Superman: Red Son (film)

Superman: Red Son
Blu-ray cover
Directed by	Sam Liu
Screenplay by	J.M. DeMatteis
Based on	Superman: Red Son  by
Produced by	Sam Liu Amy McKenna
Starring	Jason Isaacs Roger Craig Smith Diedrich Bader Amy Acker Vanessa Marshall Paul Williams
Music by	Frederik Wiedmann
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release dates	February 25, 2020 (2020-02-25)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Superman: Red Son is a 2020 American direct-to-video animated superhero film focusing on the DC Comics character Superman, and the 37th installment in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. The film is based on the 2003 comic book miniseries of the same name written by Mark Millar and pencilled by Dave Johnson, Andrew Robinson, Walden Wong and Killian Plunkett. It was released digitally on February 25, 2020 and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on March 17, 2020.

Plot

In the Soviet Union during the year 1946, a young boy is chased by a gang of bullies. A young girl, Svetlana, defends him by chasing them away. He reveals to her that he was not scared for his own safety but that of the bullies before demonstrating superhuman strength and the ability to fly. Svetlana tells the boy he can use his powers to help the country should he so choose.

A decade later, in the year 1955, the Soviet Union releases a propaganda film of an alien superhuman under the command of Joseph Stalin, whom the American media dubs the "Soviet Superman". United States President Eisenhower tasks Lex Luthor to develop a countermeasure against the superhuman. Meanwhile, Superman prevents a satellite from crashing into Metropolis, which leads to Lex's wife Lois Lane securing an interview with him. She shows him a top secret document that leads Superman to a secret gulag where he finds a dying Svetlana, who was imprisoned there because she knew his real identity. Enraged, Superman confronts Stalin about the gulag and incinerates him with his heat vision. As a result, Superman becomes the new leader of the Soviet Union, pledging to use his powers for good and to spread the influence of the Soviet state.

Superman uses said powers and influence to advance communist ideals across the world, ending the Korean War in 3 hours and demolishing the Berlin Wall, which the western powers have built from reinforced concrete to deter him. He also forges an alliance and close friendship with Princess Diana / Wonder Woman of Themyscira. Meanwhile, Luthor unveils a clone of Superman, dubbed "Superior Man", made from harvesting Superman's cells from the crashed satellite and remotely powered with an orb of energy before sending it out to confront Superman. The two superhumans battle until Luthor overloads the clone with excess energy, causing it to swell up and degenerate as the fight progresses until it finally collapses and dissolves. Superman is left appalled and sickened by Luthor's actions.

Years later, in the year 1967, Superman stops an invasion by the alien cyborg Brainiac, reprogramming it to become his advisor and uses his technology to advance the countries of the Warsaw Pact technologically and economically, as well as lobotomize dissidents. He was unable to prevent the city of Stalingrad from being shrunk and is also forced to deal with the terrorist Batman, a survivor of the secret gulag who blames Superman for his family's death. Batman kidnaps Wonder Woman and binds her with the Lasso of Truth to lead Superman into a trap, using lamps that simulate Krypton's red sun to neutralize his powers. Batman beats Superman and leaves him to die until Wonder Woman breaks free of the lasso and destroys the lamps' power source, restoring Superman's powers. When Superman threatens to imprison him, Batman chooses to commit suicide rather than become a mindless slave. A wounded and rapidly aged Wonder Woman leaves Superman, upset by the brutality of both sides of the conflict.

In the United States, Luthor becomes president and ushers in a new age of prosperity that threatens Soviet dominance. Finding Abin Sur's crashed spaceship and body, Luthor tasks Colonel Hal Jordan with uncovering the immense power of the green ring found on the alien's body, leading to the formation of the Green Lantern Corps. In 1983, Jordan leads an attack against Superman, which is briefly halted by Wonder Woman, who tries one last time to end the conflict before announcing that Themyscira will be closed to all men forever. With Brainiac's encouragement, Superman sets out to confront Luthor at the White House, only to find Lois with the bottled city of Stalingrad. Superman tells her that for years he has tried and failed to reverse the miniaturization of the city, but Brainiac reveals that the technology has always been available to him; he just chose not to use it. Whist Superman doesn't recall ever saying he didn't want to, Brainiac tells him there was no need for words. Since Stalingrad technically represents what he's doing to the whole world, & becoming like the machine. Realizing the error of his ways, Superman stands down, but an enraged Brainiac spitefully destroys the shrunken city and proceeds with the attack, revealing that the reprogramming failed and he had been using Superman to conquer the planet himself. Superman and Luthor battle Brainiac and destroy him, but his ship is set to self-destruct upon his defeat. Superman flies the ship out into deep space, apparently dying in the explosion.

At a ceremony in front of the Capitol Building, a disguised Superman watches from the crowd as Luthor announces his resignation from his presidency in order to spend more time with Lois, handing over the country to Vice-President James Olsen. Lois shares a brief glimpse with Superman before he disappears into the crowd.

Cast

• Jason Isaacs as Superman
• Amy Acker as Lois Lane
• Diedrich Bader as Lex Luthor
• Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman
• Phil Morris as James Olsen
• Paul Williams as Brainiac
• Phil LaMarr as John Stewart / Ron Troupe
• Jim Meskimen as Dwight D. Eisenhower / John F. Kennedy
• Sasha Roiz as Hal Jordan
• William Salyers as Joseph Stalin / Jack Ryder
• Roger Craig Smith as Batman
• Jason Spisak as Dimitri
• Tara Strong as Young Superman
• Travis Willingham as Superior Man / Guy Gardner / Petrovich
• Winter Ave Zoli as Svetlana
• Greg Chun as Ambassador Lee
• Jim Ward as George Taylor

Production

In 2013, James Tucker expressed interest in making an animated movie adaptation of Red Son for DC Universe Animated Original Movies, such the project is in consideration by Warner Bros. On January 8, 2019, it was announced that a direct-to-video film adaption of the comic is in development, part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. It will be a stand-alone movie separate from the DC Animated Movie Universe. Jason Isaacs will star as Superman opposite, Amy Acker as Lois Lane, Diedrich Bader from The Drew Carey Show as Lex Luthor, and Paul Williams as Brainiac, with Roger Craig Smith as Batman and Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman. Also appearing are William Salyers as Joseph Stalin, Jim Meskimen as John F. Kennedy, Phil Morris as James Olsen, Sasha Roiz as Hal Jordan, Phil LaMarr reprising his rol as John Stewart From the DC Animated Universe, Travis Willingham as Superior Man, and Winter Zoli as Svetlana. Anna Vocino, Greg Chun, Jim Ward, Jason Spisak, and Tara Strong were also cast in minor roles for the film.

Reception

Superman: Red Son received generally positive reviews. As of July 2020, 88% of the sixteen reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and have an average score of 7.57 out of 10.

Russian media reception

The presenters of the TV channel Russia-24 Alexey Kazakov and Anastasia Ivanova felt that the video was "Russophobic hysteria", further stating that "if Russia had not been so interesting, then there would have been no 'Red Son'." In the program Time will tell, the film adaptation was called an element of a serious information war against Russia, the purpose of which is to form the image of the enemy. Anatoly Kuzichev concluded: "Comics are evil. Literature only!" On the other hand, Evgeni Popov considers this marketing without political background. According to the journalist, "we need to focus on our heroes."

Mir Fantastiki criticized the adaptation, primarily for changes in the plot compared to the comic book. Reviewer DTF [ru] noted that in the film adaptation, the atmosphere of the original was completely lost, and the main plot twist was removed from the final product.

Sales

The film earned $601,592 from domestic DVD sales and $1,411,992 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total home video earning to $2,013,584.

External links

• Superman: Red Son (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Superman: Red Son at The World's Finest

[Edit] Superman franchise media
Comic strips	Superman (1939–1966) • The World's Greatest Superheroes (1978–1985) Superman: The Complete Comic Strips 1939-1966 (2013–present) - Reprint book collection
Radio	The Adventures of Superman (US, 1940–51) • The Adventures of Superman (UK, 1988)
Live-action serials and films	Serials	Superman (1948) • Atom Man vs. Superman
	1951 film series	Superman and the Mole Men • Stamp Day for Superman (short film)
	1978 film series	Superman (1978) • Superman II (The Richard Donner Cut) • Superman III • Supergirl • Superman IV: The Quest for Peace • Superman Returns
	DC Extended Universe	Man of Steel • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
	DC Universe	Superman
	Animated films	Superman animated shorts (1941–1943) • Brainiac Attacks • Doomsday • All-Star Superman • Unbound • Superman/Batman: Public Enemies • Superman/Batman: Apocalypse • Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam • vs. The Elite • The Death of Superman • Reign of the Supermen • Red Son • Man of Tomorrow • Battle of the Super Sons
	Documentary films	Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman • The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? • Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Television	Live-action	Adventures of Superman • The Adventures of Superboy (pilot) • Superboy • Lois & Clark • Smallville • Supergirl • Krypton • Superman & Lois
	Animation	The New Adventures of Superman • The Adventures of Superboy • Superman • The Animated Series • Krypto the Superdog • Legion of Super Heroes • My Adventures with Superman
Novels	The Adventures of Superman (1942) • Superman: Last Son of Krypton • Miracle Monday • Superman: Doomsday & Beyond • Lois & Clark: A Superman Novel • It's Superman! • Superman Returns • Enemies & Allies
Video games	Superman (1979) • Superman: The Game (1985) • Superman (1987) • Superman (1988) • The Man of Steel (1989) • Superman (1992) • The Death and Return of Superman • The New Superman Adventures • Shadow of Apokolips • The Man of Steel (2002) • Countdown to Apokolips • Returns • MultiVersus
Music	"You've Got Possibilities" • Superman III (soundtrack) • Superman Returns (soundtrack) • "Save Me" (Remy Zero song) • Man of Steel (soundtrack) • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (soundtrack) • Metropolis Symphony
Parodies	Captain Caveman (The Flintstone Comedy Show segment) • Mighty Mouse • My Hero (UK TV series) • Stupor Duck • "Superduperman" • Super-Rabbit • Underdog (TV series) • Super Grover (Sesame Street)
Other media	It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman (musical) • The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman (advertisement)
Toys	Lego Superman
Related characters	Lois Lane in other media • Lex Luthor in other media • Supergirl in other media
Related articles	Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation • "Crisis on Infinite Earths" • Hollywoodland • Lucy and Superman • "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" • National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. • Sunman (1992 video game) • Superman curse • Superman ice cream • "Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit" • "The Reign of the Superman" • Superman and Lois Lane • Superman '78