Zack Snyder's Superman

It would be difficult for someone even faintly familiar with Christian images and theology to not notice that Zack Snyder's Man of Steel repeatedly points to its titular character resembling Jesus.  His dedication to quite literally saving humanity in Man of Steel, his controversy-riddled life that ends in a sacrificial death in Batman v Superman, and his resurrection in Zack Snyder's Justice League collectively tell a story that is brimming with Christological themes.  In response to this major part of the DCEU's core storytelling, there have been two primary stances that non-interested audience members take, neither of which is particularly friendly to the director's goals.

I have seen Christians complain about how a secular entertainment industry is trying to "get Christians to spend money" by including explicitly Christological imagery in themes in movies like Man of Steel, and I have also seen non-Christians (or at least seeming non-Christians) mock Zack Snyder for allegedly trying too hard to be subtle and overt at once.  Both of these are entirely misguided approaches to Zack Snyder's Superman.  Superman, with the exception of his alternate versions like the one seen in the Injustice video games or the Red Son "Elseworlds" type of stories, is sometimes literally supposed to be a Christ figure.

On one hand, Superman is literally supposed to be a science fiction version of Moses and Jesus--he is sent away as a child by his parents to avoid death and be raised by others, only to become an almost Messianic figure to the humans who will eventually look to him for deliverance and inspiration.  This much has been apparent across different iterations.  In light of this, it would actually be a betrayal of the comic origin to disregard the intentionally explicit Christological comparisons which can be made.  Man of Steel and Batman v Superman both make this clear, but moreso Man of Steel, with story choices like having Clark Kent undergo a grand struggle at age 33 or holding his body in the shape of a cross after being told he can save humankind.

On the other hand, as for the other set of criticisms, this thematic side of the plot is supposed to be blatant to at least some extent.  After all, the Christological characteristics of Kal-El are part of his core character outside of the alternate, more experimental versions of the character that only seem so jarring because they are different from the standard character.  Making a Superman without the Christ-like relationship to humans would be like making a Batman without the trauma of his parents' death--perhaps it could work, as it does in Injustice, but it is not Superman's most prominent form.  Saying that Superman's Christ parallels are overt is like saying that Batman's family-related trauma is obvious.

Zack Snyder's Superman is one of the best versions in recent years, certainly the deepest iteration in film.  The similarities between this Superman and the Jesus of Christian theology are integral to this vision of the character.  Like Noah and Exodus, other films that are very clearly about Christian subject matter but made by non-Christians, Man of Steel shows that it is ironically those who are not committed to Christianity that historically tend to create the most philosophically, culturally impactful and artistically significant works of entertainment that grapple with Christian themes.  This does not have to be the case, but the most controversial cinematic depiction of Superman only serves as another example of this.