Warner Bros. has revealed that James Gunn is hard at work writing his follow-up to Superman, and have used the words “Superman Family” to describe it. Could this be a literal “Superman Family” movie? The concept of the Superman family has been around since the Silver Age of comics, when DC Comics expanded the Man of Steel’s family of Kryptonian characters beyond just one “Last Son of Krypton.” In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, readers were introduced to Supergirl, Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, and more. Even Jimmy Olsen was getting powers every five minutes. By the ‘70s, there were enough extended family members to produce a monthly Superman Family series. That concept keeps getting new life.
In the Pages of DC Comics, the Superman Family Keeps Growing
Since the ‘90s, the Superman Family expanded even more. In addition to Supergirl, there was her alt-universe counterpart, Power Girl, as well as Superman’s teenage clone, Superboy. There was also Steel, who took over for Superman when he was dead, and Kong Kenan, the Superman of China. But more recent developments in the DC Universe have truly made the Kents a nuclear family, with Lois and Clark raising their half-Kryptonian offspring, Jonathan. He even took over the mantle of Superman for a bit, although these days, he’s referred to more commonly as Super Son.
So could the upcoming James Gunn “Superman Family” movie actually just be just that? A story about Superman, Lois, and their mighty family? Now, we highly doubt we’d get anything like the recent Superman and Lois CW series. That show had a version of Lois Lane and Clark Kent that had been married for years, raising twin superpowered sons. It’s doubtful that Gunn is gonna flash forward a decade in time, to show us the Kents raising a super son. If only because that would force the rest of the DCU to catch up. So, how do you do a Super Family movie? Well, even without a young Jon Kent in the picture, you still have options. A few already exist in the DCU.
Supergirl Is Already Part of the DCU
Supergirl is the obvious first choice. Milly Alcock already appeared in Superman in cameo form, and will get her own Supergirl movie next year. Maybe this Superman Family project is merely a Superman/Supergirl team-up, with Krypto added of course. But one extra hero still sounds like “Superman II” to us. Just because Hulk was in Thor: Ragnarok doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a third Thor movie. So yes, we expect Supergirl to be in this follow-up, but she might not be the only superpowered lady in the family.
Rachel Brosnahan Wants Lois to Become Superwoman
Lois Lane has a history of being Superwoman in the comics, at least temporarily. She was recently saving lives as Superwoman as of a few months ago, in the pages of DC Comics. She has since lost her powers again. But actress Rachel Brosnahan has hinted strongly that she wants to play the superpowered version of Lois, and has been asking James Gunn to introduce that angle. While a new Superman follow-up film wouldn’t jump forward a decade, it stands to reason that Lois and Clark could be a married couple by the time we see them again in a few years. Clark could find a way to give his great love some Kryptonian powers, as he did in All-Star Superman. Even if it only lasts only one movie, it could be a great story on the big screen.
Superman Laid the Groundwork for Superboy/Conner Kent to Exist in the DCU
As we mentioned, Superman and Lois have a son, Jon Kent, in the comics. He’s currently the teenage Super Son, and BFFs with Batman’s son Damian Wayne/Robin. But he also has another son….with arch enemy Lex Luthor. Well, sort of. In the early ‘90s, Superman famously died, leading to one of DC Comics’ biggest event stories. As part of the fallout, DC introduced a new Superboy, a clone of Superman, mixed with human DNA. He was force-grown to teenage years in a lab, intended to replace the dead Man of Steel. Eventually, we learn that the human DNA donor was none other than Luthor himself. So yes, in effect, Conner Kent/Kon-El is the son of Superman and Lex.
Seeing as how Superman didn’t exactly raise Conner from childhood, he treats him more like a younger brother. But he’s still part of the Superman family. In Gunn’s Superman, we learn that Lex created a clone of Superman for his own use, Ultraman. But we doubt that Ultraman was his first attempt at a Kal-El clone. He probably made earlier attempts, possibly using his own DNA to fix certain problems. (You know, like how they used frog DNA to fill in gaps when making the dinos in Jurassic Park.) What if Superman discovers a teenage Superboy in LuthorCorps’ cold storage unit, and adopts him? Superboy is also a key member of the Teen Titans, who are getting a movie. So this could be the perfect way to introduce him to the DCU.
The DCU Needs “The Supers”
So if Gunn really wants to do “The Supers,” we have all the ingredients for a nuclear family already in the DCU. We’ve got “Dad” in Clark Kent, our “Mom” in Lois Lane, “big sis” in Kara Zor-El, and possibly “little brother” in the form of Conner Kent, just waiting to be unfrozen in the LuthorCorps basement. Pixar has the Incredibles, Marvel, of course, has the Fantastic Four, so maybe it’s time for James Gunn to unleash “The Supers” into the DCU. As long as the family dog, Krypto, is along for the ride of course. It wouldn’t be the same without him. We’d love to see the Kents and their family vacations on the moon.
Content shared from nerdist.com.