10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Superman

4. He's Jesus

If there's one common scene that every incarnation of Superman both television and film has shared, it's that resemblance to Jesus of Nazareth. From Christopher Reeve descending to Teri Hatcher cradling Dean Cain in her arms to Tom Welling being tied to a cross to Henry Cavill floating away with outstretched arms, this idea of Superman being the Messiah has taken hold. There's no doubt that there is religious iconography very prevalent in Superman's mythology, but while some of it does trace back to Jesus, the central concept is of a completely different figure - Moses. Seigel and Shuster were both Jewish Americans trying to find success in an anti-semitic world, and what better way to stand against this status quo than create a Jewish hero the masses would love? In the Book of Exodus, a mother is forced to send her son away in a cradle for fear that he'll be destroyed by the Pharaoh's infanticide law, leading to him eventually being found by a new mother who names him Moses. In Superman's origin, his parents are forced to send him away in a cradle (sci-fied of course to a rocket) to protect him from being killed in Krypton's destruction, which eventually finds its way to a new family where the mother names him Clark (after her maiden name). To put a cap on it all, Kal-El, contrary to popular belief, doesn't translate to "son of God", as would befit Jesus, but instead "voice of God", as befits Moses, who relates God's words through the Ten Commandments.