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[off topic] There was a comic where someone slips Clark Kent information about an illegal plant dumping chemicals. He shows up as Superman and stops the crime, but the whistleblower is angry that Kent informed Superman instead of digging up the names of the real owners.
This is off topic, what does that scrawny journalist Clark Kent have to do with Superman?
Scrawny? Looks a bit overweight if you ask me.
He’s a corn fed Kansas boy, that probably all muscle.
Kansas farm boy, that’s critical. You don’t get that physique just by living in Kansas and eating corn all day, you gotta have those years of hard child labor, too.
Conversely, there have been quite a few stories where Clark basically decides Superman would be inefficient at actually solving the issue, so he either busts out the handy dandy notebook and takes them down with his pen, or he calls in the big guns and tips off Lois (because the only thing more satisfying than smashing a corrupt asshole’s things is siccing your Pulitzer winning wife on them).
He’s a very good reporter. Got a real nose for a story, like he can see through walls or hear conversations behind closed doors or something. It’s weird.
I think that George Reeves had the best Clark Kent. Most other versions play Clark for laughs. Reeves played him as a day-to-day reporter, easy going but not a chump.
I wouldn’t say “most” versions play Clark as a chump, though Christopher Reeves is clearly playing up the “mild-mannered” schtick quite a bit in arguably the most well known depiction in the last 50 years.
Most versions play Clark as competent, they just don’t bother to really dig into Clark as the crack reporter, because that’s Lois’ primary thing, so they give her that screentime.
The most recent animated show, My Adventures With Superman, actually does a good job of making Clark the reporter an integral part of the story.
I haven’t seen My Adventures… yet. I have seen the non-bald Mxyzptlk and am filled with righteous indignation.
I think folks don’t appreciate how the DC big characters actually work outside of their superheroics to fight the badguys.
The other example is Batman, People watch the Nolan movies and don’t realize that 99% of the time Batman is doing detective work following up on leads from other super detectives, including Clark, or putting his vast wealth to work trying to uproot the poverty and corruption in Gotham without getting killed by the entrenched interests making use of that poverty and corruption.
His supporting cast is literally just him being the world’s most over the top big brother program member, save entirely other lead superheros, everyone in Batman’s belfry is some degree of rescue case from the streets or an abusive past life.
The CIA being completely fooled by the pair of glasses would be a pretty good take for a show series.
Don Adams was born too early
Make it a movie or series and I’ll watch it. Only problem Henry Cavil isn’t good in comedies
He might still fit because you would think clark Kent’s humour would be very dry and mostly rely on timing. The contrast would be great having the silliness come from the CIA characters who could be extremely animated and frustrated. I can only imagine the scenes about the CIA agents trying to explain to their boss why they keep failing
Yeah he could be a good straight man.
That would be the best way for it to work. He barely notices these guys, and they keep failing…. Like Michael Palin in “A Fish called Wanda”
Not a bad idea actually
I did not remember Stephen Fry having a cameo in that movie.
23 Jump Street
It absolutely would work.
Directed by the Coen Brothers
Directed by Wes Anderson, with Jason Schwartzman playing Superman/Clark Kent, Saoirse Ronan as Lois Lane, Bill Murray playing Perry White, and Owen Wilson as Luthor. CIA boss played by Jeff Goldblum, vice-President of the USA played by Anjelica Huston, and President not seen on-screen but voice acted by Ira Glass.
What the hell I want this now
chatGPT suggested Saoirse Ronan as a new straight-lady now that Anjelica Huston is old. The rest is me, and I agree, it would be awesome.
Yeah Jim Carrey would be a CIA agent here not Clark Kent.
I’m picturing something like Lilo and Stitch lol
The man from uncle was great as he just played a straight face man and the comedic stuff happened around him
Yeah comedy doesn’t need to be about acting funny. Put Jim Carey in the same role and it’s a flop (that the reviews would call being carried by Jim, eh).
Jim Carey is great in serious roles though, right?
True. I imagined the body/sound comedy Carey.
Ok, then I agree wholeheartedly.
Wasn’t Justice League a comedy? I thought it was pretty funny.
It might with Superman being completely oblivious that they’re trying to kill him so he’s just playing it straight. The CIA would be poisoning him and stuff and Superman would just not even notice.
It’s funnier if he plays the role completely straight anyway.
Hey now, this last season of Witcher is hilarious, once you know the background drama between the diehard fans and the greedy fucks actually pulling the levers. I don’t think I’ve seen Geralt with fewer fucks to give, and I’ve put in hours in those games (IIRC, only Skyrim tops that total). 🤣😅🥹
Jon Hamm is though
Hell the CIA had enough trouble trying to kill Castro, exploding cigars etc, etc etc, that this would almost write itself. And since they were so bad at killing a normal human I doubt they would ever get suspicious that Clarke manages to avoid every trap they set for him.
Alternate take. Castro was an alien…
You make the wrong assumptions there. The truth behind why we hear about laughable attempts for Castro and not much more isn’t that this is how the CIA rolls. It could also be that this is one of the few times they failed at all.
Issue there is that they couldn’t try to kill him directly. Always had to be by proxy.
With Che they learned from all the Castro attempts and just straight up tortured him to death
Huh? Che was captured and executed by Bolivians.
Bolivian funded by and answerable to the CIA. The CIA funded his hunt and capture but conveniently claim they didn’t want him dead. In the end it was the CIA money that killed him
The CIA wanted him sent to Panama, Bolivians themselves chose to kill him.
But Che was executed by the Bolivian army before the CIA could interrogate him? They didn’t get a chance to torture him.
One scene could be where they’re in the office and the facial recognition software keeps trying to identify Clark Kent as Superman, but they just can’t believe it, and one guy says “That’s not Superman just look at him. This guy wears glasses!”.
Edit: In case anyone out there reading this is actually from the CIA, we’re just kidding guys/gals, we believe in you.
Superman is what Clark Kent might look like if he got in shape. Clark’s just a big awkward farmboy with a strong jawline and bad eyes. He slouches, he can’t read the room, and he always looks like he’s worried about knocking things over.
You want the CIA to believe that a solar-powered alien spends his time bumbling around an office? Do you really think this cape-wearing demigod - who could no doubt pluck a nuclear submarine from the ocean depths and drop it off on the moon - has a day job? As a byline-chasing nuisance? Get real.
this genuinely sounds like it could be a plot line on the Harley Quinn series
Seeing Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent reminds me how good he was and how I miss him.
I love Cavill but sorry he failed his acting of CK. With or without the costume he plays as Superman.
Best superman line I’ve seen is from the CW version.
“Hey! Nice suit!”
“Thanks, my mom made it for me!”
Superman and Lois is so underrated. The stigma around the CW DC shows is well earned, but it really doesn’t deserve to be grouped in with them. In fact it made a point of distancing itself from them by explicitly stating it’s not part of the Arrowverse.
There’s a lot going on in that show really doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Particularly watching Clark Kent be a father is aces.
The stigma around the CW DC shows is well earned
I still lament the loss of the Dragonriders of Pern series that they were going to do but f’d up.
This scene always comes to mind when I think of Reeve’s performance: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tNUu6Lf9mVU
This scene always comes to mind when I think of Reeve’s performance
For me its the “General, care to step outside?” scene (and Zod’s reply line).
That, any scene with his unique smile.
Still better than Brandon Routhe. Sorry Brandon, I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but your Superman sucked
Nah, Brandon Routhe was fine, it’s just his Superman is written incredibly passive, and he was more or less being told "You’re Christopher Reeves Superman so…do that. We’re not going to give you any material that comes close to what Chris got to work with, but, ya know, still do it. "
It’s just such a bizarrely written movie in the first place, I have trouble blaming anyone in it for their performances. Well… except for that one guy we don’t talk about anymore.
That’s a really good point. I didn’t notice until you said it, but yeah, he plays Kent and Superman exactly the same.
but yeah, he plays Kent and Superman exactly the same.
Well it was a more serious movie, for a more serious time, than the original Superman movie, so to expect that kind of goofy Clark Kent type of acting wouldn’t be realistic.
Yeah goofy Clark Kent has not been a thing for a while in Superman media, anyone expecting that in a modern movie is showing their age a bit.
anyone expecting that in a modern movie is showing their age a bit.
Well to be fair, I’m that age as well. I actually saw that movie in the theater.
But yes, it’s not for modern audiences, they have different tastes now.
I don’t see the issue with him playing both characters the same. That’s as valid an interpretation as any, and much more in line with modern Superman.
The idea of Clark as a bumbling mild-mannered reporter as part of his disguise is very dated.
Eh, Christopher Reeves switching between demeanors as Superman and Clark Kent is timeless.
Any distinction would help. Flip it around if you like, especially for this: Clark Kent has a vicious wit. He’s a nightmare to interview with, because he can cut through bullshit in a nanosecond, with questions that make liars look like fools. People being honest and cooperative have a better time, but he can still judo them into clarity where they would desperately prefer deniable ambiguity. He could make St. Peter sweat. And the CIA intends to arrange that meeting.
Nobody believes this Clark is Superman because Superman is nice.
Compare the inspiration for All-Star Superman. Grant Morrison saw a cosplayer utterly at ease and realized invincibility means never having to flinch. When he squares his shoulders and stands tall, it’s only to remind people, he is an unstoppable force and an immovable object. There’s no reason to posture like that when he’s getting cats out of trees or whatever. In the absence of violence, he interacts with people the way adults interact with friendly toddlers, all easy smiles and gentle encouragement. We’re doing great! Watch your head on the table.
The best part of this twist would be Lex Luthor. He’s the only psychopath clever enough to play at Clark Kent’s level. And he has enough money and foresight that his cover-ups… work. So every time they interact, it’s some Death Note shit, with layers of performance and I-know-you-know, all going unstated. His rivalry with Superman is relaxed. Flying paragon in brightly-colored spandex? A threat to his criminal empire, sure, but one that’s a lot simpler to plan for. He can even gloat in that beady-eyed alien’s face. Every victory over Clark thorn-in-his-side Kent has to be supremely private.
If there’s a repeat of that time Clark and Lex are held hostage together “until Superman shows up,” that might be the only time he gets to be honest with the nosy bastard. They’re truly alone together in some empty bank vault, watching a time bomb tick down, and Clark asks: ‘So how did you hide those tanker shipments?’ Lex lets the mask drop, and tells him, ‘There weren’t any. They never existed. The smuggled material came in as shirt buttons.’ Lex becomes the only living human to hear someone swear in Kryptonian.
I love Cavill but sorry he failed his acting of CK.
How did he fail? Honestly asking.
The stache
The stache
Thought that was post-editing shenanigans?
That was Henry Cavill being called back for reshoots after principal photography had already wrapped months before. By that point he was already working on another role, and the mustache was part of it. He made a perfectly understandable decision to say “I’ll do reshoots and help you fix this dumpster fire you made, but I’m still committed to this other role, so fix the stache in post”.
Yeah kinda but the guy could have still just shaved it
No, he couldn’t. He was reshooting those scenes after he’d already started production on another movie. One in which his character had a mustache. That was absolutely not on him, it was on the directors for not being competent enough to make a decent movie the first time around.
This is the first pitch on Reddit or Lemmy in 12 years that is actually good and doable and interesting. Make Lex Luthor one of the assassins in his early days… Yada yada yada
I’m kinda wondering if this would actually work with the audience who knows Superman’s lore. It’d be like watching an episode of Blues Clues. “Gee, I can’t seem to figure out why those nineteen whole bullets that absolutely hit him square in the chest didn’t even slightly kill the guy.” “HE’S SUPERMAN YOU CONSUMMATE DINK!”
All of the assassination attempts would need to involve less overt methods. Poisoning, pushing from tall buildings, etc. Most likely they’d need to outsource the jobs to mercenaries, since the CIA agents would figure it out immediately.
Edit: I wonder if my response just landed me on some list. Ugh…
Edit: I wonder if my response just landed me on some list. Ugh…
Honestly, there’s times I wonder if all of us who just post on Lemmy would be on some list.
Because of the communism? There are fascist Lemmy instances too though.
Because of the communism?
No, because of the perceived ‘radicalism’ for those who like to express their opinion.
I was half serious and half kidding, by the way.
just using Linux automatically puts you on a list iirc…
deleted by creator
Only problem is they wouldn’t be surprised their attempts failed. Nearly everything the CIA touches goes wrong.
Nearly everything the CIA touches goes wrong.
To be fair, if they’re doing their job right, we will never hear of it.
They might be surprised when they slip 50x the lethal dose of a toxic only they know about into his food and he doesn’t even notice.
Turns out due to poor inventory management, it expired in 1967 and has degraded to a non-toxic state
Better yet, it achieves a hyper toxic airborne state - nearly everyone in the downtown skyscraper where they try to poison him goes passes out.
It’s only by the timely arrival of Superman to super-breath the ventilation systems that anyone makes it out alive
“This tea has some zip to it.”
YES. DC COMICS, HIRE THIS MAN. I WANT THIS SO BAD NOW.
I would watch that over Wandavision
I liked Wandavision :(
I don’t like any Marvel stuff but Wandavision was pretty good, until they Marvelled all over it in the last few episodes.
Column of space lasers
Wandavision was one of the last things Marvel has put out that I honestly enjoyed. It’s been much more rough since (with a couple exclusions, but yeah, downhill trend for me mostly)
I enjoyed Loki. I thought the tone for Hawkeye was a bit off. I was expecting a fun Christmas romp and they randomly drop some serious stuff on you.
Not gonna lie though. I haven’t been to the cinema to watch an MCU movie in a while. Shang Chi was the last one, I think? Dr Strange, and Thor getting a critically poor reception made me skip them. Gotg3 did well but now I feel like I gotta do homework to catch up so I couldn’t be arsed.
I agree with the downhill trend. I am looking forward to catching The Marvels though because it looks like fun.
Gotg is standalone. You can watch it right after Endgame and wouldn’t miss anything.
“Standalone” - “watch after endgame” Unfortunately you contradict yourself. My wife watched GotG 1 & 2, but none of the Infinity War or Endgame. If it was truly standalone, then she wouldn’t have been asking me questions about what the heck is going on every five minutes when we’re watching GotG3 and I wouldn’t have had to tell her that people disappeared, but came back, and the timeline got borked, etc.
I had written my comment under the assumption that you hadn’t bothered to keep up with MCU after Endgame.
No shade. I havent seen it. Might be awesome
But Wandavision was great!
Lead CIA agent maxwell smart
Missed him by that much!
Ryan Reynolds as Clark Kent, Hugh Laurie and Keanu Reeves as the CIA leads
Oh man can Laurie be a conspiracy-minded agent like Moulder?
Ooh and Keanu keeps on downplaying or disproving his theories. And then eventually Laurie is right and Keanu is like “Whoa”.
Shit writes itself.
I initially misread as “Hugh Laurie as Keanu Reeves” and it seemed fine.
And they could give it the title “The Death of Clark Kent”
