He’s Awkward. He’s Sticky. He’s the Best Superhero.

Mr. Colman is a critic and a former Possessed columnist for the Times.

14 years after the first “Avengers” movie hit theaters, superheroes have become a bore. Their supernatural strength, their predictable near-indestructibility, their vehicles or magical powers that whoosh them in and out of multiverses galore. Can any of it stand up to what is happening to the world outside? And when the stakes are so ridiculous, does any of it actually resonate?

We don’t need Mr. All-American-From-Krypton or a showboating billionaire with a bat attitude. Not with the federal government currently at war with itself, its populace, its Constitution, all common decency and Iran. Even Lex Luthor might cringe at the brazen corruption of our oligarchs. No, this is not a job for Superman. Nor........

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