Kryptonian-Origin Of Kal-El

***Regular Kryptonian Origin of Kal-El*** is the story that relates Superman's arrival on Earth and the beginnings of his career as a superhero. The story has been through many revisions through decades of publication in comic books and radio, television and film adaptations. **As more stories were published, more details about the original story were established. These stories explored individual details, such as The Planet Krypton, The Entire Source of Superman's Extraordinary Powers and his relationships with supporting characters. Because continuity was looser during the Golden Age and the Silver Age, many of these stories contradicted each other.** As Superman was adapted into other media, his origin story has been frequently retold. These origin stories adhere to the basic framework created by Siegel and Shuster, with minor variations made to serve the plot or to appeal to contemporary audiences. Some of the details created for these adaptations influenced the origin story in the mainstream comic series.

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The origin presented in Richard Donner's 1978 *Superman* film is considered to be the definitive origin story not only for Superman, but a template for origins stories in the super hero movie genre. The film keeps the classic components intact, but explores more of Clark's boyhood in Smallville. Much of the film's groundwork is laid during the film's first sequences on the planet Krypton, with actor Marlon Brando portraying Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. In this film, Jonathan Kent dies but Martha survives to see her adopted son become Superman. ***Superman* is divided into three basic sections, each with three distinct themes and visual styles. The first segment, set on Krypton, is meant to be typical of science fiction films, but also lays the groundwork for the Jesus Christ analogy that emerges in the relationship between Jor-El and Kal-El. The second segment, set in Smallville, is reminiscent of 1950s films, and its small-town atmosphere is meant to evoke a Norman Rockwell painting. The third (and largest) segment was an attempt to present the superhero story with as much realism as possible (what Donner called "verisimilitude"), relying on traditional cinematic drama and using only subtle humor instead of a campy approach.**

Director Bryan Singer felt that most people were familiar with Superman's origin and wanted to make *Superman Returns* as a semi-sequel to Richard Donner's *Superman*, with the two films sharing the same origin story. The movie opens with a very brief summary of the origin story that reads, "On the doomed planet Krypton, a wise scientist placed his infant son into a spacecraft and launched him to Earth. Raised by a kind farmer and his wife, the boy grew up to become our greatest protector...Superman". Otherwise, the film portrays only a few scenes related to Superman's origin. The destruction of Krypton is seen before the opening credits, Lex Luthor invades the Fortress of Solitude and views the recordings that Jor-El had sent to Earth with Kal-El, and Clark Kent discovers his ability to fly in a flashback. ***Superman Returns* utilized footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, and nearly identical set design for Kryptonian structures as the 1978 film. Subtle similarities were also purposefully created, such as modeling the "new" Kent farmhouse after the "old" one, and having Eva Marie Saint's Martha Kent drive the same make and color of pickup truck as driven by the Kents in the original film. Certain scenes in the Kent farm also showed pictures of Brandon Routh's Clark Kent inserted into photos with Glenn Ford's Jonathan Kent.**