Jon Kent and the Superman 2000 pitch

[Vordan]

Yeah as I’ve said before, DC views Jon as an opportunity to take some risks and revamp the concept for the 21st century in a way the in-built assumptions with Clark don’t seem to allow. It’s gratifying that they’ve finally recognized Morrison as the forward thinking writer they are rather than the retro guy they’ve often been described as. Also would be overjoyed to see concepts from the 2000 pitch get used given I loved them.

As for House of El being a “replacement” for the Superman Squad... I kinda don’t see why we can’t have both? There’s the House of El which is all the descendants of Clark and Jon and Kara, and then there’s the Superman Squad which is the main Supermen of every era. So you could have Clark, Jon, Kal Kent, Rowan, that guy who came before Rowan, and anyone else from any other era team up.

[Superlad93]

Oh I don't think there's a reason they couldn't do both the House of El and the Superman Squad...I just think it's very, very unlikely.

For one, outside of All Star and the mess that was Grounded, we haven't seen the Superman Squad used for nearly over a decade. But it's really the fact that DC asked specifically for a House of El book that makes me think using them in place of what would conceptually be for the Squad is likely. Plus, they're a little more toned down and easier to wrap your head around than the Squad. They're not even further into the than the 31st century.

_____________

Also, I was thinking about it, and I'm stating to think Jon may be the "Tom Strong" of the two Supermen even though Clark has the look and reduced powers. So far there doesn't seem to be too much indication that Clark will be getting more techy from the three solicitations and two issues of proper Action we've had. Seems more like he'll just be the Golden Age guy.

But Son of Kal-El issue 2 makes a point to mention Jon getting "new toys", and it puts greater importance on the Fortress as a cool place like in the 2000 pitch. And we also have Jon's techy looking belt for his new costume.

Jon's already stated to be very creative (more so than Clark according to PKJ) and willing to experiment with his powers, so super science doesn't seem like such a leap to. On top of his crazy high power levels it seems like Taylor may be giving him some super science gadgets to go along with it?

[Superlad93]

I was just thinking, if Kara is getting full-time ownership of Krypto (seems to be the idea going forward), and they really are being inspired by Superman 2000 (and by proxy All Star) what if Jon get to keep the empyreal maw creature from Infinite Frontier #0?

Granted, Jon specifically returns it to its home and its kind at the end of his section of IF#0, but suppose, like the sun-eater from All Star, it formed a bond with Jon and basically follows him home? I don't even think it's a stretch within the context of Jon's story as we know it. His section of IF#0 was in part about comparing the maw and him because the two were lost souls with crazy dangerous power. And PKJ characterized Jon as a "man out of time" who finds it hard to anchor himself even in his native home/time, so what if the maw is the same and it feels that within Jon?

Both of them have homes, but still feel like strays.

This could be the Superman equivalent of Taylor's own Bite-Wing. And as we've seen, the maw has a less monstrous form that looks like a cute little jellyfish. Imagine Jon having to hide this cute but incredibly deadly alien creature from his RA in his college dorm! Could totally see Taylor maybe doing that.

[alaa]

I almost wish I never knew this pitch existed. Its depressing knowing what could have been over what we got. The 2000s as a whole are probably the worst time in Superman's entire history (2000-2003 were okay enough). I think this would have changed that.

[oneveryfineday]

I was just thinking, if Kara is getting full-time ownership of Krypto (seems to be the idea going forward), and they really are being inspired by Superman 2000 (and by proxy All Star) what if Jon get to keep the empyreal maw creature from Infinite Frontier #0?

Damn you for putting this out into the world, because if this doesn’t happen now I’ll be heartbroken. Jon keeping an adorable Eldritch abomination as a pet—who could perhaps occasionally turn into its monstrous form when threatened—is such a cute concept. I imagine the Maw mostly hanging around at the Fortress, but it would be funny if it tried following Jon to college too. DC could do another poll on what to name it.

And yeah, I think the parallels between Jon and the Empyreal Maw in IF #0 were deliberate. In fact, I initially thought it was supposed to be a one-to-one comparison, foreshadowing a story of older Jon becoming a tyrant/monster and younger Jon being plucked from the volcano and returned to his rightful place to be with his family to avert that future. But that didn’t seem to be right (and PKJ confirmed the story wasn’t about Jon becoming a tyrant, nor was Jon getting de-aged). I think the general idea, as you said, is about two strays lost from home.

Unless the parallels were still meant to be closely linked, and the Empyreal Maw could somehow still be connected to younger Jon. Then they could go about explaining why he came out of his ordeal so well-adjusted. Perhaps older Jon can travel to the time he was trapped in the volcano via the Maw’s space-time power, have a face-off against Ultraman, but then is forced to make the tragic decision to leave his kid self in the volcano to preserve certain events. But not without another All-Star callback—Jon hugs his younger self and tells him, “You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust me,” giving his younger self the strength and resolve to endure his ordeal.

I have a friend that won't be particularly happy about this theory, but I really do think that the House of El will function as a replacement to the Superman Squad. And I think PKJ was told to set it up in part for Taylor to use.

I think the set up for it is very easy. At whatever point during the run Jon is having a "Superman No More" moment, and feeling like he'll be the downfall of his family name, but then somehow he's visited by the House of El. Likely use the fact that both Ronan and Jon are new to the role of Superman and dealing with legacy, and kind of be a way for both of them to come away with new resolve.

This is a great story idea too. Ronan would know Jon as the “One True Superman”, so Jon—completely green in his career and still full of self-doubt—would be surprised that someone would look up to him the way he looks up to his dad. It gives an interesting angle to legacy. I’d be down for lots of generational team-up stories, since they give me the same satisfying feel as multi-Doctor episodes in Doctor Who.

Obviously this is all spitballing ideas, but there is SO much rich storytelling potential with Jon the way he is right now.

[manwhohaseverything]

This thing as jon's pet?Hell yeah!but it sort of like a sun eater.I hope they do something with desigh..

[Superlad93]

Damn you for putting this out into the world, because if this doesn’t happen now I’ll be heartbroken.

If I have to live with it then so does everyone else!!!

Imagine the poor thing getting sick. Throwing up time eroding spit-up in the middle of Jon's room.

Perhaps older Jon can travel to the time he was trapped in the volcano via the Maw’s space-time power, have a face-off against Ultraman, but then is forced to make the tragic decision to leave his kid self in the volcano to preserve certain events. But not without another All-Star callback—Jon hugs his younger self and tells him, “You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust me,” giving his younger self the strength and resolve to endure his ordeal.

Damn, THIS would be great. Would probably be the only way I'd find it worth it to look back at the Earth-3 time (my view is that it happened as a means to an end and dwelling on it doesn't do much for his character). And the thing a lot of people forget that this could clear up is that of the 7 years on Earth-3 he seemed to spend the majority of it outside of the volcano traveling. I could very much see a disguised current day Jon bumbling around looking for the perfect moment to change history, but then realizing that this would be running from his problems.

I feel like either Taylor will totally ignore this time, or he'll do something like this with it to say "hey guys, he's here to stay."

This is a great story idea too. Ronan would know Jon as the “One True Superman”, so Jon—completely green in his career and still full of self-doubt—would be surprised that someone would look up to him the way he looks up to his dad. It gives an interesting angle to legacy. I’d be down for lots of generational team-up stories, since they give me the same satisfying feel as multi-Doctor episodes in Doctor Who.

Just as Ronan sees the humanity in this myth of a person, Jon sees how extraordinary his direct descendant is even while being just as unsure as him.

Obviously this is all spitballing ideas, but there is SO much rich storytelling potential with Jon the way he is right now.

Once you start to see the possible inspirations the whole thing opens up.

I'm particularly interested in what Jon picks for a major at school/takes interest in. The unironic setting of college for Jon is the best idea for so many reasons. For one, you get yourself a built-in supporting cast and community full of diverse faces. You also get to move Jon out of the house. This is the Kent apartment and the Daily Planet rolled into one. Jon has to meet deadlines, navigate social interactions, and deal with a "boss" in the form of professors as school admins. Outside of the Superboy show from the 80s, no Superman material has used this set up. And for Jon as a character specifically, I find it so fitting that his "final frontier" after all of the borderline mythic space-time craziness he's gotten into is normal college. It's a really solid metaphor for growing up, and it speaks to his character specifically because it's something he's been running from for a really long time now.

[DABellWrites]

So, basically, DC is giving up on Clark Kent/Kal-El and think his son can revive the franchise by using ideas that was originally meant to revitalize the Clark Kent/Kal-El. So much for the Man of Tomorrow.
Maybe I'm being too cynical and should be excited about this, but I can't be. I just see red flags everywhere. There's already many who doesn't like Jon because he's taking from his father, now DC is doubling down on this. Many already agree that Jon is too new and doesn't have enough years to carry the title, getting this push in Future State is like DC is trying to rush things out so people can stop complaining about Jon being too green to carry the title. I just don't see this as the future of Superman. Again, me being cynical. Maybe I'm wrong and Jon really is the future.

[Sacred Knight]

Nah, think you hit the nail on the head. I mean, its the strong impression they're giving, there's nothing cynical about reading the very tea leaves that they leave. They need to prove they have really strong ideas for Superman going forward to even remotely justify this Jon stuff, and there's very little indication of that thus far. Whatever they have planned for him after Authority will have to be gobsmackingly awesome. And I just have no confidence in DC to do that for him anymore. To date there's more evidence its simply that they've changed their priorities to some other character, and Kal will get what he gets just so long he's out of the way of those plans.

[oneveryfineday]

This thing as jon's pet?Hell yeah!but it sort of like a sun eater.I hope they do something with desigh..

It does have a cuddly baby form



But maybe they could have it change into other forms too.

I'm particularly interested in what Jon picks for a major at school/takes interest in. The unironic setting of college for Jon is the best idea for so many reasons. For one, you get yourself a built-in supporting cast and community full of diverse faces. You also get to move Jon out of the house. This is the Kent apartment and the Daily Planet rolled into one. Jon has to meet deadlines, navigate social interactions, and deal with a "boss" in the form of professors as school admins. Outside of the Superboy show from the 80s, no Superman material has used this set up. And for Jon as a character specifically, I find it so fitting that his "final frontier" after all of the borderline mythic space-time craziness he's gotten into is normal college. It's a really solid metaphor for growing up, and it speaks to his character specifically because it's something he's been running from for a really long time now.

College was an unexpected choice, but it’s a strong setup for all the reasons you mentioned. The normalcy of it also makes a great contrast against Jon’s potentially zany Silver Age-esque adventures as Superman. The solicit seemed to imply that Jon was desiring a normal life, so maybe that’s what prompts him to decide on college?

I’m also looking forward to what his supporting cast will look like. I think he might end up joining the Truth news organization (but hopefully in a role different from journalism).

[manwhohaseverything]

It does have a cuddly baby form



But maybe they could have it change into other forms too.

Didn't sun-eater have that too?I wish jon had something like john carter's pet woola...

Or something out of lovecraftian horror but this time in cute and scary in true form...

Or they could bring back something from precrisis krypto's creatures..

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Imagine mark Miller, Grant Morrison, and mark waid working together on a miniseries for Jon Kent

I could see Waid and Morrison coming back for a Jon Kent book but not Millar.

Millar found creator owned success so doing a work for hire gig like this wouldn't benefit him. Unless it's a crossover like "Supeman versus Jupiter's Legacy" or something.

Waid and Morrison might prefer Clark but they have written the youngsters before. Waid did the Champions and Archie while Morrison did Dick Grayson as Batman. So a Jon Kent solo is something they could be interested in.

Superman 2000 is pretty cool so I'm glad they are getting used somewhere.

[Sacred Knight]

I can't see any of them honestly. I don't see Waid having any interest in Jon. He came back after all this time clearly stoked to eventually get back to Superman. He wants to write Clark. Morrison, I dunno. If he had an idea maybe? But he's done so much Superman at this point its hard to imagine him having much more to say. But I felt that way before this Authority title too so who knows. But with as little individuality to Jon as a character as it is, its not like its for any intent or purpose a fresh character to work with.

[DABellWrites]

I could see Waid and Morrison coming back for a Jon Kent book but not Millar.

Millar found creator owned success so doing a work for hire gig like this wouldn't benefit him. Unless it's a crossover like "Supeman versus Jupiter's Legacy" or something.

Waid and Morrison might prefer Clark but they have written the youngsters before. Waid did the Champions and Archie while Morrison did Dick Grayson as Batman. So a Jon Kent solo is something they could be interested in.

Superman 2000 is pretty cool so I'm glad they are getting used somewhere.

I can't imagine Morrison working on Jon. Morrison is the same guy who stated Clark will never die, his stories will always continue. As for Waid, no idea. Considering he worked so closely with Morrison over the years, they might be the same.

[Superlad93]

I can't imagine Morrison working on Jon. Morrison is the same guy who stated Clark will never die, his stories will always continue. As for Waid, no idea. Considering he worked so closely with Morrison over the years, they might be the same.

During an exit interview for Multiversity Morrison's also the same person that said he didn't have much more to say about Clark Kent specifically, and that he'd much rather write offshoots or characters inspired by the Superman like President Superman and Klaus, and ultimately Morrison doesn't want to be a stuffy old shirt type clogging up the works. They'd much rather newer creators get a voice in they can help it.

The fact that Morrison is doing Superman & The Authority is likely more so a favor to Lee or someone at DC, because it was the idea was around during 5G which Morrison wasn't linked to.

I imagine Morrison also sees this as a good chance to make good on their word and more so set up for the new writers like Taylor and PKJ. If they had a story and weren't already out the door with big two book, I imagine Morrison would want a crack at Jon before touching Clark again.