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.