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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jian" data-source="post: 9662484" data-attributes="member: 78087">I think Clark submits to human justice (even though handcuffs and prison are generally meaningless to him) and obeys human laws because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Is his morality human? Difficult to say, but I’d say it’s infallible narratively in a way that human morality isn’t (do/did the Kents have the same narrative protection? Not necessarily, depending on the writer). Arguably the only other comics character this applies to is Captain America (but let’s not get into a discussion right now about whether Steve is superhuman and if so whether he has superhuman cognitive abilities).This does also bring us to the importance of the secret identity, which hasn’t had much play in recent superhero films (the best example is Peter Parker, probably, but almost* everyone else has no secret identity worth mentioning). Superman can partly ignore social disapproval because he isn’t a social character; Clark is. Being hated upsets Clark but doesn’t stop Superman from doing what he does, because some of the time he can be Clark and go buy groceries like a normal person, safe from all the worship and vitriol that Superman attracts. (This is not something (generally) that anyone else with fame and power can do - it’s not a viable option for Barack Obama, Taylor Swift, or Elon Musk. It’s actually a huge real-life problem for billionaires and celebrities, since they can’t easily form effective relationships and social support networks, and that can be very destructive for them and everyone they affect.)But strip away the identity and Clark/Superman is lost - he has no refuge, no safe connection to humanity, no space to regain balance and sanity. More than Kryptonite, it is his greatest weakness. I wonder how much this version of Superman will consider that. *Yes, there’s Bruce too, of course.</blockquote>

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