https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/did-superman-call-out-israel
Did Superman call out Israel?
Some are calling the superhero film the most overtly political studio blockbuster in years, with references to Israel's war on Gaza and US immigration policy
Cast member David Corenswet attends the premiere of the film Superman at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, US,
on 7 July 2025 (Daniel Cole/Reuters)
By
Ayah El-Khaldi
Published date: 14 July 2025 17:06 BST | Last update: 15 hours 39 mins ago
The newly released Hollywood blockbuster
Superman: Legacy, which premiered globally on 11 July, is drawing intense social media attention for what many viewers perceive as a bold "pro-
Palestine" stance.
While director James Gunn has not publicly confirmed any references, online audiences are calling the film one of the most politically charged superhero stories in recent memory, with comparisons to
Israel’s war on
Gaza and the
US immigration raids taking centre stage.
Set partly in the fictional country of Boravia, a high-tech military ally of the US, the film follows Superman as he confronts a regime accused of invasion, surveillance of dissenters and weapons-fuelled domination over a neighbouring population confined behind a border fence.
The plot has struck a nerve with many viewers who see parallels to the ongoing war in Gaza.
One of the most widely circulated Reddit
posts under the subreddit "Israel" encapsulated the concern from pro-Israel audiences:
“Have you all seen the new Superman movie? I find it so disrespectful and distressing that a superhero created by two Jewish artists is now being used to promote anti-Israeli messages to the world… I can't understand how this was green-lit at a time like this with global antisemitism on a rise... Of course, the invaders are portrayed as white while the victims are predominantly brown. And of course, if Israel speaks out against the film, it would be seen as 'well, if the shoe fits.'"
Users responding on Twitter
wrote: “It’s so funny that they instantly recognize that the movie is about Israel’s genocide in Gaza without being told and yet still have the temerity to get offended and express their indignation in public. It’s like how come you know the evil murderous villains are Israel, guys?”
One user
compared the concluding scene to images from the 2018
Great March of Return in Gaza.