Controversial Superman Opinions

[Stanlos]

I don't like the floor length cape on Supes. I like the just below calf length at the longest.

[Yoda]

I think in the early days of the reboot the pseudo-science theory was he couldn't mate with Earth women and therefore wasn't human. Then it turned to he could mate but it would kill the woman. Now he can mate and produce offspring--so he must be human, right? Genetic science says so.

Of course, in comics weird-looking aliens mate with Earth people and have kids. And metahumans should be so far beyond the normal--look at what Barry Allen can do--that their genetics must be alien. Comics torture logic.

Convergent evolution maybe? Considering Kryptonians and humans are basically indistinguishable except for how they process sunlight the idea that they would be compatible isn't that far fetched. Star Trek has plenty of hybrid aliens doesn't it?

Post-Crisis as well the idea that a human can't have a baby with a kryptonian doesn't make sense either. Especially where he doesn't develop powers until his teens and powers are dependent upon absorption of sunlight. A fetus isn't going to absorb solar radiation in the womb, so the baby is essentially baseline human until birth.

[PCN24454]

Convergent evolution maybe? Considering Kryptonians and humans are basically indistinguishable except for how they process sunlight the idea that they would be compatible isn't that far fetched. Star Trek has plenty of hybrid aliens doesn't it?

Post-Crisis as well the idea that a human can't have a baby with a kryptonian doesn't make sense either. Especially where he doesn't develop powers until his teens and powers are dependent upon absorption of sunlight. A fetus isn't going to absorb solar radiation in the womb, so the baby is essentially baseline human until birth.

Well, there's also the part about them having sex, but I feel like that's overblown.

[Prime]

I...um...like Superman's design in Metal.

[PCN24454]

I...um...like Superman's design in Metal.

It’s fine, but I wouldn’t keep it forever.

[Sacred Knight]

I’m playing through the Fallout series and it suddenly hit me: Metropolis should straight up be an adaption of the Fallout pre-War status quo.

I’ve used this pic as an example for how I’d like Metropolis to look, but holy **** I never realized how perfect the entire setting of Fallout is for Superman. It lets you keep the 50s retrofuturism people love to give Metropolis while still explaining why this supposedly perfect city needs Superman. A smiling happy 50s Americana aesthetic covering for a gleefully amoral underbelly where corrupt jingoistic politicians sell out their constituents to ruthless corporations whose only desire is profit.

I've been saying this for years ever since I got Fallout 4. It coincided close to when Rebirth was hitting, so I started a dream scenario of moving the New 52 concepts to a world like this. Originally it was mostly about the look and feel of pre-War America in the series, as with the heavy art deco look it defaulted to a Fleischer feel, while at the same time having advanced tech that opens up tons of avenues for the sci-fi stuff. Then like you already said, the seedy underbelly of the society makes for foils out the yin-yang for a crusader like Superman in those types of tales.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

big fan of the fallout games, but I don't know. The futuristic 1950s thing is kinda dated. Like Pip-Boys seem stupid in the age of the Iphone. Clothing wise I'd rather Clark and Lois wear civilian clothes appropriate to 2020 tastes than stuff like this.

that being said, would that make Kelex Clark's Codsworth/Mr Handy?

[Jackalope89]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, that doesn't speak well for the future of the Earth than. Fun fact; Microsoft has recently bought out the company that owns Bethesda (owner of Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom).

Anyway; Jon (kid version) is the best thing to happen to Superman in some time. And offers a way to expand the mythos in new ways that could help bring in new fans.

[SuperX]

Having Jon being a Lil kid and kon being the older (18-19) teenager was what I was looking forward to most before bendis made Jon older and kon vanilla ugh

[witchboy]

Wasn't one of the original ideas for Krypton being Earth from the future?

Yes, I have heard that. That's a really interesting idea.
In the radio show Krypton was said to be in Earth's solar system but on the other side of the sun. Also a mind blowing idea. And their Superman grew up in the rocket and emerged on Earth as an adult!

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, that doesn't speak well for the future of the Earth than. Fun fact; Microsoft has recently bought out the company that owns Bethesda (owner of Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom).

Anyway; Jon (kid version) is the best thing to happen to Superman in some time. And offers a way to expand the mythos in new ways that could help bring in new fans.

lol, as much as we all hate Jon's age up, at least Bendis didn't pull a Shaun.

[phonogram12]

Admiring and relating to someone are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the latter is necessary for the former. If nothing about Superman as a character speaks to you personally - his ideals, his upbringing - what reason is there to admire him? He might as well be some Cthulu-like eldritch abomination from another realm.

Ideals are one thing. Making him forsake his heritage is something else altogether.

[Gaius]

Superman as DC's premier jobber is largely an exaggeration. The times he does are just more easier for clickbait and there's been plenty of times writers have had Superman job/punk out others for no other reason than showing off.

[Vordan]

big fan of the fallout games, but I don't know. The futuristic 1950s thing is kinda dated. Like Pip-Boys seem stupid in the age of the Iphone. Clothing wise I'd rather Clark and Lois wear civilian clothes appropriate to 2020 tastes than stuff like this.

that being said, would that make Kelex Clark's Codsworth/Mr Handy?

Oh I don’t mean literally having Metropolis be retro futuristic outside of the architecture of the buildings. It should still keep a more “modern” take on futuristic technology with stuff like robotics. But what it should take from Fallout is the irreverent attitude towards nostalgia and the idea of “times were better in the past”. Fallout lampoons 50’s nostalgia, showcasing the repression and fear of that era. It shows how democracy and liberty were eroded under a fascist government (The Enclave/Pre-War American Government) in the guise of protecting freedom and democracy. It’s got concentration camps for undesirables, wildly unethical corporate experiments, sinister government eugenics projects, but it’s all hidden underneath smiling posters of patriotism, wholesome nuclear families with white picket fences, and the belief that anyone who has a problem with the status quo must be a commie, because look how perfect everything is? How bright and cheerful? How could anything that looks like that image I just posted be bad?

That set up is perfect for Superman because on one hand he fits in with that. He’s a smiling icon of Americana too. But on the other hand he’s violently opposed to all that, so it makes him an opponent for that regime. I just think that would be a fascinating set up for Clark to operate in.

Also Kelex being like Codsworth would give Kelex more personality than he ever has lmao. Don’t think we need three British butlers (even a robobutler) with Alfred and Wintergreen doing a great straight take and deconstruction of that archetype respectively. So my controversial opinion for Kelex is they should make him French instead. A snooty Kryptonian robobutler with a French accent who looks down on all the “primates” making a mess of their planet would be a fun fit for Kal.

Superman as DC's premier jobber is largely an exaggeration. The times he does are just more easier for clickbait and there's been plenty of times writers have had Superman job/punk out others for no other reason than showing off.

It doesn’t even bother me when it happens outside his books. People are still going to scream he’s overpowered and invincible so Superman losing fights doesn’t mean anything in the long run at all. J’onn has it way worse.

[Sacred Knight]

Kelex should be like Cortana in Halo. An AI that Clark has with him from birth whose brain is really no bigger than a chip. He starts out in the ship, piloting it for Kal, but can easily be removed from it. He can even help Jonathan and Martha in regards to teaching them some things about Clark's Kryptonian physiology from the go so they're not completely in the dark. He serves as a friend to Clark as he grows older especially considering he isolates a decent chunk of the time. Its only later into his adult years, after the formation of the Fortress and the accompanying new Kryptonian-based technologies, that he's permanently housed into a bot.