Comic fans were left polarized by Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. We got a cold, somewhat selfish Kryptonian who was a far cry from the Superman the world has known for decades. No longer the doe-eyed, all-American boy-scout from Kansas, Henry Cavill's Kal-El was a cynical alien who was suddenly and unwillingly thrust into a job of saving the world. This portrayal carried over into Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he portrayed a hot-headed hero-in-training, one who was quick to judge, and who lacked empathy and compassion.

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An unintended side-effect of Superman snapping Zod's neck in MoS is that it inspired comic scribe Mark Millar to create Huck with artist Rafael Albuquerque for Image Comics -- in essence, their own version of an earnest Superman. If you've read the book, you've already likely realized that with Netflix purchasing Millarworld, the opportunity now exists to give audiences the altruistic hero that Warner Bros' DC Extended Universe has yet to deliver, even with Justice League looming in November.

Millar is on the record as pointing to the trauma he felt by seeing Snyder's depiction of Superman, a reaction that directly drove him to conceive Huck -- a mild-mannered gas station attendant with check-list of good deeds he aimed to accomplish everyday. These goals ranged from taking out his town's trash, to finding lost trinkets, to rescuing cats from trees, along with bigger things such as finding missing persons and saving kidnapped folks from terrorists. No matter the scope of the deed, Huck begs everyone to keep his special abilities a secret, and they all oblige. Well, mostly. But even after he find himself outed, he perseveres. This isn't a job to Huck; he doesn't wear a costume, and he doesn't need praise. This is simply who he is.

With Netflix constantly evolving, offering bigger and grander original movies and series, it's clearly within the streaming service's capabilities to helm a pseudo-Superman movie. Even better, there's no way a Huck film would be viewed by audiences as a Smallville rip-off, despite several arguable similarities, incuding the comic's small town America setting and "no capes" approach to its hero.

What drives Huck is simply making people happy. Sure, he finds himself tangled up in global politics here and there, but he quickly extricates himself those situations to head home to the people he loves. Even when things get serious in the plot, it never turns bleak or bitter. Raised in an orphanage, when Huck learns out that his mother is alive, and that he and she were products of a Russian super-soldier program, he's not crushed to torn down -- he's happy. He finally gets what he's wanted his entire life, and on his journey to meet his mom for the first time, he continues to save people from burning buildings. Huck is relentless and unwavering in his resolve to help people, even when it means delaying his own happiness.

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How Huck Differs From Superman

That's what makes him a true Superman. Millar wrote a character who doesn't have a selfish bone in his body. Huck knew forgiveness, too, as seen at the series' end where he buys the person who outed him flowers. Even when things get violent, Huck is polite about it. You can't help but laugh when he asks a member of Boko Haram to take his glasses off before Huck knocks him out. He never sets out to inspire, but he does; even when he fumbles, he makes the world brighter, not bleaker.

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What makes Millar's really resonate is how he let go of his own writing tropes. There is no profanity, sex or excessive gore in Huck. The romantic interest appears in no more than a few panels, and culminates in a cute scene. The finale against the Russians, involves cyborgs and soldiers, but also involves Huck and his mother using their brains rather than brawn. There aren't any big splash pages of crazy explosions or cities being ravaged as you'd expect from a Millarworld series. The action is minimal, because that's what a true Superman would do -- figure out how to diffuse a situation and avoid throwing fists if at all possible.

Superman is an aspirational character, as we've seen so many times in comics, animation and live-action. This isn't a knock on what Snyder has done with the character; respect should be given for being bold and trying to break the mold. However, the thought that Netflix can bring to life a character that represents the innocence of Superman and the hope he conveys is too powerful to ignore. Yes, the DCEU presents a Superman who does use his powers to help regular humans who find themselves in peril, but Millar and Albuquerque's Huck does it more simply, and with less pretentiousness. We don't get a shot of a godlike entity towering over the helpless with his cape fluttering in slow-motion. We see Huck sharing hugs, paying meals forward at drive-ins, and helping out the homeless. Because that's human.

Netflix has an avenue to make audiences look to the sky and see a hero who is proactive, not reactive. Huck is Superman, if he were your county sheriff. He's someone who never set out to be a hero, but wakes up as one every day. Getting outed scared him, but he faced it head-on, showing a sort of relatable bravery by embracing the fact that, well, now he's simply got more tasks to do. It showed where he gleefully put up a business-sign at the end of the book to take cases from the public. He didn't think about mankind hating him or people coming after him and his loved ones. He was optimistic and believed in tomorrow.

Whether it's or a full-blown film, or (and this would be fantastic) a series, an adaptation of Millar and Albuquerque's six-issue comic should result in a Superman for this generation. Millar's already dream-cast Channing Tatum at the top of his wish-list to play Huck, and it's a perfect match. Tatum's "aw, shucks" persona is perfect for Huck, a loving and caring young man who's all about family and trying to make a difference in the world.