I don’t know if I’ve ever done this article before, but I’m doing it now because the new Superman movie comes out this week! I’m very excited to see the new movie in theaters — though a timely dentist appointment means I won’t be at the very first showing on Thursday. I’ll have to avoid all spoilers until at least Friday or Saturday evenings. I’m in a tough bind!

Anyway, Superman has been around for nearly 100 years and has dozens of reinventions over the years. The current big comic is Absolute Superman with a truly wild new origin story for the Man of Steel, and there’s no doubt that James Gunn’s new Superman movie will have its own quirks and tweaks to the classic tale. And I think it would be fun to lay out my own preferred canon ideas for Superman’s origin and basic foundation.

I don’t know what any of these ideas are built around. I never watched the original Superman movies growing up. I never read Superman comics as a kid. I loved the animated series of the 90s, I think my family watched some Lois and Clark, and I was a big Smallville fan. So wherever they come from, these ideas are just ingrained into my preferred takes on Superman and his world.

Join me after the jump for the full list and feel free to share your own ideal Superman canons or head canons in the comments below.

6. His mom made his costume

Krypton has been retconned a lot in the various Superman reboots, and we’ll talk more about it later. One thing that has become a staple is that the Superman costume is based on Kryptonian fashion, or it’s a supersuit prepared for Jor-El that Clark earns or suits up with. But I much prefer the idea that Martha Kent used the blanket Superman was wrapped in as a baby to create him a superhero costume to wear. Or maybe the blanket just becomes the cape. As you’ll see as this list goes on, I’m just not big into Krypton. And I think it’s perfectly reasonable and fun that Superman’s mom makes his costume, or at least made his first one.

5. The S stands for Superman

It’s perfectly reasonable that Martha Kent understands the concept of a logo. And so when designing her son’s superhero costume, she gives him a big logo front and center to stand for Superman. It may be a little dorky, but I’m fine with that. I see no problem whatsoever with Clark deciding to become a superhero and then his mom helping him with the costume and a logo. Everybody understands logos. Batman has a logo on his chest! Why can’t Superman just have a logo on his chest?

4. Clark was never Superboy

I’m fine with young Clark using his powers to help people in and around Smallville as he slowly learns what he can do and what he wants to do with them. I guess I just don’t like the Golden/Silver Age idea that Clark wore that full costume as a kid and had adventures. Granted, this does cut him off from all the adventures Superboy had with the Legion of Super-Heroes, but I’m not married to those stories…and I’m also not against including them somehow. I don’t need everything to line up perfectly. I just don’t dig the idea of a fully costumed Superboy having adventures in Smallville, and then Clark Kent moves to Metropolis and a Superman in the same costume shows up.

3. Lex Luthor has nothing to do with Smallville

I really dislike the idea that Lex Luthor also grew up in Smallville and that he and Clark and/or Superboy had any sort of relationship that then continued to Metropolis. I know that was the entire premise of the TV show Smallville, but that was fine for that specific iteration. But in general, I much prefer the idea that Luthor is tied solely to Metropolis. He’s a businessman based in Metropolis and is an antagonist to adult Superman. I think it’s silly that they would be childhood rivals or enemies, and then they keep that going once they’re both independent adults living in the big city.

2. I don’t need Superman to be the first ever superhero

A popular idea is that the Justice Society of America was around circa WWII, and I’m fine with that. I don’t need Superman to be the first superhero, inspiring all others. I’m totally cool with superheroes being a thing in this universe, and then Superman just happens to come along when he does. And then the origins of the likes of Batman and/or The Flash don’t need to be tied to Superman appearing on the scene. All of these heroes can exist independently to one another and then they come together to form the Justice League.

1. Jor-El knew nothing about Earth or the yellow sun

This is the big one, and arguably the reason for this list. I very much dislike the idea that Jor-El, Superman’s dad on Krypton, knew where he was sending his son. I also very much dislike the idea that Jor-El knew what living under a yellow sun would do to his son. I much, much, much prefer the idea that it was all happenstance. Jor-El and his wife were good enough scientists that they knew Krypton was going to be destroyed and they knew enough to build a prototype rocket, but then they got caught off guard by the destruction coming so soon and they had no choice but to launch their baby into space in the prototype and hope for the best.

Then, by pure happenstance, baby Kal-El lands on the Kent farm and is raised to be a good and decent person by Ma and Pa Kent. And he chooses to become Superman on his own, not based on any sort of weird destiny cooked up by his space father.

It just seems weird to me that Jor-El would know about Earth and would know how yellow suns would affect Kryptonians. How would he know all of that? Why would he do nothing with his information about yellow suns and Kryptonians?! And beyond that, I hate even more what was implied in Smallville: that Jor-El visited Earth and specifically chose the Kents on where to land Clark’s ship. No thank you!

I tend to dislike ‘chosen one’ or ‘destiny’ stories in general. I much prefer the idea that all of Superman’s decisions were his own, based on who he is as a person and how he was raised. Sheer happenstance and coincidence caused his emergency rocket to land on Earth, under a yellow sun, and onto the farm of the Kents. And then they raised him right, with good, old-fashioned, Midwest American values. And when he came into his powers, Clark decided, on his own, to become a superhero and use his powers for good. Simple as that.

Though I am OK with Jor-El putting crystals and recordings of himself in Clark’s rocket, so that he can exist as a hologram on Earth. I’m fine with that.

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