One My Adventures with Superman star is defending a major change to Clark Kent seen in the show.
The hit animated series, starring the likes of Jack Quaid and Alice Lee, just finished out its Season 1 run on Adult Swim.
While the story of a younger Clark Kent/Superman making his way in the world is nothing new, My Adventures with Superman was exciting as it turned the DC mythos on its head at nearly every chance.
The show saw plenty of new, innovative takes on longtime characters and stories (i.e. Lois Lane), including some pretty shocking interpolations to the Superman story.
Superman Star Defends Major Clark Kent Changes
Jack Quaid - the voice of Clark Kent/Superman in My Adventures with Superman - defended the changes the animated series made to his titular DC hero.
In a recent conversation with Comicbook.com, Quaid vehemently justified the animated series putting Clark at the forefront as opposed to Clark being used as a persona in other Superman media.
The Superman actor made the case that it worked because it "play[s] around with [the Superman mythos]:"
"Everyone knows the story, everyone knows the myth, and it’s cool to play around with that. I like that this version of Clark really doesn’t know much about Krypton, or where he comes from, or his power set. I like that he’s discovering his powers as the show goes along and his powers that the audience knows, but ones that he’s really discovering for the first time."
"That was a really interesting thing to play around with," Quaid continued, noting how he likes that My Adventures with Superman "[puts] Clark first:"
"He’s able to get hurt a bit, because… there are certain aspects of his power that are still a little on the lower side. So, that was a really interesting thing to play around with. But I think at the core, I’m really just excited that this is a version of… not to knock any portrayal of Superman, but what I like about ours is that he’s Clark first, you know? That’s who he is at his core. Clark Kent isn’t the persona he puts on to fit in or to have people underestimate him."
He called his character "just a really sweet guy" championing his iteration of the character:
"Clark Kent is just is who he is and he’s just a really sweet guy, who genuinely wants to be a good reporter, and genuinely wants to do the nice thing, and the right thing. I like that in the beginning he’s hiding his powers from the world as well and he has aspirations just to be… I think he says, ’I want to be a normal man having a normal day and I just think it’s such a great parallel to."
Quaid added that this different approach makes him more relatable as he is on this "really cool journey of self-discovery" just like most people in their twenties:
"He’s a bit younger in this, and the things that happened in your twenties, where you’re really trying to figure yourself out, and, ‘How do I fit in with the the grander world at large?’ I think in every episode, more or less, Clark either asks himself, ‘Who am I,’ or someone will look at him and go, ‘Who are you?’ So, it’s a really cool journey of self-discovery.”
Is Jack Quaid's Superman the Best Yet?
This new approach for Jack Quaid's Superman seems to have worked to great success.
While longtime DC Comics fans may have had their reservations seeing such major changes being made to a character as iconic as Clark Kent, it is hard to argue when the results are this good.
This looks to be just the beginning of this new approach for DC's boy in blue.
Season 2 of the animated series has already been announced, meaning Jack Quaid is only just getting started as the Man of Steel.
James Gunn's upcoming Superman: Legacy could also be taking this tact with its version of Clark Kent, as the DCU blockbuster is expected to follow a younger Superman getting started as a 20-something reporter at The Daily Planet.
Yes, a young Superman is nothing new, with various versions of the character figuring his life out have been seen across plenty of stories. But fans are living in a renaissance for this particular slant on the longtime comic book character.
My Adventures with Superman Season 1 is streaming now on Max.
