New theory. When Clark was a teenager, he could buy beer for every one because he looked like he was 35 to 40 if he really "hasn't changed" since High School. Why would his super powers make his age rapidly to his prime, and then STOP ageing. That's Progeria weird. However? What if Kryptonians are a short lived race like the Ocampans from Voyager? So his natural maturation rate is to age to his prime in 15 years, what looks like a human 35, and then die as a withered old man of natural causes at a Kryptonian 30. This is when his super power kick in at around 15. His maturation rate slows and stops. 45 for the rest of his interminably immortal life.
Then the series and whole universe would probably be perceived as too extremely retro, not just modern with retro elements to feel timeless but outright, or pretty much, completely set in the past. And some people would be intrigued but less than enjoyed the mix of '40s and '50s elements with elements also from Byrne The Man of Steel reboot particularly Lois, Lex and Clark.
They did show the Fleischer Superman for a while on Cartoon Network but maybe that was cheap counter-programming against the animated series at the time?
I think it was during John Byrne's run when DC established that the older Clark gets, the slower he ages. Building from that, Grant Morrison's Superman was virtually immortal.
^ And yet, back in the day, the Earth-2 Superman was usually shown with gray(ing) hair, but this was probably just so people wouldn't confuse him with his Earth-1 counterpart.
Like in Days of Future Past (the movie), where longest-lived-character Wolverine had grey hair and everyone else had barely aged.
In honor of the passing of the great Ned Beatty, I offer the following: (And lest anyone think I'm taking the piss, I'm really not. Beatty was very fun and funny as Otis. RIP.)
My favorite Luther / Otis line from 1978's Superman The Movie: https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/07cb1335-58ca-44db-bc02-63d6cb8741d5 Lex luthor: "It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving..." Sad to hear that Ned Beatty has passed. He had a large body of work most of which I found entertaining and Interesting over the years
Yeah, he had a role in All the President's Men alongside Dustin Hoffman & Robert Redford who were under consideration at the time to play Lex Luthor & Superman/Clark Kent respectively. He also had a turn in the Forth Protocol alongside Michael Caine & and a pre-James Bond Pierce Brosnan, playing a KGB General. R.I.P.
Do you know why the number 200 is so descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q. It's kinda sad that all the best lines associated with Otis are Lex's. RIP Ned Beatty.
Maybe, but it's a hilarious bit of physical comedy by Beatty that sets up the "catlike reflexes" line I quoted above.
Well the REASON Lex's lines work/are so memorable is BECAUSE of Ned Beatty's performance as the character 'Otis'. If Ned Beatty hadn't done a good job on screen, NONE of those lines would have landed for the audience as intended.
One of the true film classics of the 1970s, and Beatty--like the rest of the cast--were beyond solid. He was the kind of actor with enough range to believably take on comedic roles, or the most serious, as in Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980).
Great Otis-specific appreciation of Beatty here: https://www.avclub.com/with-superman-ned-beatty-delivered-superhero-movies-b-1847098419