"My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they would reject me. Out of fear. He was convinced that the world wasn't ready. What do you think? "
-Clark Kent (Kal-El)
Kal-El is an humanoid alien from the planet Krypton. As a Kryptonian, Kal-El's unique biology enables him to harness special abilities when in the galaxy of a Yellow Sun. Sent away from his world as a infant by his parents scientist Jor-El and Lara, he was found by Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha in the rural town of Smallville, Kansas U.S.A. who took in the child as their own and raised him, renaming the boy Clark Kent. Growing up discovering his powers, his adoptive parents helped to shape him into becoming Earth's protector using his abilities to help the world, . When his father nemesis General Zod and his army came to Earth intent on taking the planet and exacting revenge, the young Kryptonian chose to embrace both his human upbringing and his extraterrestrial origins as the protector of Earth dubbed by the media, Superman.
Early Life[]
Humble Beginnings[]
"Goodbye my son. Our hopes and dreams travel with you."
-Jor-El to Kal-El.
Kal-El was born on the distant planet Krypton, located several galaxies away to the scientist Jor-El and his wife
Jor-El and Lara saying goodbye to their infant son, Kal-El.
Lara Lor-Van. His birth was both controversial and illegal. Kal-El was a naturally born child, which is outlawed on Krypton where all children are genetically engineered to become a more efficient being. During this time, the planet was involved in a global civil war. When the planet was about to explode and to ensure their son's survival, the couple sent Kal-El away in a small ship design to carry him to safety away from the planet, sending him to Earth, where Jor-El had sent a scout ship prior where Kal-El would grow up with extraordinary abilities and where he would look identical to the planet's natives. His ship lands in Smallville, Kansas in the year 1980 in the United States of America where he was found by a local farming couple, Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha Kent. They took him in and illegally adopted him renaming him "Clark Joseph Kent" after Martha's maiden name. By 1989 at age 9, his body began to change in a way that would define his life forever. To the shock of Jonathan and Martha, Clark began developing super powered abilities the extent of which none of them knew. When Clark's Super Hearing first developed and all the noises he could hear manifested at once, it was troublesome for the young Kryptonian to handle. With guidance from Jonathan and Martha however, Clark managed to gain control over his powers.
In 1993 at 13, whilst travelling on a school bus with friends Lana Lang , Pete Ross, Whitney Fordman and other school children, the bus crashed into a river. With the bus overturned, Clark decided that he must use his abilities to save everybody on the bus and using his super strength, pushed the bus to safety. Several children saw Clark do this with parents defending Clark claiming there was nothing special with him. Back at the Kent Farm, Clark was against trouble and Jonathan tried to tell Clark that he has to hide his abilities from the world if he is to be safe but Clark argued that he shouldn't hide if he can help people. Questioning his place in the world, Jonathan decided to reveal to Clark how he came to them. In the barn, Jonathan revealed Clark's ship find you and Jose Castaneda Roni gerning neighbor visitor. to him along with the House of El Key confirming Clark is an alien and came to them from the stars. Shocked, hurt and afraid, Clark asked if he could still pretend to be Jonathan's son who simply hugged his adoptive son and said he will always be his son. Jonathan said that Clark must in time find the reason he was sent to Earth.
Tragedy[]
In late 1997 Clark Kent's life would change forever. While on a family outing with his parents, the family gets stuck in a traffic jam on a highway when a tornado swept through the region. People began evacuating their vehicles with Jonathan telling Clark to get Martha to safety. Clark realised he could help people with his abilities but Jonathan told him to to not use them and to keep them secret. As Jonathan was helping other people, Clark came to help taking a little girl to safety. In the ensuing chaos, Jonathan died filling Clark with guilt. The lost of his father filled the 17 yr old with a void of contrition that not even his mother could break him from.
Shortly after this traumatic episode, Clark heeded his fathers wishes and left Smallville on a quest to find the reason he was sent to Earth.
The Hero's Journey[]
\Getting a job on a crab boat, one day Clark saw a huge Oil Rige ablaze in the distance and jumped overboard to try and help anybody on board. Finding people below deck, he helped them to the helipad where the Coast Guard arriving to transport people to safety. Clark raced the people to the helipad and ushered them aboard the chopper when a piece of rigging began to fall on the helipad. Clark using his strength held it up long enough for the chopper to get clear before a huge explosion sent Clark flying into the water unconscious. Awakening, Clark swam ashore and stole some clothes before skipping town.
Whilst working in a highway bar and seeing several men grope and abuse women, Clark intervened which caused a bar fight with one punching Clark to no effect. Instead of retaliating, Clark goes outside and takes out his anger on bits of metal. Not wanting any more attention, he skips town.
He gets a job working for a chopper company near to the site and gets the bags of
who is there to report on the ship for the Daily Planet. Clark then goes to the site himself and away from the watching military, uses his Heat Visions through the ice down to the ship before the ships defences begin attacking Clark. Lois, who see's Clark, decides to follow him is also attacked by the defences and Clark sees her and saves her taking her back to the surface revealing to her his special powers.
Discovery of his Origins[]
"I have so many questions. Where do I come from?"
-Clark to Jor-El.
After rescuing Lane, Clark made his way back to the vessel to learn more about it's mystery and its connections to himself.
Clark emerges from the Fortress in a Kryptonian uniform.
Wandering around the extraterrestrial ship he realises his Command Key is the same technology and finds a port to plug it in. An interactive projection of his biological father, Jor-El appears and greets Clark. Jor-El informs him of his true name Kal-El, his purpose of why he was sent to Earth, to prevent humanity from making the mistakes that saw the destruction of Krypton, and that he must test the limitations of his powers. The ship then activates after thousands of years of being dormant and lands on a mountain top. Jor-El then shows Clark their family crest revealing to him the history of Krypton and the dangers of Zod. Now knowing what to do, Clark gathered a suit from the ship before going outside and fully testing his abilities by bending the gravity around him propelling himself at ferocious speed into the atmosphere.
The Arrival of Zod[]
Clark returns home after several years.
"You're a monster, Zod. And I'm going to stop you."
-Superman to General Zod
Clark returned home to Smallville and greeted his mother with a hug after many years away. He explained to her the travels he went on and that he found the answers he was looking for. Afterwards, Lois showed up at the farm with questions about Clark. Clark found Lois at the Smallville Cemetery and the grave of his Earth father where he revealed the reason he died to protect Clark from the world, convincing her to not publish a story revealing him to the world as Clark Kent.
Whilst in the farm house, General Zod the Kryptonian Military leader from his home world sent a message to the world to hand over Kal-El or suffer the consequences. Realising he couldn't put people in harms way, Clark handed himself over to the military in his new uniform. Lois arrived shortly after wanting questions from Clark before Faora Hu-Ul arrived in dropship for Kal-El. Clark went, along with Lois as they boarded Zod's flagship in orbit Black Zero. Aboard Black Zero, Clark came face to face with Zod who had Kal-El tied down as the atmosphere aboard Black Zero was replicating Krypton's leaving Clark virtually powerless. Jax-Ur took some of Kal-El's blood before Zod subjected him to mental manipulations, probing and torture of the human race dying at his hands with Kal-El aiding Zod. Lois however, had brought Jor-El's AI aboard Black Zero and it helped her escape using an escape pod before changing the atmosphere for Kal to regain some strength to break free. Punching a hole in the ship for sun rays to get through, Kal regained full strength and had final words with Jor-El who encouraged him that he could save humanity. Kal then raced after Lois in the falling escape pod catching her just before the pod exploded in a corn field. As the two shared a tender moment, Clark's super hearing allowed him to hear Zod already at the Kent Farm and threatening Martha. He flew over and angrily tackled Zod away punching him before crashing through a petrol garage. Zod's visor was damaged and all his senses came at once subduing him on the floor. Faora and Nam-Ek followed in pursuit and confront Kal with the two quickly outnumbering Kal pummeling him to the ground warning him that he can't win. After being thrown though buildings by Faora, Nam-Ek went to deal with the incoming military. As Faora was about to kill Col. Hardy, Kal tackled her and soon subdued the two by clubbing them together. His forces gather their General and retreated back to Black Zero to initiate their plans for Earth while Clark flew home to check on his mother.
The Battle of Metropolis[]
Lois then told Kal that the Jor-El A.I. gave her instructions to use his ship against Black Zero which he handed over to Col. Hardy before going to the pacific ocean to destroy the Terraforming Generator that Zod had unleashed. The Generator had defences however and attacked Kal with large tentacles and other defences but Kal eventually overcome the defences and managed to destroy it. He then flew to Metropolis to stop Zod who had unleashed his Black Zero ship upon the city at the same moment. Arriving to find Hardy and Lois under attack from Faora, the warrior threw Lois out of the plane carrying his ship who Kal caught before trying to fly away from the singularity caused by his ship colliding with Black Zero which sucked everything near into a black hole before it closed. He placed Lois beside Perry White and Jenny Jarwich and in a moment of adrenaline, Lois kissed Clark who reciprocated before flying off to confront Zod. He battled Zod in an intense and very destructive battle across the city destroying buildings, cars and almost the entire city.
An enraged Zod declared that in revenge for foiling his plans and killing the chances of Krypton's survival, he would kill all the humans before ripping off his armor and controlling his flying ability. The two then fought mid air before crash landing in Metropolis Central Station where Zod opened his heat vision at civilians. Clark grappled Zod trying to divert his heat vision away before having no choice but to snap Zod's neck killing him. Shocked at what he had to do, Clark let out a bellowing scream of pain as Lois arrived and consoled him as he layed on her.
Returning home to his mother in Smallville after saving his adopted planet, he was consoled by his mother as the two thought back to Clark playing as a child in the garden of the farm with a red sheet as a cape.
Aftermath[]
With help from Lois, Clark got a job at the Daily Planet in Metropolis alongside her. Arriving on his first day, he decided to wear glasses to conceal his identity as the alien hero who was dubbed "Superman" before being welcomed to work by Lois.
Physical Appearance[]
Kal-El is a humanoid alien from the planet Krypton with natural black hair and stands approximately 6 feet and 2 inches tall with hazy
Clark Kent as Superman
blue eyes. He resembles a Caucasian human being and is very muscular in build which has naturally grown with his exposure to Earth's yellow sun. His powerful frame also develops from the years of chores on his family's farm as means of physical exercise, through it can be assumed that he was born with this unique peak condition due to having both biological parents bred to the height of Kryptonian perfection.
As Clark Kent, Kal-El wears fairly simple clothing during his youth such as chequer shirts and plain shirts with jeans and boots. As he grew and later traveled the world, he continued to wear simple clothing and sported a heavy beard. When he moved to the city Metropolis, Kal-El got rid of his beard and dressed more professionally for his work habits matching his farmer roots with formal worker gear and also began wearing glasses to distance himself from his super heroic persona.
As the superhero Superman, Clark Kent wears a outfit which originally belonged to his kryptonian father Jor-El. The suit is a native kryptonian suit that has a blue body chain-like texture, sports a red and yellow House of El emblem on the chest and a long red cape, along with red boots.
As a Kryptonian, Clark Kent has special abilities that enhance his physical attributes whilst under the rays of a yellow sun. His physical strength, speed, stamina and reflexes are superhumanly faster. He also has separate abilities such as flight and super vision which has different lenses that can depict far distances like a telescope and can see through things like an x-ray. These powers make him almost god-like on Earth, compared to the normal standards of the human species.
As the only being of his kind and very different and alienated by his peers, Kal-El grew up a very confused, lonely and lost person. Instilled by his Jonathan and Martha as Clark Kent, he grew up to care for other people and to do the right thing. Realising he could help others with his powers, he went against his fathers wishes to help others.
With the passing of his adopted father, Clark developed an intense anger within himself as a result of his failing to save him. He goes on a journey of discovery in which he had to control his pent up anger, instead of releasing his awesome power on mere humans, he instead found a different means, like wrecking a truck instead. He displayed this anger when Zod threatened Martha tackling him off and realising incredible rage upon him. His rage was again shown when Zod threatened innocent bystanders and had to snap his neck to prevent his madness from reigning on any longer. After committing murder, Kal screamed out in tears at what he had to do, fully remorseful of the necessary act he had to commit. Throughout every hardship he ever faced, he still retains his moral judgement and understanding that his powers were to be used for the good and safety of the world.
Whilst in the presence of Lois Lane, Clark seems to enjoy life a bit more with her spunky and sometimes flirty personality having a kind effect on him when he is Superman.
Relationships[]
Jonathan Kent[]
Is his adoptive father of Earth.
Martha Kent[]
Is his adoptive mother of Earth.
Lois Lane[]
Perry White[]
General Zod[]
Faora[]
Gallery[]
Promotional Photos[]
Superman.
Clark's Superman uniform in the Fortress.
Superman in Smallville.
The House of El emblem.
Promotional Shot of Henry Cavill as Superman.
Superman in flight.
Superman preparing for battle.
Promotional shot of Superman.
Superman and the U.S. Military.
Promotional photo of Herny Cavill as Superman.
The Superman.
Man of Steel[]
Promotional Still of Henry Cavill as Superman.
The Man of Steel.
Superman during the battle of Smallville.
Lois interviewing Superman.
Superman soaring into action.
Superman in full flight.
Clark with his mother, Martha.
The Man of Steel
Trivia[]
In Earth translation, Kal-El's name means "Star-Child".
Brandon Routh and Tom Welling expressed interest in the role, who played Superman in the film Superman Returns and in the TV series Smallville, respectively.
Henry Cavill is the first non-American actor to play Superman.
Before Henry Cavill was chosen, Joe Manganiello, Armie Hammer, and Mattew Goode were considered for the role.
Actor Henry Cavill previously was attached as Superman to McG's failed
Promotional poster of Superman.
Superman movie before Bryan Singer took over as director.
It appears through the official trailer that Superman's ability to fly will have more of a reasonable scientific explanation as seen when he's about to take flight he begins to manipulate the gravity around him.
To prepare himself for the role of playing the Man of Steel, Henry Cavill went through a rigorous workout regime to achieve his Superman physique. The English actor gained approximately 20 pounds of muscle during his time of preparation, and inbetween breaks onset, keep up with his much muscular frame by performing push ups and pull ups to pass the time. He wanted to look like the character seen in the iconic comics. Other ways that Cavill has altered his appearance was that he changed his natural brown hair color to a rich, jet black.
