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.

What set things off wasn’t just the sentiment – it was who said it, and how plainly. Gunn, now headlining DC’s cinematic future, told the Sunday Times that Superman was “an immigrant who came from other places and populated the country”. He spoke of Superman’s inherent kindness as a political statement in itself, noting that the film would play differently in some parts of America before adding, bluntly, that “there are some jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness”. “But screw them,” he added. It was that line – less the immigrant metaphor, more the unapologetic framing – that sent the usual outrage machine into motion.

Enter Dean Cain, a former TV Superman. Cain accused Gunn of politicizing the character, which is remarkably foolish, considering Superman’s been swatting at fascism since 1941. Meanwhile, over at Fox News, it’s

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