Suggested by a remark in this thread on Aslan, which is not otherwise relevant.
Poll coming in a moment, but don’t let that stop you. I only use polls as an [del]excuse[/del] venue to crack wise anyway.
It’s terrible.
He’s clearly a Moses figure. 
That option/wisecrack is IN THE POLL.
Vote, Rao damn you!
I’m not sure how to fit this into the poll options, but it can be done well. It’s just that it’s so incredibly easy to do it poorly. You need a lot more subtlety than most storytellers are capable of.
This goes for any fictional character that’s depicted as a Christ figure, incidentally, not just Superman.
Can I get you to rephrase this in the form of a wisecrack?
More seriously, I think the better depictions of Kal as Christ are the ones in which he is aware that people see him as a messiah, and struggles with it – not believing it himself, but wary of disappointing people, as he sees his primary duty as being inspirational.
Some Superman writer (Maggin?) wrote once that the difference between Superman and Luthor is that the former is a god who wishes he were mortal, while the latter is a man who wants to become God.
ETA: Incidentally, Chronos, I think the spirit of your answer is contained in the* Lois is a hooker?* option.
Oh, sure, the whole Christ-metaphor thing. We’ve never seen that one before. All that’s necessary now is that you put a lens-flare “cross” right behind the hero right about now… Ah, there it is. OK, your hamfisting is now complete, now lets move onto the next unoriginal story idea already.
Better?
He’s not a Christ figure. He doesn’t sacrifice himself. He’s just an old-fashioned muscle hero like Hercules or Sampson. I’m not much of a comic book reader or superhero fan myself, but it has succeeded as escapist entertainment for millions for almost a century.
He is often presented as a Christ figure; the last movie was chuck full of the imagery, and I recall there being a bit of it in the first Christopher Reeve movie as well. In a story called KINGDOM COME a few years back there was even more.
Moreover, I would point out that there are many similarities between the myths of Herakles and those of Christ. Samson, not so much. I’ll concede that messianic would have been a better term than Christ figure, but I was building off the other thread.
Why are you commenting in the thread when you don’t actually follow and have never followed Superman? It’s like me giving opinions in a football thread.
He’s absolutely a Moses figure (well, more of a Samson figure). He’s way too violent to be a Christ figure. I don’t see Christ picking up a guy with one hand and hurling him like a javelin to certain death (Action #2) but Moses… maybe. If he got mad.
Maybe Moses would kill someone? MAYBE?
Well, by hurling him like a javelin?
Well, Superman did die and was resurrected. You don’t get more Christ-like than that.
True, but then, so has just about everyone else in comics.
Of course, “Christ” is just the Greek translation of “Messiah”, anyway. It’s not like it was Jesus’ last name or anything.
I thought “Christ” mean “anointed one”.
ETA: Which apparently also means “messiah”. Never mind.
I’ve said this before. I don’t see Superman as a metaphor for Jesus or Moses. I think he’s a metaphor for the United States.
That doesn’t mean anything. Everyone in comic books dies and gets resurrected.
Jughead got resurrected? I missed that.
Well, reanimated, anyway. Everyone knows those are brainburgers he’s eating.
I don’t think he’s a type of the Christian mystery-religion Jesus, no. But he is probably meant to be Messianic in a Jewish sense, which is hard to explain to Christians who see “Messiah” as something unique & divine.
What, you missed the whole The Death of Captain Hero arc?