Former Superman Dean Cain Criticizes New Movie’s Message

Dean Cain is sharing his reservations about James Gunn’s newest version of Superman.

“For Superman, it was truth, justice and the American way,” Cain, 58, recalled in an interview with TMZ published Wednesday, July 10. “Well, they dropped that. They let it go. They let that trademark on that go. They came up with truth, justice and a better tomorrow.”

According to Dean, who played the Kid from Krypton on the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from 1993 to 1997, changing beloved characters may not be the best idea.

“I think if you want to create a new character, go ahead and do that but 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,” he shared. “Everybody can’t come here. Our society will fail so there has to be limits.”

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Over the weekend, Gunn spoke out about his version of Superman, which hits theatres on Friday, July 11.

“Superman is the story of America,” he told The Times in an interview published Friday, July 4. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”

The comments caught the attention of Fox News host Jesse Watters, who joked that Superman’s cape reads “MS-13.”

Dean Cain and Justine Bateman Rory Flynn / ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

From Cain’s perspective, Watters, 47, wasn’t specifically talking about the character.

“I think the point he was making about the MS-13 thing on his cape was, how woke is Hollywood going to make this character?” he explained to TMZ. “How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters that exist for the times?”

“It cracks me up that people don’t like Superman,” Cain continued. “He was traditionally called the Big Blue Boy Scout and Superman’s inherent weakness is his goodness. Those are great values in my opinion, and I root for that.”

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The actor believes “it was a mistake” by Gunn to say “it’s an immigrant thing” and he predicts the director’s comments could “hurt” the movie’s box-office numbers.

Ultimately, Cain said he was still planning to see the movie and discover Gunn’s entire vision.

“James Gunn seems to have a sense of humor and the last iterations of Superman didn’t have much humor,” Cain explained. “I’m rooting for it to be a success, but I don’t like that last political comment.”