Superman
is a famous
comic book
character
, and is often known as the first modern
superhero
character. He was created by
Jerry Siegel
and
Joe Shuster
in 1932, while they were still in
high school
. He first appeared in
Action Comics
issue #1 in 1938. Later, he appeared in
movies
,
television series
,
cartoons
,
commercials
,
video games
, and
radio
shows. Superman is one of the most popular superheroes, he is also in the
DC Comics
.
[
source?
]
As a superhero he does not want to kill anyone. But he was forced to kill his nemesis
General Zod
as Zod was about to kill people. Several actors have played Superman in motion pictures and TV series including
Bud Collyer
,
Kirk Alyn
,
George Reeves
,
Christopher Reeve
,
Dean Cain
,
Tim Daly
,
Tom Welling
,
Brandon Routh
,
Henry Cavill
,
Tyler Hoechlin
and
David Corenswet
.
Mr. Siegel imagined an evil villain who read minds and dreamed of conquering the world. He went by the name of the Superman. In the 1930s,
Adolf Hitler
, the infamous nazi villain from real life, was talking about getting rid of the Jews and communists. This was because he believed that Germans he called
Aryans
were supermen. Mr. Siegel, who was Jewish, found this disgusting. But one night, Mr. Siegel tossed and turned in his bed, and had a horrible time getting to sleep. When he awoke, Superman became the superman we know today, and the evil version disappeared.
[
source?
]
Superman was born on a
planet
called
Krypton
. His name was
Kal-El
. When his father,
Jor-El
, found out that their planet was going to
explode
, Jor-El sent his baby son to Earth in a
spacecraft
to save him. Kal-El was found and
adopted
by
Jonathan and Martha Kent
. They named him
Clark Kent
. The Kents raised him as their own son in a town called
Smallville, Kansas
in the
United States
. (There is a television series called
Smallville
about his time growing up there)
As he grows up, Clark finds out that he has special powers. He is almost
invulnerable
(most things cannot hurt him). He is strong enough to lift almost anything and he can
fly
. Superman can also run and move faster than a
bullet
. He has
X-ray
vision
(he can see through walls, he is not able to see through lead), and
heat
vision (shooting heat from his eyes). He can
freeze
things with his frost
breath
and his super-breath (which allows him to blow super hard). He decides to use his special powers to fight
crime
and save people in
danger
. He wears a blue and red
costume
and
cape
to keep his
alter ego
(his real name) a
secret
. He saves the entire world many times.
Superman moves to a
city
called
Metropolis
, and becomes a
reporter
for the
Daily Planet
, a
newspaper
. He falls in love with another reporter,
Lois Lane
.
His weaknesses are
radioactive
rocks
from his home planet that are called "
kryptonite
"; and
magic
. Sometimes his enemies use it to hurt him. Diffferent Kryptoinites have different effects on him, Blue Kryptonite makes people able to control him using
hypnosis
, green weakens his powers and slowly kills him, black makes him evil, and red has many different effects on him (each piece of red kryptonite affects him differently). There is also gold, white, and jewel kryptonite. Some of Superman's enemies use
magic
to hurt him.
His most well known arch
enemy
is a bald (hairless), evil genius named
Lex Luthor
. He has other deadly enemies too.
Bizarro
is a failed duplicate of Superman.
Darkseid
is a very powerful enemy, and the ruler of the planet Apokolips.
Doomsday
is regarded as the first villain to kill Superman in physical combat, but he is later revived. Another enemy includes
General Zod
who comes from the same planet as Superman.
Superman also founded the
Justice League of America
alongside
Batman
,
Wonder Woman
,
Aquaman
,
Green Lantern
,
The Flash
,
Hawkgirl
,
Hawkman
, and
Martian Manhunter
.
Several
live-action
television shows have focused on Superman:
- Legendary
George Reeves
played Superman in
Adventures of Superman
, which ran from 1951 to 1958. Reeves also played the character in several movies made around that time.
[1]
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
, which ran from 1993 to 1997, with
Dean Cain
playing Clark Kent /Superman.
[2]
- Smallville
, which ran from 2001 to 2011, starred
Tom Welling
as a young Clark Kent as he grows up in his hometown, leading up to him becoming Superman as an adult.
[3]
- Tyler Hoechlin has played Superman in
The CW
's "Arrowverse" superhero-themed shows and later in
Superman & Lois
, a separate show which focuses on Clark/Superman's home life with his wife Lois and two sons Jonathan and Jordan
[4]
Superman has also been featured in many cartoon shows including:
- The
Superman
cartoon shorts in the 1940s, with Bud Collyer voicing Superman
- Super Friends
in the 1970s and 1980s, with Danny Dark voicing Superman
- The DC Animated Universe in the 1990s and 2000s, which included shows such as:
- Superman: The Animated Series
(1996-2000), with
Tim Daly
voicing Superman
- Justice League
(2001-2004) and its sequel
Justice League Unlimited
(2004-2006), with
George Newbern
voicing Superman
- Justice League Action
(2016-2018), with Jason J. Lewis voicing Superman
- My Adventures with Superman
(2023-present), an
anime
-inspired show with Jack Quaid voicing Clark Kent / Superman
[5]
- Kirk Alyn played Superman in two
movie serial
series, notably the 1948 series
Superman
and
Atom Man vs Superman
.
[6]
- George Reeves played Superman in the movie
Superman and the Mole Men
, which was made before his TV show, also appearing in an educational video titled
Stamp Day for Superman
made for the U.S. Government.
- Christopher Reeve
played Clark Kent / Superman in
Superman: The Movie
which was released in 1978, This movie has been considered one of the best superhero movies of all time and spawned three direct sequels also starring Reeve, including
Superman II
and its director's cut
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
,
Superman III
, and
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
.
- Kirk Alyn made a
cameo appearance
as Lois Lane's father in
Superman: The Movie
, but did not appear as Superman in that movie
- Brandon Routh
replaced Reeve as Superman in an "indirect" sequel,
Superman Returns
, which was released in 2006.
- Henry Cavill
played Clark Kent / Superman in the
DC Extended Universe
, which ran from 2013 to 2023. He played the character in
Man of Steel
,
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
,
Justice League
and its director's cut
Zack Snyder's Justice League
, and
Black Adam
, which was a cameo appearance.
- David Corenswet
will play Superman in the upcoming
DC Universe
movie series, starting with
Superman
.
- ↑
"Adventures of Superman"
.
epguides.com
. Archived from
the original
on September 21, 2015
. Retrieved
September 21,
2015
.
- ↑
Tucker, Ken (September 24, 1993).
"Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"
.
Entertainment Weekly
.
Archived
from the original on November 29, 2015
. Retrieved
April 26,
2015
.
- ↑
"Shows ? Smallville ? Cast ? Tom Welling"
.
The CW
. Archived from
the original
on January 21, 2007
. Retrieved
January 25,
2007
.
- ↑
Webb Mitovich, Matt (June 17, 2016).
"Supergirl Casts Superman: Teen Wolf's Tyler Hoechlin to Play Man of Steel"
.
Yahoo!
. Retrieved
April 6,
2018
.
- ↑
Rosenberg, Josh (2023-07-07).
"Jack Quaid, Champion of the Nerds"
.
Esquire.com
.
- ↑
Katz, Ephraim
(2005).
The Film Encyclopedia, 5th Ed
.
New York City
:
HarperCollins
. p.
32
.
ISBN
0-06-273089-4
.
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