While most comic book movies have attempted to avoid political grandstanding or at least getting preachy on hot-button topics, it appears that the television adaptations of our favorite superheroes aren’t going to follow their big screen counterparts’ lead.
CW’s “Supergirl” went into full gun control lecture mode in Monday’s episode, “Not Kansas,” which features a criminal getting his hands on a Heel-14 “assault rifle” issued for the government agency DEO and modified for civilians using the debunked gun show loophole.
In a moment highlighted by Newsbusters, DEO Head and Martian-in-disguise J’onn J’onnz (David Heywood) lectures the president of the gun manufacturer that created the rifle about the evils of adapting it for consumer use.
“That is for military personnel, trained officers, law enforcement,” J’onn opines.
He then flexes his government muscles to pressure the private company into compliance with their gun agenda.
“All right, here’s what’s gonna happen right now,” J’onzz declares. “You are gonna hand over all documentation relating to the Heel-14, and you’re gonna comply completely, 100% with our investigation. If you do not, we’ll take our business elsewhere.”
Later, character James Olsen (Mechad Brooks), who is assisting J’onn with his investigation, lectures his girlfriend Lena (Katie McGrath) after she says she carries a handgun for self-defense.
His response is ripped right from a gun control advocacy pamphlet. He claims that he cannot understand “someone’s right to own an assault weapon is more important than someone’s right to go to school safely.”
The episode does not stop there.
When J’onn finds the criminal who purchased the gun, he approaches the man unarmed and magically talks him down before he can shoot someone. He calmly rationalizes with the crazed would-be gunman and convinces him to surrender. No one is harmed and the hero saves the day.
He later declares that DEO agents will no longer carry “lethal” weapons during their investigations, whether the criminals are armed to the teeth or not.
After that, a rainbow forms over the characters and all is made peaceful in the land as criminals voluntarily surrender their weapons upon hearing that the government agents will no longer be carrying. Okay, I made that part up.
For those unfamiliar with J’onn’s character, he is a superhero known in the DC Comics as the Martian Manhunter, often a founding member of the various incarnations of the Justice League. He has a plethora of super abilities including super strength on par with Wonder Woman, laser vision, the ability to metamorph, fly, heal himself, create force fields, and to top it all off, he can read minds. In other words, he’s virtually invulnerable, so approaching an armed criminal with no weapon is no big deal for him. For us mere mortals, not so much.
This is more virtue signaling from the Left’s Hollywood allies who choose to ignore basic facts about firearms, including the fact that defensive gun use is higher than criminal firearm use.
Perhaps next time J’onn takes on an armed criminal with no gun, he should use his laser vision or telepathy to disarm him. That would be more “realistic.”