SUPERMAN Concept Art Reveals Very Different Takes On Jor-El And Lara Lor-Van

That’s a pretty cool idea but I was fine with how it was ultimately done in the final film…



I also like the added touch of them being dressed in white but telling their son to be a conqueror in order to further Krypton’s culture & legacy.

I get some have issues with that but I think it worked within the context of the story and honestly this may not be the case but given how they seemed to be in that video message , they seemed more like they didn’t necessarily want to do it but had to for the good of their species which could a potentially interesting thread if Gunn wants to explore it more via Jor-El being alive and coming to earth like in some comics etc.

Hell , if that happens and we do get Bradley Cooper back as Jor-El for a larger role then you could have that character grow and even come to appreciate humans and Earth thus realizing his previous views were wrong etc.

Anyway , I thought Superman was a solid film so looking forward to MOT and hopefully beyond!!.

I know they haven't spelled out exactly where the S comes from in the films yet, but in the comics for over 70 years, Clark always created the S shield himself with the Kents and the "S" stood for "Superman," the name he took on and created a costumed public persona around with which to help people.

I'll just say I was very pleased that Gunn did NOT put the S on Jor El or Lara, which is a mistake that every live action version of Superman has done since the 1978 film, which placed it on Marlon Brando's Jor El because the actor, who was the most prestigious and highest paid actor in the world at the time, insisted on wearing the S himself, even if it didn't make any sense for him to in the Superman story, so the Superman story was changed to accomodate his whims.

In fact, the entire overemphasis on Krypton is something that has went on for far too long in live action, since the 78 film, when, in the comics, being from Krypton was always just the explanation for Clark's powers, nothing else. Superman didn't even know he came from Krypton until long into his adulthood career as a costumed superhero, and when he found out, it meant nothing more to him than the explanation for his powers, which makes sense. The morality, worldview, S shield, costume, heroics, as well as the mild mannered reporter disguise, all come from being CLARK. "Kal El" is just why Superman has powers.

Superman is really the opposite of the Kill Bill speech. Quentin Tarantino's infamous David Carrdine monologue about Superman in Kill Bill is the perfect example of missing the point (and I get that it is from the villain's perspective but still). The Superman costumed S wearing persona is an identity that Clark created to do what is right, it is not an identity he inherited and is just predestined to become because of being an alien. James Gunn is the first one to get this right in live action in a long time. In fact, even the radio show and George Reeves TV show in the 50s still managed to get it wrong with the whole "strange visitor from another world" line being carried over from the pilot episode of the original radio show which changed Superman's origin to have him arrive on earth as a fully grown adult in costume and totally ignored the comic book origin of him arriving as a child and growing to maturity and creating the Superman identity and costume in adulthood. In the original radio show, he truly was a fish out of water "strange visitor" because he arrived on earth as an adult (the origin was later corrected when the radio show rebooted), but actual comic book Superman was not a strange visitor at all, earth was his home and the only one he'd ever known.

Gunn's twist with Jor El and Lara reestablishes this and puts Superman more back in line with his roots than any other live action version has for the last 40 years. Gunn understands on some level that it is Kal El that gives him powers, but it is Clark that makes him Superman, and that is the key. Sure, Jor El and Lara didn't have to have a "conquest" agenda, but this by itself also doesn't make them evil, they're simply telling their son to do what he needs to for survival and ensure the continuation of their race. It does, however, settle once and for all that the morality of Superman and his mission statement stems from being Clark and not from Krypton, it puts the humanity and relatability and personality back in the character instead of portraying him as this boring deity-like entity predestined to save the world by his alien space ghost parents who for some reason care more about earth than anyone living on it while they're faced with immediate and sudden destruction on their own planet. Gunn's version makes a lot more sense and is a lot more in line with the comics than anything we've had in live action for the past 40 years and anyone who disagrees either doesn't know what they're talking about or is just a snyderbot and doesn't care anyway.

Bring on the sequel!

In Gunn we trust.

I like what we got in the film. And I want to say this to the ones that still have a problem with the Jor-El message. I do not like the direction Gunn went with that but with that said we don't know and may never know the backstory of that. But I do think that is reasonable to think that Jor-El did some research on Earth and saw its history. If you were an alien race looking at Earth and was sending your child and the last of their kind you might too advise your child to take over and rule as humans seem to be ruthless and cruel. As a movie guy let's not forget Leeloo was about to let the Earth be destroyed in the Fifth Element after seeing Earth's history but she had someone to show her love and that we were more than that. That is what Clark's Earthly parents taught him that Jor-El and Lara wouldn't know.

Il check back in when its an iteration not helmed by snyder or gunn. I guess il be waiting a while