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.
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.