Superman has hidden his true identity from the people of Earth under the guise of Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, but after decades of Superman mythology, the Man of Steel no longer needs Clark Kent as his human alter ego anymore. Clark Kent is well-known for being the name given to the infant Superman by Jonathan and Martha Kent after his arrival on Earth from his doomed home planet of Krypton, Kal-El being his birth name on his home world. When Clark eventually becomes Superman as an adult, he uses the name and personality of Clark Kent in a very different function, donning a pair of thick glasses and adopting the persona of a timid, clumsy reporter for the Daily Planet, in order to throw off detection that he is, in fact, Superman.
The secret identity concept is one common to many, if not most, superheroes, but even in this regard, Superman is unique, with Clark Kent being the mask to hide Superman rather than the other way around. To be sure, the Clark Kent persona has served Superman well in both his comic book origins and the many other mediums he has been adapted into. However, even many Superman fans get a lot wrong about him, and one area where that is becoming the case is the fact that Superman has moved beyond the need to use Clark Kent as a disguise any longer.
The Clark Kent-Superman Dichotomy Comes From the Infancy of Superheroes
While the human identity of Clark Kent has been a staple of Superman since his creation, it is also important to remember the time the Man of Steel originated in, along with his status as the progenitor of the entire concept of superheroes. When Superman first debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938, the template he set for superheroes was one of protectors who create a public image with their costumes and powers, while carrying out all of their missions and rescues anonymously. With the example set by Superman, future DC and Marvel heroes like Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, and Spider-Man followed suit.
However, with over eight decades of history behind him, Superman has evolved as much as his fellow superheroes and the entire superhero genre have. The idea of Superman not just masking himself behind the guise of a mild-mannered reporter, but indeed even what a mild-mannered reporter is, has fallen more and more into the background. This can be seen in the scale of threats Superman protects Earth from increasing exponentially from his debut, along with more and more of Superman’s supporting characters being in on his secret. At a certain point, Superman hiding who he really is from the public starts to look less and less necessary he’s gone from fighting Great Depression era gangsters to battling General Zod, Brainiac, and Darkseid, and the necessity of Superman disguising himself as Clark Kent has become a visibly lessening priority in many different storytelling mediums.
Clark Has Revealed Himself As Superman (in Multiple Mediums) in Modern Times
In modern times, storytellers have begun embracing the idea of Superman revealing his identity and alien origins to the world, beginning of the ground floor of Superman’s comic book foundation. In Superman #18, Brian Michael Bendis’ “Truth” story arc did the unthinkable and saw Superman reveal himself as Clark Kent in a press conference, along with his alien origins as Kal-El from the destroyed planet Krypton. Though Superman has since returned to carrying a secret identity, “Truth” demonstrated how much times have changed and gradually lessened the functionality of Clark Kent as a disguise, along with emphasizing Superman’s innate honesty on the most public stage possible.
Superman has also begun, to varying degrees, shedding the secret identity device of Clark Kent in movies and TV as well in the 21st century, as well. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel greatly alters Superman’s traditional relationship with Lois Lane by having her meet him as a super-powered alien and see him don the Superman identity. Only by the end of the movie does Kal-El take on the Clark Kent persona at the Daily Planet (itself a markedly similar Clark Kent-Superman origin as was seen in the Superman: Earth One graphic novel series), while there are also subtle hints in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that Perry White is in on Clark’s secret, too. Additionally, Superman & Lois‘ final season sees the people of Smallville gradually getting wise to Clark’s secret, before he finally reveals himself as Superman, first by taking a bullet to the chest without injury in Smallville’s diner, and then revealing his identity in a news interview. With such an evolution of his portrayal in comics, movies, and TV, the world has slowly but surely come to terms with the idea that while Clark Kent is Superman’s given name from his adoptive parents on Earth, using it as a secret identity is falling more and more by the wayside.
The World Sees Superman (& Clark Kent) Differently Than They Did in 1938
While Superman was originally presented as a stalwart (and far less powerful) social crusader in Action Comics #1, he’s grown into the personification of both hope and strength. Since the first Christopher Reeve-led Superman movie in 1978, the Man of Steel is also very frequently portrayed as a Jesus-figure in comics, movies, TV, and every other medium, while some even go straight to emphasizing him as Superman first with Clark Kent as a public disguise all but secondary. DC’s ongoing Absolute Universe has been especially emphatic on that portrayal of the Last Son of Krypton, with Absolute Superman completely eschewing Kal-El being raised by the Kents and landing on Earth as a Kryptonian refugee and warrior for Earth’s downtrodden (which itself sets up a completely different origin for Superman’s Clark Kent identity). With such a shift in the many different ways Superman has been portrayed since 1938, it is becoming worth asking what point a secret identity even serves for him anymore.
That isn’t to say that Superman being brought up as Clark Kent by his adoptive Earth parents needs to be abandoned. However, in both his own world and in every form of entertainment he is presented in, Superman has become a hero for whom what you see is truly what you get. Once upon a time, when Superman rescued people from disasters or fought supervillains, the people he saved were compelled to ask “Who are you?” Fast-forward to modern times, they have their answer as soon as he shows up. He no longer needs to hide behind the identity of Clark Kent. He’s Superman.
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