When the DCEU kicked off with Man of Steel, fans were introduced to a Superman that they had never quite seen before. This Superman was more of an alien, feeling distant from humanity despite growing up amongst them. He was a relatively isolated child, hiding his true self from everyone except his parents.
Keeping his secret is what killed his father, and so he entered the world as a far different hero than he was in the comics. In addition, Clark Kent has not had a lot of time to really explore himself and his abilities on the silver screen. As a result, Superman is a lot different in the comics than he is in the DCEU movies.
10 The World Has Embraced Superman
One somewhat startling aspect of the DCEU world is how uncertain they are about Superman. In the comics, Superman is frequently embraced by the world, who see him as a symbol of hope and a protector of the planet. The stories where the world turns on Superman are few and far between.
Often, the main plot of those stories is typically how Superman will rise back to prominence and gain people’s trust once again. The Superman in the DCEU is still new and fairly destructive, as far as humans know. Plus, General Zod came to attack and kill people just to get his hands on Superman. They didn’t have the best introduction to the superhero, and so they are still wary when it comes to their views on him.
9 Superman Has A Concrete Secret Identity Completely Established
By the end of Man of Steel, Superman had started building up his secret identity of Clark Kent, journalist for the Daily Planet. This persona was fleshed out slightly more in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it's still not as concrete and complete as the Clark Kent fans know from the comic books.
That version of Clark is still in the making in the DCEU, and so he is not feeling super steady in the persona just yet. He is still finding a balance between Superman and Clark, and he has only just realized he needs to embrace humanity as one of them, rather than apart from them.
8 Clark Is More Confident In Himself As Superman
Superman is a fun guy, above nearly all else, and he believes deeply in his own abilities as Superman. He knows what he’s capable of, and he holds himself to a — sometimes impossibly — high standard. In the DCEU, though, Clark seems to be almost completely lacking confidence in himself at times.
He’s capable of putting on a good show and faking it until he makes it, but this can only get him so far. As Superman has largely been isolated so far, he hasn’t gotten much positive reinforcement as a hero. The further along he gets, the more confident he’ll optimistically become.
7 Pa Kent Is An Important Part Of Clark Kent’s Life
One figure who is notably absent from Clark Kent’s adult life in the movies is his adoptive father, Jonathan Kent. More affectionately known to Clark, and readers, as Pa Kent, he and Ma (Martha) Kent are two of Clark’s guiding lights. Pa Kent is one of the only people Clark knows he can always turn to, and someone he knows he can trust the advice of.
He loves his parents more than anything, and the movies killed off Pa Kent in a strange, somewhat misguided attempt at protecting Clark’s identity. This tragic loss is unfortunate, as it seems impossible for this to ever be reversed or fixed, unlike many of Clark’s other comics-to-movies differences.
6 Superman & Batman Don’t Have Dramatically Similar Personalities
While Superman and Batman may be best friends in the comics, their personalities are more of a case of “opposites attract.” Batman’s worldview is rather pessimistic; he believes people will always be bad, and so he must do his best to protect what he cares about and beat back the darkness.
Conversely, Superman is more of an optimist; he believes people will always be good, and so he must do his best to ensure that people are given every chance to thrive in excellence like he wants them to. However, in the movies, Superman’s tone tracked along the same lines as Batman; both of them are rather dark and gritty, struggling to see the good in the world. Batman even sometimes takes on Superman’s view in the movies to compensate for Clark’s lack thereof.
5 Superman Is More Attached To Humanity & The Planet Earth
The DCEU, especially Man of Steel, found a Superman that is somewhat down on his feelings towards humans. He sees them as a people he has a responsibility to protect, but not necessarily as his own people. They are something apart from him, another species, and the DCEU Superman feels this acutely.
He is slowly starting to open up and become more in tune with the humans around him, but the Superman of the comics is inherently more attached to his humanity. He’s had the benefit of more time, but his childhood also made him more of a human than DCEU's Superman ever did.
4 One Of His First Acts As Superman Was Not To Snap Someone’s Neck
In the comics, Superman undoubtedly killed a few characters and struggled with the fact that he had to do it. However, killing somebody by snapping their neck in front of humans, as Superman did with Zod in Man of Steel, is not how Superman makes his introduction to the world in the comics.
This is a jarringly dark and grim way for Superman to enter the world and an especially devastating moment for Clark as an alien. He is left truly alone and struggles to cope with his place because of that.
3 Jimmy Olsen Holds A Prominent Place In Clark’s Life
In the comics, Clark Kent has two best friends in his regular life: Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. In the movies, Lois Lane has a fairly prominent place in his life, but Jimmy Olsen has essentially none at all. Not only that, but Jimmy Olsen is barely present in the DCEU for even a minute.
Rather than being a journalist, it turned out that the DCEU’s Jimmy Olsen was actually an undercover CIA agent — who was instantly killed. He wasn’t even friends with Superman before he died, which makes the whole thing all the more tragic. They never even got to be friends before Jimmy made his swift exit from the franchise.
2 Superman Has A Far More Expansive Superhero Experience
There have been decades upon decades of Superman comics, and so Clark Kent has had an expansive and vast breadth of experiences on the pages and in the panels. However, because the DCEU has only just begun, Superman is still at the beginning of his career.
He’s a fledgling superhero, and the timeline is such that even Batman is older than him by a fair chunk of time. After a while, the DCEU’s Superman may begin to gain as much experience as he did in the DC Comics. For right now, Superman still has a long way to go before he even gets close to that level.
1 Superman Loves Working With The Justice League
So far, in the DC Extended Universe, Superman has had a mixed bag of experiences with the other members of the Justice League. When he first met Batman, the guy tried to kill him, and this rocky start didn’t make things easy for their relationship moving forwards.
Wonder Woman and Batman weren’t able to save Superman from dying, and, after his revival, the other members of the Justice League had to grow to trust the alien they barely knew. In the comics, of course, the Justice League are close friends and trust one another deeply. The DCEU heroes are still at the beginning of their relationships, having only just met, and are growing to love and trust one another in time.