Anime-Inspired ‘My Adventures with Superman’ Brings a Fresh Take to Lois Lane: ‘Our Version of Batman’
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The story of Superman has been told countless times across different media, from the Zack Snyder and Richard Donner films to multiple animated shows, a CW live-action and much more. So when it came time to tell a new tale of the Man of Steel in Adult Swim’s 10-episode “My Adventures with Superman,” there was one note from the studios that became a guiding light for producers Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher, the latter told IndieWire: “Don’t do this stuff the way we’ve seen it before. And the look of the show itself signals that it’s a different take, and to younger audiences, it signals that this is a different version of the character.”
Indeed, while the show feels intrinsically Superman, “My Adventures with Superman” is also unlike any other version of the character. There have been many animated versions of Superman, but “My Adventures with Superman” takes inspiration from a wide range of anime, not just action shows like “Dragon Ball Z,” but also female-oriented shojo anime like “Sailor Moon” or “Inuyasha” and “Ranma 1/2.” It helped that the staff working on the show was more diverse than what you’d typically find in an action-heavy show. All of the directors on “My Adventures with Superman” are women, and most of the storyboard team and designers are women too, which helped give the show a different aesthetic and therein a different tone.
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This started and ended with Clark Kent himself. In most portrayals of the character, he’s a muscular strongman. Thanks to designer Christie Tseng, this Clark is no longer a bulky, corn-fed Atlas but a leaner, more K-pop-inspired hero. “He was so hot,” Wyatt said. “He was so incredibly beautiful, and we realized we don’t need him to be overtly muscular but to be an absolute dreamboat.”
And it’s not just the looks but the personality. This Clark is a lovable dork, a guy you genuinely wouldn’t believe is Superman. For Wyatt and Clogher, highlighting that aspect of Clark was easy, but the challenge was bridging that nervous guy and the confident paragon that is Superman. In came Jack Quaid, who the producers said helped them find the character by making the guy in the cape the disguise. “He really understood that Superman is an act Clark puts on,” Clogher said. “Clark is still figuring out who he is, but when he’s Superman he’s acting like a different guy, and that guy we can’t make fun of or have him be dorky.”
If there’s a secret sauce to “My Adventures with Superman,” it’s that the show is really a story of three friends: Clark, Lois, and Jimmy. Like the best shojo anime, romance is as integral to the story as the fight scenes. “There’s no Superman without Lois Lane,” Wyatt said, explaining that this Lois is not a passive character but a fighter. “She’s like our version of Batman, all about justice or vengeance, while Superman just wants everyone to be kind and friendly.” Just as Clark is figuring out his place in the world, we see Lois’ origin story before becoming a world-class reporter, and the blossoming romance between the two is a highlight. Their friendship with Jimmy Olsen and the way he makes Clark feel brave enough to become Superman should make fans happy after the recent absence of the character from the live-action movies.
And though “My Adventures with Superman” serves as a fresh entry into the Man of Steel mythos, it does not give us the same old origin story. Granted, there are allusions to Krypton and we do get the starship, but there are key differences, like Jor-El not being able to communicate with Clark. “We created a language barrier between father and son and then we had Clark slowly understand stuff about his origins visually rather than with exposition,” Wyatt explained. “We also got a lot of pressure from the people who greenlit the show to make something we haven’t seen before.” This gave the writers the liberty to craft a completely different dynamic with Krypton that will be explored later in the season.
Comic book fans may watch “My Adventures with Superman” and wonder where the rest of the Justice League is, but Wyatt and Clogher want the show to reflect the meta history of superhero comics, which began with Superman. “He has to be the only and the first superhero,” Clogher said, but he teased that the events of the season really cause the start of what we consider to be the DC Universe. “Everything springs out of Krypton’s collision with Earth, the type of technology the bad guys have and more all come back to this,” Clogher said.
“My Adventures with Superman” premieres on Adult Swim every Thursday, with episodes streaming on Max the next day.
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