Summary
It’s almost been a full year sinceMy Adventures With Supermanintroduced one of the wildest versions of theDChero in its history to me, and months later, I still can’t get the idea of it out of my head. There have beenmany on-screen versions of Supermanover the years, with the DC icon’s reputation as one of the franchise’s biggest heroes naturally lending itself to more iterations in movies and shows. This is doubly true when it comes to alternate universe versions of Superman, who is generally an easier hero to translate into different forms and formats.
As such, like many other Superman fans, I’m usually not taken aback by alternate universe versions of Superman, especially since they tend to be of the “evil Superman” variety, which is a road well-tred now to audiences via expansive explorations of the idea through hit comic and show series likeThe BoysandInvincible. However, one version of the Man of Steel has managed to defy those odds, by being simply too weird to ignore.
All 11 Announced DCU Movies & Shows, Ranked By Our Excitement
The first 11 projects in the new DC Universe have been revealed, and while all of them are exciting, some rank higher than others in anticipation.
Crab Superman Is A Silly Superman Show Joke & A Genuinely Fascinating Hero At The Same Time
My Adventures With Superman Season 1 Included A Bizarre Alternate Superman
My Adventures With Supermanseason 1, episode 7 sees Mr. Myxlplyx showcase a range of different iterations of the Man Of Steel, showing a series of prior iconic animated versions of Superman - and one look ata version of Superman that is simply a crab. Not an anthropomorphic crab with some humanoid features, or an alien creature that looks similar to a crab: a regular-looking crab with a cape on it. Naturally, when the episode released in August 2023, there was a suitable amount of jokes made about this moment, before the audience and show moved onto less crustacean focused matters.
The idea that, across the wide DC multiverse, one decapod hero is fighting the odds either against crab villains or potentially even unchanged human antagonists is truly fascinating.
However, the concept of a crab Superman is one of those ideas that is so silly and yet so fascinating that it lurks in your head and is impossible to fully get out of it once it’s lodged its mandibles in - especially when the concept of a crab shooting heat vision lasers comes to mind. The idea that, across the wide DC multiverse, one decapod hero is fighting the odds either against crab villains or potentially even unchanged human antagonists is truly fascinating, and a prospect that it’s surprising the franchise hasn’t capitalized on - like Marvel and Frog Thor - more fully.
Crab Superman Implies A Wider, Wilder Alternate DC Universe That’s Impossible To Not Think About
Marvel & DC’s History Of Using Animal Heroes Makes Crab Superman Perhaps Even Weirder
The halls of DC and Marvel’s histories are littered with animal heroes, with Detective Chimp, Dex-Starr, Rocket Raccoon, and Lockjaw being but a few of the enormous roster of figures who fit into this category. Both franchises have also rendered their generally human heroes into animal forms, following the same trend that would lead to the Pet Avengers in Marvel based on heroes' trusty sidekicks, and the League of Super-Pets for DC.
This backdrop sets up three equally surreal scenarios for Crab Superman’s existence;either he is a crab in a world where everyone is a crab, he’s a crab in a world where everyone is animals, or he’s a crab in a universe where everyone else is basically the same. Each one presents its own delightfully weird setup, and a premise that it seems that DC may never expand upon afterMy Adventures With Supermanbrought this surreal thought experiment into our lives almost a year ago. However, we can always dream that Crab Superman may return one day once more.
My Adventures With Superman
Cast
My Adventures with Superman is an animated action-adventure superhero series that follows the Man of Steel in an all-new origin story. Focusing on the light-hearted side of DC’s hero, the series follows Clark Kent’s journey of self-discovery of what it means to be a hero while trying to blend in with society. With his best friend and his crush, Lois Lane, the trio will strike out to cover the most significant stories - all while trying to keep the city of Metropolis safe from giant robots and super-powered villains.
