not to beat a dead horse, but i think that's a main source of audience dissonance with zack snyder's superman. he presents superman as a christ figure, a messiah in the darkest times. a light to guide humanity's way. it's how he's framed at all times.

but in action?

in action, he fights alongside the american military. he storms into fictional african warlord's compounds because his girlfriend is in trouble. he is the strong arm of american might, he is the power to subjugate made real.

and that's just not superman.

even to posit this as a jab by snyder towards american imperialism, which it likely isn't given the heroic portrayals of the soldiers, it's a fundamental miscast of an idea. you're twisting a symbol so far outside its context as to be rendered inert, he means nothing anymore.

the fundamental thesis of man of steel is that christ smiles down upon the american military, benevolent in their quest to bring conquest in the tracks, so long as he remains higher. above. a guiding hand for the tanks and aircraft of the american way.