“Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” host Dean Cain fears that James Gunn‘s as-yet-unreleased take on “Superman” will be too woke.
Gunn courted conservative controversy earlier this week, when he pointed out the comic book hero’s inherent friendliness toward immigrants, being from somewhere far away himself. Cain, who played the “Big Blue Boy Scout” on television for four seasons, agreed that Superman’s American ideals include a pro-immigrant stance, but still worried to TMZ that Gunn might make the character too progressive.
“How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change “Snow White?” Why are they going to change these characters that exist for the times?” Cain asked. “Changing beloved characters, I don’t think, is a great idea.”
Cain didn’t see Gunn’s immigrant-friendly interpretation of Superman as a change in the essential character. As a Donald Trump supporter, the actor had to walk a tightrope that allowed for both praise of Superman’s essential goodness and the Republican program of mass deportation and punishment.
“The ‘American way’ is immigrant-friendly, tremendously immigrant-friendly,” Cain said, “But there are rules…There have to be limits, because we can’t have everybody in the United States. We can’t have everybody, society will fail.”
Cain can be counted on as a regular commentator for conservative culture freakouts. He appears on right-wing networks to voice outrage over new storylines and interpretations in the endlessly malleable world of comics whenever they edge a little too close to progressive ideology. The fact that he’s almost 60 years old is rarely brought up.
