Should an older Superman get his own movie?

[LordUltimus]

You know, DC keeps trying to promote a younger Superman, but I can't help but wonder if the opposite direction should be taken. Have them promote an older, wearier Superman in the vein of Kingdom Come or Superman Beyond, to have the "is Superman outdated" question something he struggles with in-universe.

[Vordan]

You could cover the same ground featuring a younger Superman with an adaption of What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? which focuses on exploring that question. But I certainly don’t have a problem with an older Superman grappling with feeling like he’s fallen short. I think something like Superman & the Authority where’s he’s teaming up with the younger gen who view him as outdated, and trying to understand their point of view while also trying to get them to see the value in his morality would be more productive however.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Superman always felt like an old soul so you should lean into that more. Leave the crazy 20s for Jon, Conner or Kara.

To me, Superman and the Authority is the right way to go.

[manwhohaseverything]

It's funny clark felt more young in superman and authority to me.

[Ascended]

I think in larger media it's not much of an issue. Yeah, there's a segment of the population who think he's outdated but they'll think that no matter what; they're not worth addressing, and every time Clark shows up in larger media, regardless of his age, audiences show up too...until/unless the quality drives them away like it did with BvS and JL.

But people do have an idea of what/who Clark is supposed to be and it's probably easier to hit that vibe with an older version.

I'd certainly be down for an Old Man Kent kind of thing. But please, no Kingdom Come type stuff where Clark is a failure. We've seen that often enough and it's not a good look for him. I'd much rather something like Authority where he may not have accomplished as much as he wanted but he never really failed, and is still fighting the Never Ending Battle.

[Vordan]

I’d prefer not to have Superman ragequit the way he did in KC, but I was thinking the other day that a cool Elseworld story for him would be something where the rest of Clark’s peers have been wiped out, and his Rogues basically run the world. So he has to put together a new team to overthrow Lex and co. and he recruits a group to help him do so (which I’d just copy Morrison’s lineup with John Henry in place of Natasha).

[superduperman]

Yes. That was easy. Specifically, I'd love to see the Superman from Earth 96 from COIE and have Routh return to the role but I doubt they'd do that. It would make more sense if he showed up in a movie as a guest character. Like in Spider-Man No Way Home.

[Jim Kelly]

I feel like we've got enough old Superman in the movies already. I think it would be better to have stories about a young Superman. I guess, because of SMALLVILLE, it seems like they've done that. But I don't consider SMALLVILLE the best treatment of Clark's young life.

Superman getting married and having kids is kind of boring. I guess they could do stories set in a far future, where Lois has died and Clark has experienced great loss. If they wanted to do that with Brandon Routh, I'd be for it.

[Adekis]

Does DC habitually push a younger Superman? I feel like since Rebirth he's been older and older.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, Superman can be portrayed very well at any age, and being young isn't a prerequisitefor him. That said, a lot of older Superman stories tend to walk into this situation where he's tried to retire, and then came back. This conceit can be done more or less well (Kingdom Come is a mess, Superman Beyond # 0 is pretty fantastic) but either way I generally don't approve of the idea that he would retire in the first place at all.

[LordUltimus]

Does DC habitually push a younger Superman? I feel like since Rebirth he's been older and older.

I think right now they really want Jon to be the "main" Superman.

[DABellWrites]

Eh, I don't see the benefit. A good movie is a good movie. Plus, we have never gotten a young Superman in films. Routh and Reeves were around the same age as Superman roughly mid-to-late 20s. Cavill hit 30 in 2013 when MOS came out, so Superman in the movies has been roughly young-ish. No 18-24.

[Vakanai]

Yes, yes they should. 100% they should be pushing for this in films right now. What's that you say, I'm just pushing for this because I want them to give Routh another chance in the role? Perish the thought!

In all seriousness tho I would be open to seeing this, even without Routh (but preferably with Routh). Wasn't even a huge Routh Superman fan, but darn it he was so likeable on LoT and his brief return as Superman during Crisis I'd like to see him do it with a script and director that'll actually make a decent film for him.

[Vakanai]

Eh, I don't see the benefit. A good movie is a good movie. Plus, we have never gotten a young Superman in films. Routh and Reeves were around the same age as Superman roughly mid-to-late 20s. Cavill hit 30 in 2013 when MOS came out, so Superman in the movies has been roughly young-ish. No 18-24.

If they skipped the origin and do a Year Two ala The Batman, I'd be down for young Supes too. And as a bonus, it'd probably have them write some minis and one offs set in a year two as well, and that's kind of a period that doesn't get as explored much for Supes as it is for Bats. Feels like Batman has very few origin stories compared to Clark, but has so much more wealth of early years stories. Superman just kind of has "another origin" and "already established and iconic" with little in between.

[Jim Kelly]

When was Superman younger and when was he older? In the original comics, circa 1938-1942, I'd have to say he was younger, maybe in his mid-twenties--but probably getting older with each year, because the comics and the comic strips referred to events that had happened as if time was passing normally. By the 1950s, especially with George Reeves playing Superman on T.V., I would guess Superman was supposed to be in his mid-thirties to mid-forties.

By the 1960s, it's hard to say. Because the stories of Superboy were set in the 1920s or 1930s, which made Superman much older. But then Lana was the same age as Clark in those Superboy stories and they even met a young Lois Lane--which would make all three in their fifties? Or we just have to assume time doesn't work that way. In any event, Superman seems to be in his mid-thirties at least.

However, in 1971 it's officially established that Superman is twenty-nine and they stick to that rule right up to the Crisis. So for fifteen years, Superman was a permanent twenty-nine.

With the reboot after Crisis, we might assume that John Byrne wanted his Superman to be a little younger. So maybe Lois and Clark are around twenty-five, with five or so years having passed since Clark first came out as Superman. But again, time is supposed to pass--not in real time, but a few years go by before the Death of Superman. So after his death, we can estimate that Clark is supposed to be around thirty years old. By One Year Later, he could be in his mid-thirties.

Flashdance, I mean Flashpoint, makes him young again. How young? Early twenties?

But Rebirth makes him even older than he was before, if he and Lois have been married for some time and had a son. Clark is now in his late thirties? Maybe in his forties?

[Quinlan58]

When was Superman younger and when was he older? In the original comics, circa 1938-1942, I'd have to say he was younger, maybe in his mid-twenties--but probably getting older with each year, because the comics and the comic strips referred to events that had happened as if time was passing normally. By the 1950s, especially with George Reeves playing Superman on T.V., I would guess Superman was supposed to be in his mid-thirties to mid-forties.

By the 1960s, it's hard to say. Because the stories of Superboy were set in the 1920s or 1930s, which made Superman much older. But then Lana was the same age as Clark in those Superboy stories and they even met a young Lois Lane--which would make all three in their fifties? Or we just have to assume time doesn't work that way. In any event, Superman seems to be in his mid-thirties at least.

However, in 1971 it's officially established that Superman is twenty-nine and they stick to that rule right up to the Crisis. So for fifteen years, Superman was a permanent twenty-nine.

With the reboot after Crisis, we might assume that John Byrne wanted his Superman to be a little younger. So maybe Lois and Clark are around twenty-five, with five or so years having passed since Clark first came out as Superman. But again, time is supposed to pass--not in real time, but a few years go by before the Death of Superman. So after his death, we can estimate that Clark is supposed to be around thirty years old. By One Year Later, he could be in his mid-thirties.

Flashdance, I mean Flashpoint, makes him young again. How young? Early twenties?

But Rebirth makes him even older than he was before, if he and Lois have been married for some time and had a son. Clark is now in his late thirties? Maybe in his forties?

Wait, the whole "Superman is eternally 29" only started in 1971? Really? I knew Superboy continuity was only established to be 15 years before Superman continuity in 1971, but I thought the "Superman is 29" thing was an already established deal.

Though Kara Zor-El did move from high-school to graduating college between her debut and 1971 (so 12 years), so I guess the same could have been assumed for the Daily Planet crew, if there was no other info.

As for how old Superman was before Flashdance, I actually remember Perry saying Clark was already 40 in Johns' "Superman & the Legion of Super-Heroes". I assume Rebirth picks up from there (though retconning a child in).