Thursday, February 29, 2024

Happy 22nd, Superman

Superman's birthday falls on February 29. There have been 22 leap years since Superman's creation in 1938, which means Superman turns 22 today. (Maybe they're Kryptonian years?) Happy Birthday, Superman! 

To mark the occasion, here's a promo image director James Gunn released today to mark the start of principal photography for his 2025 Superman movie, which has been retitled from Superman: Legacy to simply Superman. As you might imagine, I'm very excited. 

2 comments:

  1. Well hello, it's another variation on the famous Superman crest! Those are getting remarkably hard to come by, as they get used up one by one. Interesting that the padded "cloth" seems simulated, it's not an actual weave. Of course, that's exactly the kind of thing film nerds will focus on. (Thank you Merriam-Webster Dictionary for officially sanctioning sentences that end in a preposition... of!)

    I bring this up referencing the excellent series on film costumes by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Behind The Seams, who analyzes sociological trends in movies through their costume design. She's extremely perceptive! I've probably brought this up before, but it bears re-watching.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGCWMpFWUX8

    At around the 5:15 mark, Ms. Baker-Whitelaw makes the very solid point that there is no need for armour in a superhero costume when the danger isn't real. Superman has no need for a bulked-up costume because he's already very powerful - but not invulnerable. So it will be interesting to see if the peril to Superman is programmed by a legion of talented computer animators, or if the problems he faces will be more elemental.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Also: the Wikipedia entry on Kryptonians suggests that their year was 1.37 times longer than ours. Their deduction is based on direct analysis of the Kryptonian timeline. This does put Superman's birthday at 35 Eorx 9998, corresponding to February 29th in the Earth calendar.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptonian

    You have to read it to believe it. It's amazing that the same species that figured all this out also believes in Tucker Carlson.

    ReplyDelete