I Loved James Gunn’s Superman Movie But 1 Decision Is Among The 47-Year DC Franchise’s Worst

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Superman.The new Superman movie does more right than it does wrong, but I could not let go of one controversial decision. Do not get me wrong, I loved James Gunn’s Superman reboot. The film very much feels like a comic book brought to life in the best of ways. The new DC Universe is closer to the comics than the DCEU.

However, I found one issue with that approach, and while it does not hurt the plot in any major way, I feel like it is one of the worst decisions in Superman’s movie history. Using the lighter tone of the comics works for the film’s events and most of its characters. However, a certain reveal can’t help but be ridiculous.

Superman Explains How Clark Kent’s Identity Is A Secret In The DCU

The Man Of Steel Hides His Clark Kent Life With One Element

Superman focuses on both sides of David Corenswet’s character. Superman’s identity is very much a focal point of the film, as the world debates whether the Kryptonian is a hero or a potential dictator. That said, Superman‘s secret identity never comes close to being revealed despite the fact that he has told the Justice Gang and more that he is Clark Kent.

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It turns out that Superman’s trusting nature has a safety net behind it. Famously, the Man of Steel’s only disguise has been a pair of glasses. With them on, people do not seem to piece together that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person, despite how his appearance hardly changes. In the film, Clark wears Hypno Glasses, which mask his identity.

Hypno Glasses Make Superman’s Secret More Convoluted

The Hero Did Not Need Them For His Secret To Work

The Hypno Glasses are not new, as James Gunn pulled the obscure item from the comics. On the one hand, it gives those who were always skeptical about how Superman’s disguise was effective an answer as to why it works. However, I think it makes his secret more convoluted and takes away some of the magic of the character.

In the past, Christopher Reeve showed with a change of posture and voice how it was easy to make Superman and Clark Kent feel like different people. Corenswet does the same thing in Superman, which makes it baffling that Gunn would go for such a complex explanation as to why Superman’s secret identity works.

The Cast Of James Gunn’s Superman Movie
Actor	Character
David Corenswet	Clark Kent/Superman
Rachel Brosnahan	Lois Lane
Nicholas Hoult	Lex Luthor
Skyler Gisondo	Jimmy Olsen
Terence Rosemore	Otis
Sara Sampaio	Eve Teschmacher
Nathan Fillion	Guy Gardner/Green Lantern
Edi Gathegi	Michael Holt/Mister Terrific
Isabela Merced	Hawkgirl
Anthony Carrigan	Rex Mason/Metamorpho
María Gabriela De Faría	Angela Spica/The Engineer

I would argue that Corenswet’s Superman and Clark Kent look the most different from one another than any other live-action version of Superman. Despite that, the movie still chose to claim that Clark uses Hypno Glasses to alter the way he looks to people. In a world full of fantastical elements, Superman could have left that one real factor untouched.