SUPERMAN VS. THE ELITE (2012)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Before coming across the DTV movie, I'd never heard of the DC hero-team called "The Elite." The characters debuted in one of the Superman comics-titles, and some of them later migrated to a title called JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE, into which I also never delved. When I saw a commentary that The Elite were meant to be DC's take on the popular Wildstorm group The Authority, I assumed that the characters by Joe Kelly-- who also scripted the DTV-- were meant to carry the same vibe of hip anomie.

Instead, to my happy surprise, SUPERMAN VS. THE ELITE turned the usual "hipper than thou" narrative on its head. Said narrative has been brewing in the comics world since the so-called "British Invasion" of the eighties (which included both the writer and artist who created THE AUTHORITY), and its usual pattern was to make fun of the antiseptic ideals of Silver Age superheroes who never killed and refused to involve themselves in political conflicts. (I say "Silver Age" because the Golden Age originals weren't quite so above-it-all.) The Authority in particular was a group of raffish heroes out to remake the world as they wanted it to be.

I expected that SUPERMAN VS. THE ELITE would follow that pattern, and in Kelly's DVD commentary he even talks about how much he enjoyed creating the disreputable personalities of the five Elite-members, though he admits that he toned their activities down in comparison to their comics-debut. To my surprise, ELITE turned the original pattern on its head.

Superman and his girl-reporter girlfriend-- who's in on his double ID in this iteration-- are tolerating the many disruptions characteristic of Metropolis, such as the rampage of a long-time malefactor, The Atomic Skull. On the international scene, violence is on the rise between neighboring nations Bialya and Pokolistan, and Superman intervenes when the latter country unleashes a number of huge bio-engineered monsters upon Bialyan soldiers. The Man of Steel receives aid from the four members of the Elite: Coldcast, Menagerie, The Hat, and Manchester Black, the leader. The first three characters are of minimal importance to the plot, inasmuch as the focus is upon the philosophical disagreement between Manchester Black and the spawn of Smallville.

Manchester is in many ways a typical anomie-hero: he was badly treated in his youth, and his vigilantism is motivated by a spirit of revenge. He often makes fun of Superman's supposed naivete, and when he and his fellows decide that they are going to become a supreme "authority" over the governments of Earth, it appears that Superman will simply have to slug it out with them to prove who's in the right.

Without spoiling the ending, the Man of Steel is for once allowed to use strategy in dealing with his opponents. And his strategy includes a hoax worthy of the best of Silver Age Superman's devious plots, but with much more impact. Though Manchester and his freaky friends are colorful and lively, the most memorable scenes in ELITE depict Superman apparently won over to the Elite's philosophy of "the end justifies the means."

Despite Manchester's defeat both in this DTV and in his comics-appearance, the character got a revival of sorts during the 2019-2020 season of SUPERGIRL. Given the Progressive focus of that series during the later years, it's not surprising that the writers had the stupidity to depict the vigilante as a righteous hero.