Would a Lois and Clark romance work if u take out the Superman equation? Spoiler

[seismic-2]

I believe this question was answered nicely in Action 484, the Earth 2 Lois and Clark wedding issue. The Wizard cast a spell to get rid of Superman, and this happened by Clark's losing his memory of being Superman. With no further reason to maintain his disguise, in time Clark stopped acting like a slouching milquetoast, and the "real" Clark Kent - a confident, assertive, and yes, even "heroic" - hard-hitting investigative reporter emerged in his place. Lois quickly took notice of the "new" Clark, they fell in love, and they married. The Earth 2 marriage of course endured even after Clark got his memory back and became Superman again, and it lasted until Lois's death in Infinite Crisis. I see no reason that this same scenario would not also apply to "our" Clark and Lois.

[Flash Gordon]

He wouldn't be the same person.

Clark isn't just a guy with powers from a rural farm in Kansas. He's an alien refugee, the last of his kind, who has a fortress in the artic and an AI of his space dad. He sees the world on a spectrum that we can not comprehend, which also makes him extremely compassionate and good natured. The universe, and existence in general, is a completely different vibe for him.

All of that influences who Kal-El is. If he was just some decent guy from Kansas, he would be a different person entirely.

He is not "Clark Kent", although that is a part of him. A context that shaped many parts of him, but a context filtered through his individual Kryptonian prism. So who knows if Lois and this other man would even get along?

[Sacred Knight]

He wouldn't be the same person.

Clark isn't just a guy with powers from a rural farm in Kansas. He's an alien refugee, the last of his kind, who has a fortress in the artic and an AI of his space dad. He sees the world on a spectrum that we can not comprehend, which also makes him extremely compassionate and good natured. The universe, and existence in general, is a completely different vibe for him.

All of that influences who Kal-El is. If he was just some decent guy from Kansas, he would be a different person entirely.

He is not "Clark Kent", although that is a part of him. A context that shaped many parts of him, but a context filtered through his individual Kryptonian prism. So who knows if Lois and this other man would even get along?

Pretty much where I stand. It would be a fascinating thing to explore but unless someone actually decided to write it and it was published, I'll file my answer to a simple "I don't know". Like I said though, would be very interesting to see explored. For instance, I'd be curious if a normal, human Clark Kent even ever leaves Smallville. Lots of considerations that could lead down any number of different rabbit holes.

[Flash Gordon]

Pretty much where I stand. It would be a fascinating thing to explore but unless someone actually decided to write it and it was published, I'll file my answer to a simple "I don't know". Like I said though, would be very interesting to see explored. For instance, I'd be curious if a normal, human Clark Kent even ever leaves Smallville. Lots of considerations that could lead down any number of different rabbit holes.

Exactly.

Would the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent marry Lana Lang and run the family farm? Would Lana still have any interest in a "Clark Kent" who wasn't an alien refugee hiding in plain sight?

Would that Clark Kent stay behind in Smallville and eventually fall into economic hardships in our current day? How would that shape him?

To be absolutely honest, I imagine that man to be a good natured individual but not one that lives a life much different from his Pa. Perhaps in 2019, not as fulfilling a life as his Pa either.

It is Kal-El who hears that great call to adventure and heads out to find his destiny in the skies. A Kal-El raised by Ma and Pa Kent but a Kal-El shaped by the fact that he is Kal-El, heir to the stars. Those early years spent on the farm with good natured, kind hearted people- but those early years of an alien refugee in hiding on a farm with good natured, kind hearted people. Makes all the difference.

[seismic-2]

So you're saying that, had he not been Kryptonian, Clark Kent would have been... Pete Ross? Note that Pete didn't always stay in Smallville, either. That's becoming increasingly common - small towns all over America are dying, as the young people go away to get college educations, and then they move to urban areas. I suspect Clark Kent would have become a reporter, because he's curious and dedicated to the truth. Perry White hired Clark Kent because he was a fine reporter. Being Kryptonian didn't make him be a good reporter; being Clark Kent did.

[Jim Kelly]

Are we talking about romance or relationship? The topic title says romance. That's a different thing from whether the relationship will work out over the long haul. The romance works because the set-up of him being Superman is just a kind of metaphor, but it's an essential romantic plot in a lot of fiction. I'd argue that one reason SUPERMAN (1978) was such a big hit is that it is a romance. It was a great date movie (so long as your date wasn't so entranced by Christopher Reeve or Margot Kidder that you came off worse for the comparison).

Take Jim and Pam from THE OFFICE. Jim loves Pam, he's been in love with her since the day he started working at Dunder-Mifflin. But Jim can't reveal his true self to her. They have a cute friendship, but when it comes to putting his jokey mask aside, he can't do it, because the risk is too great. If he gives away his secret indentity, he's leaving himself vulnerable and he could get killed.

Many of us who have such romances can identify with this. With Clark Kent, if he's not Superman (although I can't see how he could not be that strange visitor from another planet), and he's just a man--then, of course, he's going to have the same fears. He's going to have something about his inner self that makes him afraid to trust a stranger with his secrets. How do any of us make that leap? Opening yourself up to someone else--especailly a strong woman like Lois Lane--that's a huge risk.

That's the will-they/won't-they pull of the Lois and Clark love story. Once they get past that, does the relationship work? That's a different question; it could be like FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD where the romance between Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene reaches its conclusion with marriage and they do have a relationship for the foreseeable future, but the reader gets the feeling by the end of the novel that they are both defeated characters and the marriage is never going to be as exciting as the romance.

[Flash Gordon]

So you're saying that, had he not been Kryptonian, Clark Kent would have been... Pete Ross? Note that Pete didn't always stay in Smallville, either. That's becoming increasingly common - small towns all over America are dying, as the young people go away to get college educations, and then they move to urban areas. I suspect Clark Kent would have become a reporter, because he's curious and dedicated to the truth. Perry White hired Clark Kent because he was a fine reporter. Being Kryptonian didn't make him be a good reporter; being Clark Kent did.

Nah, I'm saying he'd be a totally different person. I'm not saying it in a negative way. He just would be someone else.

There's no way to take the Kal-El out of Clark Kent and have him be the same being. Being an alien refugee with a great destiny all ties into the upbringing and world view of Clark Kent. A random human from Kansas named Clark Kent might have no interest in being a journalist or have any aspirations outside of his immediate landscape.

[seismic-2]

Remember that in the New 52, Lois was in a romantic relationship with Jonathan Carroll, because she fell for a talented, aggressive, assertive, confident reporter. I feel that Clark Kent too would be exactly that, if he weren't putting on the "act" of being an inconspicuous, shy, wimp. Take away the invulnerability, the ability to fly, the super-strength, etc., and you still have a first-rate reporter who is confident in his talents and dedicated to getting the story, whatever the cost. Lois would find that attractive.

[Celgress]

OP Question - Probably not, at least in IMO.

[Nelliebly]

That's the will-they/won't-they pull of the Lois and Clark love story. Once they get past that, does the relationship work? That's a different question; it could be like FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD where the romance between Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene reaches its conclusion with marriage and they do have a relationship for the foreseeable future, but the reader gets the feeling by the end of the novel that they are both defeated characters and the marriage is never going to be as exciting as the romance.

They’ve been married in story for over a decade (obviously in our time much longer) and the canon is that they are still so hot for each other that they can’t keep it together in the middle of a public street and are having passionate sex consistently, most recently, in the shower. In fact, one of the oddest things about Superman has to be that he has such a reputation as a “Boy Scout” when, arguably, one of the most consistent things about his relationship with Lois (really starting with Reeve and Kidder’s chemistry and then becoming a part of nearly every media they appear in) in canon is not just their love, which is obviously pure and true, but their intense sexual appetite for each other.

This is a couple that is clearly intellectually, emotionally and physically stimulated by each other and none of that has changed in their many years of marriage. They love each other and they want each other. I don’t even like what Bendis is doing with the relationship and even I have to admit that he definitely did maintain that.

So I am confused by your post. I agree that Clark not being Superman would change who he is and, more importantly, would change the narrative. But, as stated above, we already saw years ago what would happen if Clark forgot he was Superman and just lived his life and she immediately fell for him that way.

I guess I am just confused by your post and I’m sorry if that’s on me. Are you trying to say that all marriage is ultimately unfulfilling compared to the thrill of the chase? Because that’s both an extremely cynical view on marriage and, in this case, proven false by a narrative that has portrayed Lois and Clark as not just deeply in love but also lustful and excited to be together long after they say “I do.” Or are you trying to say that you aren’t sure that a Clark Kent who isn’t a Kryptonian and all that means would not be capable long term of keeping an extremely strong woman like Lois fully satisfied for the long haul?

[Steven Caldwell]

In the real world?? No. Clark is to nice of a guy. Lois would want a man who has lots of money, buys things, and occasionally beats her up once in a while so she can say "but I really love him".

Not that I am obviously bitter or anything. haha

[Jon Clark]

If Clark wasn't Superman, odds are Lois would have put herself in some fatal position by now. She'd have lost her in-story savior every time she got in over her head. And she'd have lost her plot armor as the girlfriend of a headlining character.

[bat39]

I believe this question was answered nicely in Action 484, the Earth 2 Lois and Clark wedding issue. The Wizard cast a spell to get rid of Superman, and this happened by Clark's losing his memory of being Superman. With no further reason to maintain his disguise, in time Clark stopped acting like a slouching milquetoast, and the "real" Clark Kent - a confident, assertive, and yes, even "heroic" - hard-hitting investigative reporter emerged in his place. Lois quickly took notice of the "new" Clark, they fell in love, and they married. The Earth 2 marriage of course endured even after Clark got his memory back and became Superman again, and it lasted until Lois's death in Infinite Crisis. I see no reason that this same scenario would not also apply to "our" Clark and Lois.

Was JUST about to post more or less the same thing!

The only way I don't see a Clark-Lois relationship working out is if Clark is really the caricature of the 'mild-mannered reporter'...a timid, sometimes even cowardly weakling.

[DochaDocha]

The canonical answer is probably "yes," for reasons stated above. I think after Lana Lang became a prominent character and the narrative that Lana loved Clark but Lois loved Superman became a thing, it made Lana look comparatively better in many fans' eyes. If the comics were portrayed in such a way to make fans feel this way, it'd probably be disappointing to many. For this reason, it's nice to see random references to Lois' normie exes here and there. Other media seems to have gone out of their way to show Lois dating billionaires, which might add some easy drama into the stories but also come with baggage, too.

[Ascended]

My point is that the two are linked. His personality is shaped by his experiences and if he wasn't Superman then those experiences are different- ergo Clark is different.

That's my take on it as well.

It's not just the powers. It's everything about who Clark/Kal is. As a kid he sees colors and energy wavelengths no one else does, some that science hasn't even discovered. And no one can tell him what those things are. He hears and sees all the good and bad things around him; all the arguments, all the soft pillow talk, all across town. It gives him an insight into humanity that we can't really understand and creates a fascination with the concepts of truth and falsehoods in Clark's mind (he knows all the little white, harmless lies people tell and wonders why that happens). He's a social outsider, ostracized by his peers even though they don't really understand what it is about Clark Kent that's so different. There's a huge part of Clark's day-to-day life that he has to keep to himself because of who he is. If he were just some random dude.....all of that goes away.

All of this informs and influences the development of his character. Take that away, and who is to say that he'd still become the intrepid reporter who moves to Metropolis and tackles the biggest, most corrupt forces he can find?

You can't just cut Clark Kent in half, with one side being "Clark" and the other "Superman." If you remove "Superman" then Clark Kent becomes someone else entirely (and vice versa). He'd still be a kind, good soul with strong morals who helps out however he can. But that burning desire to change the whole world, to tackle it and wrestle it into a noble shape, to find answers to questions even his brain can barely form? Who's to say a Superman-less Clark Kent would feel those sensations? Or even if he did, who's to say he'd feel them in the same way, or chase the same goals? Honestly, if Clark weren't who he is, he probably would have stayed on the farm out of a sense of responsibility. He wouldn't want to leave running the farm to his aging parents, whatever dreams he may have would be set aside to help them. Any drive for seeking justice or truth may have expressed itself through seeking local office or starting a farmer's union or joining the local FD or PD or something.

Without the questions, wonder, and sense of not belonging that Superman brings, I feel like Clark might have never left Kansas and would have never met Lois Lane at all.

Now, if you want to say that removing Superman does not change Clark at all, then sure, he and Lois would meet and be fine. "Superman" is not why they love each other....but "Superman" is a big, big part of Clark. But if, somehow, he were the same guy but without powers? Sure, they'd still end up together.