Donald Trump takes over Superman as the new hero of his hometown ,Metropolis.

in the center of Metropolis, Illinois, a town of 6,465 people bordering Kentucky, is a giant statue of Superman. Below the statue of Superman is an inscription: “Truth – Justice – the American Way”.

Once a thriving blue-collar industrial center, Metropolis has been decimated by factory closures, the 2008 financial collapse and concerns over air and water contamination from the Honeywell uranium plant. Its community has lost faith in truth and justice. But they are seeking a new American way, and they believe they have found it in another strongman: Donald Trump.

Metropolis – selected by DC Comics in 1972 as the official hometown of Superman – is the seat of Massac County. On 15 March, Trump swept the Massac Republican primary with 44% of the vote.


Signs for Trump are everywhere. They are in the balconies of boarded buildings with shattered windows in the decaying town square. They are in front of the trailers where residents moved after they lost their homes during the 2008 mortgage crisis. They dot the roads to Harrah’s casino, the biggest business in Metropolis, where locals spend hoping to get more.

A county plaque in the historic district explains that Massac is short for “Massacre” because “its citizens [were] nicknamed ‘massacrers’, for sometimes being the rowdy remnants of the early days of the Fort”. The Fort was built in 1757, but Metropolis residents are no happier today. They are furious with politicians and overwhelmed by financial despair. Superman brings the town tourists, but he cannot save residents from the pain of everyday life. But maybe, they say, Trump can.