The DCUAOM Botches Up 'Superman: Red Son'

After adapting what’s considered as the very first Elseworlds story Gotham by Gaslight, wherein Gotham is reimagined as a Victorian era setting and Batman is pitted against Jack the Ripper, the DCUAOM (DC Universe Animated Original Movies) then adapts an Elseworld story centered on Superman – Superman: Red Son.  I had been greatly looking forward to this animated film adaptation since the source material is my most favorite Elseworlds comic book ever.

Superman: Red Son presents an alternate reality in which the Kryptonian rocket ship that sent a baby Superman on Earth landed on a Ukrainian farm instead of Kansas, and thus, instead of being raised in the values of the Kents, Superman is taught communist ideology growing up.  When he grows into an adult, the Soviet Union reveals him to the world, becoming a superweapon and propaganda tool of the Stalin regime.

But after discovering the existence of the gulags, Superman rejects and overthrows Joseph Stalin. Believing that he’s the only one who is capable of truly realizing the communist utopia for the people, he decides to take upon himself the role of supreme leader.  Indeed, under his leadership, the Soviet Union and its vassals become perfectly peaceful and prosperous in the subsequent decades.  However, he has brought this about by employing coercive and Orwellian methods, much to the distress of his friend Wonder Woman, who is growing disillusioned by the day.

Meanwhile, over at the United States, Lex Luther – a less villainous but still Machiavellian and callous version of Superman’s greatest foe – is married to Lois Lane (gasp!), and has made it his life-long crusade to defeat Superman.  Also intent of bringing down Superman’s regime is Batman, a mad terrorist who has always managed to avoid getting captured by Superman and his police.

If you haven’t read the original comics or watched the excellent motion comic of it in Youtube, this DCUAOM film will totally work for you.  However, if you have done both or either, this adaptation will likely come off as underwhelming and disappointing.  While the plot is generally the same with the source material, the few tweaks it does prove to be very detrimental.

I understand that adaptations need to change or cut off elements from their source materials in order to fit their runtimes and develop some degree of freshness.  However, consider this: the DCUAOM Superman: Red Son has a runtime of 84 minutes, while the aforementioned Youtube motion comic clocks in at just a little over an hour, and yet the latter managed to do more and have more substance.  On the other hand, the only things accomplished by the former’s revisions are inconsistent characterizations, loss of nuance, and gratuitous identity politics.

However, the worst blunder of the DCUAOM Superman: Red Son is its handling of the ending.  Now, the ending of the original Superman: Red Son is undoubtedly one of the greatest plot twists in, not only comics, but all of fiction.  But to my immense bafflement, the DCUAOM Superman: Red Son opted to exclude that part.  WHY?!

So, yeah.  If you want to experience the best version of Superman: Red Son, just go read the original comic book mini-series or watch the motion comic over at Youtube.  Seriously, that motion comic is somehow more rewarding than this letdown of an animated film adaptation from the DCUAOM.