James Gunn Confirms Retcon To Superman's Parents And Explains Why He Desecrated Them

James Gunn confirmed the retcon of Jor-El and explained why he chose to desecrate Superman’s father.

In Gunn’s Superman film, Jor-El gives a message to his son telling him, “The people there are simple and profoundly confused. Weak of mind, spirit, and body. Lord over the planet as the Last Son of Krypton.”

His mother Lara then adds, “Dispatch of anyone unable or unwilling to serve you, Kal-el. Take as many wives as you can, so your genes and Krypton’s might and legacy will live on in this new frontier.”

Jor-El then adds, “Do us proud, our beloved son. Rule without mercy.”

Pop culture commentator and critic Gary Buechler aka Nerdrotic described this moment as worse than Pa Kent getting sucked up into a tornado as happened in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

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Gunn confirmed that the message was not manipulated by Lex Luthor and was indeed accurately translated by the Engineer in an interview with IGN. He said, “I’m a huge Superman fan. So, first of all, I had to trust myself that I was going to honor the pieces of Superman that we needed to keep the same, and also allow myself to make changes where changes might work, and wouldn’t go against the integrity of who the character is.”

“And so, I think that was simply-. Dealing with some of those things was simply dealing with allowing ourselves to change part of the story that was interesting for the DCU, but that wasn’t something that went against who Superman was. And it has been something that’s been played with in the comics before.”

This origin is not that of Superman, but that of Goku from Dragon Ball. And as much as James Gunn can claim that it does not take away from the integrity of the characters, it does. It completely ruins Jor-El and Lara and depicts them as maniacal tyrants rather than caring and loving parents who wish their son to choose what is right.

One can see that love in Superman II albeit it is a little misguided when Jor-El tells Superman, “Is this how you repay their gratitude? By abandoning the weak, the defenseless, the neediful for the sake of your selfish pursuits?”

“Yours is a higher purpose. The fulfillment of your mission, the inspiration you must have felt. You must have felt that happiness within you. My son, surely you cannot deny that feeling?”

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Similarly in Snyder’s Man of Steel, Jor-El informs Superman, “Your mother and I believe Krypton lost something precious: the element of choice, of chance. What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended for him or her? What if a child aspired to something greater? You were the embodiment of that belief, Kal, Kyrpton’s first natural birth in centuries. That’s why we risked so much to save you.”

He would add, “You’re as much a child of Earth now as you are of Krypton. You can embody the best of both worlds. The dream your mother and I dedicated our lives to preserve. The people of Earth are different from us. It’s true. But ultimately, I believe that’s a good thing. They won’t necessarily make the same mistakes we did. Not if you guide them, Kal. Not if you give them hope.”

“That’s what this symbol means. The symbol of the House of El means hope. Embodied within that hope if the fundamental belief the potential of every person to be a force for good. That’s what you can bring them,” Jor-El instructed.

What do you make of Gunn’s desecration of Jor-El and Lara and his explanation of it?

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