
Man of Steel commentary by PC’s Take
“Man of Steel leaps box office in single bound” was how USA Today characterized the news that director Zach Snyder’s take on Superman, the most enduring of all superheroes, raked in $113.1 million last weekend. [Second week of June] That’s an all-time record for a movie opening during the month of June. The previous record was held by “Toy Story 3.”
Far more interesting than the box office numbers, however, is the story being told, a story that should resonate with Christians.
Like the Superman movies of the late seventies, Snyder’s telling of the story does not obscure the oft-noted parallels between Superman and Christ. In the 1978 version directed by Richard Donner, Jor-El, Superman’s father, tells him “I have sent them” — that is, humanity — “you, my only son.”
With Man of Steel, Snyder sees Donner and raises him. Without giving too much away, Snyder’s Superman is 33 years old; his birth was, if not miraculous, definitely out-of-the-ordinary; and a chunk of his life between age 12 and his early 30s is passed over in silence. As one critic disapprovingly put it, the film’s creators “don’t dramatize the analogy [to Christ], they presume it.”
HT:In this edition of PC’s Take Pastor Clark Shultz gives a short review and commentary of the analogies in “Man of Steel.”
Several other “Man of Steel” resources for further study.
Free downloadable Bible Study from Concordia Publishing House–looks solid throughout.
A whole website full of “Man of Steel” resources–the overall content may prove valuable to some as a starting point, however applications seem to miss the focus of substitutionary savior and focus more on the Man of Steel/Christ as a good example for us to follow.
What did you think?
Have you seen the new Superman movie? What did you think? What Christian applications would you make? In what ways might this movie serve as a starting point for a conversation about Christ?
Please shares your thoughts in the comments section below.

