>>117568176Original Superman as created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster was very dedicated to toppling corrupt institutions. In the very first issue, you see him quickly stop the execution of a man convicted under false pretenses, fight a bunch of criminals causing general social ills, and he begins investigating a case of bribery in congress.
This pattern of behavior continues. You see him destroy poorly made public housing to force the government to build better ones. You see him stop wars. You see him stop cruelty to prisoners.
He has a habit of waking up public officials in the middle of the night and quickly bringing them to scenes of injustice.
When the New 52 happened, Grant Morrison tried bringing all that back. His Superman run can be confusing due to the general Grant Morrisonness of it (its confusing and that’s very bad for a story meant to be an easy jump-on point), however, the general characterization of a swift force of justice is absolutely good for his image. One of the most successful recent Superman comics was Superman Smashes The Klan, which presents him the same way and calls attention to Superman history.
The issue with Superman’s public image begins with Dark Knight Returns. It’s a great comic, but it presents Batman as a folk-hero avenger of justice, and Superman is a part of the broken system that must be dismantled. That stuck to him, even though it wasn’t there in the beginning.
What’s needed is a way to make the Golden Age New 52 Klan-smashing Superman the norm in the public’s eye. How to do that? Aggressive marketing. Make that his characterization in the comics (any writer who can pull it off while keeping it simple will do) and make a movie that ties into those comics. Announce that this is the best time to start reading Superman. Release a book with the new comics/origin, some golden age comics, and a simple explanation on the Superman family and character history for normies. There, you now have buzz around Superman
