The new Justice League main trailer opened up a whole can of worms.
Confusingly, it did not show Superman but it did feature Clark Kent, moodily standing in a field of corn.
Fan excitement exploded at the first sighting of the Kryptonian in any form, since all the marketing has been very careful to keep the Man of Steel out of sight.
Admittedly it was apparently a dream sequence for poor heartbroken Lois Lane, but it highlights one massive problem facing the upcoming blockbuster. It is a problem that doen’t have any solution that is either remotely logical or remotely acceptable to fans.
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Batman, Cyborg, Aquaman and The Flash have all beem busy uniting.
Assuming Superman does eventually show up, whether or not he is back to normal or the rumoured “Evil Superman” incarnation, it poses a huge question.
The world on screen and the audience in the cinema will be completely likely to accept that an almost god-like being could come back from the dead. After all, we saw him hit by a nuclear bomb and apparently dead floating in space during Batman V Superman, before the rays of the sun revived him.
Clark Kent, clearly, can NOT do the same.
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If Superman returns, is Clark still dead?
The only real way that the human alter-ego can reappear is if everyone is told his secret identity. This then, immediately compromises his work as a journalist and also puts his family and Daily Planet colleagues in enormous danger as potential ways for an enemy to harm him.
The filmmakers could try and present a convoluted excuse that Clark had gone on a secret undercover newspaper job that required his enemies to think he was dead.
For a film franchise still struggling to find its tone and win the complete trust of fans, this would surely be too ludicrous and undermine the integrity of the character and the entire on-screen universe.
Superman could possibly fly around the world really, really fast and turn back time and “save” Clark but that might have been done before.
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If Clark assumes a new human identity, this is much more plausible but means he can never interact with any former friends, except Lois and his mother who already know his dual identity.
It also makes it impossible for him to marry Lois.
How on Krypton will the Justice League movie solve this dilemma?
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE IS OUT ON NOVEMBER 17