Superman Is More Than an Immigrant Tale

By all accounts, the new Superman film has been a major success. Released on July 11, 2025, it grossed $122 million on its opening weekend, marking the biggest debut ever for a standalone Superman movie.

Still, the film has sparked debate after director James Gunn described it as a story about immigration. “I mean, Superman is the story of America — an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country,” he said.

As a permanent resident who first came here as a student, I would go one step further: The story of Superman isn’t just about coming to America; it’s about what happens after you arrive.

Born as Kal-El on the distant planet Krypton from Earth, Superman is an immigrant both to the United States and to the planet Earth — he was definitely not born here, and neither were his parents. He is indeed an ‘alien’ in both the literal and legal sense of the word.

But framing this alone as what defines the Superman story misses the point of what makes him truly special, even among other aliens. In the DC Universe, there are several aliens, most of whom are dangerous or destructive. Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, seeks to dominate and enslave civilizations. Brainiac coldly catalogs and destroys entire worlds. Doomsday exists only to destroy. Mongul enslaves entire populations and forces others into gladiatorial death matches. Sinestro uses fear as a weapon across galaxies. General Zod, a fellow Kryptonian, chooses domination over compassion.

What makes Superman different isn’t that he’s from another planet or even his superpowers. It’s that he was raised by a loving Midwestern couple who gave him a name (Clark Kent), a home, and a moral framework grounded in American values. That framework is what creates the inner conflict that makes his story compelling. He constantly grapples with questions like: How much should I intervene in human affairs? When I can solve problems instantly, should I let people struggle and grow on their own? How do I help humanity without making them dependent on me? These are the same questions America wrestles with daily; the delicate balance between an obligation to the collective and the preservation of individual freedoms, both domestically and in America’s role as a world power. Superman's moral conflicts are America's moral conflicts reflected back at us, from the heart of an alien raised in Kansas. Had he been raised by any other family with different values, he wouldn't be Superman.

It’s the answers to these moral questions that bring his story to life and make him deeply and unmistakably human.

In the film, Superman fixates on a fragmented video message from his biological parents and their purpose for his arrival on Earth. At first, he interprets the message as urging him to protect humanity, but he’s disillusioned when the second half is revealed and its true intent is to command him to dominate and rule over it.

Yet, this revelation only increases the heroism of his original mission as his initial interpretation was driven by his own will, not their instructions. He wasn’t saving the people of Metropolis out of a perfunctory duty to follow orders; he was guided by his own values and a sense of belonging instilled in him by loving American parents. Before and after realizing the true intent of his birth parents’ message, Superman never saw himself as an outsider protecting those people. He saw himself as serving his people.

By the end, he comes to understand something. He is defined more by the character and values made by his choices not dictated by birth. 

Like Superman, we often focus on form over substance when it comes to immigration. We fixate on borders, visa categories, and the legal definitions of who qualifies as an ‘alien,’ yet we spend far less time on how the people who get here can actually become part of a nation.

When I arrived in America in 2022 as an international student with no immediate family or connections here, I felt like a stranger in a strange land — an outsider, much like Superman. But I made a conscious effort to integrate, learn the small cultural nuances, appreciate this new country, and make it my home. At the same time, people around me welcomed me — they helped, explained, and went out of their way to include me.

Assimilation is a two-way street. Newcomers must actively engage and avoid isolating themselves in closed-off communities, but the host society must also extend a welcoming hand. We need more conversations about the systems and pathways that help immigrants embrace the culture and values of America, if this country is to be a true nation and not just a collection of people.

This is the real core of the Superman story: it’s not about how or why you got here. It’s about what happens once you’ve arrived, and how a society chooses to integrate those who choose to embrace it. 

It was President Ronald Reagan who said: “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to America to live and become an American… This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation.”

America does draw strength from the talent and energy of people from around the world, but that strength only holds if we give people the tools and values to truly become American too.

It is assimilation, and not just immigration, that makes America great. And it is what makes Superman an enduring story. 

Imade Iyamu is a Young Voices contributor, a Columbia Business School graduate and Robert & Jacqueline Willens Award recipient, with experience as an instructor at Yale University and working at Goldman Sachs. Her work sits at the intersection of finance and immigration. She is especially passionate about high-skilled immigration and the role it plays in shaping the future of American innovation and leadership.