Warning! Major spoilers ahead for James Gunn’s Superman; article also contains spoilers The Boys and Invincible comics.
To the surprise of many comic fans, several critical plot points in James Gunn’s Superman parallel iconic elements of both The Boys and Invincible comics…but rather than cause for criticism, this might be the movie’s smartest creative choice. After years of Superman being paid homage to, parodied, and used as an archetype, Gunn’s film brings things full circle.
In the week since Superman’s release, the movie has been critically and commercially lauded, with comic fans in particular praising Gunn and his team for inaugurating an exciting new era of cinematic Superman adventures.
Yet some have rightly pointed out that the movie’s biggest twists were not influenced by Superman stories, but rather The Boys and Invincible.
Superman’s Ultraman Twist Has Its Roots In The Comic Version Of “The Boys”
Ultraman’s Parallels To Black Noir, Explained
Let’s start with Ultraman. In Gunn’s Superman, the powerful antagonist is revealed to be a clone of Superman, created by Lex Luthor to use as a weapon against the hero. This immediately struck a chord with fans of Garth Ennis’ The Boys; near the end of that series, the character Black Noir was unforgettably revealed to be a clone of Homelander.
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James Gunn’s Superman movie launches the DC Universe in spectacular fashion, with a fun-filled romp that requires refreshingly little homework.
More than just mirroring this plot point, Ultraman’s design in Superman is also a clear visual nod to Black Noir. The similarities are especially notable because Amazon’s The Boys TV adaptation, which is currently gearing up for its final season, deliberately moved away from the Homelander/Noir clone twist, departing from the comic source material and crafting its own ending.
With that in mind, it seems that James Gunn adopted the twist for his take on the Man of Steel, who, of course, serves as the model for Homelander, an infamously dark take on the Superman hero archetype. Gunn’s version of the plot plays out differently, but it is hard to argue that The Boys wasn’t an influence on the film version.
As the saying goes, “greatness borrows, genius steals,” and in Superman, James Gunn does a bit of both.
It should also be noted that precedent does exist in DC Comics for Ultraman as a version of Superman, but the specific “clone” story beat is indebted to Ennis. Still, this shouldn’t rub fans the wrong way. As the saying goes, “greatness borrows, genius steals,” and in Superman, James Gunn does a bit of both.
Superman’s Revelation About The Man Of Steel’s Parents Mirrors The Big Twist In “Invincible”
Jor-El And Omni-Man’s Overlap, Explained
The other significant parallel that astute comic readers noticed in James Gunn’s Superman involves the reveal about the hero’s parents. In the film, a pivotal moment comes when Superman’s message from Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van is translated to indicate that they want him to conquer Earth, rather than protect it.
- First Episode Air Date
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July 26, 2019
- Cast
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Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Jensen Ackles
This evokes the major twist early in Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, in which Mark Grayson’s father, Omni-Man, turns out to be an advance agent for the alien conquerors known as the Viltrumites. Invincible’s first major test as a hero is his refusal to join his father and the Viltrumites and betray his Earth heritage.
James Gunn’s Superman sets up a similar conflict for the new cinematic Man of Steel in a future film or TV series. Again, this story beat isn’t entirely without its precedents in the near-century of Superman lore, which has at times played with the idea of a less-than-altruistic version of Jor-El. Still, the connection to Invincible is hard to ignore.
- Video Game(s)
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Invincible: Guarding the Globe
- Character(s)
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Invincible, Debbie Grayson, Atom Eve, William Clockwell, Omni-Man
Once again, though, it stands out because Omni-Man and Invincible themselves, as heroes, are modeled after Superman. In other words, if the maxim is “greatness borrows, genius steals,” creative geniuses Robert Kirkman and Garth Ennis already “stole” liberally from Superman to create their characters; James Gunn is just returning the favor.
Why Incorporating Elements Of “The Boys” And “Invincible” Was A Smart Move On James Gunn’s Part
The Vast Legacy Of Superman
James Gunn’s Superman has largely managed to satisfy comic book fans’ rigorous expectations for the movie, with these plot points mirroring The Boys and Invincible standing out as one of the few points of contention in the immediate aftermath of its release. Arguably, though, this shouldn’t be a knock against the film, because it is part of a larger storytelling tradition.
Gunn’s remixing and recontextualizing of familiar plot beats from The Boys and Invincible ultimately serves a creative purpose beyond simply adding action and drama to the film.
That is, all superhero stories “borrow” and “steal” from one another. In a way, James Gunn’s Superman serves as a synthesis of ninety years of Superman history. Importantly, that history extends beyond the page, and includes the character’s cultural influence, including his impact on the superhero genre, which has in many ways been defined by the Man of Steel.
So, incorporating elements from popular superhero stories that, in turn, took cues from Superman, is a smart way of reasserting the character’s central importance to the genre. Gunn’s remixing and recontextualizing of familiar plot beats from The Boys and Invincible ultimately serves a creative purpose beyond simply adding action and drama to the film.
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In this sense, Gunn’s Superman pays homage to The Boys and Invincible, by highlighting their contributions to the Superman mythos from the outside, even if it came in the form of parody, or subversion of tropes. The Superman-esque characters from those franchises are still a part of the DC hero’s legacy, and Gunn’s film capitalizes on that.
Superman
9/10
- Release Date
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July 11, 2025
- Runtime
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130 Minutes
- Producers
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Lars P. Winther, Peter Safran
