For a little while, it seemed like Superman was becoming viewed as increasingly outdated by the larger popular culture. However, with the state of the world becoming more and more dire, it seems that people are once again hungry for the kind of hopeful optimistic fun and adventure that Superman brings with him. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised by this. Superman first became a sensation during the uncertain times of the late 30s, and continued to grow in popularity during the wartime 40s and the nuclear anxieties of the 50s. He struggled a bit with relevance during the 60s when he became viewed, rightfully, as a symbol of the establishment. However, as the broken promises of the 60s gave way to the jaded cynicism of the late 70s, Superman again became suddenly relevant again because he was such a cheerfully bright and uncompromised hero in a world seemingly overrun with corruption and moral bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, Superman didn't fare so well in the 80s, despite the momentary buzz generated by his Reagan era makeover as a football jock turned yuppie. It wasn't until his death that Superman became briefly relevant again, but that didn't last long and the character continued his slow slide away from the forefront of the public consciousness.

When 9/11 hit, Superman enjoyed another bounce in popularity thanks to the new anxieties of the age of terror, which buoyed Smallville to a decade worth of low budget superhero soap opera TV gold. However, the overt military and high-tech obsessions that dominated the 21st Century culture were ill-suited for Superman, who is neither a soldier, nor someone who really relies upon technology. Instead, more militaristic characters like Batman and Iron Man came to dominate the superhero landscape.

Most recently, popular culture has, after decades of ignoring them, turned its attention to showcasing a more diverse selection of heroes, which has allowed Wonder Woman and Black Panther to achieve pop culture prominence the likes of which they've never known before. Meanwhile, Superman had seemingly grown less and less important to the conversation as Hollywood, video games and comics failed again and again to recapture whatever it was that had made Superman so popular in the past.

And yet, I suspect that's slowly changing. I think the public is ready for Superman again after the past few years of watching disaster after disaster build like a slow motion train wreck governed by the most corrupt, dysfunctional and incompetent political landscape in decades. People want to believe in Truth, Justice & The American Way again. They want to see journalists uncovering that truth with integrity and professionalism, rather than for clicks or scoring some momentary victory for their political tribe. We might even want to see heroes who aren't billionaires using that vast inherited wealth to outfit themselves with high tech toys (alright, that one is a long shot, I admit). We want heroes who are motivated primarily by altruism, rather than trauma or guilt. We want to believe that people are worth saving and that we can overcome them by inspiring each other to do good.

All this is a very long-winded attempt to talk about where we think Superman is heading in the larger public consciousness over the next few years. The darker, more brooding Superman of Zack Snyder is actually going to get a proper send off now that that trilogy of films is being finished for real this time. The CW is launching a new Superman & Lois TV show focused on their lives as heroes, journalists and parents, the comics have been re-energized by various creators bringing their A-game to bring Superman back to forefront of superhero comics. And I suspect that new technologies are going to finally allow designers to produce a video game capable to doing Superman right.

What do you think? Am I being hopelessly naive? Am I wrong? Am I right? Let me know.