Disturbing Truth Behind The Superman Movie Curse

The Man Of Steel's deadly Hollywood toll...

Curse Of Superman
Warner Bros.

The Man Of Steel is cursed. Not because several film-makers have failed to bring him to the big screen successfully (or the small one, for that matter) and not because every time he saves the world, it just goes right back to being in peril. Superman's curse is more real-world than that. Less fictional. More shocking.

The Curse's mantra is as simple as it is devastating and it reads as follows: If you play the strongest man on Earth, you will either die an untimely death or end up in the weakest position possible.

And while you'd like to dismiss it as hokum, the longer the list of names that pile up, the more convincing it begins to feel. This is their story.

6. Hollywood's Fascination With Curses

Poltergeist 1982
United Artists

There's no denying that it's pretty irresistible to consider things cursed. Ghost stories and supernatural "explanations" to the inexplicable is what keeps us all gathered around the imaginary campfire that is the Internet and it adds a fundamental magic element to creating art that makes it all even more romantic and mysterious. Plus, it's better for humans not to just think that a series of really sh*tty people happening to people is evidence of something insidious rather than a reminder that the world is an awful place and we are but ants beneath its boot heel.

When you add that curse idea to the right things, it becomes all the more compelling. Conspiracy theories like the Poltergeist Curse or the others attached to the likes of The Dark Knight, The Exorcist and Passion Of The Christ (and a surprising number of others) actually serve to help market those movies. They become notorious. Essential. And when there's an inherently supernatural element to the movies behind the curses - which their more often than not is - you can bet that the marketing campaigns (even post-release) lean into that.

Just think about how great the idea of your art pissing off some nefarious dark force is for selling tickets. It's like printing gold.

But Superman doesn't fit into that bracket. The Man Of Steel is supposed to be a symbol of hope, a figurehead for the vulnerable and the victimised who fights back, morally and physically invulnerable. Powerful and stable and secure to the last. So the idea of his movies somehow coming with something evil apparently hidden in its depths is all the more disturbing. It's not like the studios would ever benefit from making it up, after all, unlike the horror film-makers might.

And nor is it particularly easy to dismiss. Because there's been a catalogue of tragedies attached to people who worked under the Superman movie banner that cannot be ignored. It seems that something is very wrong here.

[Continued]

Advertisement
In this post: 
Superman
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.