Note: Below is a spoiler for Superman.
On the way to the Hall of Justice, director James Gunn’s new Superman film, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), we head to the Hall of Justice and ask the Justice Gang (Eddie Gattegi), Hawkgirl (Isabella Merced), and the Green Lantern Man Gardner (Nathan Fillion). In the subsequent conversation, Guy points out that he probably doesn’t know Superman as they thought. After all, in his secret identity, he wears glasses that hypnotize everyone around him, perhaps not recognizing him. Lois points out that in a roundabout way, if she didn’t know who Superman was, he would reveal more than he should have done. The audience laughs and groans at the man’s stupidity.
Superman is Clark Kent. His secret identity, and the nature of the disguise he wears in the Clark Kent Persona, is the central conceit of the character. But if you go only to a new movie, you’ll be allowed to forget that Superman has a secret identity. Clark Kent, with glasses and sloppy hair, is in one scene early in the film. He appeared in the Daily Planet Office and repeatedly praised his latest interview with Superman. Of course, Corenswet appears throughout the rest of the film, but those important glasses will never be seen again. That’s frankly shameful.
One of the most memorable aspects of Richard Donner’s classic 1978 superman Christopher Reeve’s performance is that he is the way Superman and Clark Kent perform. The scene in Lois’ apartment after the flying sequence is an astonishing piece of physical acting when Clark removes the glass, “transforms” into Superman by being a few inches taller and deepening his voice. If Corenswet has a unique take on Clark Kent Persona, you won’t get the chance to see it in a new film. Because the main characters he interacts with throughout the film, Lois Lane and the members of Justice Gang already know his identity.
Beyond that, there is essentially no relationship between Clark and the rest of the daily planet staff. Does anyone notice when Superman is trapped in an out-of-dimensional prison and Clark doesn’t show up to work for days? Or is he missing when the planet is evacuated amid the destruction of a big city during the film’s final sequence? If so, that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Steve Lombard (Beck Bennett) is more interested in saving the baseball mitt than remembering Clark Kent exists (though to be fair, it’s a rather classic Steve Lombard). The point comes towards the end of the film when Perry White (Wendell Pierce) escapes from the T-ship after the day is saved. The camera stayed with him as he took the cigar out of his mouth and looked around, and I told him, “Is hell Kent?!” Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is trying to admit that Clark Kent is more present than staff on other planets.
David Corenswett himself took this photo to prove that they all met Clark Kent at least once.
Clark Kent Persona minimizes – essentially ignores it. For one thing, it is Superman that the reader, or in this case the audience, knows Clark, and the people around him have not been the source of the drama for a long time. How does Clark slip off when a danger arises? Will people notice that he is acting suspiciously? And is there anyone who knows his secret, but just doesn’t say anything? In every film is Superman IV: A quest for peace, and there are some amazing scenes where you can play in that last question surprisingly. Superman is poisoned by the nuclear person (Mark Pillow), becomes seriously ill and is presumed to be killed by the masses. Meanwhile, Clark has not appeared at work within a few days. Lois (Margot Kidder) stops at his apartment to check him out, and the two have a conversation where Rois dances to the line of whether he knows if he is a Superman. It concludes with Lois turning Superman’s cape, which was delivered to the Daily Planet, in case he saw him, directed Superman’s cape towards Clark. It was a rich and moving scene, the best part of the film, and it would have been impossible if Clark Kent Persona weren’t that important part of the series.
Outside drama aside, there is also the internal tension that “Clark Kent” creates for Superman. No matter how he acts when he disguises himself as Clark, whether it’s quiet and groping or complete milk sopp, Superman hides his true self from the world. It’s one of the most relevant elements of a character, and the feeling that for some reason there’s more to it than people can see or know about who you really are or who people are. It is also a key challenge that Superman faces, and he faces it every day.
It’s difficult to see the minimization of Superman’s “Clark Kent” as a result of the trends in superhero movies over the past 25 years. The Marvel Cinematic Universe begins in the same way as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and proudly declares “I am I an Iron Man,” but avoids most of the aspects of the hero’s dual identity, except in the case of one character, Spider-Man. Peter Parker (Tom Holland)’s secret identity is both a complication of homecoming and far from home, and home is never the heart of the plot. But Spidey aside, the MCU, the driving force behind superhero movie storytelling since 2008, hasn’t helped much with its secret identity. Superman’s lack of “Clark Kent” could be a character’s incredible or an adaptation to what viewers are used to when it comes to modern superhero movies.
The reporter is basically an afterthought that Superman has so many strengths and so many other fun things are plotted out, and Clark Kent will be allowed to not notice right away. Even if the film downplays important parts of the character’s myth, it still fundamentally understands why Superman’s tick is better than he’s had in the last 30 years. Clark Kent’s glasses – and the image he removed them to become a Superman is iconic pop culture. I hope that future Superman films have room for more exploration of that aspect of the character.
Superman is in the theater now.
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