Alternative Versions of Superman - Film and Television

Film and Television

• In the Superman cartoons produced by Max Fleischer, Superman is much as he appears in the first years of Action Comics publication, despite changes in his costume, notably the all red belt or absence of one in later cartoons, and the S-shield with a darkened blue plane and a red S instead of the yellow plane with the red S. He is said to have been found by "a passing motorist" who brought him to an orphanage. This version of Superman lives in and protects Manhattan rather than Metropolis, although in some cartoons such as "The Bulleteers", Metropolis is clearly named by the antagonists.
• Kirk Alyn starred as Superman in two 15-chapter serials produced by Columbia Pictures, Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). In it, Superman has many of the powers demonstrated in the comics. The origin story is similar to what is described in a 1942 novel about Superman, with his foster parents being named Sarah and Eben.
• Adventures of Superman (1952–1958) was a television series that featured George Reeves in the title role, which he first played in the 1951 movie serial Superman and the Mole Men. While he had many of the powers demonstrated in the comics, they are not shown at the tremendous levels depicted in the contemporary Silver Age comics. The show often featured Superman battling generic gangsters.
• In 1966, Filmation produced The New Adventures of Superman and from 1973 to 1986, Hanna Barbera produced different versions of the Justice League influenced Super Friends, both of which were animated series aimed at children. In both cartoons, Superman was similar to his contemporous comic book counterpart. In one episode of The World's Greatest Superfriends, the Super Friends battled evil Super Friends from an alternative universe, led by an evil Superman.
• In the 1978 feature film Superman and its sequels, Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Superman is portrayed by Christopher Reeve and is depicted as possessing an array of abilities never before seen in the comics. He was able to erase Lois' memory of his secret identity with a kiss, restore the Great Wall of China with the use of blue eye beams, and possibly teleport among other abilities. Kryptonian foes such as General Zod even demonstrated telekinetic ability.
• In 1988, two years after Crisis on Infinite Earths, the producers of Superman: The Movie produced a syndicated TV series entitled Superboy which featured John Haymes Newton in the role for one season before he was fired and replaced by Gerard Christopher. The show concentrated on a college-aged Kal-El as a journalism student at Seigel University. Legal issues have prevented the series from either reairing in any syndication market and, except for season one, being released on DVD and VHS.
• The 1988 Superman series, produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, offered the first animated incarnation of the post-Crisis Superman. Acting as story editor, Crisis on Infinite Earths writer Marv Wolfman provided several changes to this Superman that included elements from The Man of Steel. In this series, Lex Luthor is not a publicly known criminal, but a rich entrepreneur instead. Clark Kent is Superman's alter ego, instead of the other way around. Furthermore, Martha and Jonathan Kent are still alive in Superman's adulthood in this series. This version of Superman was never Superboy as a teenager, although his powers had appeared very early in childhood. Clark Kent is clumsy in this series.
• In Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dean Cain played the first live-action Superman affected by the changes to the character after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and various elements on the series reference The Man of Steel mini-series, which heavily influenced the show. This is the first live-action Superman series that showed Clark Kent as his "real" persona and Superman as the constructed alter-ego. As he explained to Lois in the second season episode "Tempus Fugitive", "Superman is what I can do, Clark is who I am." As the title implies, Clark is the primary identity with Superman making more sporadic appearances. The Lois and Clark version reverses the traditional hairstyle distinction between Clark Kent and Superman; here it is Superman who has slicked-back hair and Clark whose fringe falls more naturally. In neither mode does the character feature his trademark spitcurl, making it one of the few depictions of Superman to lack this distinctive feature.
• The Superman of the DC animated universe is a synthesis of Superman's 60-plus year history. At first glance, it appears to be an adaptation of The Man of Steel, but also took many aspects of the Silver Age and modernized them. In this continuity, Superman was believed to be the only Kryptonian survivor until Professor Hamilton found a device with access to the Phantom Zone, where two other Kryptonians were found. Kara In-Ze (Supergirl) from Krypton's "sister" planet, Argo and the artificial intelligence of Brainiac were also shown to be survivors of Krypton's destruction. His arch-enemy is the "wealthy business tycoon" version of Lex Luthor. His parents are still alive, and this Superman was never Superboy. In Justice League Unlimited, which follows the continuity of the animated series (as well as Batman: The Animated Series), Superman is portrayed as slightly older and a different voice actor portrays him (although cast members such as Dana Delany and Clancy Brown re-appeared in guest appearances).
• The Clark Kent of the Smallville TV series leads his life differently, never becoming Superboy, although he secretly performed heroic feats as a teenager and young man before moving to Metropolis and becoming its resident superhero. He meets Lois at a younger age, maintains a complicated friendship with Lex Luthor into young adulthood and for the most part of the series was romantically interested in Lana Lang. This Clark discovers the Fortress of Solitude, was one of only six real Kryptonians to survive Krypton's destruction, meets Vic Stone, Bart Allen, Black Canary, Aquaman, Green Arrow, his cousin Kara Zor-El, the Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, three Legionnaires, the Justice Society of America, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, Maggie Sawyer, and Jor-El, and has even fought Zod, Brainiac, Mister Mxyzptlk, Faora, Maxima, Bizarro and Doomsday, but assumed his super-hero identity only after he defeated Darkseid. Clark's best friends in this version was Chloe Sullivan, who for a while worked as a reporter for the Daily Planet, and for the first few seasons, an African American Pete Ross. During the series finale of the ten seasons of the show, Clark finally managed to fulfill his destiny and became Superman.
• In Superman Returns, Brandon Routh takes over the role of Superman. Director Bryan Singer had stated that this film's continuity is based only loosely on the first two Superman films directed by Richard Donner and Richard Lester, and thus Reeve and Routh's Supermen, though similar in places (even having identical fathers—Jor-El played by Marlon Brando and Jonathan Kent played by Glenn Ford), may not be exactly the same individual. For example, the events of the third and fourth films are ignored.
• The animated series Legion of Super Heroes features a teenage Superman, who, like the original Superboy, travels to the future to join the Legion. As shown in the first episode of the series, in his own time, the early 21st century, Clark Kent secretly performs heroic deeds, but has not yet donned the Superman costume. In addition to Clark, the second season features a Superman from the 41st Century named Kell-El, who is cloned (in part) from the original. In the second two-part second season finale of Legion of the Superheroes, Saturn Girl fused Kell-El and Superman so they could stay projected in Brainiac 5's mind. This Supreme Superman almost beat Brainiac 1.0.
• The animated series The Batman featured Superman in the two-part season 5 episode "The Batman/Superman Story". This Superman is not related to previous animated versions of the character. George Newbern, the actor that voiced him on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, reprised the role.