The Big Blue Boy Scout is back on the big screen — and it’s (mostly) super

Almost every superhero movie has a scene where the main character explains why they do what they do.

Some superheroes are motivated by past trauma, like the death of a parent or loved one. Some choose to fight bad guys to atone for a past mistake. Others simply can’t resist the thrill of combat.

In Superman, the latest film featuring one of the world’s most recognizable superheroes, the scene in which the hero explains his motivation occurs late in the movie. I won’t spoil exactly what is said, but I will say that Scouts and Scouters will note how similar it is to the Cub Scout motto — Do Your Best.

Superman, often referred to as the Big Blue Boy Scout, is back in theaters this weekend with an all-new cast, writer and director leading the way. I was lucky enough to catch an advanced screening last night, and I’m happy to report that it is, for the most part, super.

When Superman: The Movie came out in 1978, it was different than any version of Superman that had come before it. The same thing applied to Man of Steel, released in 2013.

And the same thing applies to Superman, which presents the hero as a guy who’s just trying to be the best human being he can be, even though technically he’s an alien from another planet.

The first 30 minutes of the movie will be jarring for some — it definitely was for me. Faster than a speeding bullet, it simply throws you right into a very comic book-y world where “metahumans” are commonplace, portals to pocket dimensions are no big deal, and there’s nothing particularly unusual about superpowered beings doing battle with flying monsters high up in the sky.

But once you get used to its rhythm, this movie is very, very good. Many folks will also find it very inspiring.

At one point, a character even refers to Superman as “Big Blue,” an oh-so-close reference to his Big Blue Boy Scout nickname.

Why is Superman called the Big Blue Boy Scout?

Over many decades of stories, Superman has been referred to as the Big Blue Boy Scout by friends, enemies and fans in contexts both complimentary and derisive.

Try as I may, I cannot find the origin of the phrase — and trust me, I tried!

Thankfully, Brian Cronin, senior staff writer at CBR (the website formerly known as Comic Book Resources), has done some extensive research on this topic. Cronin notes that in the 1978 Superman movie, Lex Luthor calls Superman an “overgrown Boy Scout.”  After that, variations on the phrase made their way into the comics, with characters referring to Superman using such terms as “Big Blue,” “Pompous Boy Scout” and “Extraterrestrial Boy Scout” in the ensuing years.

Ultimately though, Cronin says it wasn’t until 1992 that a comic book character used the exact term “Big Blue Boy Scout,” and the name stuck.

He’s always been Scout-like

This much we know for sure: Superman made his debut in Action Comics #1, published on April 18, 1938. The book featured 11 different stories, including “Zatara Master Magician,” “Sticky-Mitt Stimson” and “Scoop Scanlon, Five Star Reporter,” among others.

But one story outlived them all: “Superman,” which took up all of 13 pages.

From the beginning, the Big Blue Boy Scout was depicted with his signature blue suit; red trunks, boots and cape; and an “S” on the front of his shirt.

We all know the “S” doesn’t stand for “Scout,” but it might as well. From this very first issue, Superman displayed the traits of a Scout, as you can tell from the descriptions in the text:

• “Early, Clark decided he must turn his titanic strength into channels that would benefit mankind.”
• “Champion of the oppressed, the physical marvel who had sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need.”
• Superman’s first bit of action isn’t fighting a bad guy. Instead, it’s rushing to the governor’s mansion to alert the governor that the death row inmate who’s about to be executed is actually innocent. “I’ve proof she’s innocent and you alone can save her!”

Later, Superman stops a husband who’s about to harm his wife and saves Lois Lane from some angry mobsters.

Was Superman ever actually a Scout?

Yes!

A second hat tip to Cronin, who answered this question 13 years ago.

Due to the overwhelming success of Superman, DC Comics launched a new comic in 1944 called Superboy, designed to tell stories of a teenage Clark Kent as he navigated the challenges of high school in his hometown of Smallville, long before he moved to Metropolis and saved the world over and over and over again.

In 1951, the cover of Superboy #13 featured the title character showing off his knot-tying skills to a group of Scouts with the description “The Boy of Steel in a Super-Boy Scout Adventure!”

The story in Superboy #13 is pretty funny: Superboy shows up to the “Smallville Troop Headquarters” (which appears to be a large canvas tent in the middle of the woods) and asks the Scoutmaster (who apparently just hangs out there all the time — or maybe only during office hours?) if he can join the troop.

“S-Superboy!” the man says. “Why, we’d be delighted to have you!”

Superboy then uses his superpowers to tie knots, track a hawk to its nest, carve the Scout fleur-de-lis on a rock and hike 5 miles, among other Scout-related tasks.

Later, Superboy is tasked with convincing a local businessman to let the Scouts use his miles and miles of timberland for “pioneering and nature study.”

It should be noted that while Action Comics’ current Superboy series features a young Clark Kent, there have been comics in which Superboy was actually Conner Kent, who is not a relative of Clark but instead a clone created with some of Clark’s DNA. (It’s … complicated.)

The Big Blue Boy Scout on TV and other media

The Smallville TV show, which aired from 2001 to 2011, also covered Clark’s teenage and young adult years as he developed into the hero destined to eventually move to Metropolis.

The show contained multiple references to Scouting, including some implications that Clark was indeed a Scout at some point. In the show’s version of the Justice League, that popular team-up of multiple DC Comics characters, Clark’s code name was “Boy Scout.”

In the DC Animated Universe, a series of animated TV shows featuring a variety of DC characters, Superman once confided to a character that he was in fact a Scout but that he never even got his first merit badge.

And then there’s the Vs. System (short for Versus System), a 2004 collectible card game, which included a Superman card that explicitly named him the “Big Blue Boy Scout.”

In 1950, the BSA got some help from DC Comics in promoting that summer’s National Jamboree.

Is the nickname Big Blue Boy Scout an insult?

It depends, I suppose, on your perspective.

Batman, one of Superman’s best friends who also occasionally becomes his enemy, has criticized the Man of Steel over the years for his unwillingness to get down and dirty to stop the bad guys.

The character of Superman was created at a time when the country was going through a significant economic downturn. Some of the key events that would eventually lead to the start of World War II were well underway.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s original idea for the character of Superman was a villain who used his powers for evil. They eventually decided that what the world really needed was a story about a guy who tries to do the right thing, no matter what.

The 2025 Superman movie embodies that spirit more than any Superman film that’s come before it.

In that sense, Big Blue Boy Scout sounds just about right.

Superman flies into theaters on July 11. It is rated PG-13 for violence, action and language.

What merit badges would Superman have no problem earning? Click here to find out.