Is Lois Lane older than Clark Kent?

[Zauriel]

https://thedirect.com/article/my-adv...gap-clark-kent

John Byrne's Man of Steel series hinted that Lois Lane is older than Clark Kent, when she was already an experienced journalist before Clark Kent joined the Daily Planet.


In the TV series Smallville, Lois is one year older than Clark.

In the original Superman film, Margot Kidder was four years older than Christopher Reeve.

However, for Superman Returns, which acted as a pseudo-sequel to Reeve's films, Kate Bosworth, who played Lois Lane, was four years younger than Brandon Routh’s Clark Kent.

For 2013's Man of Steel, Amy Adams was nine years older than Henry Cavill's leading hero.

[greatmetropolitan]

Lois has always been played as, if not older than Clark, more worldly wise/mature. My headcanon is that Lois always pulled rank on Clark at the Planet because she was older, but when they get together and she learns his ID, he shares that he found out via the Fortress that his actually birthday in Earth time shows that they were actually born on the same day, in the same year. Another link for the Els and LL, like Rucka's LL = Kyrptonian sigil 8 = infinity = never ending battle etc. A little cosmic poetry for the universe's greatest couple.

[Jim Kelly]

I think this question has been batted around a few times before and the answer is sometimes.

Arguably, pre-Crisis, Lois should have been almost the same age as Clark, since they were shown meeting when they were teens (this happened as early as the 1940s and continued to happen through the decades). Yet sometimes the adult Lois was stated to be younger than Clark. I don't think there's any instance pre-Crisis where she's established as older than Clark.

In live action, not always but sometimes, the woman playing Lois is older than the man playing Clark in real life. But real life has nothing to do with acting. Actors can play much older or much younger than they actually are. Why the woman cast might tend to be older and why the man might tend to be younger is probably because of what they're looking for in casting these actors. With the woman, they want someone who has acting experience, who can really convey the character on screen--so the woman will tend to be older because she needs to have developed her talent. With the man, they want a fresh face--someone no one has seen before--who can step into the Superman role without any baggage or pre-associations with other roles--so the man will tend to be younger.

I think John Byrne took this too seriously and didn't understand that Chrisopher Reeve and Margot Kidder were acting. He looked at their ages and thought, Lois should be older. But in the movie, if you take the scene on the train seriously (which was substantially cut for the theatrical release) then Lois is a little girl when Clark is already a teen. Why Clark doesn't show his age can be put down to good genes--something that was referenced by Cat Grant on the SUPERGIRL television series.

[Zauriel]

I

I think John Byrne took this too seriously and didn't understand that Chrisopher Reeve and Margot Kidder were acting. He looked at their ages and thought, Lois should be older. But in the movie, if you take the scene on the train seriously (which was substantially cut for the theatrical release) then Lois is a little girl when Clark is already a teen. Why Clark doesn't show his age can be put down to good genes--something that was referenced by Cat Grant on the SUPERGIRL television series.

Yes, you are right. In the train scene, a little Lois, accompanying her parents on the train, spotted a teenage Clark running. So Clark is at least six years older than Lois in the movie.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetail...ung/?rdt=55810

https://moreobscuretrainmovies.movie...superman-1978/

[sunofdarkchild]

In Smallville yes. In the comics I think they are usually the same age. Lois just started her professional career at a younger age than Clark did since she didn't spend time exploring the world or being a secret superhero and maybe even started while she was still in college. It happens that a new person at a job can be younger than the people who have been there long enough to be veterans. It's happened often enough at my job that I have had to work with people who are starting out but are much older than me.

[DochaDocha]

Eh, just repeated stuff already mentioned twice, so will instead echo Jim's comment and say the actors' ages are irrelevant to the characters' ages.

[bat39]

https://thedirect.com/article/my-adv...gap-clark-kent

John Byrne's Man of Steel series hinted that Lois Lane is older than Clark Kent, when she was already an experienced journalist before Clark Kent joined the Daily Planet.


In the TV series Smallville, Lois is one year older than Clark.

In the original Superman film, Margot Kidder was four years older than Christopher Reeve.

However, for Superman Returns, which acted as a pseudo-sequel to Reeve's films, Kate Bosworth, who played Lois Lane, was four years younger than Brandon Routh’s Clark Kent.

For 2013's Man of Steel, Amy Adams was nine years older than Henry Cavill's leading hero.

Actually, Clark wasn't a total rookie when in the Byrne continuity when he joined the Daily Planet...he'd been traveling the world for years and already had experience as a freelance journalist. Yes, from a career perspective, Lois was more 'senior' since she'd worked at the Daily Planet for years already and built her career. But that didn't necessarily make her older than Clark. Clark is supposed to 25 as per Byrne's timeline, and I can easily imagine a 24 or 25 year old Lois already being a rising star at the Planet after working there 2-3 years or more.

In general, I'd prefer them to be around the same age. I'm okay with Lois being a few years older if Clark is, like, 22 when he joins the Planet (as was the case in the New 52). Though I kinda like the idea of Lois being the same age or younger than Clark and still being more established than him as a reporter. She's just more of an achiever in her field, career-wise, than Clark is...though Clark eventually won't be a slouch either.

[DochaDocha]

In general, I'd prefer them to be around the same age. I'm okay with Lois being a few years older if Clark is, like, 22 when he joins the Planet (as was the case in the New 52). Though I kinda like the idea of Lois being the same age or younger than Clark and still being more established than him as a reporter. She's just more of an achiever in her field, career-wise, than Clark is...though Clark eventually won't be a slouch either.

I like this take.

Sometimes I wonder if there's been a recent push to make Clark younger than Lois (again, not in respect to actor ages). I fear that it's something along the lines of the recent trend of making Superman younger than Batman, so that Superman can come across as less knowledgeable next to another character.

[superduperman]

In most versions, Lois is working at the Planet before he is so I can see why people would think she is older. In my mind, if she is, it's not by much. Within the five year range at the most. Having him travel the world works as it gives her time to be working at the Planet longer.

[Jim Kelly]

I like to think that original Lois Lane--the Lois in ACTION COMICS 1 (June 1938)--got to be a reporter with on the job experience. She may have already started as a stringer when she was a teen-ager. In those days, you didn't need to go to journalism school to get a job on a paper. However, Clark might have gone to college, but he probably also spent a lot of time wandering around the country before coming to Metropolis.

For the classic Superman of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, we were given a lot of detail so we know what the characters were doing for most of their lives. Clark was at Metropolis University. Lana Lang was at Hudson University (which Dick Grayson later attended). And Lois was at Raleigh College. I assume they all graduated at about the same time. Lana maybe went back to Smallville after graduation, while Lois landed a job at the Planet (or the Star). We know that Clark had several other jobs in Metropolis before winning his job on the Planet, which he got when he interviewed Superman.

[DABellWrites]

I've always imagined Clark and Lois were about the same age.

[HeartofTheStoriesWeTell]

I always picture that when clark was graduating highschool Lois was already out of college (grad or just done) and working at the planet.

[K7P5V]

I like to think that original Lois Lane--the Lois in ACTION COMICS 1 (June 1938)--got to be a reporter with on the job experience. She may have already started as a stringer when she was a teen-ager. In those days, you didn't need to go to journalism school to get a job on a paper. However, Clark might have gone to college, but he probably also spent a lot of time wandering around the country before coming to Metropolis.

For the classic Superman of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, we were given a lot of detail so we know what the characters were doing for most of their lives. Clark was at Metropolis University. Lana Lang was at Hudson University (which Dick Grayson later attended). And Lois was at Raleigh College. I assume they all graduated at about the same time. Lana maybe went back to Smallville after graduation, while Lois landed a job at the Planet (or the Star). We know that Clark had several other jobs in Metropolis before winning his job on the Planet, which he got when he interviewed Superman.

Speaking of Grayson, I've always loved this exchange between Lois & Clark (LOL):

[Filbert]

Lois has always started at the Planet before Clark, but traditionally it wasn't by much. Lois Lane 17 shows her getting the job with an assist from Superman before Clark started at the Planet, as seen in Superman 133.
In the Weisinger era, Lois and Lana were officially 29 to Superman's 32 (Clark presumably started school late because of concerns about his powers.) This was relevant when Lois ran against Superman for the senate; she was too young. This was also when all of them were established to have been in college.
It really doesn't matter.