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It was reported this week that Superman--Kal-El, the Man of Steel, the Last Son of Krypton--renounces his American citizenship in the latest issue of Action Comics. (Spoiler alert, by the way!) The issue, #900 in the series, features stories by a welter of genre heavy-hitters, including onetime Lost showrunner Damon Lindelof and Richard Donner who directed Christopher Reeve in the 1978 film version of Superman.
The moment everyone's talking about comes in a story called "The Incident," written by David Goyer (a writer on The Dark Knight Returns) with art by Miguel Sepulveda. In this story, Superman wants to fly to Tehran and offer moral support to Iranians protesting an oppressive regime (which may sound familiar), but he's told that Iran will take it as an act of war. So Superman decides to get out in front of the problem. "I intend to speak before the United Nations tomorrow and inform them that I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship," he tells the president's national security adviser. "I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of U.S. policy. 'Truth, justice, and the American way'--it's not enough anymore." It's not clear whether this will carry over into the greater Superman continuity, or if it's just a one-off. But that hasn't stopped onlookers from speculating about the true meaning of Superman's de-Americanization. Below, a smattering of interpretations: