My take on the Superman movie politics *Spoilers*
- From what we’ve seen of Boravia’s aesthetics, culture, and political atmosphere, everything screams post-Soviet Eastern, with Russia as the primary template. I didn't see much similarities between them and Israel. The whole "we are liberating them from tyranny" is pure Russia and the justification for the invasion.
- People called Vasil Ghurkos a Netanyahu stand in but I don't see it. Bibi thrives on charisma, soundbites, media mastery, and elite English. He is very careful in his public image and very charming publicly. Ironically, Bibi's personality is much more Lex Luthor-coded than the usual comparisons of Elon Musk, Bezos, or Trump. Ghurkos felt more like a buffon and a parody of soviet dictators like Putin or Lukashenko
- I really liked how they portrayed Luthor's media bots and in general the use of Social-Media. In my amateur fan-made Superman synopsizes, I always tried to incorporate this and I'm glad that that Gunn did that, its very relevant and Superman should always be a commentary on our politics. Him getting trashed by media-bots (and them being portrayed as literally monkeys) was so on-point and relevant, as well as Lex's use of fear-mongering through the media.
- I get the Elon comparisons of Luthor, but he didn't evoke the erratic tech-bro energy of Elon Musk (Eisenberg was more like Elon IMO) as much as he channels something colder, more ideologically driven and hateful, which align more with someone like Stephen Miller. Lex's behavior, rhetoric, and mannerism reminded me much more of someone like Miller. His controlled speech patterns feel closer to Miller’s grim affect than Musk’s erratic bravado, as well as his rhetorics towards Superman ("He is an it")
Posted Jul 17, 2025, 8:25 AM UTC
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