From Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie in 1978 to Man of Steel in 2013, when religious parallels are made explicit in Superman movies, they tend to be overtly Christian ones. In fact, according to CNN, Warner Brothers even marketed Man of Steel to various Christian ministries and included sermon notes comparing Christ to Superman in materials titled “Jesus: The Original Superhero.” For some, the idea that Superman belongs to Christianity seems obvious. Though some may view the movie studio’s interest in this as a purely manipulative tactic to bring in more revenue, it does raise questions.

Many of the cinematic depictions of Superman are heavily laden with Messianic overtones and Man of Steel is certainly no exception. However, is that definitive proof that Superman is a good Christian? Larry Tye puts it well when he asks in a recent article, “How did Superman, originally a Jewish superhero, become a Christ figure?” Comic book experts have long noted Superman’s connections to Judaism. Rabbi Simcha Weinstein has written a great deal about the Jewish origins of superheroes in his book, Up Up and Oy Vey. This article seeks to highlight some of the arguments made by Jewish scholars and pop culture experts alike.

In order to begin the story, we must create our setting. Between the 1880s and 1920s, over 2 million Eastern European Jewish immigrants settled in America. As they began to settle in some of the busy cities of the American East coast, they began to change culture. This influx of Jewish immigrants were leaders in the early 20th century labor movement. They brought with them a sense of social justice that was intricately tied with their Jewish identities. And yet, America wasn’t entirely safe for the new Jewish arrivals. The KKK rallied against them, lynch mobs targeted them, and in 1924 the US Government barred any further immigration into the United States.

The world was ripe with Anti-Semitism and Jewish people were barred entry in many industries. If you were a Jewish writer, you may be denied a job in the more mainstream writing industry. Rabbi Scolnic describes the situation: “The big publishing houses and the advertising world had all sort of barriers but the world of pulp magazines and the fledgling comic book industry were wide open to talented aspiring Jewish people like Siegel and Shuster.” Jewish writers and artists created the American superhero. We can thank Jewish creators for Superman, Captain America, The X-Men, Fantastic Four, and many more.