Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson touched on his problems with the portrayal of an evil Superman during a New York Comic Con 2021 panel, adding that a corrupted version of the character akin to the one in the Injustice franchise would never appear during his run on Action Comics.

"It's an easy pitch to a studio," Johnson said when answering a fan's question about why evil portrayals of Superman were so common in mass media. "...It's just an easy thing to wrap your head around because Superman is this paragon of virtue. So, the idea of...corrupting it for this piece of media is reused and an easy pitch."

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Johnson brought up the 2019 movie Brightburn as an example of this trope, calling the main character "irredeemable." The film featured a Superman-esque boy who used his powers to terrorize his family and hometown in a manner akin to a horror film killer.

"And I'm not saying it should never have been explored," Johnson said. "I mean they even explored in the Christopher Reeves movies with the red Kryptonite thing. So, I get why it's there, and I mean, I sort of explored it in the House of El too, with [Superman's] son Pyrrhos, who takes the name Red King."

1983's Superman III featured an evil version of Christopher Reeve's Superman who was born from synthetic Kryptonite and did everything from heavily drinking alcohol to blowing out the Olympic torch. Johnson's House of El one-shot, which was released in February as part of DC's Future State initiative, explored a possible future for Superman which saw the Man of Steel's rebellious son wreaking havoc before he was finally offered a chance for redemption by his father.

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"That's there to illustrate Superman's inherent goodness and his willingness to see the good in everyone, even this person who is a genocidal maniac," Johnson said, referring to Superman forgiving Pyrrhos in House of El. "He's like, 'I can fix this. We can do this together.' So, I'm not mad that those things are out there, but...to me it's an easy choice."

Johnson quoted Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back, pointing out that it was "quicker, easier, more seductive" to deconstruct Superman than present him as a genuinely good individual. He pointed to the Injustice games and comics, which steadily follow the downfall of the Man of Steel from hero into dictator after the Joker kills Lois Lane and his unborn child.

"I want to tell you that you're never going to see evil Superman in my run, because even in Injustice if what happened in that book happens...the real Superman would not do what he did in that game and comic series," Johnson insisted. "That's not the real Superman. So, it's important to me, like crucial to me, that we all have that voice, that person we can believe in that we know that would never do that, you know? I feel like it's important for us to believe that that's achievable, it is possible to have ultimate power, and not be a monster."

Action Comics #1029 kicked off Johnson's run on Superman's debut title. The latest issue, Action Comics #1035, saw Superman departing the planet to challenge Mongul on Warworld, leaving Earth in the care of his son, Jon Kent.

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Source: New York Comic Con