I personally love the explanation of "Why would anyone suspect Superman has an alter ego? Who in the world would want to be anyone other than Superman."
Well the obvious answer is that Superman focuses a lot of his attention on Metropolis, showing up there far more than any other city, suggesting he has some connection with that city / area. Since there's no obvious place where he lives in Metropolis, it'd make sense he was actually living there somehow. Since there's no obvious Supermansion and it's unlikely he's a homeless squatter in the city streets or sewers, it stands to reason he'd have some kind of alter ego given he can clearly pass as human.
@@taragnor There is an obvious Supermansion. It's called the Fortress of Solitude. Yes, it's not in Metropolis, but his presence in the area can be easily explained by other things, like, umm, *Lex Luthor lives there?*
Movie stars can watch their own movies in packed theaters with a baseball cap and not get recognized because you don't expect to see Tom Cruise sitting in your screening of Top Gun Maverick. You may notice that there is a dude that looks sorta like Tom cruise in a ball cap but you don't think "hey there is Tom cruise in a ball cap!"
@@akaneriyun4774 He does show up everywhere, yes. But he shows up at a much higher frequency within Metropolis. And further he's more likely to stop small time minor street crime in Metropolis as opposed to major disasters. And looking at the larger DC universe, this largely is how most other superheroes operate. Batman has Gotham, Flash has central city, etc.
Superman canonically believes in Santa, because the notion of a jolly man who can deliver presents around the world in a single night sounds perfectly reasonable to him.
idk if it's in all of the iterations of superman, but iirc his parents used to wrap his gifts with lead so he couldn't see through them with his x ray vision :')
My favorite gag about his secret identity is in Superman The Animated Series, where he and Lois have a bit of a rivalry. One day she demands to know how he always gets the good scoops, and he outright tells her he's Superman using his powers to squeeze her out of the byline. And Lois just says, "You're a sicko, Kent," and goes back to her desk.
Absolutely, they actually swapped in an episode, can’t remember which series, but Superman took on specific villains dressed as Batman. The villains were sure they killed him, but nope, and they lost their minds. The guys are so similar, they even sound like twins.
I don't know about canonically, but they looked alike in the Animated Series and in Max Landis's American Alien miniseries. But in AA, it was more of nobody really knew what Bruce looked like because he was so reclusive. Clark was the right age and general build with dark hair. Max's Clark is quite different from the usual portrayal.
My favorite is in New52, Clark as a teen just... dips. Goes on a wander. He winds up on a yaht... and its Bruce Wayne's birthday party and they all mistake him for Bruce (who is out training to eventually become batman)... including Deathstroke who trues to assassinate him. That did not go well for him.
My personal fanon on Clark's hair curl is that it's an annoying feature he meticulously gels and combs away because he hates it, but it pops out when he uses his superspeed to change clothes and that's why everyone sees Superman with the hair curl. And then he frantically pats it down when sneaking back into the office going "stupid hair, stupid hair, stupid hair..."
@@mr.boomguy I'm used to Headcanon being used as a theory or interpretation, rather than 'this is how I would do it'. But they're hardly academic terms, so oh well. *shrug*
Moe Howard of the Three Stooges had his hair cut so when not performing he could comb it one way and look normal, but then comb it forward and it became his Stooges bowl cut for work. Clark could have a similar style.
I like the guy who plays Clark in the Superman and Lois show because while he doesn't play the character as meek, he does often bumble his words or acts like a goofy dad when around others and he's known locally as the nerdy guy who's only big because he grew up on a farm.
He is the definition of "mild-mannered": he's not given to displays of temper, he's cool-headed and thoughtful. People have taken "mild-mannered" to mean "timid", but that's not really what it means. (Even George Reeves didn't do a cowardly Clark Kent, just one who wasn't given to displays of violence. And when people pointed a gun at him, he didn't get all nervous; he kept a cool head, certainly cooler than I would. And I don't even have a secret identity to protect!)
@kingbeauregard I think my favorite comic portrayal of Clark Kent affirming his secret identity was when he went to Gotham City with his Superman outfit on under his business suit. While he was undressing in public showing his outfit he got shot and dropped to the ground. He was later admitted to Arkham Asylum and they talked about how he wasn't that insane because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
6:10 There's also a scene in Trinity (2016) where Wonder Woman makes Superman and Batman hold the Lasso of Truth and state their names and Superman says "Clark" whereas Bruce says "Batman".
@@nathannguyen934 Nah in the same way it wouldn't be a lie if he named the kents when asked about his parents. Kal-el might be the name he was given at birth but that doesn't really make it *his* name.
@@UnliVW I am aware, the joke I was trying to get across is that Superman calling himself Clark is no different from Bruce himself Batman The framing of the original post highlights the absurdity of Bruce referring to himself as Batman, but Superman essentially does the same thing; they both identify themselves with different names than their Birth names I was just trying to be coy with how I pointed that out
@@nathannguyen934 He's merely stating his truth. To my understanding, Superman views his human name and identity as his true identity. Not the name he was given by his Kryptonian parents because he was known as that for a very short part of his life.
At the local diner, there is a server who looks like Jennifer Aniston. Conclusion: Jennifer Aniston is secretly living a double life, where she spends her time taking orders at a diner when she's not being a famous celebrity. ... see how crazy that sounds? Now imagine how it sounds when people claim that Clark Kent must be Superman.
but isnt it strange that a few months before EVERY Jennifer Aniston film comes out, that server disappears for several months without explanation? (on a separate note, if the actress you went with was Elizabeth Shue, this wouldve been a very clever nod to hamlet 2.)
@@christopherpayne9412 well yes, but she isn’t actively doing that job when not actively recording, nor was she doing that using an alternative name not known to be tied to Jennifer Anniston on debut.
There are many stories of celebrities not being recognised in public, even with less disguise than Superman normally has, Charlie Chaplin once came third in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest
In the DC comic continuity, where most heroes where masks, it's assumed the maskless Superman has no secret identity. That he's always Superman. The glasses are a hidden in plain sight thing but the internal logic is that most people wouldn't assume Clark is Superman because they live in a world where all the heroes but Superman wear masks, and the ones who don't have publicly known identities.
I think this, more than anything, is the reason. Like, have you ever thought about how much DC citizens know about Superman? They know his name - Kal El, they know where he's from - the planet Krypton, they even know his HOME ADRESS - Fortress of Solitude, Antartica. Why would they think he has a secret identity? Sure he may "dress down" now and then to avoid the paparazzi, what celebrity doesn't, but a whole hidden life?! That sounds crazy.
One of my favorite moments in comics that addresses this is in American Alien where Clark tells Pete Ross, "I take my glasses off all the time, and sometimes people will joke that I look just like Superman." It seems obvious to us because we have intimate knowledge of the character but I doubt people would just jump to conclusions and go, "Oh yeah, this dorky shy reporter is a demi-god."
That's something I argue with people about all the time with this. And other aspects of story. We know the truth; we see the hidden moments. We know the noble intentions of the comedic misunderstanding because we saw it happen. We know the family is experiencing supernatural events because we saw it happen and know it's a horror movie. The cop arresting the protagonist thinks he's in a psychological thriller or drama. We see Superman morph back into Martian Manhunter. It's like solving puzzles. Impossible when you are doing them, but you can't understand why no one is seeing the obvious once you know the solution.
@@BygoneT yeah there would be some people talking about it online but I bet you there would be a hundred other theories relating famous people with similar builds and faces too.
@@loki_l_1380 Yeah but idk how to tell this to you, but people have been using various programs to find missing people, using face ID to track down anyone they need, photoshop to find out if a leaked celebrity image is in fact the celebrity, so superman is definitely getting outed. Especially with 4chan existing. I'm sure he could do some trick like altering his voice, and claim to be only similar to him, but there is no way his secret identity is safe. Masks and costumes are not a bad idea in the era of tech. Spiderman for one could only be found through voice, same with batman mostly.
@@BygoneT Cavil went outside with his superman costume and people just thought that he was a cosplayer. Hugh went as Wolverine to a con and people didn't notice he was the real deal. People jump to the wrong conclusions all the time.
There is a comic where somebody asks Clark why he wears glasses if he can see perfectly well and Clark grins at the guy and just says "Yeah, because when i didn't wear them people told me i look like superman" and that was for me also a very important moment.
The iconic Superman curl is actually due to him parting his hair different directions. If you have a widow’s peak hairline (statistically most people do nowadays as it’s genetically dominant) you hair will eventually grow to sweep one direction by default. Reversing it causes all sorts of funny cowlicks and curls
I split my hair on the right and it causes a bunch of strands to separate on my forehead no matter what I do to brush or stick them back. Then I split my hair on the left and I get a gravity-defying cowlick that twists like a devil's horn. Maybe I should take advantage of this and just develop an evil alter-ego already...
In my hometown, there is an annual police vs fire department boxing match. The year Batman V Superman came out they advertised with the cops as Batman and the firemen as Superman. I realized this was the perfect analogy. Batman is a cop. He actively pursues and prevents crime as well as stopping it. But Superman is a fireman. Something happens, and he arrives to help. His first responsibility is protecting people and then stopping the danger.
The strongest case for Clark Kent wearing glasses being the majority of the disguise I have seen is Zooey Deschanel. It took me forever to realize that her without glasses and her with glasses were the same person.
and to add to that someone showed me a picture of her without her bangs and glasses and i couldn't tell who it was, glasses and a quick hairstyle change drastically change how you look and would fool anyone, but we know who superman/clark is already so it's easy for us to see but not if you don't already know
This was mentioned in a Comic Books vs. the World video that asked why people don't recognize Harrison Wells doppelgangers in Flash as the original, who is wanted for murder, and was declared dead. Most people aren't paying enough attention to complete strangers but also you see Zoey Dechanel with her hair down instead of up and in normal clothes and the pictures are so 'crazy different you'd 'swear up and down that they aren't the same person'. The glasses on Clark dropping a strangers recognition of a subject was used too.
It actually is pretty smart that he doesn't call himself Bruce in his mind, if he comes up against a mind reading villain they could read his mind and find out he's Bruce Wayne by hik calling himself that, so conditioning himself to only think of himself as Batman is pretty smart
One story reason given awhile ago was because "Bruce" died as a child along with his parents. He views the night in crime alley as the Birthday of his new self. Batman was born out of the death of what Bruce would have been had he gotten to grow up with his parents.
While that is a good point there is also a logic fallacy here. The opposite can happen if the same mind reader, in a civil setting, met Bruce calling himself batman in his head and knowing intimate details about Batman and the Bat Cave.
Some actor on a talk show years ago said that the secret of his success was that he never wore his glasses when he was acting. He had a smoldering expression that intimidated men and attracted women. The fact was that he was slightly near sighted and just stared through people because they were always out of focus.
Gotta remember as well that when Reeves would go to get lunch dressed as Clark Kent no-one would recognize him whilst everyone recognized him when he went as superman
Charlie Chaplin once entered a Chaplin look-alike contest. He came 3rd. Hell, Henry Cavill walked around Times Square, in a Superman shirt, while there were big-ass billboards WITH HIS FACE ON THEM advertising BvS and nobody recognized him. People just overestimate their passive perception.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong I remember reading somewhere that in the first superman film, they filmed all the Clark Kent scenes in the movie first. When Margot Kidder first met Christopher Reeve dressed as Superman she had a hard time reconciling that he was the same person because he held himself, moved and spoke so differently
@@-Clarence- even with certain 'anatomical 'tells'.... it's practically memetic with Zooey Deschanel...she's developed a 'brand' as the quirky hipster girl... but when she does Hollywood stuff she glams it up like everyone else... there are countless comparison pics of her side by side in both forms... to say nothing of her having a passing resemblance to another half-dozen actresses, where one of them could mimic her 'look' and be recognized more as her than as themselves... -- apparently even with the ' body part problem' she and Katy Perry still get mistaken for one another even this far into their careers
There is also the fact that Superman and Batman canonically look very similar, so if someone thought that Superman had a secret identity, then they would probably think of the famous billionaire rather than some random news reporter. Sometimes Batman even lets Clark play the role of Bruce at parties and other events that Batman doesn't want to go to.
One such party is where we get the word "bork'd". Deathstroke slipped some sort of super deadly neurotoxin into Clark's drink and all it did was make him drunk. Being that it got Supes drunk, yikes.
In the older books, Superman had a bunch of "Superman robots" that did things when he wasn't around, and they also helped in situations where Superman and Clark needed to make appearances at the same time.
I love the dichotomy between Clark and Bruce. Superman is just a humble farmboy at heart with the stoic symbol of peace, justice, and the American way being an act that he puts on and Batman being the shattered, broken, and highly intelligent man who seeks nothing more but to eliminate crime at any cost to his own well-being being the true man and the bumbling, philanthropic billionaire being an act that he puts on to hide the truth. The two are both alike but so very different.
There's a great storyline where the Justice League gets split into their separate identities and how they spiral out. Kyle Raynor goes insane without the perfect art medium of the Green Lantern, and Green Lantern just blasts everything. Superman becomes more alien, and Clark becomes a coward. But it's Bruce/Batman that surprises them the most. They knew his sides were a fop and a psychopath but were wrong about which sides they were. Bruce has no release for his trauma and rage at injustice, so he ends up beating a mugger to death. And Batman just sits in the Bat Cave without Bruce's drive.
6:32 I like how terry follows up with “but that’s MY name now” and they way him and bruce smile cheekily at each other in that interaction just makes me smile lol
The art you showed for Clark being hunched over and where he saves the person who was going to jump is from Allstar Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It's one of the best Superman series.
If I remember correctly during the filming of Reeve's Superman everytime he walks out the film studio in costume people would notice him and when he walks out in clark kent attire no one pays attention to him. And there's also this one time Henry Cavill was in New York wearing a Superman t-shirt and below the BvS billboard and nobody really noticed him. So yeah Superman's disguise works.
Sir Roger Moore told that story in his autobiography. He was in the Pinewood Studios canteen during the lunch break on that day's filming of The Spy Who Loved Me which was being made at the same time as Superman and related how when Reeve walked through in full Superman costume and character, everybody -- especially women -- flocked around him. Then he walked through as Clark in both dress and manner and not one person even noticed he was there.
Something missed so often is how in the early Chris Reeves movies, the Daily Planet is always hectic and busy. Lots of distractions, everyone self-absorbed in their own world of issues. To finally figure out who he was Louis had to struggle to see through the chaos. It was a great place to hide in plain sight. Then later versions totally missed it, in Superman Returnes there is even that quiet night at the workplace where they are looking at him wondering if he could be superman before finally saying, "naaaaa". It boggles my mind.
IIRC in Returns, he over hears them discussing Superman and pondering his stats and the New BF simply asks Lois how Tall Clark is, and Clark trips over a trash can. and the noise not only disrupts the conversation, but re-enforces 'Nerdy Clark' and they shake it off that it was s dumb idea in the first place
What I like is how "Well if you can fool Lex Luthor, you can fool the world" statement is a pretty good indicator by itself. It misses the idea that Lex straight up can't comprehend that someone would willingly 'lower himself to the level of a simple human' (when there is no gain in doing so) Is a core aspect of who Lex is. (I mean, the point still holds, but it is definitely a bigger blindspot in Lex than in 'the average person')
That said, Lex Luthor will also spend a lot more time and effort trying to figure out who Superman is than 'the average person', so that much larger blindspot might have about the same effect on him as the smaller blindspot would on normal people. It doesn't take much to divert a half-second of idle speculation.
I didn't think about the fact that noone in the DC world would think Superman has a secret identity. We take for granted that we already know it, so they must know that too.
Clark is much more awkward and feels much smaller, and people won't really be looking at him, sort of a common glossing over that everyone does. Reminds me of Tony Hawk, when he's doing his tricks, you know its him, but just out and about, he's a regular guy and often people don't recognize him, even going so far as to say that he reminds people of Tony Hawk, but not connecting the dots. So to me it's 100% believable if you just act a certain way, present yourself in a way that makes it so people don't automatically connect the dots. Putting on a pair of glasses can change the impression of someone a lot. Psychology is neat.
Nerds really will just laugh about Tony Hawk's Existential Nightmare with one breath and unironically complain about characters not recognising that Clark Kent is Superman with the next.
Anyone who's big (whether horizontally, vertically , or both) should recognize and grok that. I'm 5'5" and have a 21" shoulder span (165cm, 53cm), so I between the looks some people give me and everything on a counter being at elbow height, I tend to scrunch my shoulders when I'm feeling self-conscious.
My favourite clark kent bit is in one of the animated series, where he is interviewing lex, and lex goes on a rant about how much he hates superman and how he really likes Clark, as clark is a hard working and honest country boy, comically clumsy but ultimately human
I’m amazed at the contrast of regular, business suit-wearing Henry, vs him in the original Reeves suit. Many people don’t realize that Christopher Reeves was a very big guy, but so is Henry. Cavill looks like an absolute beast in the interview, then seeing him in the original suit, I was honestly a bit skeptical as to whether photoshop was used or not. Both great actors, and much more importantly, human beings. Huge respect for both of them.
Henry was coming off of The Cold Light of Day where he had to lose his Immortals physique. He was much smaller then than he was when he was on Graham Norton. The Norton clip was after he had already bulked up for Superman for Man of Steel and BvS where he was jacked.
Plain and simple, you guy's might've mentioned this haven't seen the vid yet, it's insane to think your clumsy, shy coworker is an alien god-like superhero.
One of my favorite moments in comics was when Superman was drunk and was mistaken for Bruce so he went on a yacht where Death Stroke tried to kill Bruce and Supes just through him off the boat after being shot and broke his sword
The only two people who find out that Clark and Superman are one, and genuinely instantly understand, are Mr. Terrific and Batman. Mr. Terrific because he knows that Clark is the genuine personality, and Batman because he understands the need to present as someone different, even if you could handle the problem as your non-suited self
I think Mr Terrific has some kind of photographic memory too. So that kind of removes the issue of only being face to face with Supes once every few months for the next assemble cast events dealing with earth shattering disasters. He can just pull out both faces from his memory and compare anytime he feels suspicious
I love the scene where Batman and Superman help somebody in the dark and Superman scares her because he forgets she can't see in the dark, and Batman scares her because he's just moody
My favorite is in superman returns where Lois and Richard start to talk about it. "hey Clark looks like superman, same height same weight, I wonder " Clark over hears them and all he does is give them a goofy smile and wave and they go "Ha yeah right, no way"
Theres a scene in one of the animated series where batman and superman swap suits and batman dressed as superman confronts luthor who trues to use kryptonite and then gets waffle stomped by batman and he absolutely goes bonkers wondering why superman was impervious to the kryptonite
The interesting thing about Superman, when it comes to his power level, is that catching a plane falling out of the sky and getting a cat out of a tree are about the same difficulty level. It's like a level 120 character doing a level 1 or a level 5 quest in WoW.
In regards to Superman’s disguise, I remember that Henry Cavil would walk around Times Square when there where billboards of him and no one would recognise him.
Not the same in any regard? Superman regularly hides amongst people who see both daily. Cavil is constantly recognized in public to this day and was standing in one of the most crowded areas in New York.
Bilingual here. I speak English and Portuguese and my thinking language depends on the last one i used. It's harder to pay attention to things in separate languages at the same time than if they were the same language. For example if i'm speaking with a friend online in english i can multitask and read something in english but it'd be nearly impossible for me to do it in portuguese.
One big aspect of his Clark Kent outfit that was dropped after the Golden Age was the fedora hat he would wear to work during the 40s. When he was out in the field working as CK, he had that fedora on. So it was not always just the glasses changing the shape of his face.
There was a comic where clark/superman were in the same place as each other and it only worked because superman was moving so fast that he was physically dressing and undressing into and out of costume in different locations. Part of the comic had the normal clothing combust during the dual appearance.
I remember in middle school, my friend told me I looked complete different without my glasses. He said I looked like a nerd with them, and a serial killer without them.
26:10 the thing about Superman getting a cat out of the tree, why it's important to show that, and how Batman mocks it a little... in addition to it simply being in Superman's nature to just be a good person and help out, is you have to consider that, to Superman, there's no material difference between getting a cat out of a tree and catching a falling jet. They're both contemptuously easy feats to achieve. Both just little things to do to make others' days easier. You get an appreciation of Superman's power when stopping an out of control train and getting a cat out of a tree are basically the same thing
I remember an episode of Dean cain's superman where a time-traveling villian mocks Lois' journalistic capabilities by putting on a pair of glasses and saying "I'm Clark Kent," takes glasses off, "I'm superman!". The good time-traveler tries to excuse her not seeing it despite how many times she was face to face with both by saying that love is blind.
23:00 one of the best friendship moments between Batman and superman comes from the batfamily webcómic, in which there's a chapter where alfred goes to visita the kents and superman is with Batman trying to figure out what they're talking about
I love that scene in Young Justice where Oceanmaster discovers the place where superheroes' children go to play together and Lady Shiva stops him from killing the children as it would be a "nuclear option". I love the idea of supervillains knowing the secret identity of heroes and just letting them play boring humans lives for 8 hours a day.
One moment I love in injustice year zero, which is before all hell breaks loose, joker has an old amulet that can corrupt and control the heroes but Superman fights it and joker is so surprised but Batman just says ‘he’s to good for you to ever understand. He’s Superman.’ And I think it’s a great moment.
I know this is different but one of my favourite scenes in justice league cartoon is when flash and lex swap bodies so lex goes to a mirror and takes off the flash mask and realised he has no idea who wally west is.
The thing about certain things drawing attention to certain parts of your face is very true. My mum once told me how someone she went to school with used to have slightly crooked teeth; apparently they didn't really look bad on her, according to my mum if anything she looked quite cute and interesting, but she hated her teeth so she had a surgery to fix them. Once her teeth looked more normal, my mum said she had never even noticed, but she actually had quite a big nose; the teeth used to take the attention away from her nose, but now it was the first thing you'd notice about her.
My Mum said a similar thing about someone's teeth realignment, except without the nose thing. She claimed that the teeth had given the person charm, it made 'em look cute! Once they got them straightened though she said they "look like any other forgettable face you'd see in a commercial".
You're so right about the banter thing. It's so hard to joke with someone. Even people that have known me for years and know I'm not being serious what so ever, still won't get my sarcasm or jokes. Only a select few of my friends get it
I forget who first proposed it, but there was a theory that Clark has three personalities: Superman, Clark Kent, and Kal-El. Superman is obviously the paragon superhero and Clark Kent is the bumbling reporter. Whereas, Kal-El is his "true" personality and is an amalgam of the two, an opportunity for him to be himself, and that the only time Superman gets to relax is when he is with people who knows both identities.
The most underrated part of Superman's secret identity is that he very publicly has a real name and address. His name is Kal-El and he lives in The Fortress of Solitude. He's an alien with a family name, a famous secret base, and no mask - why would it occur to anyone that he even has a secret identity to hide? Batman gets found out all the time by a bunch of different people, in part *because* he goes to such effort so hide it. He's hiding his face, his sidekick, the paper trail on his gadgets, the location of the Batcave - there's too many ways for someone to figure out his identity, be they an ancient assassin or a 10 yo boy. But Superman? He doesn't even *look* like he's hiding something, and you already know he's a space alien, so what's there to look for?
I remember there being a comic where bad guys plan most of their crimes in women restrooms because they know Superman has x-ray vision but would never check there.
In the Superman 3 novelization it's explained that Clark is the disguise, when he's under the influence of the synthetic Kryptonite he expressed his hatred of making himself appear weak instead of flaunting his full power at all times, but again that was when he was sick from fake Kryptonite.
At 1 of my jobs we had to have our names on our shirt. As a prank, one day I came in with someone else's shirt on but I also was clean shaven, parted my hair differently, and dpoke in a lower register. Except for those i had to tell, nobody knew who I was for most of the day. This was a place where we had to wear badges with pictures, but i hid mine and just told people that it wasn't ready. It was very interesting watching people as they figured it out.
One thing I loved about Tyler Hoechlin's portrayal of Superman is that the Clark you see is not an act. In an episode of Supergirl (when his character first appeared), Clark and Kara were getting off an elevator and he bumped into someone and papers went flying and he was all flustered. Kara told him "you really have that bumbling reporter act down pat!", and he responded "Yeah..... it's no act." It's like, he lets his guard down when he's Clark and is just being himself, and Clark Kent really is humble boyscout.
You know superman doesn't have to lose pa or ma Kent to become superman. The animated series has the best rendition of superman, and he still has both parents. It always bugged me.
Also, the few times I've liked "ma/pa kent dies" is when it's specifically of something Clark can't do anything about. Heart problems/cancer/etc. Because it's infinitely more relatable that even Superman is powerless to stop that slow decline than "And then Pa Kent died to a tornado because reasons"
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong biggest problem I had with man of steel was how they handled pa Kent's death, it was so stupid, he basically said "no let me die, you could save me with the hurricane causing chaos and nobody would notice, but no let me die and be scarred for life...."
Before the constant rebooting came about at the early 2010's, both parents would still be alive in the comics. Clark would stop by the farm and talk to pa when things got tough... but I think Pa Kent is dead now, just because I remember there being a story line about Pa's passing.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrongAgreed. That's what taught Clark the value of human life. It's what made him cherish it all the more. It's why he's so compassionate and kind.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong In a recent retelling of Superman's origins, Clark is an open secret in Smallville. They won't rat on him because he's a Kent and they're good people. When he first started manifesting powers around age 10, the first person he told was Lana Lang. You know, the girl he has a crush on. 🥰 But that's not dark and gritty, so letting children and family die to protect his secret is an option for certain people.
There is a body builder called anatoly on the internet who dresses as a janitor and goes to gym's to lift amazing weight. He is the perfect example of a real life clark kent persons.
David Bowie used to get around New York without being recognised by carrying a Greek newspaper. People just thought it was some Greek bloke who looked like David Bowie.
My favorite Superman as Batman moments is when he poses as Bruce Wayne for him, and Deathstroke tries to kill him since he was sent to kill Bruce Wayne, and Superman as Bruce Wayne punches him into the ocean while drunk on neurotoxin
My brother and I once had a deep conversation about how Batman and Superman are mirrors of each other. Our conclusion was that the core difference was that Batman fights crime for vengeance and saves people incidentally, while Superman is there to help people and stops crime incidentally. At the end of the day crime got stopped and people saved but Batman wasn't there for you, he was there for the criminal and Superman didn't really care about the criminal he cared about the people the criminal could have hurt.
Another layer which I don’t think I’ve ever heard brought up in universe - how many celebrity look alikes are there irl? And even non-celebrity look alikes. If anyone does notice the similarity despite all the layers discussed in the vid, Clark can just dismiss it as he just happens to be a Superman look alike, and if he ever loses his reporter job, he could always fall back on playing Superman for one of those groups that cosplay as Superheroes and go around children’s hospitals to do charity work. And if anyone brings up that under his clothes he’s ripped, he just needs to point out he’s a farm boy from Kansas who grew up doing hard physical labour and still goes home on his vacation days to do said work and help out Ma Kent around the farm.
There was a bit in one comic set shortly after he debuted where Lois meets him at his apartment and comments on the football trophies from high school and the weight set he has as an explanation for being in shape. She makes a comment she's surprised that it works given they're not much heavier weights than she uses to workout and he realizes he goofed because he didn't know what sort of weights he should be using.
something else to mention, in one of the comic runs, it's revealed that the glasses also amplifies Superman's low level hypnosis abilities (cause of course the guy who can shoot mini-clones of himself from his hands also has hypnosis, man has he had every possible power at some point...) to where they literally see Superman and Clark as two separate people. They even have him beat the villain of the week by hypnotizing people to not be hypnotized... which makes his disguise fail.
I love Superman so. And so do you, and it shows, thank you. It is when they play up his aspirational nature, the "They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son" quote from the first movie is a perfect example.
There was this post circulating tumblr some years ago where Clark Kent is in Gotham and he is about to get whacked with giant mallet by Harley Quinn I think. I don't remember the exact details, but he basically goes into super thinking mode and has a long analyzing session with himself on how to realistically fake getting hurt by a big hammer because he has no idea what is expected to happen when a human gets hit by that thing. It just made me appreciate the lengths he goes through to sell his persona
There was a scene from the comic book Trinity that was Wonder Woman holding her lasso of truth with Superman, and Batman. She asked who they are - Superman replied with two names - Kal El, Clark Kent, and Batman replied with Batman.
Great video. When Star Trek Deep Space 9 premiered it took me three weeks to realize that Captain Sisko was played by the same actor that played Hawk in the Spenser for Hire TV series. Avery Brooks shaved off his beard and mustache to play Sisko. But his attitude was completely different as Sisko also. I've heard the in universe explanation that no one realizes Superman has an alter ego and that's a pretty good explanation of why people don't see Superman in Clark Kent. But I have said for years what you are saying. It's not just the glasses it's the physical performance and attitudes of Clark. People don't pay attention to things that they don't like. Clark being painfully shy and slouching have people actively turning away from him. They don't want to see him. And so can't see Superman in the guise of Clark Kent. (Read that last line in Ted Knight's voice). Whatcha mean you don't know who Ted Knight is?
Yeah, it might be obvious, but my favourite Superman bit is that single page from All-Star Superman when he comforts the suicidal girl as well. I'm not the biggest fan of Grant Morrison, not my cup of tea. But that page? Pure gold. Best thing they've ever written, in my opinion.
They did a joke in the Scooby Doo cross where Velma lost her glasses and Lois and Jimmy Olsen instantly thought Velma had vanished and someone new took her place.
So I actually have the explanation for the Injustice games using things like your example of Harley using a baseball bat. Superman has a relatively unknown power that his invincibility extends slightly beyond his body so he can to a limited extent transfer his invulnerability to people and objects he touches and I believe in the Louis and Clark show they use this power to explain why his suit doesn't rip in combat. So while Harley has Kriptonian powers from the pill her baseball bat and her clothing have Kriptonian strength. This also helps explain how Superman can catch a falling person without them being killed from the rapid deceleration or why a bumper on a car isn't just ripped off when he throws them. Additionally Superman can "turn off" or reduce this power at will so that he can still destroy things and inflict damage to his opponents.
I can attest to the eyglass thing. I have piercing blue eyes but wear glasses almost all the time and it actually changes how my eyes look. Even people who have known me for years will do a double take if I don't have them on because it alters my appearance so drastically.
My favorite scene from Justice League is Batman and Superman having coffee, because I just like to imagine some thug/supervillain spotting the Batmobile, thinking they’re gonna get the drop on Bats, just to look inside and see he’s got Superman in there with him.
I fully believe Clark could fool everyone with the suit and glasses, for a few reasons. One, so many people that Superman interacts with would probably never know who Clark is, so they'd have no reason to associate them. Two, most people who interact with Superman do so very briefly and probably don't retain a detailed memory of his face, so if they ever do see Clark, they don't see it as the same face. Three, (and this is strictly anecdotal pertaining directly to myself) I often fail to recognize my coworkers when I see them out of uniform away from work. At best I may think to myself "why does that dude look so familiar?" I even failed to recognize my own niece at the drive-thru window at a local fast food place! She had started working there and I didn't know. I stopped in to pick up dinner and she was running the window. I kept thinking "Dang! This girl looks so much like
Not Superman related exactly, but there was a one shot comic where Batman was injured and Wonder Woman goes to Gotham to fill in. It was fun seeing the back and forth with the villains because obviously she’s much more powerful than Batman, but she’s not used to the lengths these villains are willing to go to.
I've never thought that much about how Superman's disguise works, but this Factfiend episode was certainly an eye-opener for me. It makes so much more sense now. Thanks for this fun and enlightening episode.
My favorite hotdog comes from when I was in elementary school (1st - 5th grade US) during Foot Long Hotdog Day, where you were served a link of two all beef franks on a single foot long bun the ladies made themselves. It had no rivals, and was only surpassed by one day. The fabled day. The single day of Foot Long Chili Hotdog Day, where the ladies in the lunchroom had made way too much chili for a bake sale and had almost enough to top every hotdog they had. I will never forget that day.
The reason I love Hoechlin and Reeves so much is because when you see them as Clark Kent... even though we know it's fake we all think... "If I didn't know. I could have worked with him for YEARS and be shocked if he ever told me he goes to the GYM!" And yet when they put on the costume it TRANSFORMS them! Cavill? I mean... bro... I love you but if your Clark ever even wore a blue shirt 👕 "Dat mother*cker Superman!" INSTANTLY
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrongY'know... I did always wonder if that was the case, or if it was just New York being New York like "ah fuck, another celebrity standing in the middle of the god damn street. Hope he leaps his super-ass over the nearest building in a single bound so I don't have to trample him."
Them talking about posture reminded me of when I genuinely startled my friend because he thought I was something like 5ft6 when I’m really 5ft10 because I have an awful posture so when he stated his confusion on how despite being the same height I was somehow 4 inches taller than him so I stood non slouched and he took an actual step back because he was genuinely surprised at the sudden change of height
I think a great way to show Pa kents teachings and keep him alive as happens in some comics, would be have a family friend or even one of Clarks school friends commit suicide, this can be a teaching moment that Clark could have used his powers but sometimes theyre not needed to save someone or wouldnt help and some people just need someone to talk to
Just this weekend my friend passed me by 3 times when we were supposed to meet, turns out, she never saw me with my hair down and in the end only recognized me due to my jewelry XD
Someone from corridor did the super man disguise, they wore a hat and bodysuit and went into the office as an “electrician” to fix something and IT WORKS. He also did the Batman disappear mid sentence thing and it also worked, although a little goofier
i know superman's disguise works because people i've known for years sometimes don't recognize me when i'm not wearing glasses. throw on a whole new persona, body language, and mannerisms, no one think twice about clark
There's also a comic from the superman mullet days, where they run supermans face (and body I think) through a computer and it comes up with a model and bodybuilder who look a lot like him
I can't really make fun of the superman disguise. A friend of mine grew up with some thick eye glasses and after he got lasik eye surgery only his absolute closet friends and family would recognize him on sights and some times people wouldn't even place him during a conversation until he told them who he was. Honestly thought I was being pranked for a while, but it happened too often and randomly for it to be planned.
I personally love the explanation of "Why would anyone suspect Superman has an alter ego? Who in the world would want to be anyone other than Superman."
Well the obvious answer is that Superman focuses a lot of his attention on Metropolis, showing up there far more than any other city, suggesting he has some connection with that city / area. Since there's no obvious place where he lives in Metropolis, it'd make sense he was actually living there somehow. Since there's no obvious Supermansion and it's unlikely he's a homeless squatter in the city streets or sewers, it stands to reason he'd have some kind of alter ego given he can clearly pass as human.
@@taragnor There is an obvious Supermansion. It's called the Fortress of Solitude. Yes, it's not in Metropolis, but his presence in the area can be easily explained by other things, like, umm, *Lex Luthor lives there?*
Movie stars can watch their own movies in packed theaters with a baseball cap and not get recognized because you don't expect to see Tom Cruise sitting in your screening of Top Gun Maverick. You may notice that there is a dude that looks sorta like Tom cruise in a ball cap but you don't think "hey there is Tom cruise in a ball cap!"
@@taragnor that's reasonable--until you recall that Superman shows up EVERYWHERE.
@@akaneriyun4774 He does show up everywhere, yes. But he shows up at a much higher frequency within Metropolis. And further he's more likely to stop small time minor street crime in Metropolis as opposed to major disasters. And looking at the larger DC universe, this largely is how most other superheroes operate. Batman has Gotham, Flash has central city, etc.
Superman canonically believes in Santa, because the notion of a jolly man who can deliver presents around the world in a single night sounds perfectly reasonable to him.
He has also met and fought alongside santa dozens of times.
And also Santa actually exists in his universe
Santa is a Marvel character, and because of his "powerset", Santa is considered to be BEYOND Omega-level. And I'm NOT making that up. XD
idk if it's in all of the iterations of superman, but iirc his parents used to wrap his gifts with lead so he couldn't see through them with his x ray vision :')
@GabedonChillweasel he's a DC character as well, he apparently brings Darkseid a lump of coal every year
My favorite gag about his secret identity is in Superman The Animated Series, where he and Lois have a bit of a rivalry. One day she demands to know how he always gets the good scoops, and he outright tells her he's Superman using his powers to squeeze her out of the byline. And Lois just says, "You're a sicko, Kent," and goes back to her desk.
Extra fun fact about Superman dressing as Batman, canonically Clark and Bruce look almost identical.
Absolutely, they actually swapped in an episode, can’t remember which series, but Superman took on specific villains dressed as Batman. The villains were sure they killed him, but nope, and they lost their minds. The guys are so similar, they even sound like twins.
Clark pretended to be Bruce once before he was Superman and fought off an assassination attempt by Slade Wilson.
I don't know about canonically, but they looked alike in the Animated Series and in Max Landis's American Alien miniseries. But in AA, it was more of nobody really knew what Bruce looked like because he was so reclusive. Clark was the right age and general build with dark hair. Max's Clark is quite different from the usual portrayal.
Same LEGO head in the 2012 lines as well.
My favorite is in New52, Clark as a teen just... dips. Goes on a wander. He winds up on a yaht... and its Bruce Wayne's birthday party and they all mistake him for Bruce (who is out training to eventually become batman)... including Deathstroke who trues to assassinate him. That did not go well for him.
My personal fanon on Clark's hair curl is that it's an annoying feature he meticulously gels and combs away because he hates it, but it pops out when he uses his superspeed to change clothes and that's why everyone sees Superman with the hair curl. And then he frantically pats it down when sneaking back into the office going "stupid hair, stupid hair, stupid hair..."
I asume you're not familiar with the word "headcanon".
But here you go.
@@mr.boomguy I'm used to Headcanon being used as a theory or interpretation, rather than 'this is how I would do it'. But they're hardly academic terms, so oh well. *shrug*
Moe Howard of the Three Stooges had his hair cut so when not performing he could comb it one way and look normal, but then comb it forward and it became his Stooges bowl cut for work.
Clark could have a similar style.
@@CapnAlcesno reason it can’t be both
I like the guy who plays Clark in the Superman and Lois show because while he doesn't play the character as meek, he does often bumble his words or acts like a goofy dad when around others and he's known locally as the nerdy guy who's only big because he grew up on a farm.
He is the definition of "mild-mannered": he's not given to displays of temper, he's cool-headed and thoughtful. People have taken "mild-mannered" to mean "timid", but that's not really what it means. (Even George Reeves didn't do a cowardly Clark Kent, just one who wasn't given to displays of violence. And when people pointed a gun at him, he didn't get all nervous; he kept a cool head, certainly cooler than I would. And I don't even have a secret identity to protect!)
@@kingbeauregard to be fair it's not like Clark would die... he's superman, he's bulletproof
He's literally the worst actor who has ever portrayed Supes.
@@Chrispy07 totally.
@kingbeauregard I think my favorite comic portrayal of Clark Kent affirming his secret identity was when he went to Gotham City with his Superman outfit on under his business suit. While he was undressing in public showing his outfit he got shot and dropped to the ground. He was later admitted to Arkham Asylum and they talked about how he wasn't that insane because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
6:10 There's also a scene in Trinity (2016) where Wonder Woman makes Superman and Batman hold the Lasso of Truth and state their names and Superman says "Clark" whereas Bruce says "Batman".
Its funny that Kal-El could straight up lie to the Lasso of Truth
@@nathannguyen934 Nah in the same way it wouldn't be a lie if he named the kents when asked about his parents. Kal-el might be the name he was given at birth but that doesn't really make it *his* name.
@@UnliVW I am aware,
the joke I was trying to get across is that Superman calling himself Clark is no different from Bruce himself Batman
The framing of the original post highlights the absurdity of Bruce referring to himself as Batman, but Superman essentially does the same thing; they both identify themselves with different names than their Birth names
I was just trying to be coy with how I pointed that out
*Whereas BATMAN says "Batman". Ftfy.
@@nathannguyen934 He's merely stating his truth. To my understanding, Superman views his human name and identity as his true identity. Not the name he was given by his Kryptonian parents because he was known as that for a very short part of his life.
At the local diner, there is a server who looks like Jennifer Aniston. Conclusion: Jennifer Aniston is secretly living a double life, where she spends her time taking orders at a diner when she's not being a famous celebrity.
... see how crazy that sounds? Now imagine how it sounds when people claim that Clark Kent must be Superman.
but isnt it strange that a few months before EVERY Jennifer Aniston film comes out, that server disappears for several months without explanation?
(on a separate note, if the actress you went with was Elizabeth Shue, this wouldve been a very clever nod to hamlet 2.)
How is that crazy? She wasn't living a double life, she was literally a server for many years. .at Central Perk 🤣
@@forkittens I'm sure she'd explain it away as, "I was on a break!"
@@christopherpayne9412 well yes, but she isn’t actively doing that job when not actively recording, nor was she doing that using an alternative name not known to be tied to Jennifer Anniston on debut.
There are many stories of celebrities not being recognised in public, even with less disguise than Superman normally has, Charlie Chaplin once came third in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest
In the DC comic continuity, where most heroes where masks, it's assumed the maskless Superman has no secret identity. That he's always Superman. The glasses are a hidden in plain sight thing but the internal logic is that most people wouldn't assume Clark is Superman because they live in a world where all the heroes but Superman wear masks, and the ones who don't have publicly known identities.
I think this, more than anything, is the reason. Like, have you ever thought about how much DC citizens know about Superman? They know his name - Kal El, they know where he's from - the planet Krypton, they even know his HOME ADRESS - Fortress of Solitude, Antartica. Why would they think he has a secret identity? Sure he may "dress down" now and then to avoid the paparazzi, what celebrity doesn't, but a whole hidden life?! That sounds crazy.
wear*
Reinforced by Luthor wouldn't believe that the godlike Superman would masquerade as a mere mortal.
One of my favorite moments in comics that addresses this is in American Alien where Clark tells Pete Ross, "I take my glasses off all the time, and sometimes people will joke that I look just like Superman."
It seems obvious to us because we have intimate knowledge of the character but I doubt people would just jump to conclusions and go, "Oh yeah, this dorky shy reporter is a demi-god."
That's something I argue with people about all the time with this. And other aspects of story. We know the truth; we see the hidden moments. We know the noble intentions of the comedic misunderstanding because we saw it happen. We know the family is experiencing supernatural events because we saw it happen and know it's a horror movie. The cop arresting the protagonist thinks he's in a psychological thriller or drama. We see Superman morph back into Martian Manhunter. It's like solving puzzles. Impossible when you are doing them, but you can't understand why no one is seeing the obvious once you know the solution.
Idk wtf you're on about, in the real world people jump to conclusions all the time.
@@BygoneT yeah there would be some people talking about it online but I bet you there would be a hundred other theories relating famous people with similar builds and faces too.
@@loki_l_1380 Yeah but idk how to tell this to you, but people have been using various programs to find missing people, using face ID to track down anyone they need, photoshop to find out if a leaked celebrity image is in fact the celebrity, so superman is definitely getting outed. Especially with 4chan existing.
I'm sure he could do some trick like altering his voice, and claim to be only similar to him, but there is no way his secret identity is safe. Masks and costumes are not a bad idea in the era of tech. Spiderman for one could only be found through voice, same with batman mostly.
@@BygoneT Cavil went outside with his superman costume and people just thought that he was a cosplayer. Hugh went as Wolverine to a con and people didn't notice he was the real deal. People jump to the wrong conclusions all the time.
There is a comic where somebody asks Clark why he wears glasses if he can see perfectly well and Clark grins at the guy and just says "Yeah, because when i didn't wear them people told me i look like superman" and that was for me also a very important moment.
The iconic Superman curl is actually due to him parting his hair different directions. If you have a widow’s peak hairline (statistically most people do nowadays as it’s genetically dominant) you hair will eventually grow to sweep one direction by default. Reversing it causes all sorts of funny cowlicks and curls
It can also just be from having wavy hair. I get the curl all the time. It just kinda happens
@@josukehigashikata1229
Clark's hair is wavy, so that would make sense
Combing my hair to the right is easyer, and it ends up flater.
+ Wavy hair, to the left is my party mode.
I split my hair on the right and it causes a bunch of strands to separate on my forehead no matter what I do to brush or stick them back.
Then I split my hair on the left and I get a gravity-defying cowlick that twists like a devil's horn.
Maybe I should take advantage of this and just develop an evil alter-ego already...
Yeah I swept my hair the opposite direction, and I have a widows peak. It curls up like crazy
22:40 Batman actually was also pretending to be Superman in that episode. Lex Luthor was confused as to why kryptonite wasn't working on him.
In my hometown, there is an annual police vs fire department boxing match. The year Batman V Superman came out they advertised with the cops as Batman and the firemen as Superman. I realized this was the perfect analogy. Batman is a cop. He actively pursues and prevents crime as well as stopping it. But Superman is a fireman. Something happens, and he arrives to help. His first responsibility is protecting people and then stopping the danger.
The strongest case for Clark Kent wearing glasses being the majority of the disguise I have seen is Zooey Deschanel. It took me forever to realize that her without glasses and her with glasses were the same person.
and to add to that someone showed me a picture of her without her bangs and glasses and i couldn't tell who it was, glasses and a quick hairstyle change drastically change how you look and would fool anyone, but we know who superman/clark is already so it's easy for us to see but not if you don't already know
I seen a picture of Zooey Deschanel with brown eyes and she looks like a completely different person.
This was mentioned in a Comic Books vs. the World video that asked why people don't recognize Harrison Wells doppelgangers in Flash as the original, who is wanted for murder, and was declared dead. Most people aren't paying enough attention to complete strangers but also you see Zoey Dechanel with her hair down instead of up and in normal clothes and the pictures are so 'crazy different you'd 'swear up and down that they aren't the same person'. The glasses on Clark dropping a strangers recognition of a subject was used too.
Henry Cavill was once in Times Square wearing a Superman shirt, and no one recognized him. This was in 2013 when Batman v. Superman came out.
@@the11382 Batman vs. Superman came out in 2016. You might be thinking of Man of Steel, which did come out in 2013.
I love the banter he has with the flash, saying he's beaten him in a race before, and the flash just replies, "Those were for charity Clark."
It actually is pretty smart that he doesn't call himself Bruce in his mind, if he comes up against a mind reading villain they could read his mind and find out he's Bruce Wayne by hik calling himself that, so conditioning himself to only think of himself as Batman is pretty smart
I don’t think it’s done for that purpose, I think it’s because Bruce Wane is the alter ego and Batman is the real man.
One story reason given awhile ago was because "Bruce" died as a child along with his parents. He views the night in crime alley as the Birthday of his new self. Batman was born out of the death of what Bruce would have been had he gotten to grow up with his parents.
I never think of my shelf by name. Mostly think of my shelf in 1st person not 3rd.
Also it protects him from being psychicly attacked as Bruce.
While that is a good point there is also a logic fallacy here. The opposite can happen if the same mind reader, in a civil setting, met Bruce calling himself batman in his head and knowing intimate details about Batman and the Bat Cave.
Some actor on a talk show years ago said that the secret of his success was that he never wore his glasses when he was acting. He had a smoldering expression that intimidated men and attracted women. The fact was that he was slightly near sighted and just stared through people because they were always out of focus.
Gotta remember as well that when Reeves would go to get lunch dressed as Clark Kent no-one would recognize him whilst everyone recognized him when he went as superman
Charlie Chaplin once entered a Chaplin look-alike contest. He came 3rd. Hell, Henry Cavill walked around Times Square, in a Superman shirt, while there were big-ass billboards WITH HIS FACE ON THEM advertising BvS and nobody recognized him. People just overestimate their passive perception.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong I remember reading somewhere that in the first superman film, they filmed all the Clark Kent scenes in the movie first. When Margot Kidder first met Christopher Reeve dressed as Superman she had a hard time reconciling that he was the same person because he held himself, moved and spoke so differently
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong actresses do similar by not wearing any makeup. Unfortunately men recognize other body parts other than the face 😂
@@-Clarence- even with certain 'anatomical 'tells'.... it's practically memetic with Zooey Deschanel...she's developed a 'brand' as the quirky hipster girl... but when she does Hollywood stuff she glams it up like everyone else... there are countless comparison pics of her side by side in both forms... to say nothing of her having a passing resemblance to another half-dozen actresses, where one of them could mimic her 'look' and be recognized more as her than as themselves...
-- apparently even with the ' body part problem' she and Katy Perry still get mistaken for one another even this far into their careers
Didn't know that happened to George Reeves, but that would happen to Christopher Reeve as well.
There is also the fact that Superman and Batman canonically look very similar, so if someone thought that Superman had a secret identity, then they would probably think of the famous billionaire rather than some random news reporter. Sometimes Batman even lets Clark play the role of Bruce at parties and other events that Batman doesn't want to go to.
One such party is where we get the word "bork'd". Deathstroke slipped some sort of super deadly neurotoxin into Clark's drink and all it did was make him drunk. Being that it got Supes drunk, yikes.
they convinced braniac that batman was superman's alter-ego at one point lol
In the older books, Superman had a bunch of "Superman robots" that did things when he wasn't around, and they also helped in situations where Superman and Clark needed to make appearances at the same time.
That’s still a thing at least in sone animated shows
Although it’s usually a defensive unit at the fortress of justice
@@jmurray1110It's been used and abused all throughout the series, particularly during the Silver Age... I still find it fun and goofy.
I love the dichotomy between Clark and Bruce. Superman is just a humble farmboy at heart with the stoic symbol of peace, justice, and the American way being an act that he puts on and Batman being the shattered, broken, and highly intelligent man who seeks nothing more but to eliminate crime at any cost to his own well-being being the true man and the bumbling, philanthropic billionaire being an act that he puts on to hide the truth. The two are both alike but so very different.
And they're best friends and see each other as the better superhero. It's honestly amazing just how beautiful it's done.
There's a great storyline where the Justice League gets split into their separate identities and how they spiral out. Kyle Raynor goes insane without the perfect art medium of the Green Lantern, and Green Lantern just blasts everything. Superman becomes more alien, and Clark becomes a coward. But it's Bruce/Batman that surprises them the most. They knew his sides were a fop and a psychopath but were wrong about which sides they were. Bruce has no release for his trauma and rage at injustice, so he ends up beating a mugger to death. And Batman just sits in the Bat Cave without Bruce's drive.
@@bryanwoods3373 comic name Plz?
Im not wearing my glasses and I just woke up, so I read that as Clark being a femboy and now I want that comic 😂😂
@@HBoyle I'm sure it exists somewhere.
Whenever British people call Americans sensitive I remember a video where a Brit called some guy’s girlfriend “a bit of a dog’s breakfast”
“I’m not a violent man, but those are fighting words.”
-Brennan Lee Mulligan
@@zen_tewmbs you know what I’m talking about
@@smilemore7431 damned right, smiles. 💜
@@Squeekysquid BLM is pretty popular, it tracks to me.
@@zen_tewmbs Brennan is fabulous
6:32 I like how terry follows up with “but that’s MY name now” and they way him and bruce smile cheekily at each other in that interaction just makes me smile lol
"Tell that to my subconscious"
The art you showed for Clark being hunched over and where he saves the person who was going to jump is from Allstar Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It's one of the best Superman series.
If I remember correctly during the filming of Reeve's Superman everytime he walks out the film studio in costume people would notice him and when he walks out in clark kent attire no one pays attention to him. And there's also this one time Henry Cavill was in New York wearing a Superman t-shirt and below the BvS billboard and nobody really noticed him. So yeah Superman's disguise works.
I have a friend who's mum saw Chris Evans while they were filming Avengers IW in the area and said to him point blank "You look like Chris Evans"
Sir Roger Moore told that story in his autobiography. He was in the Pinewood Studios canteen during the lunch break on that day's filming of The Spy Who Loved Me which was being made at the same time as Superman and related how when Reeve walked through in full Superman costume and character, everybody -- especially women -- flocked around him. Then he walked through as Clark in both dress and manner and not one person even noticed he was there.
New York City is bad test. They tune out most things.
@@bentontramell But Superman mostly operates in Metropolis, a New York expy, so it works.
As someone once said: “You only need to look at how nobody recognizes Tony Hawk to see that people wouldn’t know Clark Kent is Superman.”
Something missed so often is how in the early Chris Reeves movies, the Daily Planet is always hectic and busy. Lots of distractions, everyone self-absorbed in their own world of issues. To finally figure out who he was Louis had to struggle to see through the chaos. It was a great place to hide in plain sight. Then later versions totally missed it, in Superman Returnes there is even that quiet night at the workplace where they are looking at him wondering if he could be superman before finally saying, "naaaaa". It boggles my mind.
IIRC in Returns, he over hears them discussing Superman and pondering his stats and the New BF simply asks Lois how Tall Clark is, and Clark trips over a trash can. and the noise not only disrupts the conversation, but re-enforces 'Nerdy Clark' and they shake it off that it was s dumb idea in the first place
What I like is how
"Well if you can fool Lex Luthor, you can fool the world"
statement is a pretty good indicator by itself.
It misses the idea that Lex straight up can't comprehend that someone would willingly 'lower himself to the level of a simple human' (when there is no gain in doing so)
Is a core aspect of who Lex is.
(I mean, the point still holds, but it is definitely a bigger blindspot in Lex than in 'the average person')
That said, Lex Luthor will also spend a lot more time and effort trying to figure out who Superman is than 'the average person', so that much larger blindspot might have about the same effect on him as the smaller blindspot would on normal people. It doesn't take much to divert a half-second of idle speculation.
Best part about superman being batman was him almost getting discovered by smiling
I didn't think about the fact that noone in the DC world would think Superman has a secret identity. We take for granted that we already know it, so they must know that too.
Clark is much more awkward and feels much smaller, and people won't really be looking at him, sort of a common glossing over that everyone does. Reminds me of Tony Hawk, when he's doing his tricks, you know its him, but just out and about, he's a regular guy and often people don't recognize him, even going so far as to say that he reminds people of Tony Hawk, but not connecting the dots. So to me it's 100% believable if you just act a certain way, present yourself in a way that makes it so people don't automatically connect the dots. Putting on a pair of glasses can change the impression of someone a lot. Psychology is neat.
Nerds really will just laugh about Tony Hawk's Existential Nightmare with one breath and unironically complain about characters not recognising that Clark Kent is Superman with the next.
Anyone who's big (whether horizontally, vertically , or both) should recognize and grok that.
I'm 5'5" and have a 21" shoulder span (165cm, 53cm), so I between the looks some people give me and everything on a counter being at elbow height, I tend to scrunch my shoulders when I'm feeling self-conscious.
This might be the best comparison I've ever read.
It's a bit like putting a fedora on a platypus.
As someone who has worked as an optician for a few years, people really underestimate how much of a difference glasses make.
My favourite clark kent bit is in one of the animated series, where he is interviewing lex, and lex goes on a rant about how much he hates superman and how he really likes Clark, as clark is a hard working and honest country boy, comically clumsy but ultimately human
I’m amazed at the contrast of regular, business suit-wearing Henry, vs him in the original Reeves suit. Many people don’t realize that Christopher Reeves was a very big guy, but so is Henry. Cavill looks like an absolute beast in the interview, then seeing him in the original suit, I was honestly a bit skeptical as to whether photoshop was used or not. Both great actors, and much more importantly, human beings. Huge respect for both of them.
Henry was coming off of The Cold Light of Day where he had to lose his Immortals physique. He was much smaller then than he was when he was on Graham Norton. The Norton clip was after he had already bulked up for Superman for Man of Steel and BvS where he was jacked.
Plain and simple, you guy's might've mentioned this haven't seen the vid yet, it's insane to think your clumsy, shy coworker is an alien god-like superhero.
One of my favorite moments in comics was when Superman was drunk and was mistaken for Bruce so he went on a yacht where Death Stroke tried to kill Bruce and Supes just through him off the boat after being shot and broke his sword
The only two people who find out that Clark and Superman are one, and genuinely instantly understand, are Mr. Terrific and Batman. Mr. Terrific because he knows that Clark is the genuine personality, and Batman because he understands the need to present as someone different, even if you could handle the problem as your non-suited self
I think Mr Terrific has some kind of photographic memory too. So that kind of removes the issue of only being face to face with Supes once every few months for the next assemble cast events dealing with earth shattering disasters. He can just pull out both faces from his memory and compare anytime he feels suspicious
I think scenes of superheroes doing little things like saving talking down a suicidal jumper are great ways to show their character
I love the scene where Batman and Superman help somebody in the dark and Superman scares her because he forgets she can't see in the dark, and Batman scares her because he's just moody
My favorite is in superman returns where Lois and Richard start to talk about it. "hey Clark looks like superman, same height same weight, I wonder " Clark over hears them and all he does is give them a goofy smile and wave and they go "Ha yeah right, no way"
I love the story of when Henry Cavill was in Times Square wearing a Superman t-shirt, standing under Superman billboards and no one recognized him.
Theres a scene in one of the animated series where batman and superman swap suits and batman dressed as superman confronts luthor who trues to use kryptonite and then gets waffle stomped by batman and he absolutely goes bonkers wondering why superman was impervious to the kryptonite
I love that scene with Reeve.. its so good. gives me chills.
The interesting thing about Superman, when it comes to his power level, is that catching a plane falling out of the sky and getting a cat out of a tree are about the same difficulty level. It's like a level 120 character doing a level 1 or a level 5 quest in WoW.
Best analogy I've ever heard about Superman is that he's a firefighter... he's there to save lives, fighting villains is optional
Agreed. He's not a cop enforcing the law, he's a first responder.
In regards to Superman’s disguise, I remember that Henry Cavil would walk around Times Square when there where billboards of him and no one would recognise him.
Not the same in any regard? Superman regularly hides amongst people who see both daily. Cavil is constantly recognized in public to this day and was standing in one of the most crowded areas in New York.
Bilingual here.
I speak English and Portuguese and my thinking language depends on the last one i used. It's harder to pay attention to things in separate languages at the same time than if they were the same language. For example if i'm speaking with a friend online in english i can multitask and read something in english but it'd be nearly impossible for me to do it in portuguese.
One big aspect of his Clark Kent outfit that was dropped after the Golden Age was the fedora hat he would wear to work during the 40s. When he was out in the field working as CK, he had that fedora on. So it was not always just the glasses changing the shape of his face.
There was a comic where clark/superman were in the same place as each other and it only worked because superman was moving so fast that he was physically dressing and undressing into and out of costume in different locations. Part of the comic had the normal clothing combust during the dual appearance.
I remember in middle school, my friend told me I looked complete different without my glasses. He said I looked like a nerd with them, and a serial killer without them.
26:10 the thing about Superman getting a cat out of the tree, why it's important to show that, and how Batman mocks it a little... in addition to it simply being in Superman's nature to just be a good person and help out, is you have to consider that, to Superman, there's no material difference between getting a cat out of a tree and catching a falling jet. They're both contemptuously easy feats to achieve. Both just little things to do to make others' days easier. You get an appreciation of Superman's power when stopping an out of control train and getting a cat out of a tree are basically the same thing
I remember an episode of Dean cain's superman where a time-traveling villian mocks Lois' journalistic capabilities by putting on a pair of glasses and saying "I'm Clark Kent," takes glasses off, "I'm superman!".
The good time-traveler tries to excuse her not seeing it despite how many times she was face to face with both by saying that love is blind.
Don't forget that Tempus called Lois "galactically stupid" for not recognizing Clark is Superman.
23:00 one of the best friendship moments between Batman and superman comes from the batfamily webcómic, in which there's a chapter where alfred goes to visita the kents and superman is with Batman trying to figure out what they're talking about
I love that scene in Young Justice where Oceanmaster discovers the place where superheroes' children go to play together and Lady Shiva stops him from killing the children as it would be a "nuclear option". I love the idea of supervillains knowing the secret identity of heroes and just letting them play boring humans lives for 8 hours a day.
One moment I love in injustice year zero, which is before all hell breaks loose, joker has an old amulet that can corrupt and control the heroes but Superman fights it and joker is so surprised but Batman just says ‘he’s to good for you to ever understand. He’s Superman.’ And I think it’s a great moment.
I know this is different but one of my favourite scenes in justice league cartoon is when flash and lex swap bodies so lex goes to a mirror and takes off the flash mask and realised he has no idea who wally west is.
The thing about certain things drawing attention to certain parts of your face is very true. My mum once told me how someone she went to school with used to have slightly crooked teeth; apparently they didn't really look bad on her, according to my mum if anything she looked quite cute and interesting, but she hated her teeth so she had a surgery to fix them. Once her teeth looked more normal, my mum said she had never even noticed, but she actually had quite a big nose; the teeth used to take the attention away from her nose, but now it was the first thing you'd notice about her.
My Mum said a similar thing about someone's teeth realignment, except without the nose thing. She claimed that the teeth had given the person charm, it made 'em look cute! Once they got them straightened though she said they "look like any other forgettable face you'd see in a commercial".
You're so right about the banter thing. It's so hard to joke with someone. Even people that have known me for years and know I'm not being serious what so ever, still won't get my sarcasm or jokes. Only a select few of my friends get it
I forget who first proposed it, but there was a theory that Clark has three personalities: Superman, Clark Kent, and Kal-El. Superman is obviously the paragon superhero and Clark Kent is the bumbling reporter. Whereas, Kal-El is his "true" personality and is an amalgam of the two, an opportunity for him to be himself, and that the only time Superman gets to relax is when he is with people who knows both identities.
The most underrated part of Superman's secret identity is that he very publicly has a real name and address. His name is Kal-El and he lives in The Fortress of Solitude. He's an alien with a family name, a famous secret base, and no mask - why would it occur to anyone that he even has a secret identity to hide?
Batman gets found out all the time by a bunch of different people, in part *because* he goes to such effort so hide it. He's hiding his face, his sidekick, the paper trail on his gadgets, the location of the Batcave - there's too many ways for someone to figure out his identity, be they an ancient assassin or a 10 yo boy. But Superman? He doesn't even *look* like he's hiding something, and you already know he's a space alien, so what's there to look for?
This turned out to be a great talk about Superman instead of just his disguise 👍
I remember there being a comic where bad guys plan most of their crimes in women restrooms because they know Superman has x-ray vision but would never check there.
Something I love is that when people see Clark’s physicality or strength it’s explained as his farm strength from how he grew up
In the Superman 3 novelization it's explained that Clark is the disguise, when he's under the influence of the synthetic Kryptonite he expressed his hatred of making himself appear weak instead of flaunting his full power at all times, but again that was when he was sick from fake Kryptonite.
At 1 of my jobs we had to have our names on our shirt. As a prank, one day I came in with someone else's shirt on but I also was clean shaven, parted my hair differently, and dpoke in a lower register. Except for those i had to tell, nobody knew who I was for most of the day. This was a place where we had to wear badges with pictures, but i hid mine and just told people that it wasn't ready. It was very interesting watching people as they figured it out.
One thing I loved about Tyler Hoechlin's portrayal of Superman is that the Clark you see is not an act. In an episode of Supergirl (when his character first appeared), Clark and Kara were getting off an elevator and he bumped into someone and papers went flying and he was all flustered. Kara told him "you really have that bumbling reporter act down pat!", and he responded "Yeah..... it's no act." It's like, he lets his guard down when he's Clark and is just being himself, and Clark Kent really is humble boyscout.
Always loved the scene in the comic where he talks the person trying to commit suicide down.
You know superman doesn't have to lose pa or ma Kent to become superman. The animated series has the best rendition of superman, and he still has both parents. It always bugged me.
Also, the few times I've liked "ma/pa kent dies" is when it's specifically of something Clark can't do anything about. Heart problems/cancer/etc. Because it's infinitely more relatable that even Superman is powerless to stop that slow decline than "And then Pa Kent died to a tornado because reasons"
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong biggest problem I had with man of steel was how they handled pa Kent's death, it was so stupid, he basically said "no let me die, you could save me with the hurricane causing chaos and nobody would notice, but no let me die and be scarred for life...."
Before the constant rebooting came about at the early 2010's, both parents would still be alive in the comics. Clark would stop by the farm and talk to pa when things got tough... but I think Pa Kent is dead now, just because I remember there being a story line about Pa's passing.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrongAgreed. That's what taught Clark the value of human life. It's what made him cherish it all the more. It's why he's so compassionate and kind.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong In a recent retelling of Superman's origins, Clark is an open secret in Smallville. They won't rat on him because he's a Kent and they're good people. When he first started manifesting powers around age 10, the first person he told was Lana Lang. You know, the girl he has a crush on. 🥰 But that's not dark and gritty, so letting children and family die to protect his secret is an option for certain people.
There is a body builder called anatoly on the internet who dresses as a janitor and goes to gym's to lift amazing weight. He is the perfect example of a real life clark kent persons.
David Bowie used to get around New York without being recognised by carrying a Greek newspaper. People just thought it was some Greek bloke who looked like David Bowie.
My favorite Superman as Batman moments is when he poses as Bruce Wayne for him, and Deathstroke tries to kill him since he was sent to kill Bruce Wayne, and Superman as Bruce Wayne punches him into the ocean while drunk on neurotoxin
My brother and I once had a deep conversation about how Batman and Superman are mirrors of each other. Our conclusion was that the core difference was that Batman fights crime for vengeance and saves people incidentally, while Superman is there to help people and stops crime incidentally. At the end of the day crime got stopped and people saved but Batman wasn't there for you, he was there for the criminal and Superman didn't really care about the criminal he cared about the people the criminal could have hurt.
Another layer which I don’t think I’ve ever heard brought up in universe - how many celebrity look alikes are there irl? And even non-celebrity look alikes. If anyone does notice the similarity despite all the layers discussed in the vid, Clark can just dismiss it as he just happens to be a Superman look alike, and if he ever loses his reporter job, he could always fall back on playing Superman for one of those groups that cosplay as Superheroes and go around children’s hospitals to do charity work.
And if anyone brings up that under his clothes he’s ripped, he just needs to point out he’s a farm boy from Kansas who grew up doing hard physical labour and still goes home on his vacation days to do said work and help out Ma Kent around the farm.
There was a bit in one comic set shortly after he debuted where Lois meets him at his apartment and comments on the football trophies from high school and the weight set he has as an explanation for being in shape. She makes a comment she's surprised that it works given they're not much heavier weights than she uses to workout and he realizes he goofed because he didn't know what sort of weights he should be using.
something else to mention, in one of the comic runs, it's revealed that the glasses also amplifies Superman's low level hypnosis abilities (cause of course the guy who can shoot mini-clones of himself from his hands also has hypnosis, man has he had every possible power at some point...) to where they literally see Superman and Clark as two separate people. They even have him beat the villain of the week by hypnotizing people to not be hypnotized... which makes his disguise fail.
I love Superman so. And so do you, and it shows, thank you. It is when they play up his aspirational nature, the "They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son" quote from the first movie is a perfect example.
There was this post circulating tumblr some years ago where Clark Kent is in Gotham and he is about to get whacked with giant mallet by Harley Quinn I think. I don't remember the exact details, but he basically goes into super thinking mode and has a long analyzing session with himself on how to realistically fake getting hurt by a big hammer because he has no idea what is expected to happen when a human gets hit by that thing. It just made me appreciate the lengths he goes through to sell his persona
There was a scene from the comic book Trinity that was Wonder Woman holding her lasso of truth with Superman, and Batman. She asked who they are - Superman replied with two names - Kal El, Clark Kent, and Batman replied with Batman.
Great video. When Star Trek Deep Space 9 premiered it took me three weeks to realize that Captain Sisko was played by the same actor that played Hawk in the Spenser for Hire TV series. Avery Brooks shaved off his beard and mustache to play Sisko. But his attitude was completely different as Sisko also.
I've heard the in universe explanation that no one realizes Superman has an alter ego and that's a pretty good explanation of why people don't see Superman in Clark Kent. But I have said for years what you are saying. It's not just the glasses it's the physical performance and attitudes of Clark. People don't pay attention to things that they don't like. Clark being painfully shy and slouching have people actively turning away from him. They don't want to see him. And so can't see Superman in the guise of Clark Kent. (Read that last line in Ted Knight's voice). Whatcha mean you don't know who Ted Knight is?
I watched Mary Tyler Moore. I heard Ted's voice perfectly. 😀
@@phoebegilliland8897 thank you. I'm glad someone got that. 😎
Did you know Henry Caville stood in Times Square near a Batman vs Superman movie billboard wearing a Superman t-shirt and NOBODY recognized him.
Yeah, it might be obvious, but my favourite Superman bit is that single page from All-Star Superman when he comforts the suicidal girl as well.
I'm not the biggest fan of Grant Morrison, not my cup of tea. But that page? Pure gold. Best thing they've ever written, in my opinion.
They did a joke in the Scooby Doo cross where Velma lost her glasses and Lois and Jimmy Olsen instantly thought Velma had vanished and someone new took her place.
So I actually have the explanation for the Injustice games using things like your example of Harley using a baseball bat. Superman has a relatively unknown power that his invincibility extends slightly beyond his body so he can to a limited extent transfer his invulnerability to people and objects he touches and I believe in the Louis and Clark show they use this power to explain why his suit doesn't rip in combat. So while Harley has Kriptonian powers from the pill her baseball bat and her clothing have Kriptonian strength. This also helps explain how Superman can catch a falling person without them being killed from the rapid deceleration or why a bumper on a car isn't just ripped off when he throws them. Additionally Superman can "turn off" or reduce this power at will so that he can still destroy things and inflict damage to his opponents.
I can attest to the eyglass thing. I have piercing blue eyes but wear glasses almost all the time and it actually changes how my eyes look. Even people who have known me for years will do a double take if I don't have them on because it alters my appearance so drastically.
I have grey eyes. With glasses, they look dull blue. Without glasses, my wife says that they are a striking grey.
My favorite scene from Justice League is Batman and Superman having coffee, because I just like to imagine some thug/supervillain spotting the Batmobile, thinking they’re gonna get the drop on Bats, just to look inside and see he’s got Superman in there with him.
I fully believe Clark could fool everyone with the suit and glasses, for a few reasons.
One, so many people that Superman interacts with would probably never know who Clark is, so they'd have no reason to associate them.
Two, most people who interact with Superman do so very briefly and probably don't retain a detailed memory of his face, so if they ever do see Clark, they don't see it as the same face.
Three, (and this is strictly anecdotal pertaining directly to myself) I often fail to recognize my coworkers when I see them out of uniform away from work. At best I may think to myself "why does that dude look so familiar?"
I even failed to recognize my own niece at the drive-thru window at a local fast food place! She had started working there and I didn't know. I stopped in to pick up dinner and she was running the window. I kept thinking "Dang! This girl looks so much like
Not Superman related exactly, but there was a one shot comic where Batman was injured and Wonder Woman goes to Gotham to fill in. It was fun seeing the back and forth with the villains because obviously she’s much more powerful than Batman, but she’s not used to the lengths these villains are willing to go to.
I've never thought that much about how Superman's disguise works, but this Factfiend episode was certainly an eye-opener for me. It makes so much more sense now. Thanks for this fun and enlightening episode.
I want a DC movie to have Superman and Clark Kent to be played by two actors who look COMPLETELY different.
My favorite hotdog comes from when I was in elementary school (1st - 5th grade US) during Foot Long Hotdog Day, where you were served a link of two all beef franks on a single foot long bun the ladies made themselves. It had no rivals, and was only surpassed by one day. The fabled day. The single day of Foot Long Chili Hotdog Day, where the ladies in the lunchroom had made way too much chili for a bake sale and had almost enough to top every hotdog they had. I will never forget that day.
Also, Pre New 52, Clark was a master at the Meisner acting technique, so Clark is so different from Superman in his own head. Superman is a character.
The reason I love Hoechlin and Reeves so much is because when you see them as Clark Kent... even though we know it's fake we all think...
"If I didn't know. I could have worked with him for YEARS and be shocked if he ever told me he goes to the GYM!"
And yet when they put on the costume it TRANSFORMS them!
Cavill? I mean... bro... I love you but if your Clark ever even wore a blue shirt 👕 "Dat mother*cker Superman!" INSTANTLY
You’re not wrong, Cavill’s got that brooding pout on his face irregardless of if he’s supes or not.
Cavil tried that. Noone noticed
He did that once. Specifically a blue shirt with the S on it In Times Square. Surrounded by adverts of him as Supes in BvS. Nobody noticed.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrongY'know... I did always wonder if that was the case, or if it was just New York being New York like "ah fuck, another celebrity standing in the middle of the god damn street. Hope he leaps his super-ass over the nearest building in a single bound so I don't have to trample him."
@@anna-flora999 In a very, very busy part of the city with a bunch of strangers. Totally the same thing right?
Them talking about posture reminded me of when I genuinely startled my friend because he thought I was something like 5ft6 when I’m really 5ft10 because I have an awful posture so when he stated his confusion on how despite being the same height I was somehow 4 inches taller than him so I stood non slouched and he took an actual step back because he was genuinely surprised at the sudden change of height
I think a great way to show Pa kents teachings and keep him alive as happens in some comics, would be have a family friend or even one of Clarks school friends commit suicide, this can be a teaching moment that Clark could have used his powers but sometimes theyre not needed to save someone or wouldnt help and some people just need someone to talk to
Just this weekend my friend passed me by 3 times when we were supposed to meet, turns out, she never saw me with my hair down and in the end only recognized me due to my jewelry XD
Someone from corridor did the super man disguise, they wore a hat and bodysuit and went into the office as an “electrician” to fix something and IT WORKS. He also did the Batman disappear mid sentence thing and it also worked, although a little goofier
i know superman's disguise works because people i've known for years sometimes don't recognize me when i'm not wearing glasses. throw on a whole new persona, body language, and mannerisms, no one think twice about clark
There's also a comic from the superman mullet days, where they run supermans face (and body I think) through a computer and it comes up with a model and bodybuilder who look a lot like him
I can't really make fun of the superman disguise. A friend of mine grew up with some thick eye glasses and after he got lasik eye surgery only his absolute closet friends and family would recognize him on sights and some times people wouldn't even place him during a conversation until he told them who he was. Honestly thought I was being pranked for a while, but it happened too often and randomly for it to be planned.