Clark/Superman: The Man and Superhero

[GHScorpiosRule]

First, I suck, and I mean, really, really, really suck at titles, unless it's about Batman: The Animated Series, or Justice League Animated Series.

So if anyone has a better name or suggestion, feel free to have it changed.

As I stated in the season 1 finale thread, I marathon watched this show over the weekend (and I'm all caught up with this season), and I'm kicking myself for not watching this in real time. This show is so, so, so, so much better than the shows that came before it. And I say this as someone who loved the first season of Flash, but had my issues with Barry's characterization.

But this? Tyler? As Clark Kent? Superman? Dad? So, so, so PERFECT. Since we never got to see him as a Dad, Tyler's Clark and Supes is right up there with Christopher Reeve's Supes, who is my gold standard.

And I don't count Smallville's Clark as Supes, because he wasn't. Not until the last five minutes and it was so fucking unearned.

Ahem.

I'm just so...FILLED with Tyler right now, after marathon watching, so apologies if I'm all over the place, and not making any sense.

Anyhoo, I recognize some fellow posters from our time on the other shows and just other threads and forums on this site. So hey!! to all of y'all!

Edited May 17, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[theschnauzers]

What helped make this show work was the lengthy development time it had with Clark/Superman on the last two Arrowverse crossovers and on Supergirl, both for Tyler and Bistie. Once the show runners got that right the other pieces, and the mining of the numerous variations of the Superman story in the comics over the years, often in unexpected and creative ways (as was the case with Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and still is the case with The Flash/Barry Allen, plus the decision to film in a motion picture aspect ratio.

Another example of the benefits of a long development process is having Captain Christopher Pike, Una, and Spock on a full season of Star Trek: Discovery before fan support green lit Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, 

It does say something that fan reaction made a difference because the chemistry between the actors, and the show and it’s viewers make a difference.

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, theschnauzers said:

Once the show runners got that right the other pieces, and the mining of the numerous variations of the Superman story in the comics over the years, often in unexpected and creative ways (as was the case with Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, and still is the case with The Flash/Barry Allen,

I actually didn't like what Berlanti did with Arrow--I vented my spleen often enough that it was ripping off from Batman and his rogue of villains. But that was probably because he wasn't able to get the rights to do a Batman show. As for Barry/The Flash, I love Grant in the role, but a lot of his personality was that of Wally (based on my watching Timm's Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), plus Barry's supposed to be a blonde!

But I'm just thrilled to see a Superman I can love and not whine that this isn't right (okay, I was whining to myself about the whole Morgan Edge being his half-brother thing to myself), because watching Tyler, I can and do believe he is Clarke and Superman. And I am thoroughly enjoying the ride.

[Chicago Redshirt]

So I guess this is as good a place as any to carry over the discussion from one of the S3 episode threads about Clark and his ability to bring about justice that does not involve punching bad guys in the face.

Quote

The Kents,in a masterful feat of parenting, taught Clark to be a normal person. He does not use his powers for petty gain, he works to pay rent on his apartment, feed his family. He helps people whenever he can, but also takes time to form and maintain relationships. He doesn't alienate the people around him by rubbing their faces in his wealth, or the wealth he could have if he wanted to. He thinks of himself as a normal person with some gifts, although you think of him as a superior person in every way.

...

This Clark really is barely scratching the surface of his 'kryptonian heritage' as well, so it isn't clear he knows how a lot of the advanced technology works. After all, Kryptonians are not super people, and I don't know how to build a nuclear power plant, except in very general terms, and would have trouble building a toaster to give to the bronze aged natives (there is a book about someone who built a toaster from real honest scratch, and wow). The holograms probably have access to databases.[/quote]

What I am saying would not involve Clark using his powers for petty gain, alienating people by rubbing their face in wealth. He is a superior person to most everyone in every way, physically, mentally and morally. That is why his leaving his world as broken as this one is disappointing to me.

Again, setting up the Superman Foundation by doing some of the things I suggested in the other thread would raise billions if not trillions that could be used to address persistent problems. And that's not even trying to mess with the status quo of political/economic/social structures the way someone with his powers could. 

The show has not delved too deeply into how much Clark has embraced his Kryptonian side or not. And with Crisis and retcons, it's not 100 percent clear how much is "canon" anyway.

But I think it is safe to say that Clark has access to all of Krypton's history, literature, and tech through his Fortresses. Any part of that could be parlayed into billions. Hell, just a simple AI that replicates a dead loved one perfectly like AI Jor-El and Lara is a billion-dollar industry. Presumably the intelligent computers Clark has access to, plus his own considerable intelligence, would allow him to duplicate at least dumbed-down versions of what they know, or to make innovations in Earth's stuff that would improve the quality of life for humans, generate a ton of cash that he could then use to improve people's quality of life, etc. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Chicago Redshirt

[Affogato]

Looking at Wikipedia entries for 'Metropolis' and 'Smallville--the town' indicates how changeable things are in Superman's world. I would have bet that Smallville was always in Kansas, but apparently that is post crisis talk. It sure does explain why they didn't visit Martha enough once 'the boys' were old enough that Clark couldn't just fly them to visit her.

My impression in this show is that Clark isn't an engineer or physicist and really hasn't begun to look at the fortress in that way. Sometimes he is a superscientist behind his aw shucks demeanor, but this Clark doesn't seem to have gone there.

I wonder if some of Tal's wealth, which he may have access to, may be used to form some sort of foundation. If he has access to all of Tal's vacation network, does he have access to any funds? In the DC universe there are certainly people, like Oliver Queen, that can give him advice on how to set up foundations.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I came across in the news that Virgin Galactic is offering suborbital flights for $450k a seat and has a wait list of 800 people. 

https://observer.com/2023/07/virgin-galactic-ceo-defend-space-tourism/

Which brings me to the notion that Superman could easily charge $1 million to fly people roundtrip to the moon, and earn a billion in like a month, if that.