Superman's Ethnicity

[Jim Kelly]

Saying something is developed doesn't necessarily mean higher.

Also, you don't have true ethnic differences unless the populations are separate for some reason. Sure you can fake it by saying they have an interesting genetic makeup that makes them have major appearance changes based on single genetic traits, but that's not an ethic difference, just a cosmetic one.

The map says "highly developed" and that together with Amendola's image of Vathlo always made me think they were highly advanced people. I don't know if they were more advanced than the people in Kandor or Kryptonopolis. I just like to imagine they were.

You got to recognize that superficial differences emerge when groups of humans are separated from each other for extensive periods of time. It takes thousands of years for these distinctions to appear. So first you have separate societies that have almost no contact with each other.

If Kryptonians were always cosmopolitan then there wouldn't be any distinct difference between them because they would all live in the same melting pot where any great variations would never develop.

Obviously, if Krypton is a giant planet, then it becomes more difficult for people to constantly be mixing with each other, becasue of the distance they have to travel. One can imagine different ethnic societies emerging during long epochs of separation.

[Ascended]

You're thinking of Vathlo and it was first introduced in the early '70s on a map of Krypton in SUPERMAN No. 239/G-84 (June-July ’71).

Ah yes, that was the place!! Thanks for the reminder, its been quite a while since I've seen Vathlo mentioned.

And I suppose it wasn't racist, though it always struck me as odd that virtually the entire black population of Krypton, with all its billions, was limited to a single location. I suppose they were trying to explain why non-white people had never been seen in the comics, but it quite worked for me.

Though.....if they spun it like Wakanda......I suppose I could accept that.

[marhawkman]

What is a "true ethnic difference?"

Culture. Seriously, try going to Europe and telling French or German people that they're the same thing. Great way to start a bar fight.

Are the two groups genetically distinct? Nope. But... they have reasons for saying "I'm French", or "I'm German".

Ah yes, that was the place!! Thanks for the reminder, its been quite a while since I've seen Vathlo mentioned.

And I suppose it wasn't racist, though it always struck me as odd that virtually the entire black population of Krypton, with all its billions, was limited to a single location. I suppose they were trying to explain why non-white people had never been seen in the comics, but it quite worked for me.

Though.....if they spun it like Wakanda......I suppose I could accept that.

Krypton seems to have been a place where few areas were suitable for large settlements. I mean really. The other notable locations, a lot of them sound like places you'd be unlikely to visit often. Maybe the blank parts are hospitable(I suspect they're the boring parts of Krypton), maybe not, but some of the non-hospitable parts are rather large. The Boiling Sea(Item 4a) is half the size of Vathlo! Then again... so is Erkol(2a) "oldest city on Krypton", yeah, probably the biggest too. Also, the pic of Vathlo suggests it's not all city.

The map says "highly developed" and that together with Amendola's image of Vathlo always made me think they were highly advanced people. I don't know if they were more advanced than the people in Kandor or Kryptonopolis. I just like to imagine they were.

The tiny piece of art hmm... hard to say, especially since it's drawn from a different POV than Kandor, Argo, or Kryptonopolis. Those you see a cityscape, Vathlo... you see a random street(also true of Xan and Erkol).

You got to recognize that superficial differences emerge when groups of humans are separated from each other for extensive periods of time. It takes thousands of years for these distinctions to appear. So first you have separate societies that have almost no contact with each other.

If Kryptonians were always cosmopolitan then there wouldn't be any distinct difference between them because they would all live in the same melting pot where any great variations would never develop.

Obviously, if Krypton is a giant planet, then it becomes more difficult for people to constantly be mixing with each other, because of the distance they have to travel. One can imagine different ethnic societies emerging during long epochs of separation.

That's basically what I was getting at. Also I kinda get the impression that large sections of Krypton were essentially uninhabitable. The southern part of the continent Bolenth(map A) is labeled "Flame Forest". Then you have the Glass Forest, which seems to be an entire silicon based ecosystem. On map B we have fun things like Rainbow Canyon(looks like a frozen wasteland), Meteor Valley(barren rock for miles), and the Jewel Mountains(sounds pretty, but utterly uninhabitable). That makes travel take a lot longer.

[Valens]

Superman is an ideal. He's what humanity should strive to be. He could literally be any race, any culture at any time in history.

[Kara Danvers]

A black Superman is coming.

[Will Evans]

A black Superman is coming.

Huh?????? What??

[DochaDocha]

Huh?????? What??

We don't know that, but it's not a terrible assumption, either.

[Jcogginsa]

Huh?????? What??

A JJ Abrams Superman film written by Ta-Nahisi Coates was announced, which is rumored to have a black Superman

[Zero Hunter]

I think the blowback for a black Superman would just be too big honestly. Now a black Lois Lane I could see happening before a black Superman.

[PCN24454]

A black Superman is coming.

We already have a black Superman.

I hope they don't plan on misusing him like Marvel does with theirs.

[Superlad93]

I think the blowback for a black Superman would just be too big honestly. Now a black Lois Lane I could see happening before a black Superman.

Almost did for Man of Steel, but Adams apparently had the better test.

My guess at the moment is that the idea of a Black Lois factors into a very specific outcome that would relatively less blowback than a Black Clark Kent.

Even the Black actors who WB have approached to play Clark declined in ways ranging from Will Smith's "no, I'm not about to till my career like that" to MBJ's "Uh no, but how about I play this guy instead".

[Prime]

A black Superman is coming.

Lol we don't know that.

[Ascended]

And if they do have a black Superman, there's no saying it'll be Clark; could be Val-Zod or Ellis, or the guy from Gods and Monsters, who's name I forget, or a totally new character who'll become the Superman of his world.

I wouldn't put it past WB to cast a black Clark Kent in a misguided attempt to "fix" the property and play into the kind of pandering that Superlad talked about way, way back in the early pages of this thread, but we don't *know* they're going to, or if it'll be meant to be the "real" non-alternate Superman.

[Vordan]

Lol we don't know that.

Trust me, Coates would not be writing this if they weren’t planning a black Superman

[Prime]

Trust me, Coates would not be writing this if they weren’t planning a black Superman

The guy comes across as a douche so IDC about him. Plus he doesn't know anything about Superman. That already is a bad idea