Manhattan is based on some of the stories of asian continent like buddha, shiva.. Etc and many other saints.He is what you call a "threekaladarshi/one who sees past, present and future at the same time" .
Peering through the vales of time doesn't mean you escape the laws of the universe or karma or causality. It means you know you are bound. As a being of inaction, manhattan is forever bound. Superman as an archetype is bigger than these guys philosophically and thematically. He is krishna, moses.. Etc. He is the chain breaker like fenrir who kills odin himself in ragnarok and shiva who has become "pashupathi/ the lord of the beasts and monsters". He defies causality itself in his finality (the reason he spins around the globe and reverses time) . But, then he won't be human anymore even by the standards of gods. He would become an unthinkable(achinthya) and unwritable concept. So we cannot have that. Superman goes into that yellow state and comes back to the blue spandax wearing supergod.He is so incomprehensible. Even by trying to comprehend it,
we limit him or maybe not.
Morrison and moore really know what they do. Ofcourse, i could be overselling the product(dc) and making stupid comparisons. But, i am talking iconography, archetype, symbols... Etc.
Ofcourse, the thought is that beings of inaction be they gods or saints will always be at a lower state that men who relentlessly do their "karma" or deeds be it good or bad.That much i know and certain of. Neither the life worldly pleasures nor the life of self denial can bring about nirvana.Knowing that you are bound and still acting is the middle path . Ofcourse, i am not much for religious imagery especially without any deeper themes.