What the culture war over Superman gets wrong

‘Superman, the immigrant who makes people comfortable, has never been just a comic book character.’ Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

We’ve entered the era of the superhero movie as sermon. No longer content with saving the world, Spandex saviors are now being used to explain, moralize and therapize it. And a being from Krypton has shown up once again in a debate about real life; about borders, race and who gets to belong.

Superman. Of all symbols.

I’ve read reactionary thinkpieces, rage-filled quote tweets and screeds about the legal status of a fictional alien – enough to lose count. This particular episode of American Fragility kicked off because James Gunn had the audacity to call Superman “the story of America”. An immigrant, by definition, as he was always meant to be.