“Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” actor Dean Cain believes “Superman” director James Gunn’s decision to call the Man of Steel an immigrant was a mistake that could end up financially hurting the new DC Universe film.
Cain, who played Superman on “Lois & Clark” from 1993 to 1997, has emerged as a politically conservative Hollywood figure. In an interview with TMZ published Thursday, he responded to Gunn’s recent remark that Superman’s alien origins make his immigrant journey “the story of America.” Gunn’s comments come at a time when, thanks to President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation strategy, immigration has surged as a hotly debated topic in the United States.
“Bringing Superman into it, I think that was a mistake by James Gunn to say it’s an immigrant thing, and I think it’s going to hurt the numbers on the movie,” Cain told TMZ. “I was excited for the film. I’m excited to see what it is because James Gunn seems to have a sense of humor and the last iterations of Superman didn’t have much humor, and I love the humor in Superman. So I’m rooting for it to be a success, but I don’t like that last political comment.”
“I don’t think it’s going to help the numbers, and people really need to be educated on this immigration system because we are the most immigrant-friendly, by far, country on this planet,” Cain added.
Gunn’s pro-immigrant comments prompted incredulous outrage from right-wing comic book fans and news personalities, including Fox News’ Jesse Watters, who proclaimed that “the new Superman is going woke” and joked, “You know what it says on his cape? MS-13.” Cain, who told TMZ that he knows Watters and thinks he’s “great and funny,” offered his perspective on the Fox host’s remarks.
“The point I think he was making about the MS-13 thing on [Superman’s] cape was: How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters that exist for the times?” Cain said. “For Superman, it was ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way.’ Well, they dropped that. In fact, they let it go … They came up with ‘Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow.’ Changing beloved characters I don’t think is a great idea.
“For me, Superman has always stood for ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way,’ and the American Way is immigrant friendly, tremendously immigrant friendly. But there are rules,” the “Lois & Clark” star continued. “There have to be limits because we can’t have everybody here in the United States. Everybody can’t come here. Our society will fail. So there have to be limits.”
Gunn, for his part, responded to the conservative backlash to his comments. “I think this movie is for everybody. I don’t have anything to say to anybody, like I’m not here to judge people,” the filmmaker told Variety on the “Superman” red carpet Monday night. “I think this is a movie about kindness, and I think that’s something everyone can relate to.”
