In the history of comic book superheroes, the two biggest names have always been Marvel and DC. While many, especially in recent years, have downplayed the “war” between the two major comic companies, it can’t be denied that there is competition between them. So it should come as no surprise that Stan Lee used to throw shade at Superman, even if he ultimately still loved the character.
An old clip has recently resurfaced showing Larry King interviewing Stan Lee and King asks about his favorite DC character. Lee says that Superman is his favorite because the character launched superhero comics in general. That doesn’t mean he can’t have some sun at Supes' expense, as Lee pokes fun at Clark Kent’s disguise and the fact that nobody recognized Clark as Superman because of a pair of glasses. Lee said…
I have joked about that. I say, 'Hello. My name is Stan Lee.’ [removes sunglasses]. Oh, where did Stan go? Who’s this fella now?’ I know it’s ridiculous.
Lee is far from the only person to joke about the fact that Superman’s disguise was rubbish. While some science has actually argued Clark Kent's disguise works, at least some people would recognize that the two men were the same. Only in a fictional world can you claim that nobody would realize Clark is Superman.
Still, despite the silliness of the character, Stan Lee still loves Superman. He calls him his favorite DC character, and he’s certainly a lot of people’s favorite superhero of all time. If nothing else Lee appreciates that had it not been for Superman, it’s possible we never would have had the boom in superhero comics that made Marvel, and Stan Lee, household names, leading to all the great Marvel and DC movies we love. Check out Lee’s full comments below...
The most recent Superman movie, Man of Steel largely avoided this issue by not introducing Clark Kent and his glasses until the very end. The sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice kept glasses-wearing Clark to a minimum, and didn’t have many of the same characters interacting with both Clark and Superman.
A brand new Superman movie will be out next year. It will be interesting to see how it handles this question. While we’ve seen an official image of David Corenswet as Superman, we haven’t seen one of him as Clark Kent, though there are many opinions about Clark's hairstyle. While we don’t know how much time the movie will give over to the two sides of Clark’s personality. Perhaps the new film will find some different way to separate Clark from Superman that’s more “realistic” or maybe it will just be willing to have fun and pretend glasses are a significant disguise.
