adam”.
The other heroes who can be seen on the fresco include Silent Knight (a medieval hero without superpower), the black pirate (who has the powers of a literal ghost) and even the armored science fiction hero, Atomic Knight.
An exciting future for DC
Although it can be an Easter egg, the inclusion of the characters of the Society of Justice in “Superman” is very important. No matter if James Gunn does something with this during the next year or 15 years, when the DC universe is short of ideas, but it is the simple fact that it is now a universe where heroes have been around for centuries and where there has already been a team of superheroes is a big problem.
And all of this is part of the construction of the world of the film. As Gunn said to Buzzfeed, mural has become the need to replace a real historic wall at the site of the Hall of Justice with “a wall of metauhumans that have existed in the DCU over the years”. So, yes, he confirmed that all these heroes were active at one time or another in time before “Superman”.
This can give the DC universe something that Marvel has never fully understood: heritage. Although the Marvel cinematographic universe played with this idea, mainly in the “Hawkeye” series, it has not yet really explored the branches of superheroes passing the stick to the next generation, nor how the heroes acted in previous eras. DC, on the other hand, has this with the shovel, especially in the animated show “Young Justice”, which excels in showing the mentors passing their coat to their protected titles and heroes having several generations (like Aquaman). The Arrowverse “The Flash” series also did it, Jay Garrick becoming Mentor for Barry Allen.
If the DC universe looks at this idea of superheroes for centuries, it helps to sell an extensive and lived universe. And if James Gunn and Peter Safran intend to maintain this franchise alive for more than a decade, having heroes like Batman, Aquaman or even Superman (below) pass the torch to protectors or their children would be a fairly cool idea of the comics. What better way to start showing this inheritance than by connecting the future justice League (or even the current gang of justice) to the hero’s original team?
