Boycott Superman movie over Jewish actor?

Boycott Superman movie over Jewish actor?

Andrew Sia
Published: Jul 17, 2025 8:44 AM
Updated: 10:44 AM


COMMENT | Some Malaysians want to boycott the new Superman movie because the lead actor is Jewish.

This was reported by a news portal after looking through netizens’ online comments.

Some joked that this was really because Superman wears his red underwear outside, thus rendering the show “immoral”.

Superman was played by British actor Henry Cavill from 2013 to 2022. Now the cape has been passed to David Corenswet (above), a 32-year-old American Jewish actor.

This generated a storm of 1,200 comments (thus far) when it was posted online. But hang on, isn’t Superman an alien from the planet Krypton?


Kneejerk racial reactions

As usual, some chipped in with the usual scorn. Hello, you must also stop using Waze, Facebook, and Dell computers, they are all set up by Jews.

We’ve seen similar comments during past Muslim boycotts of KFC, Starbucks, and McDonald’s.

If a Jewish lead actor is the reason to boycott the new Superman movie, then all productions from Warner Brothers, Stan Lee’s Marvel Studios, and Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks may also need to be shunned since they also had Jewish founders.

The only superhero movies left would be Cicakman and Keluang Man.

One netizen commented: “Imagine someone refusing to watch a movie because the actor is Malay.”

But to regard all Jews as nefarious supporters of Zionist ideology is as simplistic as saying all Malays support the divisive racial supremacy ideology of “Ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy).

Yet prominent Malays such as Tajuddin Rasdi, lawyer Siti Kasim, and writer Mariam Mokhtar do not condone such racial discrimination.

Academic Tajuddin Rasdi


Nor do Malay politicians such as Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi (PKR), Syahredzan Johan (DAP), and Syerleena Abdul Rashid (DAP).


Not all Jews are Zionists

Similarly, not all Jews are Zionists who support the slaughter in Gaza to create a Greater Israel.

In Oct 2023, left-wing Jewish activists peacefully protested in Washington against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Hundreds were arrested.

The group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) also opposes Zionism and is guided by a vision of justice, equality, and freedom for all, including Palestinians.

JVP lamented that Zionism has also harmed Jewish people, destroying the harmony they had with Muslims and Christians in the Middle East for thousands of years.

Not many Malaysians are aware that there is also internal racial discrimination between white (Ashkenazic) and brown (Sephardic) Jews.

As JVP describes it, in Israel, brown or black Jews – from the Arab world and Africa - have long faced systemic discrimination by the Israeli government, which is controlled by white European Jews.

In short, people and politics are more complex than simple labels.


Is Superman pro-Palestine?

This applies to the latest Superman movie, which actually has an indirect pro-Palestinian message, despite its Jewish lead actor.

The Times of India explains that the film has a fictional border conflict between two countries: Boravia, a wealthy, militarised state supported by the United States, and Jarhanpur, a poorer neighbouring nation whose civilians face repeated airstrikes and forced displacement.

To many critics and viewers, the imagery is clear - Boravia resembles Israel; Jarhanpur, Palestine.

While the film avoids naming any real nations, The Express Tribune of Pakistan comments that one scene - showing armed forces attacking civilians and children - reflects Gaza.

Some have praised the film for “taking a stand” in a David vs Goliath morality tale, of military might versus civilian suffering.

Most poignantly, Superman plays the role of an immigrant who wants justice and supports a people being attacked by a powerful country.

But others have accused the film of being “anti-Israel”, compelling director James Gunn to flatly deny any direct real-world allegory.


Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist?

Then we come to the actor himself. Corenswet may be Jewish, but he married his Catholic wife in an interfaith wedding ceremony led by a Jewish rabbi and Catholic priest. The ceremony took place at the Immaculate Conception church.

It’s a bit like Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his Hindu wife Gauri Khan getting married in 1991 without conversions but rather “mutual respect for each other’s religions”, as noted by Times of India.

What may be most shocking for movie boycotters is that Corenswet is not a practising Jew.

He told GQ magazine, “If I had any religious upbringing, it was probably Buddhist.... Not in a religious sense at all... My family went to a mindfulness meditation retreat centre every summer for a week.”

So, is it even accurate to condemn the actor as “Jewish”?

While Superman is just a movie, some netizens’ reactions to it reflect more disturbing racial sentiments.


Anti-Jewish, anti-Chinese?

For example, Sungai Buloh PAS division chief Zaharudin Muhammad, the son-in-law of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, decried the armed forces’ promotion of a Chinese officer to lieutenant general.

Sungai Buloh PAS division chief Zaharudin Muhammad

He claimed it could lead to a fictional “future” where a Chinese prime minister emerges from fresh migrants under the Malaysia My Second Home programme.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang himself has claimed that non-Muslims make up the bulk of the "roots of corruption" in the country. Of course, he conveniently forgets who are demanding such bribes.

He also overlooks that the biggest corruption scandals, such as 1MDB and the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, were linked to Umno leaders.

Hadi must remember that PAS formed the Muafakat Nasional alliance with Umno in 2019 before falling out when a “love triangle” developed with a “new boyfriend” called Bersatu.

I wrote about this political soap opera cum circus, which involved “a jealous divorcee storming the bridal chamber”, “main dua kolam” (playing two lovers) and “ungrateful ducks with broken legs”.

Followers are influenced by leaders, and they then throw blanket insults such as “DAPig”, which is not far from condemning all Jews regardless of their actions.

If Malays feel that Zionism is wrong because of its racial discrimination against Palestinians, is similar prejudice at home acceptable just because it’s “more gentle”?

Yes, it’s immoral for Zionists to grab Palestinian land in Gaza. But what about the PAS state government grabbing Orang Asli land in Kelantan?

So, the most important lesson from the new Superman movie is to look at the substance of issues, not just the packaging.

Before getting into any knee-jerk racial reactions, please pause and look deeper beyond the label into the actual contents.

ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com