6 Times Smallville Improved Superman Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)

The concept of Clark developing a proto-Superman identity is an interesting one, but when it appears as lazy Matrix cosplay...things have gone off the rails. Add to that the lackluster name "The Blur", and it was enough to have fans grumble "Just be Superman already!". The bigger change to the mythology is that it was under this alternate guise that Lois & Clark entered their famous love triangle for two.

Lois would chase after The Blur for stories, while bonding with Clark in the familiar way. Unlike in previous versions, Lois did not see Clark's alter-ego face to face. He would call her at a phone booth, which admittedly was at least one way of keeping phone booths part of the mythology, so she wouldn't recognize him. They eventually would stop their dance, and become a couple with no secrets. This time though, all that was settled before he became Superman. It is a case of adding logic to mythology, but at the expense of diluting the metaphor.

Superman's dual identities are supposed to represent the feeling we've all shared at one point where we don't feel like we're being seen in the way we want. We've all had moments when we felt someone looked right at us, but didn't see the real us. We've felt the sting of being judged by our cover. Could Lois Lane recognize Clark as Superman? Of course, but sometimes the dramatic weight of the myth should outweigh realism.