Watch: ‘Superman’ Star David Corenswet Swaps ‘The American Way’ Motto for ‘Truth, Justice, and Good Things’

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Actor David Corenswet, who portrays the Man of Steel in director James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie, has decided that “the American Way” part of the Superman motto just isn’t working for him. So, he altered the saying to “Truth, Justice, and good things.”

Corenswet, who will be the twelfth actor to portray the Man of Steel when the film opens on July 11, just couldn’t bring himself to include “the American way” in the famed Superman slogan when he spoke to CBS Sunday Morning last weekend.

As he spoke about the character he plays, Corenswet explained, “And so that scene, I think, is the crux of that character that we see. And the reality is that when he doesn’t have to be Superman, when he doesn’t have to be this calm, reassuring presence to the public, when he doesn’t have to symbolize safety and security and truth and justice and all those good things, he still feels those values.”

The slogan, of course, was made famous in 1952 when it became part of the opening segment of the TV series, The Adventures of Superman, starring thee late George Reeves. Introducing the superhero to TV audiences, the narrator says Superman, “Fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

Corenswet went on to claim that the new film will portray the Man of Steel as a more “complex” and angsty person, as opposed to the rock-solid hero of the past.

“But just like when a firefighter comes home, or a paramedic comes home, they might get frustrated, or they might panic about something – where in the course of doing their job, they would never let themselves panic or yell or raise their voice or convey that kind of instability or uncertainty,” he insists.

This is far from the first time Hollywood has dredged up an all-American comic book superhero and bled out all the American in him before putting him on the screen.

When the first Captain America movie was coming out, for instance, Marvel was racing to assure people that it’s new Captain America wasn’t really all about America. In 2010, director Joe Johnston insisted that his Captain America was not going to be a “flag waver.”

Later, when actor Anthony Mackie took over as the Captain in Marvel films and streaming series, his iteration of the Captain also felt there is more that is bad about America than there is good. Indeed, Mackie’s Captain even got rid of the red, white, and blue colors in his superhero uniform.

In another example, in 2016, DC’s Wonder Woman film white washed the character’s all-American World War Two origins because it was all too patriotic. Instead, the movie pushed Wonder Woman’s origin story back on big war to have her debut on the world stage during World War One. That way they could avoid all that pro-Americanism.

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