User blog comment:Nausiated/Your Grandfather's Superman was a Jerk/@comment-1895174-20160523184746

I suppose the counter-argument would be that "my grandfather's Superman" kind of sucks. A character as old as this is bound to come with some early installment weirdness, like how each of those "Exhibits" that show Superman acting like a jerk come from a time before he had many of his recognizable powers (i.e. flight). The context for the covers to Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #135 and Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #30 that are supposed to dispel that notion of early installment weirdness gives those scenes a camp that stands in stark contrast to the "dark and gritty" tone of Snyder's movies. Superman deliberately acting like a jerk to Jimmy Olsen when he wants Superman to adopt him because Superman misinterpreted a warning from one of the computers at the Fortress of Solitude that he would destroy a star named after him to mean he would kill Jimmy Olsen (confusing sun/son) is a far cry from an African warlord shooting Jimmy Olsen in the head because Zack Snyder thought it would be cool and could get away with it.

Somewhat resembling the original incarnation of the character doesn't explain or excuse Zack Snyder's Superman when there's so much else he could have drawn from, and when he mostly drew from "The Dark Knight Returns" and "The Death of Superman" anyway. There's certainly a selfishness to is, but whenever a well-known character or property is adapted into a new version, people really just want a version of that character/property they recognize or even call their own. For a modern audience, that Superman is likely going to be Richard Donner's, Paul Dini's, or (if we're being generous) Grant Morrison's, not the Superman from a small number of comics from over 75 years ago. The only question for most is if Zack Snyder's Superman belongs in the same club as those other Supermen.

It doesn't help that Snyder has made comments about his Superman that suggest he either doesn't understand or has a deep contempt for the character.