Superman's Weirdest Gag Lets James Gunn Declare War On The Online Haters

This article contains spoilers for "Superman."

The comic book movie landscape of the 2020s is nowhere near as bulletproof as it was a decade prior, with projects from Marvel and DC struggling to regain their momentum. There's an insane amount of pressure on James Gunn's "Superman" to not only be a good movie in its own right, but to shepherd DC Studios into a whole new superhero frontier — and the film reflects that. Some of the first wave of reactions from those that saw the film leaned more on the positive side, and /Film's Chris Evangelista landed on it being a charming crowd pleaser in his review. I find myself somewhere in the middle.

Gunn has been responsible for Marvel's most consistent film series with "Guardians of the Galaxy," but his "Superman" is a bit shaggier. It often feels frustratingly overstuffed, to the point that its emotional beats hardly feel like they have any room to breathe. It's trapped between being a "Superman" story and a mad dash of an introductory course to the DCU (DC Universe). With that said, David Corenswet makes a delightful Superman who feels lovingly approachable to the ground-level people of Metropolis. I loved the moment where Kal-El lets an average good samaritan help him up from the pavement in spite of being perfectly able to do it on his own accord. I've always found myself drawn to the character because he sincerely wants to be a good person.

One of the biggest appeals of Gunn at the helm is his affinity for some of the weirder aspects of Silver Age comics. "Superman" embraces the sillier nature of the character, his environment, and his foes, especially when it comes to Lex Luthor. Nicholas Hoult plays the megalomaniacal billionaire who commits political malfeasance with the fervor of a petulant child that grits their teeth when things don't work in their favor. Lex purposefully goes out of his way to make things harder for everyone else in the process. He possesses all the resources in the world, yet isn't satisfied when someone like Superman gets all the glory for simply being the most powerful metahuman on Earth, and there's a very funny metatextual sight gag that reveals the true extent of Lex's involvement in tarnishing Superman's public image.

About halfway through "Superman," public opinion has drastically shifted on Kal-El after it's revealed to the world that his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara (Angela Sarafyan), sent him to Earth to lord over humanity. The missing half of the message that delivers this information initially seems like a ploy from Lex. It appears, however, that the translation is legitimate, putting the son of Krypton in a tough predicament. Lex takes the pleasure of jailing Superman in his spacious pocket dimension prison, which holds a number of political prisoners from various governments, Luthor Corp dissenters, and even Lex's ex-girlfriends. The craziest reveal in this bizarro prison is a horde of screaming monkeys manufacturing anti-Supes online outrage across social media through hashtags like #secretharem and #supersh**. (The last one especially bothers Clark.)

The moment I saw this, I laughed out loud at the gonzo lengths Lex will go thanks to his insecurity, as well as certain sects of the internet being completely normal about this. Hoult's Lex is absolutely the kind of person who would mercilessly tweet in his office chair atop an ivory tower with his name on it. It's the kind of joke that should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention to the development of the DCU, as there was some predictable resistance to Gunn's promotion to co-CEO of DC Studios. He'd already directed "The Suicide Squad" and season 1 of "Peacemaker" for the previous DC regime, but he was then given the keys to the kingdom. Hitting the reboot button came the nail in the coffin of Zack Snyder's vision of the DCEU, which ruffled some feathers among die-hard fans. It's even funnier considering Gunn and Snyder have very publicly shown they're pretty chill with one another.

It became clear, however, that Snyder's brooding approach to the material just wasn't connecting with the general populous. Before anyone gets mad at me, let me make it clear that the four-hour cut of "Zack Snyder's Justice League" is a phenomenally bold miracle of a comic book movie that I liked very much. At the same time, there's no way it would have been made under any other circumstances than the period it was allowed to exist. Nevertheless, the Snyder legions were responsible for some of the most deranged social media hashtags and harassment campaigns you've ever seen — especially going into Gunn's "Superman." You'd swear that Gunn personally kicked their door in and used a DC Studios-branded flamethrower to torch their Snyder Blu-rays. It would be foolish, however, to solely credit the toxic fans as the source for a joke like this.

Gunn is no stranger to online harassment, whether it's having to debunk outrageous rumors on a near-daily basis or facing the wrath of right-wing grifters. The latter especially worked in his favor, considering it indirectly led to him holding the DC bag for the foreseeable future. There's also this faux online uproar over Superman being an immigrant emerging from the most intellectually dishonest people imaginable. It goes to show how much Gunn's interpretation of the character is needed given how a certain subsection seem to have forgotten the basic tenet of the character's history that's been there from his inception in 1938.

It struggles adhering to its own message sometimes, but the most admirable trait of Gunn's "Superman" (and the DCU) is that it's built on a foundation of kindness. There's an emphasis on the people and their humanity amid a world ruled by supervillains. It's a shame that being a thoughtful person in this day and age is considered an act of rebellion. Cruelty — online or otherwise — has reached unfathomable levels. It's a low bar to have a blockbuster director, let alone a co-CEO, publicly address this, but I'm glad Gunn's able to impart something. The only way someone could be legitimately upset about the raging social media monkeys gag is if they see themselves in those creatures clickety-clacking away on the screen.

One of the worst tendencies for terminally online users is being so trapped within the confines of their toxic bubbles that it leads to lashing out or creating hate-fueled rage bait. Lex's monkey farm is a perfect showcase of how deranged some folks act on the internet. During the first few batches of "Superman" screenings, the most prevalent conversations happening were critics being labeled as either paid shills or haters, and I sadly don't see that trend going away anytime soon. I don't know how many times we have to say this, but there isn't any coordinated plan to ruin a movie when a critic gives a less than favorable review. When you place an emphasis on what score a movie receives on Rotten Tomatoes and what other people think, it's all too easy to lose your own sense of identity in the process. That only makes the level-headed Snyder/Gunn fans look bad by association.

There's plenty more things to be vitriolic about than a movie in which a flying human-shaped alien rescues an elemental being's green baby while fighting an antagonist in an antimatter river. Being normal about comic book movies on the internet may seem like an impossible task, but I promise, it's possible.

I can't recall how many times I've wanted to post something stupid and impulsive, looked at it for a good minute and decided not to. Being on social media is essentially asking for attention in some way. It's in the name. And if I may offer some unsolicited advice, the next time you post, just consider whether that post is what you want to leave behind as a digital footprint. We've all done some dumb stuff online, but it's never too late to stop and be a decent person, lest you resemble a network of furious monkeys typing away in a dark, vacuous void.

"Superman" is now playing in theaters nationwide.