From Canadian roots to odd superpowers: 5 fun Superman facts

CBC

6 days ago

The superhero wasn't always able to fly
⭐️HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️
Superman, the newest film to star the comic book hero, hit theatres July 11.
With more than 80 years of history, there's a lot to know about the character.
His past includes Canadian roots, multiple names and some weird superpowers.
Plus, a real dog inspired his sidekick. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Superman is the biggest hit movie of the summer so far.
It hit theatres July 11 and made $122 million US in its opening weekend.
But this isn't Superman's first time on the big screen.
Fans have been following the superhero's adventures in the movies — along with comic books, TV shows and more — for more than eight decades.
With such a long history, there are a lot of interesting things about Superman that you may not know. Here are five of them.
1. He has Canadian roots
While Superman is often seen as an all-American hero, he actually has a few connections to Canada.
Joe Shuster, one of Superman's creators, was born in Toronto, Ontario.
While he eventually moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he met co-creator Jerry Siegel, his time in Canada still had an impact on the hero's world.
Metropolis, the city where many of Superman's adventures take place, was partially inspired by Toronto.
The newspaper where Superman works under his secret identity of Clark Kent, The Daily Planet, was inspired by the Canadian newspaper Shuster delivered as a child: the Toronto Star.
That's according to a Toronto Star interview with Shuster shortly before his death in 1992.
2. He has 3 names
We all know that Clark Kent is Superman's secret identity — those glasses don't actually hide that much — but he also has another name.
Superman was born on the planet Krypton, where he was given the name Kal-El.
When the planet was about to be destroyed, his parents tried to save their baby by sending him to another planet in a rocketship.
The rocket ended up landing on Earth, in the U.S. state of Kansas.
It was found by two farmers, Martha and Jonathan Kent, who adopted the baby and named him Clark.
3. He hasn't always been able to fly
Superman is in great shape, so you might not realize that he's actually 87 years old.
His first appearance was in Action Comics No. 1, published in June 1938.
The Superman we met in that comic is a little different than the one we know today.
For one thing, he couldn't fly.
Originally, his powers were described as being 'faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.'
It wasn't until the 1940s that Superman would be shown flying in comics.
Over the years, Superman has developed a lot of different powers. Some of them stayed — like flying — and some of them didn't — like shooting mini Superman clones out of his hands.
4. The first Superman movie came out almost 75 years ago
While he started as a comic book character, Superman has appeared in many different mediums, from radio to television and, of course, films.
Superman's first appearance on the big screen was in 1951's Superman and The Mole Men.
It was later reused as a two-part TV episode in 1952's The Adventures of Superman series.
Since Mole Men, there have been eight live-action Superman films, and four actors have played the character on the big screen, with David Corenswet becoming the most recent in the new film.
5. Superman's super dog was inspired by a real rescue dog
There's an expression that says man's best friend is a dog, so it makes sense that Superman's best friend would be a super dog.
Krypto is a dog from Krypton who has all the same powers as Superman but is, well, a dog.
Krypto debuted in a March 1955 comic, but this summer he's making his first appearance in a live-action film.
On July 9, Superman director and writer James Gunn told Fox News 2 St. Louis that he was inspired to include Krypto by his own dog.
Ozu, left, with his owner, Superman writer and director James Gunn. Gunn says adopting Ozu inspired him to include Krypto, right, in the 2025 movie. (Image credit: James Gunn/Instagram)
While he was writing the script, Gunn adopted Ozu, a rescue dog.
Because Ozu wasn't used to living inside, Gunn said, the dog tore apart his house.
That made him think about how much more destructive Ozu would have been if he had superpowers.
In the film, Krypto is entirely CGI, but Ozu was used as the model.