How Will Superman Move Forward With His Identity Exposed?
For years, many fans have proposed that a major difference between Batman and Superman is that [...]
For years, many fans have proposed that a major difference between Batman and Superman is that while Bruce Wayne is a necessary invention, Batman is the core of the character, while in Superman's case, he's really Clark Kent first and the Last Son of Krypton second.
Well, at the moment, DC has blown all of that up. Bruce Wayne isn't wearing the Batman suit at all, and Superman has lost the "secret" part of his secret identity.
In a world where Jonathan and Martha Kent are long since dead and the world of Smallville has had little bearing on how the character is depicted post-Flashpoint, it's easy enough to see Clark Kent more or less completely going away, too. But if so -- what would Superman do next? Who would he be, at his core?
We've got a few ideas...!
24/7 Superman
The most obvious choice -- maybe not from a storytelling point of view, but in terms of just asking, "What would happen when he lost his secret identity?" -- is to eschew being another person altogether and be Superman all the time.
While this seems like a huge change for the character, it's debatable to what extent that's true. More and more in recent years, anything that doesn't tie into the next big superhero event has been downplayed in Marvel and DC books, so it's likely many fans wouldn't even notice if any given issue didn't see Kal-El step out of the costume.
It's also in keeping with the view many Metropolitans already had of Superman: it's long been said that the reason he's able to hide behind a simple pair of glasses is that he wore no mask, so many assumed that maybe he was just Superman all the time and didn't have anything to hide.
prevnextExile!
In the New 52, one of the things that writers and editors have consistently said is that they want to have an opportunity to put their own spin on iconic stories from the past.
With Superman, a crisis of identity and confidence once made him exile himself in space for a period of time, something that could be really interesting to explore in this new, young Superman.
Removing himself from Metropolis, Lois and all the other trappings of his day-to-day life would make for an interesting challenge for the post-Flashpoint Man of Steel...and, ironically, would get him off-planet just as the pre-Flashpoint Superman arrives in Superman: Lois and Clark, sporting a beard reminiscent of the one he had in the Exile story.
prevnextBecome Deputized
Superman has had some run-ins with law enforcement in Greg Pak's Action Comics run. Who's to say he might not see a good way to improve a broken system...from within?
From the original Blue Beetle to Savage Dragon, there's no shortage of superheroes who have been police officers -- and that's even before you start to consider options like A.R.G.U.S. or Spyral.
Becoming an official law enforcer in one capacity or another would allow him to have a somewhat-modified version of his civilian life while also avoiding the legal problems that recent stories have saddled him with...and dealing with the constraints of deputized work, along with the challenges presented when his employers inevitably ask him to do something very un-Superman-like, could yield some interesting stories.
prevnextBecome A Public Superhero
Whether it's a showboat like Booster Gold or somebody somewhat more subdued like Wally West or the Fantastic Four, the idea that certain superheroes can operate in the world while the public knows their identity isn't an entirely new one.
Heck, with his parents dead and most of his friends working at the Daily Planet, it isn't as though Clark Kent's secret identity was really keeping anybody out of harm's way or out of the public eye in the post-Flashpoint DC Universe. It was really a convenience -- something to allow him to live a normal life.
Eventually, assuming he could get the civil and criminal suits against him settled, he would be able to settle into a new role here, not dissimilar to working as a cop or a secret agent as referenced earlier...but in a way that would give him more freedom and less baggage than those jobs.
Of course, it would feel very out of character and very temporary...but so would all of these things.
prevnextBecome a Green Lantern
Hey, there's always the Green Lantern Corps!
For most people, being a Green Lantern is a huge honor and not exactly a safety school, but in the case of Superman, we've seen dozens of stories where we learn that he could have been a Green Lantern at one point or another.
Certainly he fulfills the requirement of being able to overcome great fear, as evidenced in the recent Geoff Johns/John Romita, Jr. storyline where he lost his powers, talked down a hostage situation, and then told Jimmy, "You think I only stand in front of guns because I'm bulletproof?"
And frankly, it would be a mutually beneficial situation. The Green Lantern Corps is, in terms of sales and fan enthusiasm, at its lowest point in a while, and Hal Jordan isn't even technically a part of the team anymore. Superman is struggling to find a place he can fit in, and has lost basically everything that made Earth "home." This could be an unlikely match made in heaven!
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