How dare they. The criminals! They made Clark Kent, aka Kal-El, aka Superman, aka Earth-One (those are a lot of aka's) ditch his disguise and reveal himself to Lois Lane and the government? Whaaaa!!! How could they do this? They ruined an entire franchise an entire generation they pissed on our childhoods they they... they....
Ok, time to put the pitch-forks down and lets get serious now. How can this be fixed, perhaps say in the new upcoming film of Zack Snyder, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? That is the question on some people's minds. The real question however when we look through all this is or should be: "Why does it need fixing?"
Seriously, this is one of many fixes to the Superman lore, the Man of Steel, that Snyder introduced to us through his own vision and love for the franchise that we should be grateful for.
Those glasses are about the lamest disguise for a superhero on this planet ever conceived. Only the hardcore nostalgic would mock or not be pleased with this new direction but even then I truly doubt it is them that are not pleased with this new concept. When it comes down to it, it seems much more like whiners that like complaining about anything really and find ways to be disappointed no matter what a product offers them. Perhaps they didn't get hugged much in life and have a lot of resentment for all things beyond their reach, who knows. I personally remember one of the most common fan dilemmas (hardcore and casual) being "how on Earth can those glasses hide his identity?". Once pointed out and with growing up out of my childhood accept everything phase, I too came to question the same thing along with so many others out there.
Zack Snyders' Man of Steel finally brings us an answer to that: "They don't!"
Simple.
It makes sense that Superman would want a cover-up identity for the general public, people that haven't seen him close up and would not be able to tell his identity, for reasons as simple as being left alone and having his own peace of mind when not in the cape.
For everything else other than that, why would Superman even care to begin with? First of all, he is Superman. What can they possibly do to him? Someone after his identity to cause harm? He can simply slap them away. What? The no killing rule?
Oh yes there is that.
Well then he can simply float off in a "talk to the cape I don't give a shit" phase and glide his ass wherever he wants. Literally. They couldn't even atomic bomb him if they tried.
He is eager to cooperate on a regular basis with the military and the government, be infatuated with Lois Lane thus saving her a million times over as Superman and being next to her every other second of the day as Clark Kent, and he would want to hide his identity why exactly? From people he obviously can't hide his identity to begin with if any logic is applied for the simple obviousness of the matter that glasses are not a disguise.
Lastly, if Tony Stark could do it and reveal it to the entire general public, I think Superman would care less if those he cooperates with, or grew up with, or people close to him, know his identity. Again, he is Superman!
He is not a small teenage boy that is trying to save his Aunt May from a sick mind that would try and harm her to get to him. He is an alien from another planet, super... man. Anyone stupid enough to try and do something like that to Mrs Kent to stir him up would have The Man of Steel himself look into fixing them up.
Someone as sick as the Joker perhaps that would do something like that would do it because they have a death wish and they would be obviously bent on one purpose alone, that being making Superman kill. Which is stupid in it's own capacity to begin with really because it proves nothing. Superman would not be bad, and the villain getting his way simply means he is dead after that. A no brainer really.
p.s, Superman has another set of parents out there that are already dead and deals with having lost an entire planet and his own species to obliteration. Doubt Mrs Kent will ruin him to the point of no return. Hey that's life, normal people every day can go through the same things for no reasons at all, living in hiding and being paranoid about it on the thought it might happen due to you being a superhero is simply paranoid and out of place for a character like Superman. Even for a character like the teenage Spider Man. They are not entirely human any-more. Besides, look how Bruce turned out after his parents death?! It's all good and part of a multitude of plot possibilities that substitute the lame "I am in hiding nobody knows my true identity" plot that simply does not belong to our age any more.
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| Ok Batman is pretty badass, being also the only one to beat Superman. He is still human relying on gadgets and tactics. Most obstacles can slow him down and challenge him. |
Take the Arrow now for example, or Batman. Once their identity is out, they are only human, and they can't go and fly off to the moon or some secluded location on the planet from one second to the next. Meaning, they can be harmed, they can be stopped, and those trying to stop them can jeopardise their endeavours as heroes. It is a judgment call even then if they need or want a secret identity.
Superman needs much more than a couple street cops and the government after him to get jeopardised.
Secret identities mostly were created so that superheroes would be a symbol at all times to the masses, and thus not seen as a person.
To the reader or viewer or what have you, they are personal as they are given a normal human identity for us to connect with them and to make it more interesting, whilst also playing a part in creating the ambition and idolisation of a superhero (in mind that is, and not in jumping off buildings like in Kick Ass mind you) within us all. Kal-El does not fit that profile, at all. For the simple fact that he is not even human to begin with. Hence his symbol and character inspires no matter what. The secret identity becomes simply a pointless bore from there on that we already get enough of from other characters out there.
Good riddance to that "glasses as a disguise" idea and thank you Snyder for finally bringing attention to yet another annoying detail of the Superman franchise that ultimately made it much less enjoyable for so many of us.
I mean come on, that whole play in the old films with Clark and Lois "is he, is he not? Does she know, does she not?" was so tiring and outplayed it is a thing of the past now. Each generation should relate to a hero based on their own time and not stick to concepts that simply cannot do justice to todays' thinking and logic.
Ultimately, if its that much of a problem he can wipe their memory out. What? He did it in the classics didn't he? That's convenient enough is it not?
We put up with some really absurd iterations of all these super-heroes in the comic versions, and yet whine about big-screen adaptations that make sense? Lastly, Superman does not belong to anyone, its simply Superman and every creative mind that will work on a script, graphic novel or what not on the character will obviously bring their own version to life as well and this has been going on for a while. There has been some pretty crazy ideas out there and all that is ok. Zack Snyder does it and the pitch forks come out?
Strongly starting to believe it really is just the people that are not even fans of Superman or comics, those that simply pop in to do their part as people that need to blow of steam with some whining on anything and everything. A sensible fan in my opinion would embrace this change, not ask for it to be fixed.
Well done to 2013 - Man of Steel, to Snyder, and to all those that worked on this marvel of a film. This was but one of the many things about Superman that needed fixing and someone finally had the guts to do it.
Can't wait for Dawn of Justice!
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