Defending the “Woke” Illegal Alien in a Cape
If you’re anti-Superman, you’re also anti-kindness, anti-compassion, and anti-hope… and pro-fascists.
James Gunn, director of the upcoming Superman reboot, recently said his film is “about immigrants and basic human kindness.” His Superman, he said, is “the story of America. An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country.” And he added, quite plainly, that “basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”
Cue the outrage.
Kellyanne Conway, now moonlighting as a film critic for Fox News, whined that the movie was too ideological: “We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to.” Jesse Watters took it further, snarking that Superman’s cape should say “MS13.” And across the right-wing media ecosystem, the spin machine kicked into high gear: Superwoke Superman. Lecturing audiences. Pushing an agenda.
But here’s the thing: these people aren’t just missing the point of this Superman. They’re missing the point of Superman, full stop.
Because Superman has always been woke. And I mean that in the best possible sense of the word.
Superman Was Born of Oppression … and Hope
To understand Superman’s role as a symbol of justice and inclusion, you have to start at the beginning. Not just his fictional beginning, but the real-world one.
Superman was created in 1938 by two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. They were the sons of Eastern European immigrants and the grandchildren of pogrom survivors. They were also young men coming of age in a world teetering toward fascism, antisemitism, and war.
Superman wasn’t just fantasy, he was an allegory. A Jewish immigrant allegory.
He came from a destroyed homeland, cast out as a child to survive among strangers. He grew up hiding his identity, blending in, suppressing his powers until they were needed to confront evil. He stood for justice, not revenge. Compassion, not conquest. He was everything the Nazis hated, and everything the vulnerable dreamed of becoming.
His creators modeled him after Moses, after Golem myths, after the dream that even the most persecuted outsider could grow up to be a protector of the weak and a symbol of hope. He was strength used with morality. Power wielded in the name of justice. And he was deeply, fundamentally anti-fascist from day one.
To strip that away now, to call him “too political” for standing up for immigrants, or “superwoke” for embodying kindness, isn’t just ignorant. It’s an erasure of who he was always meant to be.
Superman Is an Undocumented Immigrant. That’s the Point.
Let’s get this out of the way: Superman is, quite literally, an illegal alien.
He arrived on Earth with no visa, no green card, no lawful port of entry. Just a spaceship and a prayer. No “waiting in line.” No proper paperwork. If Clark Kent showed up today, MAGA Txitter would be calling for his deportation before he finished changing in the phone booth.
But that’s the whole point of the character.
Superman is a story of belonging. He was a child taken in by kind strangers, raised with values, and taught that the measure of a person is how they treat others. Not their citizenship status. Not their accent. Not where they were born. But who they choose to be.
He may have arrived from another planet, but he became the most American hero of all, not because of a flag, but because of a belief in equality, justice, and the dignity of all people.
His “outsider” status is central to his morality. It’s why he gets injustice in a way others don’t. It’s why he uses his powers not to dominate, but to protect.
And that, too, is something his modern-day critics seem desperate to forget.
The Politics Have Always Been There
Here’s what conservative critics keep pretending not to understand: Superman has never been “just” a superhero.
He’s always been a symbol. And that symbol has always carried a moral imperative.
In his first appearance, Action Comics #1, Superman didn’t fight aliens or supervillains. He took on corrupt politicians, abusive men, and arms dealers profiting off war. He was called the “Champion of the Oppressed.” He was created to speak truth to power.
And during World War II, Superman punched Nazis. On covers. In panels. In no uncertain terms.
In one 1942 comic titled How Superman Would End the War, he stormed into Berlin, grabbed Hitler and Stalin by the scruffs of their necks, and dragged them to the League of Nations for trial. It wasn’t very subtle, but it sure was powerful.
Over the decades, he’s marched for civil rights. He’s defended immigrants. He’s stood up for workers, women, and marginalized communities. He’s called out racism. He’s refused to kill. He’s questioned authority. He’s stood by his conscience even when the government told him not to.
You don’t have to dig very deep into his archives to realize that Superman has always been political. He just hasn’t always been convenient for you.
Woke Isn’t the Insult You Think It Is
Let’s talk about the word woke.
Fox News uses it as a slur, a catch-all term for anything inclusive, empathetic, or vaguely progressive. But strip away the performative outrage, and what does it mean?
Woke means awake. Alert to injustice. Aware of inequality. Willing to do something about it.
If that’s a problem for you, I suggest the problem isn't Superman. It’s what you’ve chosen to be asleep to.
If “woke” means believing that people should be treated with compassion, kindness, and dignity, then Superman is woke.
If it means protecting the vulnerable, then Superman is woke.
If it means standing against fascists, then Superman is superwoke.
And if that’s your insult, then you’re basically admitting you’d rather have a Superman who stands with the fascists and stands for cruelty.
We Don’t Need a Less Woke Superman. We Need a More Compassionate America.
Fox News and its culture warriors don’t object to ideology in movies. They just want their ideology.
They’re fine with superheroes who enforce power, who serve the state, who uphold the dominant order without question. But a superhero who challenges cruelty? Who embodies compassion? Who reminds us that morality, and not might is what makes right?
That’s when the hand-wringing starts.
Superman doesn’t lecture us. He challenges us. He invites us to be better. To rise above fear and tribalism. To protect the people who don’t look or talk or pray like us. To choose kindness even when cruelty is easier.
And if that makes him “superwoke,” then we need more woke aliens in capes, not fewer.
Because Superman isn’t here to reassure us. He’s here to inspire us. He’s here to remind us what America could be, and not what it’s currently settling for.
So if you’re upset that Superman defends immigrants, punches fascists, and insists that kindness still matters… maybe you’re not anti-woke; maybe you’re just pro-tyrant.
Maybe you’re just scared of the mirror he’s holding up.
Maybe you’re the problem.
But for the rest of us, for those of us who still believe in decency, justice, and the possibility of a better tomorrow, Superman’s cape will always be a welcome sight.
Even if he’s not “from here.”
If you believe in that kind of hero, the kind who stands up, speaks out, and defends the least among us, share this post. And maybe the next time someone calls him “superwoke,” you can smile and say, “Damn right he is!”
I was more of a Marvel Comics kid growing up, but you gotta respect the one superhero who basically set the standard for all others. He put the country and the planet on his shoulders, and with a little help from Batman also kept DC alive for decades. If there's one thing the fantasy of comics should have inspired us adults to do once we realized no superheroes are really out there... It's to become the everyday heroes the world really needs.