Why is Superman Always Disrespected? (Contains Spoilers for Young Justice: Outsiders)

At the end of YJ: Outsiders (henceforth Young Justice Season 3) we hear a speech about who the heart and conscience of the Justice League is…

For some reason they shoehorned in Black Lightning.

That is a complete and outright slap in the face to the REAL heart and soul of the Justice League…

Superman.

(Who isn’t even at the Watchtower.)

Though this isn’t just relegated to Young Justice.

Every series places Batman on a pedestal. He is always the smartest. He is always the best.

Superman? Usually the butt of the joke.

Even Justice League and JLU, both legendary shows, downplayed Superman. So much so that, in the season finale, after the World of Cardboard speech, Suoerman loses and Metron/Luthor beats Darkseid.

Now YJ season 3 sets up Lex Luthor as one of the main antagonists. In a series where Superboy played very little part and Superman had no part in the main story - Save for one scene and a little lip service about how he didn’t know what Batman/Wonder Woman were doing…

Which also indicated that he wouldn’t go along with it.

But noooooo that makes Black Lightning the conscience of the Justice League.

I’ve got no problem with him being the leader of the League - Superman’s always bern the heart, but never the brain.

But come on.

Give Big Blue some credit DC. Stop constantly tossing the Last Son of Krypton under the proverbial bus.

Good lord.

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Superman is one of the nicest guys in DC and has always had a heart of gold when written properly. That’s what I love about him. You are right about how he isn’t always valued or recognized. He is a great man, who has brought the team together in a lot of ways. Then again he also has a lot of humility.

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Season 3 apparently has many examples of bizarre creative decisions much like this one. Good story telling wasn’t the main focus of the show this time around.

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It made sense considering where they went with the show, with Superman being out in space for most of it and Black Lightning being one of the few heroes who stood up against all the behind the scenes machinations.

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The thread title has me picturing Rodney Dangerfield as Superman. If anyone wants to know what that would look like, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joosc4GVmHk

Thats so funny you posted this, i thought the exact same thing. Like who is Jefferson to be running the league? I was like “where tf is supes or Jonn?”.

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I’ve had a problem from the writing of Superman in this show from the first episode of season 1. Everyone was going “how would you react if someone took your DNA and made a clone of you?” my response is sure it would weird ME out but then I’m not Superman who is the most compassionate, understanding, and accepting being in the DC universe.

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I’m glad that I’m not the only one.

In general Black Lightning was forced into the series for no reason other than potentially to draw in some fans from the CW.

He didn’t do anything of consequence.

He played no significant part in the plot.

He didn’t have any big revelations that we, the viewers, weren’t already privy to.

I’m not a fan of forced anything. If the character doesn’t belong then they don’t belong. Don’t shove someone in unless you have a good reason to be there.

Regardless I’m pleased to see that I’m not the only one who felt Supes got the shaft.

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With the dark and gritty tone of most comics since the 90’s Supes isn’t the no 1 seller, ever since Batman 89, it’s been Batman. I suppose there is a bit of poetic justice, the role of deus ex machina has fallen from the literal man with god like powers to the one with no super powers.

As for the league, I’ve always felt Superman (and the various GLs) are always of saving the galaxy from something. So having a Terran based hero as head of the league makes sense.

It was the fact that Jefferson deliberately removed himself from the league & Batman Inc, and was a bit of a pawn of the covert ops team.

He walked away and as such, has none of the baggage that various other members might have, having had no allegiance to any faction.

In an age when we are likely the most cynical about if truth, justice, and the American way even exist, Supes is out of touch in certain regards. And the simple Kansas farm boy view of the world is less relevant than it once was. (Whether it should be it not is a different debate.)

However BL as chairman of the league on earth 16 for a stint doesn’t bother me one bit and given everything that went in this season in YJ, I can see the reasoning.

DeSade-

I’m not arguing for BL not being the head of the League (still feels forced) but he is NOT the heart OR the conscience of the League.

Superman has never been a good head, he is the best heart.

The fact that they took it away from him for what I can only call a fan pander bothers me immensely.

The sad part is that, we learned from “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way” exactly the kind of heart Superman has and why that heart is important.

It seems that someone needs to show that to the writers of this show.

Superman is so important to the DCU.

You can replace Batman with half-a-dozen characters. Everyone from Richard Dragon to Victor Sage. He’s just a guy with a tragic backstory.

Superman is a singular entity.

He needs to be shown respect.

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I had a similar feeling as well when they addressed Black Lightning the way they did, and gave him the position. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy his character especially in the Arroweverse. However, in the continuity of YJ I felt it was shoehorned as well. It was the only thing that irked me in the finale.

I figured due to the good intentions but ill-advised decisions Batman Inc. made I knew they would step down eventually after the reveal. Yet, when Nightwing was about to announce the new leader my first thought was actually Superboy. Superman spends a lot of time off world (in this continuity), and Conner is more Earth-based. So I was hoping it would be Superboy. He has been showing his moral and ethic code throughout the entire series and recent season. He has grown and evolved, and we know him. I thought his next step would be leader or at least co-leader. So needless to say I was bummed when they gave Black Lightning the job.

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I agree bro. I actually thought Clark was going to be the new leader.

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