Do you think Superman is outdated and do you think you could create better?

Question

When Superman was created, the creaters made his attitude to represent the American ideals of truth, justice, and the American way and his powers to represent the superman we all want to become.

I want to know how you would change him in modern days to either represent your ideals or the American ideals or change his powers to represent the ideal/super man or women (if you are female) in your mind. Keep it clean if possible, but I am not a censor. I will pick the most creative one.

Answer 1

Superman is the archetype of all superheros. If it wasn't for Supes, there just wouldn't be any superhero genre. Every single Superhero ever created owes at least some influence to Superman, from the wearing of bright colored spandex to the adherence to a code (even when that code is twisted into an evil or selfish one), Superman is the archetype that all Superheros are based off of.

Superman is the most beloved superhero in America because he does not represent man as he is, but as he could and should be. He is an ideal, a man who will say the right thing even if it isn't the easy thing to say. The man you would always want on your side in a fight.

Changing Superman would only be diluting his legacy. It would be altering a legend to suit the tastes of the moment, and this would cause Superman to fade from the lexicon of American culture. Keep him the way he is, he will appeal to people one hundred years from now the way he appeals to people now and the way he appealed to people 70 years ago.

Answer 2

I think there are only a few things I would change to Superman.

I would gradually have him become a bit more aggressive. Not in the negative sense, but it seems so many writers have portrayed him as being a milksop, and he is not. Supes was and has always been a very powerful character, and I tire of everyone panning him as being someone who acts like a wimp. He has morals and ethics, and he stands behind them, and this should make him even MORE powerful as a hero, not weaker.

He shouldn't hesitate to act as he has been portrayed, and he shouldn't be that vulnerable.

Get rid of Lois Lane, and have him hook up with Wonder Woman. Seriously, I detest the idea of Lois Lane, and while he is trying to act "human', it just doesn't make any sense for him to want to hook up with her. She's an outright ********* who couldn't satisfy him in any real way. Only Wonder Woman can, and Wonder Woman does have a bit of a thing for Clark. Let it happen, already!

Make some slight alterations to his costume. Jim Lee did a kick butt costume re-design, and Supes kept his original colors, he just had pants, wristbands, and a darker blue color. You can probably find this picture on the Web; wished I would have saved this one, but if you find it, you will see it makes sense. It is far more practical than his circus strongman/wrestler get-up with the trunks, etc. This is why some people hate Superman, because they think his costume is too gay.

These are the changes I would offer.

Answer 3

I wouldn't change him at all. I don't believe his ideals are outdated in the slightest. If anything, comic books need a hero like him more now than ever. In today's comics, most of the heroes are anti-heroes, selfish characters who sometimes act for the common good but mostly to further their own ambitions. After the death of Captain America, Superman is one of the only comic book heroes left who actually stands for virtue in the face of injustice, and so on.

Whenever writers have tried to "update" him in the past, it's always had negligible, if not downright terrible, results. Azzarello tried to make him an introspective nihilist, and it just didn't fit the character. Infinite Crisis made him a vulnerable coward. Changing Superman just doesn't work. And it never will.

Answer 4

Really I don't think Superman is all that outdated. He still represents what we want to become. He still represents the things he was created to represent truth, justice, and the American way (as it should be). I think the only thing is that people want dark and gruesome like Batman, but that's the complete opposite of Superman.

Answer 5

I think I would keep Superman as he is. You must recall that he is representative of *ideals*, and although ideals may not be met, it does not make those ideals invalid. We would still like to TRULY see liberty and justice for all people; most of us just don't want to admit that we are afraid of that which is different than ourselves. It's instinctive - but it's still true; ideally, however, we would all see each other's worth. That's a concept of an ideal America, however far away from it we stand, and to represent those ideals seems to me, at least, to be a good thing still.

Answer 6

Superman is not necessarily outdated. They have constantly reinvented him, adding powers, adding weaknesses, adding new friends and relatives as time went on, to the point where they had to start their whole universe over again, several times!

I see Superman as very much like Captain America was (before they had the foolish idea to kill him): someone who stood not for the way Americans are, but the way Americans ought to be.

Superman is right up to date; he is the ultimate illegal alien. He came to America without any documents, has pretended to be an American all along, and does the jobs that Americans can't do.

Whenever he demolishes buildings, builds a school or hospital, carves a road through the forest in a few moments using his super strength and super speed, he is TAKING WORK AWAY from honest Americans and I seriously doubt that Superman pays any union dues!

Furthermore, Superman digs up valuable gold, gems, dinosaur skeletons, etc, all the time. He is constantly earning rewards for turning in wanted criminals. People have showered upon him trophies and prizes for the things he has done.

Have you ever, ever heard of Superman paying a penny in TAXES...?

He breaks all sorts of local and federal laws, not least of which is flying in controlled airspace with no lights at night, no navigation gear and no license at any time!

He breaks copyright laws, because he has memorized the entire Metropolis library and has shown himself capable of reproducing it. It is illegal to record it in any way, he has recorded it; he is in violation of the law.

I could go on. But I hope I have made my point, that Superman does not need to be updated.

18 JUNE 07, 1542 hrs, GMT

Answer 7

I don't think that superman is outdated.. I think it just needs to be spiced up a bit.. it's a hero that is not going anywhere any time soon..

I think there is a general shift in society twards the intelectual.. I think people want to see that hero's are not perfect.. they didn't get everything right because they are flawless they got things right because of that one gift that made them special.. a gift that the audiance could daydream about having themselfs..

I really think that in todays pace.. people may not desire to have thier history replace with some fantastic tail of perfection but rather that belief that it's possible to move forward with that special something if you could only find it..

This might not be exaclty what your looking for.. btu maybe it'll help..

Answer 8

Make him like his Silver Age self. Just show modern technology. The big problem with Superman during Post-Crisis was the storytelling solved his problems and fulfilled too much for him, making him boring. Leaving a great deal unfulfilled and up to the imagination was the great part about him before Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Answer 9

Superman the comic is not outdated in the sense that it is still viable. But he has always been too super. Which is why they toned him down after the Golden Age. I just wish they would figure out how to make it a good movie.

Answer 10

I think he is now outdated because the views of justice have been skewered over the years.

I'd just create a totally new super hero. However, they would not be completely good. There would be a slight flicker of evil, therefore, they'd have something else besides enemies overcome.