History Fridge / Superman

*** Another point is the difference in how Clark's wardrobe fits him. Superman's outfit is form-fitting, and so his physique is well-defined when he's in-costume. As Clark Kent, he typically wears loose-fitting common clothes that don't emphasize his body build.

-> A big one in the "Superman: Grounded" Story arc. When he is consoling a suicidal woman he telles her:

* This statement could both reference people in general or it could also be a refernece to himself as by saving him and sending him to earth, his parents gave earth it's greatest champion.

*** For a real life example, consider that there are famous people who do look a bit like each other: Creator/KeiraKnightly and Natalie Portman for instance (Knightly played Portman's double in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' specifically for this reason). "Hey, Clark Kent sorta looks like Superman... bet he gets hassled by it all the time" is probably a realistic response for most people. The other common argument is to point out that someone, especially writers, can be famous and still not be well-known faces. Stephen King can probably be safely anonymous much of the time.

*** For a real life example, consider that there are famous people who do look a bit like each other: Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman for instance (Knightly played Portman's double in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' specifically for this reason). "Hey, Clark Kent sorta looks like Superman... bet he gets hassled by it all the time" is probably a realistic response for most people. The other common argument is to point out that someone, especially writers, can be famous and still not be well-known faces. Stephen King can probably be safely anonymous much of the time.

*** For a real life example, consider that there are famous people who do look a bit like each other: Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman for instance (Knightly played Portman's double in ''ThePhantomMenace'' specifically for this reason). "Hey, Clark Kent sorta looks like Superman... bet he gets hassled by it all the time" is probably a realistic response for most people. The other common argument is to point out that someone, especially writers, can be famous and still not be well-known faces. Stephen King can probably be safely anonymous much of the time.

*** The entire idea of the supposed unrealism of ClarkKenting is exaggerated in the first place, based entirely on weak jokes that are vastly overplayed and were never funny to begin with. Consider it a bit of RealLife Fridge Brilliance if you must although it's more like common sense, but think about it: if you saw a guy who was the spitting image of Arnold Schwarzeneggar behind the counter at a Starbucks, only he has that green apron around him and he's wearing glasses, would you go, "AHA!! So Arnold Schwarzenegger is really a guy who makes coffee at a Starbucks in Bristol, Tennessee! I can't BELIEVE you thought you had us fooled! What do you take us for??!!" Or would you say, "Hey, has anyone ever told you that you look like just Arnold Schwarzenegger? Nah, you probably get that all the time, I'm sorry." The only unrealistic thing is how seldom people seem to mention these fictional characters' resemblance to their alter egos, but that is to some degree [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by it being a bit of LampshadeHanging that would get old very easily, appearing to be nothing more than an [[OverlyLongGag overly long]] RunningGag.

* Superboy-Prime was revealed being magic-proof in ''InfiniteCrisis'', with no explanation why. But when you think about it, there's a good explanation: he's the last Superman from the ''SilverAge'', when Superman's power set included ''NewPowersAsThePlotDemands''. ''Of course'' he'd reveal or spontaneously develop a new power at exactly the moment he needs to, ''it's one of his powers''.

* The first three Film/{{Superman}} films comprise a single narrative {{arc}} that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', reporter ComicBook/LoisLane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In ''Film/SupermanII'', Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. She becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship and moves on. In ''Film/SupermanIII'', Clark reconnects with his school friend {{Lana Lang}}. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.

* The first three Film/{{Superman}} films comprise a single narrative {{arc}} that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', reporter LoisLane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In ''Film/SupermanII'', Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. She becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship and moves on. In ''Film/SupermanIII'', Clark reconnects with his school friend {{Lana Lang}}. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.

* The first three {{Superman}} films comprise a single narrative {{arc}} that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In ''SupermanTheMovie'', reporter LoisLane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In ''SupermanII'', Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. She becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship and moves on. In ''Film/SupermanIII'', Clark reconnects with his school friend {{Lana Lang}}. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.

* A big one in the "Superman: Grounded" Story arc. When he is consoling a suicidal woman he telles her:

This statement could both reference people in general or it could also be a refernece to himself as by saving him and sending him to earth, his parents gave earth it's greatest champion.

* The first three {{Superman}} films comprise a single narrative {{arc}} that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In ''SupermanTheMovie'', reporter LoisLane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In ''SupermanII'', Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. She becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship and moves on. In ''SupermanIII'', Clark reconnects with his school friend {{Lana Lang}}. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.

*** Pointed out in the novel ''LastSonOfKrypton'' when Clark is promoted to on-air talent on WGBS and the news anchor. He is described as "inoffensively handsome," the kind of person who you probably wouldn't mind being around, yet forget about soon after leaving him.

FridgeBrilliance:

FridgeLogic:

* In the second film, it seems odd that a) Miss Teschmacher would still help Lex after he tried to kill her mother and b) Lex would still keep her around after she foiled his plan. But, there's a fairly obvious romantic undertone to their interactions. That's plain. What's less plain is what I only picked up from The Richard Donner Cut. There's a line in which Lexi implies he'll knock out her teeth for what he perceived as an insult. With this in mind, we can look back at some dialogue from the first movie, especially when he straight-up calls her an idiot on the level of Otis or pimps her out to further his plan. My conclusion: theirs was an abusive relationship, to which people are known to return despite every logical reason being against it.

*** When he is chasing the missiles, he's inside the atmosphere, when he travels back in time, he goes to outer space. It is possible if you want to theorize that way, that him reaching subluminal speeds inside the atmosphere might set it on fire; besides, he catches the first missile and DRIVES IT OUT TO SPACE; and he prevents a lot of damage in real time. He just fails to reach lois lane in time (he even manages to save jimmy) and that is what drives him to try the time travel gambit; he Is superman, he will set it right, all of it. By the way, even tough Metropolis is an expy of New York, it's not the same city so he wasn't anywhere near either missile, and he still managed to go from outer atmosphere to california; that is, the opposite side of the country in enough time to save everybody (including LIFTING the whole state).

* The first three {{Superman}} films comprise a single narrative arc that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In SupermanTheMovie, reporter LoisLane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In {{Superman II}}, Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. Lois becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship. In Superman III, Clark reconnects with his school friend {{Lana Lang}}. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.
* FridgeBrilliance: Consider the scene where Clark first shows up at the Daily Planet and Lois takes note of his strange, folksy mannerisms. The easy assumption is that Clark (or at least the surface personality constructed for the secret identity) is just that wholesome and old fashioned. But consider that he has spent the last twelve years completely isolated in the Fortress of Solitude. It's possible that it isn't just a front -- Clark Kent seems old fashioned because he's literally more than a decade behind the times.

* FridgeLogic: In the restored ''Superman II'', Lois tricks Supes into dropping the mask by firing a blank at him. Wouldn't he at least have felt a bullet tap him?

** So, Superman wasn't fast enough to stop both rockets, yet he ''was'' fast enough to spin around the Earth a hundred times in a few minutes? Kinda negates even needing to turn back time in the first place.