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Superman did not begin as a good guy.
In 1933, a little over five years before his proper debut inAction ComicsNo.
Wasnt it just as likely that he would spell our doom?
This is, more or less, the idea that animates David YaroveskysBrightburn.
The only catch inBrightburnis that the lad is something of a sociopath.
Chaos and ultraviolence ensue.
However, its largely a boilerplate Evil Superman story plucked from the annals of comics history.
Ever since that 1933 proto-Superman tale, there has been a venerable lineage of Evil Superman stories.
Sometimes these takes have been fluffy.
Launched in 2005, the website was calledSuperdickery(it technicallystill exists, though its objective has changed).
A regal Supermandemandingbetter gifts from the worlds leaders after he has conquered the planet.
A greedy Supermantellinga crime victim hell help him out but only in exchange for cash.
A gleeful SupermancuttingLois Lanes air supply in space.
A disappointed Supermandestroyinga present from Jimmy Olsen with his eye lasers.
By storys end, it was always back to truth, justice, and the proverbial American Way.
However, theres a bevy of Evil Superman stories that dont wrap up so easily.
Image Comics gave us Supreme, a vicious, self-centered Superman pastiche.
The short answer is that we dont trust ourselves.
In fact, they number only one: that a man can beright.
In real life, humans spend their days destroying and exploiting one another.
(How many Congolese minersdiedobtaining the metal in even the most selfless firefighters iPhone?)
But Superman, in his purest form?
He only does good.
We cannot imagine ourselves being so superhuman as to be right.
Therefore, experiencing Evil Superman stories, we shudder because Superman has started acting like us.
We are, luckily, bound by our general impotence.
If we commit a crime, it is easy for someone to capture and/or kill us in retribution.
But if we were Superman, none of these principles would apply.
What authority could detain a flying man with bulletproof skin?
We see Evil Supermen and we see ourselves with our abilities multiplied and our restraints dissolved.
We dont like what we see.
Which brings us toBrightburns sole bit of genius.
They make two key mistakes that lead to cataclysm.
First, the father tells the boy its okay to indulge his urges every once in a while.
Then the mother tells him hes special.
The parents mean well, but these are supreme tactical mistakes.
They give us our Evil Superman.
