Relationship of Clark Kent and Lois Lane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
To meet Wikipedia's quality standards and conform with our NPOV policy, this article or section may require cleanup. The current version of this article or section is written in an informal style and with a personally invested tone. It reads more like a story than an encyclopedia entry. Please see specific examples noted on the talk page. Editing help is available. |
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (May 2008) |
 |
This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (December 2007) |
Clark Kent and Lois Lane are among the best known fictional couples. Both characters debuted in Action Comics #1 (1938) and have remained in a complicated relationship ever since.
The couple's relationship was based for a long time in a dysfunctional love triangle, in which Clark was interested in Lois, who was taken with Superman. Clark, unable to reveal to Lois that his mild-mannered demeanor was a ruse, was unable to compete for Lois' affection, the irony being he was his own rival. Following the The Man of Steel re-boot, Clark's character became not only the more dominant personality of the Clark Kent/Superman character, but also more outgoing, aggressive, and assertive (more in line with George Reeves' portrayal). This allowed a more natural romance to develop between Lois and Clark.
Finally, Clark decided to reveal his real identity to Lois and so they began a long engagement which was complicated by the reintroduction of Lori Lemaris into Clark's life. At last, after a break up and several problems, in 1996, Lois and Clark got married and a wedding album was released. The event was also made to coincide with the TV series' Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman own wedding.
Despite the fact that Lois Lane is Clark Kent's love interest in almost every Superman incarnation, in Smallville, Clark's affection is directed toward Lana Lang, his childhood crush in canon. Yet, the producers claim they have been limited in the usage of Clark and Lois - and in the Lois Lane character in general - due to the fact that Lois and Clark are not supposed to fall in love in such an early stage (both are described as teenagers in the Smallville universe) and that is why currently, in the series, a romantic interaction between the two characters has not been managed, although there tend to be "anvils" or foreshadowing about said future relationship.
Contents |
[edit] Clark and Lois in different media
[edit] Comics
June 1938: the first super hero in the history of comics made his debut when Superman graced the pages of Action Comics #1. In that comic there was no Daily Planet, Smallville, kryptonite, Lex Luthor, Perry White or Jimmy Olsen, but there was Lois Lane. In fact, Clark Kent asked Lois out on a date in that first comic, but things went badly. When a gangster demanded that Lois dance with him, Clark adhered to his disguise as a coward, which meant Lois had to defend herself against the intruder's advances. The outraged gangster kidnapped Lois after running her taxi off the road. Superman rushed to the rescue and saved Lois and thus the love triangle built for two was born. Clark would pine for Lois and she would pine for Superman.
This remained the status quo in the comics for a number of years, though Lois did warm up to Clark for the most part. Yet their relationship couldn't really advance with Lois left out of the secret and with Clark Kent's persona being a disguise. This changed in a comic from 1978 (the 40th anniversary of Superman). A wizard wanted to rid the world of Superman, but he had no idea that Superman had a secret identity. With Superman gone and no memory of being Superman and therefore no need to pretend to be a coward, Clark Kent finally became a man with a backbone.
The new 'take charge' Clark Kent, who was fearless and bold, became very attractive to Lois Lane, which proved it was more about attitude and personality than super powers that attracted her to Superman. Lois and the new Clark Kent began dating, fell in love and eventually he proposed and the couple got married. Then, on their honeymoon, when Lois saw Clark caught in a crossfire that should have killed him, but left no mark on him, she began to suspect he was really Superman. She tried to cut a lock of his hair and the scissors broke. As much as she loved Clark with no memory of being Superman, she knew the world needed Superman and so found the wizard who had cast the spell and had him reverse it.
Clark remembered he was Superman, but he also remembered being married to Lois and didn't want to back out of the marriage. Instead, he took her to the Fortress of Solitude and married her again, but as Superman and a Kryptonian marriage ceremony. From that point until the revamp, Lois and Clark of the alternate universe known as Earth 2, remained married; on Earth 1, however, it was business as usual. Lois loved Superman, but he said he belonged to the world and couldn't commit to anyone. Also Lana Lang, who had been created for the Superboy comics, was introduced into the Superman comics as an adult rival against Lois for Superman's affections. Lois won that competition, but still was not told of Superman's dual identity. However, a big change was coming...
In 1985, the DC Comics universe went through an enormous overhaul and revamp called Crisis on Infinite Earths. The purpose of the year-long event was to get rid of some character histories, conflicting continuity and overlapping worlds and create a more logical universe. When the crisis ended, Clark never was Superboy as a youth and Clark Kent became the real person and Superman the disguise. There was finally a setting in which Lois could logically fall in love with Clark Kent because he was the real person this time; although it would take a couple of years for Lois to feel anything romantic for Clark after he scooped her on the Superman exclusive.
In Superman #44 (A Dark Knight over Metropolis), the couple buried the hatchet and began dating and fell in love. In Superman #50 (Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite), Clark proposed to Lois and she accepted, but Clark didn't tell Lois his secret until weeks later in Action Comics #662. That threw Lois for a loop and she needed time to think it over. After contemplating the revelation and its implications, Lois decided it all came down to love. She loved Clark and would accept and share his complicated life and secret. Then, due to the pending debut of the series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, a chain of events were put into motion to prevent Lois and Clark in the comics from getting married until the TV couple was ready to walk down the aisle.
Superman was killed by Doomsday in Superman #75. Then, after a year of mourning, searching and resurrecting, Superman returned to the land of the living and the arms of Lois Lane. But the comics still had to drag their feet because Lois and Clark on the TV series met as strangers when the show debuted and it would take 3 years for them to make it to the altar. The comics launched into a series of arcs designed to keep the couple apart including a broken engagement arc, but Lois and Clark on the TV series finally married in October 1996 and so did their comic book counterparts.
More than a decade later, the legendary couple are still married and have recently adopted a boy, Chris Kent, the natural son of Kryptonian villains General Zod and Ursa.
[edit] Christopher Reeve's Superman films (1978-1987)
Superman was released by Warner Bros. in 1978, and based on the popular DC Comics character. It was directed by Richard Donner and executive produced by Ilya Salkind, with music by John Williams. Superman/Clark Kent was portrayed by Christopher Reeve and Lois Lane was portrayed by Margot Kidder.
The movie led to three theatrical sequels: Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987). Superman Returns (2006) is based on the continuity of the first two films and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006) is director Richard Donner's original vision of his sequel to Superman: The Movie.
One of the most important aspects in the first and second movies was the romantic relationship between the two main characters; Clark was hopelessly in love with Lois Lane and even (in Superman II) gave up his powers in order to be with her. The scene of the first movie where Superman takes Lois in his arms and both fly over the nocturnal sky of Metropolis has become classic and has inspired several parodies over the years.
A disagreement between Margot Kidder and the producers after Superman II led to Lois' character's part being reduced in the third movie, along with the Clark and Lois content.
[edit] Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1990s)
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action television series based on the Superman comic books.
It aired from 1993 to 1997, and starred Dean Cain as Superman/Clark Kent, Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane and John Shea as Lex Luthor. The series generally followed comic book writer John Byrne's 1986 revamping of the Superman mythos, with Clark Kent as the true personality, and Superman the secret identity. The main characteristic of this series is that it gave special focus on the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
General plot of the series: In 1966, Jonathan and Martha Kent witness the crash-landing of a small spaceship in Shuster's Field near Smallville, Kansas. When they investigate the craft, they discover the baby Kal-El and decide to raise him as their own, naming him "Clark Jerome Kent". 27 years later, Clark moves to Metropolis and gets a job at the Daily Planet. There, he is partnered with Lois Lane, who at first considers him little more than a pest. Eventually, however, the two fall in love and marry after a turbulent courtship. The marriage was timed to coincide with the corresponding event in the comic books.
The series spawned several short tie-in books aimed at young adults, as well as one full-length novel for adults, Lois & Clark: A Superman Novel (1996), written by C. J. Cherryh.
[edit] Smallville (2001-Present)
Smallville is a series currently on the CW (formerly the WB) that deals with a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) learning to accept his powers and who he really is, along with his destiny. The series shows Clark's reluctance to accept his Kryptonian heritage, his responsibility over his abilities, his longing desire to be "normal," and his constant fear of others discovering his secret. While the show focuses on these issues, Clark experiences crushes and infatuations with some characters in the show, and finds love with Lana Lang.
Lois Lane has also been added to the main cast; she and Clark have developed a friendship, though currently there is only chemistry between them and no official realizations. However, the show rarely misses an opportunity to hint at their iconic love relationship that happens in the future. Hints have been given from Lois dreaming about a guy in a red cape, saying she prefers geeks in glasses, to Lois walking into the scene when Clark talks about not being able to imagine himself with anybody other than his current love interest Lana Lang. Clark has unknowingly dropped hints foreshadowing their epic love affair when he told Lois, after she just said goodbye to Smallville's Aquaman with whom she had a few dates in one episode, she would one day "find somebody even more special". In the episode "Lucy" after Lois and Clark admit for the first time to each other that they have become friends two stars collide.
Erica Durance revealed at Wizard World Philadelphia 2006 that "DC Comics has really clamped down on Lois. You can't do a dream sequence (with her and Clark) or any of that sneaky stuff."
Starting in season 6 of Smallville, the restrictions on Lois and Clark's romance have apparently been relieved to a large extent. In the episode "Hydro," Lois and Clark share their first kiss. As Clark is disguised as Green Arrow and Lois doesn't know his true identity.
In "Crimson" Lois puts on a lipstick - containing Red Kryptonite and an aphrodisiac - that made her fall in love with the first man she sees, which turns out to be Clark. Under the influence of the lipstick love potion, Lois kisses Clark, infecting him with Red Kryptonite (which, in the series, removes his inhibitions). In this episode, Smallville's Lois Lane also finally adds her name to the list of Lois Lanes who have taken a flight with Clark Kent, as he takes Lois for a "flight" from the rooftop of Daily Planet building in Metropolis (although technically it was only a leap across the city, as Clark has yet to develop the ability to fly). Furthermore, Clark remembers the tryst and the implication is made that he is attracted to Lois at some level.
In the season 7 episode, "Siren", Clark and Lois make a huge progression in their relationship as Lois, in a very emotionally vulnerable state, tells Clark she knows what it's like to love someone who has a destiny greater than her own. In the episode "Apocalypse", after beating herself up for not being as good at dealing with sad happenings as Clark is, Lois still tries to console him, asking him to go out and have a drink with her. The same episode heavily underlines Superman mythos as it is set in an alternate universe where Lois Lane meets Clark Kent for the first time at the Daily Planet and the two have an instant attraction to each other. In the season 7 finale, "Arctic" Lana Lang who has been so far portrayed as Clark Kent's love interest breaks up with him via a DVD, and as she says her goodbyes Lois Lane enters the scene and consoles Clark.
[edit] Superman Returns (2006)
In the movie by director Bryan Singer, Superman has disappeared for a number of years. On his return, not only did he find the world he left behind change in ways he didn't expect, but the woman he loves is a mother and has moved on, being engaged.
Since events from Superman II has made Lois forget about her intimate moments with Clark, Lois only discovers after Jason pushes a grand piano that he is the son of Superman. What remains to be seen (presumably in the sequel to Superman Returns) is how Bryan Singer will resolve the love triangle between Lois Lane, Superman, and Richard White.
The role of Lois Lane is played by Kate Bosworth and the role of Superman/Clark Kent is played by Brandon Routh.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
