A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER - How the world would react if Superman really existed

We fear what we do not understand
We hate what is different
We destroy what we cannot control

- The nature of man

I was watching Henry Cavill in an interview this morning and he was promoting Man of Steel, he explained the premise of the movie with a what if. He said, what if we discovered that an alien was living among us for 33 years and we couldn't hurt it and it was more powerful than we were, how would we deal with it? How would it deal with us? Over the decades Superman has dealt with many foes and villains, some of them human but I haven't run across a story that was given a more contemporary spin where Kal-El had to deal only with humans. If Superman really existed, would the world really accept him? The one story to come closest that I know of was the 1987 film Superman: Quest For Peace, the suckiest of the Christopher Reeves franchise. QFP touched lightly on the hero directly involving himself in the affairs of man on a global scale by getting rid of all the nuclear missiles every country owned (in the lamest manner possible). But then it stops there and goes into the typical super hero vs super villain trope.

I thought about the scenario of how the world react to a super powered being using both ancient and recent history of how people have usually dealt with an exceptional person in their midst. By the way if you know of any comic book or graphic novel story that actually did a scenario like this please drop the info in the comments section, I'd love to check it out.

We're all familiar with the story of Superman, Krypton destroyed, last surviving child, crash lands on Earth, raised by John and Martha Kent, love affair with Lois Lane, fights for truth and justice. Kal-El was raised as Clark Kent and lucky for us the Kents instilled in him a strong sense of upright morality. But its that upright morality that would put him in direct conflict with his host planet in a real life scenario.

Throughout the decades of the comic its been depicted that Superman has a degree of conflict within himself about his place in world as well as who and what he is. It's the main reason why he built the Fortress of Solitude, the interior of which is a recreation of his home world, so that he can gain some idea of what his people were about and how he's suppose to conduct his life. And after obtaining that knowledge of self, coupled with the foundation of christian/judeo values via the Kents, I would imagine Kal-El coming back to society reinvigorated and excited to share his goodwill and news of justice and fair play.

If that sounds familiar to you its because we've heard this story before. If you believe the Bible it played out some 3000 years ago. A being not of this world was born to an upright family, grew up and after some time isolated away from people came back to tell and demonstrate to all who would listen about a better way of living.

Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan may be dipping a bit deeper in the religious parallels of the Superman and Jesus Christ more than any other film director whose tackled the story so far but its really interesting to me how that would play out if that being really existed (I'm talking about Superman). And I imagine it would end in a similar sad way.

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It's actually a very plausible argument, but I think this was emphasized in other comics, namely the X-Men where humans were unwilling to live among mutants and would figure out ways to kill them out of existence on the sole basis of fear and ignorance. Even the Justice League Unlimited series carried a story arc where it involved government entities going behind shadow companies to to produce metahumans that would combat the superheroes.

Every story has to bring relevancy in the contemporary period in order to attract the readers/viewers. I'm sure all of us would be in a panic and question the motives of a god-like entity, despite having been instilled with values of good. In the end, we become the monsters that we fight so hard against.

 

If you have seen any superhero show from the late-70's to mid- 90's,to the mid 2000's, everyone is aware that if such individual existed, the government of this country or other countries will consider that person a threat to that country's security if that individual is affiliated with any radical/extremist group. But, as everyone is aware, that if the individual is not a threat to humanity, the government will want the services of that individual. Or, God forbid, DNA to make replicas of that individual in the quest for greater power if the individual's powers are known and understood. If such an individual existed now, he/she would want only to be left alone so that they can live a normal life. They may not care about what is going on in the world and may or may not care about what is happening around them. They would just want to be alone, that's what I think.

 

The same way they would have reacted if Hulk or Spiderman really existed

 

Personally I think if looked the way that he did most would worship him as the second coming or in.the case of the Jews the coming.of God's son. We may have better technology but we are still the primitive cave dwelling assholes we were thousands of years ago.

 

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Really? You think the human race at this point in time (the majority speaking) would actually react like this?

Unrealistic, especially in this hostile environment where people would be too quick run into conspiracy theories all over the place. Scared shitless.

I do know one thing for a fact and that's we might see the US or any world government place a "Metahuman tax" on the people because of the damages that might be done in the wake of it all.

 

Don't look at it through Sci-Fi eyes. Think about it as if you had never heard of superheroes. Just imagine seeing a man fly, take unmeasurable damage without a scratch, pick up a bus and fire red hot lasers from his eyes. And all these things that he can do, cant be explained with any known science. So......yeah he would be worshiped/feared and deified by a great many people.

 

I'm not looking at it through science fiction eyes though. I'm speaking on a realistic scenario regarding the attitudes of the public. And quite frankly, people are generally panicky, dumb, and resort to ignorant measures to find some sense of rationale...which is ironic because they believe in fairy tales in the form of religious deities, but when one is actually present, they will run in hysteria and fear.

People aren't willing to conform to the notion that such a being exists in real life. They would rather keep as a phantasmal outcome, much like the whole Second Coming nonsense.

 

Ok, panic would be most peoples first reaction, it would be mine and be honest, it would be your reaction too. But if he never goes away, people's minds would have to find away to reconcile his existence. So the idea of his being a divine creator would become a very real idea for a lot of people.

 

That is a plausible case. But the overall public would be split, where the slight majority would consider this superhuman a conspiracy by the government to control the masses. And the others would view his being as a symbol of hope.

Perhaps the actions would calm the public, but overall, people would still hold on to a level of fear and uncertainty.

 

And still others would see him as someone out to sway the masses & control them for his own personal benefit. "He's not here to save mankind but to rule it." The Lex Luthor rationale. I bet that will be how he'll be played in any sequel if he's involved.

 

Yup. The Alex Joneses of the world would be quick to pounce on that.

 

Well I for one, welcome our new Kryptonian overlord. (like we'd have a choice)

 

Such an individual will want to be left alone. Period.

 

I did mention earlier in one post that Superman's Kryptonian name Kal-El was Hebrew for "All That God Is." Jor-El, like God, sent his only son to earth like God did with Jesus Christ.

 

If Superman existed, he would be considered a threat.

Shit....If Jesus Christ came back tomorrow, these mofos would arrest him and re-crucify him for being a socialist, progressive, liberal for giving 2 fucks for the poor and disenfranchised.

 

And break away from "poppa Roach" by endorsing social changes and show that the ever-consistency attitude is just a farce.

 

So would I. Lol

 

from the article..

Side note: there's always been some sort of alternate/what if version take on Superman and his influence since he was raised as human from infancy. The best known one is Red Son: What if Kal-El's escape pod had landed in the USSR? The consequences of that had a huge effect on the U.S. and the Cold War. But considering the time frame of the story in general (around the 40s) what if the Kents were white supremacists? Pa Kent is the Grand Wizard of his local chapter of the KKK and little Clark grows up in it, imagine the repercussions of that for America.


I could see a young superman being a holy terror in the country that is until he creates the fortress of solitude and discovers his people were much more enlightened and then he makes a change and tries to undo all the things he did as a white supremacist.