From 1993 to 1997, Dean Cain brought Clark Kent to life on the TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, with Teri Hatcher co-starring as Lois. Cain hasn’t been directly involved in anything Superman-related since then outside of a brief stint on the Supergirl TV series, but he certainly isn’t shy about sharing his opinions about projects focused on the Man of Steel. Earlier this month, he took issue with filmmaker James Gunn’s immigrant comments tied to the critically and commercially successful Superman, and now he’s shared some criticisms he has about the 2025 movie. This is despite the fact that he hasn’t seen it yet.
In an interview with Variety, Cain mentioned that he’s “disheartened” by certain elements in Superman he learned about while speaking with the other panelists who appeared alongside him in a recent episode of Piers Morgan Live. The actor stated:
James Gunn and his decision to make Ma and Pa Kent the stupid rednecks. That’s a choice. And Superman has to be saved, like, repeatedly? On a movie this size, every decision is a choice made carefully. And [DC Studios co-head] Peter Safran is a Princeton guy, too, a year ahead of me, but he’s never hired me.
Ok, I need to hit back against these two critiques. First, Pruitt Taylor Vince’s Jonathan Kent and Neva Howell’s Martha Kent are not “stupid rednecks.” Yes, their Southern accents are a bit strong and Martha was shown having trouble using a smartphone, but that doesn’t equate to them not being intelligent. Also, Jonathan in particular gets that big moment to shine when he gives that pep talk to his adoptive son and reminds him that’s Clark’s actions and choices that make him who he is, not his genetic background and the message his biological parents left for him. The man is wise!
Second, yes, David Corenswet’s Clark does get saved a few times during the movie if we account for the robots at the Fortress of Solitude healing him and Metamorpho aiding Superman in escaping Lex Luthor’s pocket dimension. But come on, we’ve seen Superman rescued plenty of times in other movies and TV shows. Besides, by the end of the first DC Universe movie, Clark manages to defeat Ultraman and Engineer on his own while Mr. Terrific closed the rift that was going to split Metropolis in half.
I recommend Dean Cain watch Superman for himself so he can form a full opinion on the movie, especially concerning that latter criticism. Sure, Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl all fight alongside Supes, but in no way do they take from being presented in a positive light. This is still a Superman movie first and foremost, and David Corenswet’s version of the character gets plenty of moments to shine.
Superman is still playing in theaters, so Mr. Cain still has plenty of time to catch it on the big screen. If, however, there isn’t any room in his schedule to do that, there’s a good chance he and everyone else will be able to stream it with an HBO Max subscription by the end of the year.
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