Ex-Superman Dean Cain Says the Hero Stands for Immigrants, But Warns James Gunn May Be Going Too ‘Woke’

Dean Cain, who played Superman back in the ’90s TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, isn’t totally on board with the direction James Gunn is taking the iconic hero. In a new interview with TMZ, Cain shared his concerns, especially about what he sees as Hollywood pushing the character too far in a “woke” direction.

He brought up the changes being made in movies lately and asked, “How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters [to] exist for the times?”

Cain’s comments came after Gunn described his new Superman movie as a story about America. In a recent interview, Gunn said Superman is “an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country,” and that the story is really about “basic human kindness… something we have lost.”

Cain agreed that Superman is an immigrant, after all, he’s an alien from another planet—but he doesn’t like where Gunn seems to be going with it. “We know Superman is an immigrant, he’s a freaking alien,” he said. He explained that Superman’s real strength is actually his kindness, calling it “his inherent weakness” and a sign of his strong moral values.

But what Cain doesn’t like is the idea that being pro-immigrant means having no rules at all. Referring to Superman’s old motto, he said, “The ‘American way’ is immigrant friendly, tremendously immigrant friendly. But there are rules.”

Cain added, “You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America, because I want it to be more like Somalia.’ Well, that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here… There have to be limits, because we can’t have everybody in the United States. We can’t have everybody, society will fail.”

The timing of these comments is important. President Donald Trump, who Cain has supported, has taken a much harder line on immigration since being re-elected. He’s pushed for more arrests and deportations, and his administration has even tried to take away legal status from some naturalized citizens.

All of this has made James Gunn’s immigrant-themed Superman a hot topic among conservative voices. Fox News host Jesse Watters took a jab, saying, “Superman is fighting for truth, justice, and your preferred pronouns,” and even joked that Superman might end up wearing a gang logo on his cape.

But not everyone is upset. When asked about the reaction to his comments, Gunn said he’s “not here to judge people.” Actor Nathan Fillion, who plays Green Lantern in the film, suggested people just relax and watch the movie: “Just a movie.”

Sean Gunn, James Gunn’s brother and one of the film’s actors, didn’t hold back. “We support our people, you know? We love our immigrants. Yes, Superman is an immigrant, and yes, the people that we support in this country are immigrants and if you don’t like that, you’re not American,” he said. “People who say no to immigrants are against the American way.”

James Gunn’s Superman is set to hit theaters in the U.S. this Friday, July 11, and it’s already opening in other countries this week.

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