Few can question the importance Siegel & Shuster's SUPERMAN has had on popular culture. Even as a Superman fan, I can objectively say he's culturally significant. As such, so his is origin story and supporting cast. Scores of non-comic readers know the names Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and even Perry White, which is a testament to the memorable and enjoyable Supes stories that have crazed the four color art form for decades. With the announcement of the new Superman a while ago and the involvement of Zak Snyder, I didn't really bat an eye. I dislike the vast majority of superhero movies, especially the more recent ones. Don't get me wrong, Snyder has done good work, and I'll give credit where it's due, but I really don't need another Superman movie. Superman Returns just wasn't very good. It entertained me the first time I saw it, but subsequent theatrical viewings with others made the honeymoon period elapse pretty quickly.
Moving on....
Now we have our latest S-related announcement in the form of Diane Lane's casting as Martha Kent. Well.... I've noticed something about that.
The Kents were always an older couple. Even dying of essentially old age before Golden Age Superman even donned the cape. That also was a handy plot device to explain why Clark wouldn't be having any siblings from his adoptive parents in the near future. The Superman franchise has largely been faithful to the notion of Superman's parents being old respectable looking All-American folks.
Virginia Carroll, a Western actress played Martha at the young age of 35, but (not to be unkind) she was a fairly average looking woman and they played down her youth. Phyllis Thaxter gave THE archetypal performance as Martha, and was again matronly and elderly. When Superman Returns roles around, we got blonde bombshell Eva Marie Saint, who I would rank as one of Hollywood's sexiest starlets from the late 40's into the 60's, combining confidence with good looks. Saint however, was 80 when she played Martha. Now, with this back to basics approach we have Diane Lane playing Martha Kent. And while it's way too premature to comment on casting or the movie itself. I just don't know if I want to have dirty thoughts about Superman's mom.
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