"My name is Kal-El of Krypton. And I come in peace."
Superman: Man of Tomorrow is a 2020 Superman origin movie, part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. Released digitally on August 23 and on home video September 8, the movie focuses on Superman's early life as Clark Kent and features the voices of Darren Criss as Superman, Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane, Zachary Quinto as Lex Luthor and Ryan Hurst as Lobo, among others. It is also the first DC Comics film to be released following the DC Animated Movie Universe franchise concluding, while also being the start of a new shared universe called the Tomorrowverse.
The movie's first trailer debuted on June 23, 2020 and can be viewed here
.
Tropes featured in the Movie:
- Abnormal Ammo: Lobo has some strange alien weaponry. Like a shotgun that shoots live electrified slugs or a minigun that spits out knives.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Parasite is usually depicted as a greedy and selfish jackass who feels he’s entitled to whatever he likes. Here, however, he is depicted as a Tragic Monster who was actually a good man and a war hero, and who winds up pulling a Heroic Sacrifice after regaining his senses.
- Downplayed with regards to Lobo. He's just as uncouth as he usually is. But past incarnations of Lobo have usually been guilty of committing genocide against their own people. This version of Lobo claims that he killed off his own people... but then says he's just kidding. If we're to take him at his word, then Man of Tomorrow's incarnation of Lobo didn't commit any genocide against Czarnia at all.
- Aliens Speaking English: No explanation is provided for Lobo's knowledge of the English language.
- Ambiguous Ending: Did Rudy absorb the reactor's energy in a Heroic Sacrifice to save everyone, or did Parasite attempt to devour a massive power source and it proved to be too much? Or was it both?
- Anti-Villain: Parasite, Lobo, and to a lesser extent, Lex Luthor. Parasite is a good man mutated into a horrific monster by circumstances beyond his control, Lobo is a ruthless mercenary with a (mild) sense of honor, and Luthor’s main motivation proves to be protecting Earth, no matter how ruthless and cruel he is about it.
- Apologetic Attacker: J'onn apologies to Pa Kent when he has to read his mind, psychically restraining Pa in the process. He apologizes again when they've set down for tea, and Pa accepts the apology.
- Assimilation Backfire: Depending on what Parasite absorbs, he gets all that comes with it. Strengths and weaknesses. By draining Superman, he gained all of the powers of a Kryptonian along with the Kryptonite Factor.
- Big Bad Slippage: Rudy Jones starts out as an average janitor at S.T.A.R. Labs. After getting accidentally mutated during Superman and Lobo's fight he turns into the monstrous Parasite, seeking to absorb power at all costs.
- Bounty Hunter: Lobo's day job. He came to Earth because someone placed a high bounty on the last living Kryptonian.
- Breath Weapon: After becoming a giant monster, Parasite is able to shoot beams of purple light from his large mouth.
- The Cameo:
- Luthor's silent, unnamed guard who takes away Lois' phone at the press conference is clearly meant to be Mercy Graves.
- Batman is glimpsed on a photo.
- Costume Evolution: Early parts of the film show Superman with a prototype costume before he wears his classic costume.
- The Cynic: Having lived among humans for decades, and with genocide in his backstory, J'onn knows too well the kind of destruction and cruelty fear of the unknown begets.
- Disney Death: Both Martian Manhunter and Lobo seemingly get killed by the Parasite only to turn up alive later.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: This film really leans into the immigration aspect of Superman more than previous version, creating comparisons to real life racism and xenophobia. Clark, while not being born on Earth, can pass for human and outwardly resembles a white man while having been raised in his adopted culture. J'onn's natural alien form forces him to shape shift to hide better, and since he wasn't raised on Earth this brings to mind immigrants who feel the need to hide their culture to fit in. Parasite meanwhile is human and a war vet, but to the rest of the world he looks like an alien invader and they treat him with hostility with Clark even telling the scared crowd that Parasite was born here (in America) and is just like them. This resembles situations where people experience racism and are accused of being immigrants for how they look despite being born in America.
- Endearingly Dorky: Clark's first costume is an old-timey aviator uniform. He later briefly considers adding a cape tied around his neck. He seems quite proud of how it looks, despite its very makeshift design.
- Faking the Dead: To escape the Parasite, Martian Manhunter creates a psychic illusion of himself being burned alive.
- Fallen Hero: Rudy was a decorated and heroic war veteran, until he was turned into the monstrous Parasite.
- Female Gaze: Clark ends up naked after all the damage his outfit takes during his fight with Lobo. Well-built muscles and bare buttocks are shown.
- Fighting from the Inside: Implied. Parasite is unable to control his urges and clearly horrified by the killings and murders he undertakes while under the influence of the biochemical weapon that infested him after he does them.
- Flipping the Bird: Lobo, cheeky as ever, gives Superman the finger while also wearing a ring with Kryptonite in it on said finger.
- Foil: Lobo to Clark. Both are aliens, but while Clark is kind-hearted and fights for noble reasons, Lobo is a boorish Blood Knight. Also, Clark fights bare-handed, while Lobo relies on long-range weapons and a kryptonite ring.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Since Clark's Beta Outfit isn't also super, it burns up after Lobo throws a bomb at him, and then completely disintegrates when he flies into space. When he knocks out Lobo at the end of their fight he's completely naked.
- Healing Factor: Lobo is functionally immortal. When he detonated his vest filled with explosives, he was blown to pieces. But we see those pieces slowly pulling themselves together. By the end of the film, he's perfectly fine.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To prevent the power generator overloading, Rudy absorbs it, causing his cells to overload and turn him to ash. Doubles as a Heroic Suicide, as it was unlikely there was anything close to a cure for Rudy's condition and at this point, he'd absorbed so much he was a danger to everyone and everything, with little control over himself.
- Hurl It into the Sun: Clark gets rid of the rocket by taking into space and hurling it into the sun, where he realizes that the sun is what's giving him his power.
- Intrepid Reporter: As always, Lois Lane. When Parasite breaks into Lobo's cell, she records it on her phone instead of running like hell.
- It Will Never Catch On: Perry White says this about the name "Superman" Lois came up with for the Flying Man. Amusingly, Clark himself agrees.
- Just Between You and Me: Some champagne, a pretty face, Lex's arrogance and the mistaken belief that he owns Lois Lane because he underwrote her graduation means Lex brags about his scam with the rocket. Lois records the conversation and broadcasts it at Lex's press conference.
- Kaiju: During the climax, Parasite transforms into one of these.
- Large Ham: Perry White."Heh heh, see, now they hate you! That couldn't have gone better!"
- Laser-Guided Karma: Lois ends up falling for the same "power move" she was planning to pull on Superman.
- Last of His Kind: Clark is the last Kryptonian since their planet died. J'onn is also the last of the Martians. Subverted at the end. Lobo claims that the "last of their race" thing is usually a bluff made by bounty hunters to get more money. He's admitted to seeing more Martians in the universe and would personally bet that there are more Kryptonians as well. He is proved right when Clark's cousin Supergirl makes it to Earth in Legion of Super-Heroes (2023).
- Lighter and Softer: The film is a much brighter and more idealistic superhero tale than some recent DC Universe Animated Original movies, especially when compared to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. For instance, Parasite is much more sympathetic here than he is in other stories and even Lobo and Lex Luthor get moments of heroism.
- A Minor Kidroduction: The movie opens with an elementary school-aged Clark still reeling from Ma and Pa telling him he's an alien from space.
- Mood Whiplash: Just as Clark agrees with Lois' heartwarming Rousing Speech, she suddenly pulls out a notepad and pencil, asking for Clark's source. He then realizes she was trying to steal the story out from him, turning to comedy.
- Mythology Gag:
- Superman's Beta Outfit and the inclusion of Lobo seem to be inspired by Superman: American Alien, while the inclusion of Parasite seems inspired by Superman: Secret Origin. Both are mutually exclusive origin stories, but the movie overall isn't particularly bound by either.
- Lobo tells Lois there is an army of Kryptonians heading for Earth to get Superman and are going to kill everyone in their way until he reveals he's just messing with her. That happens in the film Man of Steel.
- Multiple references to the famous opening-title speech from The Adventures of Superman:
- Lex Luthor notes that Superman is as strong as a locomotive. Superman admits he's stronger. "More powerful than a locomotive."
- When the launched rocket begins to fail, Ron Troupe says, "Look! Up in the sky!"
- In her Rousing Speech, Lois says that journalists like her and Clark fight for truth and justice in their own ways. Superman is known to fight for "truth, justice, and the American way".
- When remarking how the three of them are respectfully the Last of His Kind, Lobo declares how he himself probably doesn't count since he's the one who killed all his people in the first place before he laughs it off as a joke. In the comics, this isn't a joke; Lobo genuinely did kill all the other Czarnians.
- J'onn has dinner with the Kents in a scene nearly ripped right out of the Justice League episode "Comfort and Joy."
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Or actually antihero here, as it's completely Lobo's fault that Rudy Jones becomes the Parasite, even though it was accidental.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Perry White’s design, voice, and mannerisms resemble George C. Scott.
- Not Hyperbole: Superman notices that the power plant where they plan to lure Parasite is void of people. His partner in the mission says he called in a bomb threat to evacuate the place. Superman says you shouldn't lie about bombs. Lobo opens up his vest to reveal over a dozen explosive devices underneath, proudly declaring he didn't lie.
- Not So Stoic: Lois Lane is able to keep a cool head to get her story... until she interviews Lobo and begs him to stop giving her Too Much Information about his sexual escapades.
- Power-Upgrading Deformation: The more energy Parasite absorbs and the stronger he becomes, the more he mutates into a monstrous creature.
- Rousing Speech: After his first fight with Parasite, Clark's at his lowest with his weakened powers and the apparent death of Martian Manhunter. Lois, in the context of journalism, tells Clark that he chose a job that constantly puts him in danger, that he's fighting for the right reasons and sometimes it's okay to seek help from someone smarter when the going gets tough.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: When Clark tells Lois he's thinking about quitting journalism, Lois tells him that the job he signed up for is full of risks and that people are depending on him to fight for truth and justice. Her exact choice of words strongly implies that Lois knows Clark is Superman.
- Semper Fi: Rudy was a Marine, and he served two tours in Iraq.
- Shout-Out: Parasite's final form in the climax is slightly like Godzilla's design in the 1998 American film but with a scrawny build and without a tail, and also shoots blasts from his mouth like Godzilla's long tradition.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Lobo has a filthy mouth. Both in English and alien profanities.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Pa Kent is Clark's adopted father, but at a glance, you would believe them to be blood-related.
- Superheroes Wear Capes: Superman wears a cape because he and Martha Kent were inspired by Batman who also has one while Martian Manhunter also has a cape.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- As Lois only just started at the Daily Planet straight out of grad school, when Perry rewards her with a top reporter position, she finds herself unwelcome and regarded as a gatecrashing glory-hound by all the veteran reporters and staff.
- Being new to Metropolis and just starting out interning at the Daily Planet, Clark's apartment is only a rather cramped studio.
- Superman plans to have Luthor shoot him into space to regain his powers, only for Luthor to point out that Superman has no training in space travel and would likely die in the process.
- Take That!: To movies about aliens. Clark tells the Martian Manhunter that he thought Martians only existed in movies. J'onn's response? "Those movies are terrible." Doubles as a Mythology Gag, as J'onn in DC: The New Frontier considered the sci-fi movies of the time to be so narmful he mistook them for comedies.
- There Is Another: At the end, Lobo admits the whole "Last of His Kind" thing is just an excuse to raise the bounty, and he hints there are more Martians and Kryptonians out there.
- Tragic Monster: Rudy Jones is just a regular joe who gets caught in the crosshairs of two aliens' brawl, and he ends up a horrifying mutant.
- Vampiric Draining: Parasite leaches energy from anything he physically touches. On humans, it drains them of energy and everything else until they become shriveled husks.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Whoever it was that hired Lobo to find Clark is never mentioned, even obliquely. Even after Lobo pulls a Heel–Face Turn.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- Clark considers resigning from the Daily Planet at one point, but Lois tells him he's got what it takes.
- How Clark tries to stop Parasite's rampage; he tries to appeal to the humanity still inside him, as well as the "essence" of himself that Rudy absorbed. It works.
- You, Get Me Coffee: Clark's "job" as an intern at The Daily Planet, to the point he has to correct himself from giving his name as "Coffee Boy". Being the Nice Guy he is, he applies himself and perks up his coworker's orders.
