Superman Just Got Cancelled (Not the Show!)

My Adventures With Superman, Ep 8 Review

In my review of episode four, I talked about the conflict between Superman and Ivo boiled down to idealism vs cynicism. Since then, I’ve revised that assessment to encompass the main conflict of the season. So many people either can’t understand or refuse to understand that all Superman wants to do is help people. As a result, they look at him with as something to be feared without getting to know him first. While they’re not wrong about how he could be dangerous if he ever became bad, they’re not helping things. Now that bias has led to a worst-case scenario: Superman falls victim to cancel culture.

Superhearing is the Worst!

Besides his flight, super strength, and heat vision, one of Superman’s greatest powers has always been his superhearing. It allows him to hear anyone or anything even when it’s happening well out of earshot. At its height, he can hear sounds across the entire planet. Given his mission to help people, having the ability to hear when people need help sounds like a useful power.

As with several other things in the Superman mythos, MAWS deconstructs this concept to demonstrate how bad it would to have superhearing. While Clark finds he can help more people than ever, he soon realizes he can’t turn it off. In addition, his seflessness prompts him to save everyone he hears in trouble, even at his own detriment. Once Lois and Jimmy find him, he’s already been awake for days. As a result, he starts to come off as unsafe to those around him, and Task Force X makes it worse. They manage to make Superman out as someone dangerous, causing everyone to turn on him. He gets cancelled by Metropolis!

Things only get worse from there, though.

This Universe’s Vicki Vale is a Horrible Person

Meanwhile, Lois gets the surprise of a lifetime when Perry White asks her and Jimmy help guest reporter Vicki Vale write an editorial piece. Lois considers Vicki Vale her idol and inspiration for becoming a reporter, and at first, she’s over the moon to work with her hero. However, it soon becomes apparent that Vicki is not the kind of person she should look up to. 

Firstly, Vicki tells them that her goal’s to write a report on why Superman is dangerous. That alone should draw some red flags, but Lois chalks it up to the natural skepticism of their job. However, Lois’ attempts to turn things around by getting quotes from people Superman’s helped is also not a smart move. Part of being a reporter is not showing bias towards subjects, which is hard, considering Superman is Lois’ boyfriend. 

Whatever mistakes Lois makes, though, are nothing compared to what Vicki does. Not only does she ignore the positive things people say about Superman, the one person she wants to interview happens to be Alex, AKA the guy who helped Ivo endanger people at his party. That’s a biased source, and Lois calls it as such.

Alex is Full of it

To Alex’s credit, he does point out something that Lois can’t deny: if Superman became evil, no one could stop him. Fans have already seen evil versions of Superman before; The Boys and Invincible gave us evil, corrupted copies of him. Even Lois has seen what an evil Superman could do. However, his argument becomes less persuasive when one considers the following things. 

1. Ivo deliberately put people in danger to goad Superman into a fight. It’s his own fault his company went bankrupt and thousands lost their jobs.
2. Alex assisted Ivo in his actions. He’s a biased source.
3. Alex’s opinion of Superman is that of a racist. He says Superman doesn’t belong because he’s “not normal.”

None of that matters to Vicki, though.All she wanted her opinion validated while ignoring the larger evidence. She doesn’t even write the report for The Daily Planet, either. She uses it to get promoted at the Gotham Gazette.

Yeah, this version of Vicki Vale sucks.

Task Force X Captures Superman

The reason why Superman was running himself ragged all episode is because he overheard the General talking in Metropolis. He’s the one whose been abducting all the criminals who got the stolen tech, and he’s planning something big. That led him to chase after Intergang member Mist, which led to him looking like he caused an accident in front of everyone. While Task Force X didn’t plan it, the outcome favors them since they’re convinced Superman’s evil.

Once again, Superman proves to be anything but evil. When Mist tells him they’re moving his friends, he doesn’t hestitate to offer help to free them simply because it’s the right thing to do. Sadly, it turns out to be a setup for an ambush, and Livewire, Intergang, Slade, and even Ivo gang up on Superman to take him down. Thanks to his exhaustion, they manage to do so, allowing Task Force X to finally capture him while Jimmy and Lois can only look on, horrified. 

While the ending to episode five seemed bleak, it’s nothing compared to the ending of this episode. Superman’s been captured by a paranoid soldier who wrongly thinks he’s the enemy. The preview’s for next week’s episode show it gets even worse. 

Superman Must Prove Everyone Wrong…& Get Un-Cancelled

While the fight against the Suicide Squad proved anti-climatic, the episode still holds up pretty well. It continues the season’s overarching theme: can someone as selfless as Superman still work in a world that seems so cynical? So far, the show’s been determined to break that idealism by throwing every hurdle at Superman, Lois, and Jimmy. However, that will only make their eventual triumph all the more enjoyable. Really looking forward to seeing all the people who cancelled Superman get proven wrong.

I Give “Zero Day: Part One” a 3.5/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff.