Superman waving the red cape to right wing America

James Gunn's summer blockbuster has débuted with relatively sterling reviews. The popular writer-director was, however, daft enough to wave the red cape at the far-right bull and say: "Superman is the story of America. An immigrant who came from other places and populated the country, but for me, it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is something that we have lost."

Throw in a plot about the last son of Krypton stopping a couple of wars, and you have a smoking hot mess. The movie has been denounced as a mouthpiece for "wokeness" and "liberal America" by the usual right-wing commentators.

The irony, of course, is that the movie feels decidedly anti-woke. Superman has only gone back to his very edgy, anti-authoritarian origins. The same commentators who have denounced the march of wokery and privilege are now throwing their toys out of the pram with absolutely no appreciation for the history of the Man of Tomorrow.

Superman took off in June 1938 in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics, Inc., which later became DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (both sons of immigrants) during the Great Depression, Superman originally fought for the common man. In that first appearance, the character was depicted as a mysterious, strongman-style hero fighting for social justice, targeting corrupt politicians, arms dealers, abusive husbands, bogus landlords, and exploitative businesspeople - very different from the cosmic, Godlike figure he would later become.

Kal-El is a literal alien refugee raised by humble farmers in Kansas, embodying working-class, small-town values like fairness, decency, and solidarity. He was very much the spirit of populist or even leftist activism. Clark Kent represents the oppressed everyman, Superman, his potential, and class consciousness, and noblesse oblige are an undercurrent of his awesome powers.

For the bulk of his 85 years, Superman has been overtly political. The question of whether he can or should intervene in ordinary lives is utterly allegorical to the changing role of the United States government from the 1930s onwards. Where the pushback comes is the slow contemporary realisation that Superman has always been allegorical for New Deal Democrats and a very particular kind of interventionist administration.

The most recent instalments in the Superman franchise – notably Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" (2013) and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)- had a near-apocalyptic sense of tragedy, foreboding, and oppressive misery over the question of what Superman should do with his power.

Modern portrayals, especially in films, reflect our changing expectations of what privileged individuals should do with their gifts, and to what end governments should intervene in the lives of citizens. Superman was born in a time of paternalism and massive government intervention to stabilise, reduce unemployment and rationalise the U.S economy.

Superman is widely considered the first modern superhero, and his début is often cited as the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books, lasting 1938 until the mid-1950s. The character was an unruly anarchist and has gone on to be a beacon for conservatives, liberals, and even libertarians in some instances.

During the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956 to 1970), Superman's portrayal was more optimistic with imaginative storytelling, and he became a more versatile and powerful hero, with a wider range of abilities.

The Bronze Age of Superman refers to the period (roughly 1970 to 1985) when comic books - and Superman in particular - became more socially aware, psychologically complex, and editorially experimental, while still retaining many of their classic elements. Superman's godlike power levels were reduced to make stories more grounded and suspenseful, with a focus on grittier political issues, environmental disasters, journalistic ethics, and even a more cynical Man of Steel questioning his role in society.

Fast-forward to the present-day culture wars and the populist libertarianism, and the question has cynically shifted away from the extent to which Superman should help humanity to the rights of those whom he tries to save. It's not woke Millennials saying, 'hands off, Superman,' it's anti-establishment, Make America Great Again supporters suspicious of an illegal alien who says he is here to help.

The Modern Age Superman (1986 -present) is replete with darker tones, psychological depth, and sometimes edgy to a fault, featuring more mature storytelling and updated worldviews. Superman is portrayed as idealistic yet flawed, grappling with doubt, grief, and moral ambiguity.

His characterisation mirrors the journey from the promise of the Franklin D. Roosevelt to the patriotic propaganda of the Second World War, the paranoia of the Cold War, the trauma of the Vietnam War, the cynicism of Richard Nixon presidency and Watergate, the jingoism of the Ronald Reagan years, the post-Cold War malaise, the War on Terror right through to the anti-truth populism of the present administration.

Not only is his story less biblical and replete with Christian symbolism of a father sending humanity his only son, but it's also what it always was: an immigrant's story, and where Superman fits in with contemporary Western civilisation.

The changing relationship of citizens to their government is reflected in changing attitudes to Superman. If the Man of Steel is America incarnate, the nebulous shift of his character only reflects the seismic changes the United States has gone through over the last century. It is quite apropos that Francis Fukuyama's existential commentary, 'The End of History,' about the ascendancy of Western liberal democracy coincided with the 'The Death of Superman' comic in 1992.

Before that, Superman always was "punk rock", as the new movie says. He just acted and be damned the consequences. Superman is the poster boy for Pax America - but not the torrid, neoliberal, ethically compromised one we know today. He's a call back to when the behemoth United States stepped up with a Whiggish view of history.

At varying times, he is either the embodiment of the American government or a reactionary representation of the everyman he tries to help. The endurability of the character is precisely because these things operate on a pendulum. The ultimate Boy Scout has, and always has been, a creature of profound social conscience with a dollop of whimsical bonhomie. Superman is punk, sans mohawk.

And just to end with a thought grenade, we all know Richard Donner's 1978 Superman with Christopher Reeve in the titular role is the ultimate version.