Superman’s “S”-shield – it’s a universal symbol of heroism and hope, instantly recognized by everyone in all four corners of the Earth. With Superman’s 87-year legacy as the progenitor of all superheroes, his S-shield has been re-designed many times and in many different ways in comics, movies, television, and animation, all putting their own unique spin on one of the most recognizable symbols ever created. One such example is the DC Comics Elseworlds story Kingdom Come, with Alex Ross creating a very unique and one-of-a-kind version of Superman’s S-shield.
That S-shield has also been embossed on the suits of two live-action Supermen, namely Brandon Routh on the multiverse mini-series Crisis On Infinite Earths and David Corenswet in James Gunn’s DCU intro movie Superman. Despite the deep iconography of the Kingdom Come version of the “S”-shield, only one of these adaptations does anything narratively significant with that version of the “S”, and it is not the one seen on cinema screens.
The Kingdom Come “S”-shield Doesn’t Have Any Real Significance In Superman
For all the hype and speculation about what Gunn’s use of the famed Kingdom Come “S”-shield, the shield itself plays a surprisingly minimal role in the movie other than simply being the symbol on the Man of Steel’s chest. What makes that particularly odd is that the design of the “S” on the shield is clearly meant to be a redesign of the letter “S” itself, merging with the shield around it. Moreover, the Kingdom Come “S”-shield is clearly meant to be a re-working of the traditional Superman “S”-shield, standing apart from its classical counterpart as the visual shorthand for the Elseworlds story that is Kingdom Come.
One would expect that Gunn’s inclusion of the Kingdom Come “S”-shield would play a rather significant role in Superman, especially with the movie marking the first big-screen use of the emblem itself. While certainly not enough to destroy the movie, the fact that neither Superman itself nor any of the character in it at least comments on the unique design of the “S”-shield seems a rather odd decision. By contrast, the Kingdom Come “S”-shield’s previous debut in live-action had a much more significant role in its own story.
Brandon Routh’s Kingdom Come “S”-shield On Crisis On Infinite Earths Served A Real Narrative Purpose
Following the disappointment of 2006’s Superman Returns, it seemed that Brandon Routh’s Superman tenure ended as soon as it began, but that changed with the 2019-2020 CW crossover series Crisis On Infinite Earths, based upon the famed DC Comics story of the same name. Crisis On Infinite Earths threw open the doors of DC’s film and television multiverse, making Routh’s return as Superman possible as one Man of Steel co-existing with many others,with Crisis On Infinite Earths helping his Superman really stand out by giving him a Kingdom Come-style makeover, complete with an “S”-shield to match.
The Kingdom Come “S” worked on a meta level for Routh’s return as a somewhat older Superman 13 years after he was last seen in Superman Returns. Additionally, Crisis explained the suit and “S”-shield re-design from those of Superman Returns as a result of personal tragedy during that period in the deaths of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White. Routh’s Superman explains his new “S”-shield with the black background act as an emblem and reminder of what he represents, as a symbol of hope in a dark world. That backstory isn’t too far off from the splintering of the DC superhero community and the return of an older, grey-templed Superman seen in Kingdom Come, and coupled with Routh’s own return, the “S”-shield derived from the story serves as a real tool of character development for Routh’s Superman. Crisis even concludes with Routh’s “S”-shield altered to have a traditional yellow background, Superman having freed himself of the darkness he was saddled with after his role in helping to save the multiverse.
Why James Gunn (Probably) Went With The Kingdom Come “S”-shield
Despite not playing any visibly major role in Superman, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Kingdom Come “S”-shield was chosen by Gunn in a vacuum. On that basis of its inclusion in Superman, Gunn probably chose the Kingdom Come version of the “S”-shield at least in part to help distinguish David Corenswet’s Superman from every other live-action version of the Man of Steel. The great thing about Superman’s “S”-shield is that every live-action of him has been granted an “S”-shield with a very distinct design. In effect, one need only be shown the “S”-shield of Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill, and Tyler Hoechlin to know which Superman it corresponds to. With Superman’s use of the Kingdom Come “S”-shield, David Corenswet’s Superman has the same distinction as his big-screen Kryptonian brothers.
It should be noted that Gunn’s use of the Kingdom Come “S” for Superman (and Supergirl in the movie’s final scene) might actually have a larger role to play in the DCU’s story long term, and one that simply isn’t unveiled in Superman itself. Be that as it may, James Gunn’s Superman doesn’t make the kind of iconic use of the Kingdom Come “S”-shield as Crisis On Infinite Earths did for Brandon Routh’s Kal-El, with Superman’s inclusion of it helping establish David Corenswet’s Superman as a unique live-action version from the rest, but that’s about it.
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