Jumping on board the latest MAGA outrage, Fox News took aim at director James Gunn for proclaiming the latest Superman reboot as a story about an “immigrant that came from other places,” and some may take offense to it because the film centers on “human kindness.”

“He’s creating a moat of woke, enlightened opinion around him. He’s got a woke shield,” Fox News host Greg Gutfeld grumbled on Monday as an on-screen graphic blared that the “Superwoke” movie embraced “pro-immigrant themes.”

Speaking to The Times of London last week ahead of the premiere of his new film, Gunn discussed some of the themes that the new iteration of the oft-told story touches on, such as a conversation that Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent has with Lois Lane about geopolitics and whether he should have stopped a war.

“It is definitely the most unusual thing that we put in the movie,” he said. “Yes, it’s about politics, but on another level it’s about morality. Do you never kill no matter what — which is what Superman believes — or do you have some balance, as Lois believes?”

Amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and mass deportation plans, Gunn also noted that his film leans into the character’s well-known backstory as an otherworldly refugee, a plot point that has been explored in Superman comics over the years.

Fox News host Kellyanne Conway criticizes the new Superman film for being too political and pro-immigrant during a broadcast of The Five. (Fox News)

“The Man of Steel’s story is the ultimate example of a refugee who makes his new home better,” DC Comics noted when backing World Refugee Day last decade. On top of that, Superman’s creators – Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – were both Jewish and the children of immigrants who fled antisemitism in Europe, which influenced the character’s story.

“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” he declared. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me, it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”

When asked by the interviewer if he had considered how the film would be received in red states compared to liberal cities, Gunn acknowledged that “it plays differently,” but that it ultimately is a story about morality.

“But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness,” he flatly stated. “But screw them.”

Gunn’s comments inevitably led right-wing pundits and Trump acolytes to predictably fly into a rage about the “crappy” film that they have yet to see while urging for other conservative to boycott it, all while parroting the standard MAGA refrain of “go woke, go broke!”“I’m going to skip seeing Superman now. Director is an absolute moron to say this publicly the week before release,” conservative radio host and OutKick founder Clay Travis groused. Fox News star Laura Ingraham, who has demanded that celebrities with liberal political opinions “shut up and dribble,” made sure to inform her followers that this was “another film we won’t be seeing.”

During Monday’s broadcast of Fox News’ The Five, Gutfeld accused Gunn of creating a “woke shield” around him as “his way back” into the Hollywood elite because the director had previously been “canceled” and “banished” because of unearthed tweets that contained pedophilia jokes.

“A lot of #MeToo suspects do it,” Gutfeld continued. “Harvey Weinstein donated to Democrats because he was running around sexually assaulting people. That’s what you do.”The resident Fox News “comedian” was referencing Gunn’s brief removal from the Marvel series Guardians of the Galaxy by Disney in 2018, in the wake of a targeted campaign by alt-right provocateur Mike Cernovich.

Following Disney’s firing of Roseanne Barr over her racist posts, Cernovich – a Pizzagate conspiracist known for accusing prominent liberals of pedophilia – spotlighted some tasteless jokes Gunn had made online several years earlier. The insincere campaign, which aimed at Gunn due to his anti-Trump stances, resulted in Gunn’s termination from Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.

After Disney was widely criticized for capitulating to the manufactured outrage over Gunn’s old tweets, including from the film’s stars, the studio reinstated him to Guardians months later – resulting in a critically acclaimed smash hit. He has since gone on to direct the well-received superhero film The Suicide Squad, produce its spin-off series Peacemaker, and take over as CEO of DC Studios.

Kellyanne Conway, a former Trump aide who now works for Fox News, also fumed that the Superman star David Corenswet has been avoiding using the character’s “truth, justice, and the American way” slogan while discussing the film with the media.

“I can’t believe that we’ve come down to that,” she complained. “We don’t go to the movie theater to be lectured to and to have somebody throw their ideology onto us. I wonder if it will be successful.” MAGA-boosting Fox News host Jesse Watters, meanwhile, followed up by joking that Superman’s cape is now emblazoned with “MS-13.”

Gunn and the film’s stars, meanwhile, have brushed off the conservative outrage directed at the expected blockbuster, which is projected to take in $135 million at the domestic box office this weekend.

“Awww, somebody needs a hug,” Nathan Fillion, who plays the Green Lantern, said at the movie’s premiere on Monday. “It’s just a movie guys. It’s just a movie.”

While Gunn was a bit more diplomatic, saying he’s “not here to judge people” and reiterating that “this is a movie about kindness,” his brother Sean – who portrays Maxwell Lord in the film – stood up for the director.

“My reaction to [the backlash] is that it is exactly what the movie is about,” he declared. “We support our people, you know? We love our immigrants. Yes, Superman is an immigrant, and yes, the people that we support in this country are immigrants and if you don’t like that, you’re not American. People who say no to immigrants are against the American way.”

In the end, the right-wing anger over a Superman suddenly going “woke” despite long having politically liberal undertones and pro-immigrant themes mirrors conservatives’ misplaced uproar over other iconic comic book, TV and film series exhibiting progressive values – notably Star Wars, Captain America and Star Trek.