Christopher Reeve’s Superman is Reunited With Jor-El in DC’s Sequel Comic

Warning: contains spoilers for Superman ’78 #3!

The 1978 Superman film directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve remains a classic over 40 years since debuting on the big screen. Even today, the film is held in high regard by fans and critics alike, so much so that any departure from the tone of the film – as is the case with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel – is often met with trepidation among the DC faithful. However, both this film and Superman 2, also directed by Donner, have more than a few missed opportunities – but a very large one has been corrected in Superman ’78 #3, written by Robert Venditti with art by Wilfredo Torres and colors by Jordie Bellaire, in which Kal-El is reunited with his father for the first time.

The Superman ’78 series follows the events of the first film. Superman defeats a robotic scout and seeks out Lex Luthor to learn more information (“It’s last word were ‘Brainiac'” says Superman). But Luthor and Superman are unable to prevent a massive spacecraft from arriving in the Earth’s atmosphere. It hovers overhead Metropolis as Brainiac appears and, using his drones, seeks out Superman; according to the android, the Kryptonian is an invasive species who can cause irreparable harm to the Earth. Seeing the devastation Brainiac can unleash with his drones and without other options, Superman surrenders.

Superman leaves the Earth with Brainiac (over the protestations of Metropolis citizens, minus a celebrating Lex Luthor). Aboard his ship, Superman is astounded to see multiple species – housed in entire cities – have been carefully catalogued and organized into small biomes in glass domes. Before Superman can react, Brainiac activates a device that shrinks Superman and deposits him into the Krypton biome; the planet was not destroyed at all, but rather preserved on Brainiac’s ship. But there’s another surprise waiting for Kal-El: he meets his parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van.

What follows is a heart-to-heart conversation between father and son – their first by Superman’s recollection (Jor-El’s words to his infant son as he placed him in the escape pod were obviously not remembered). The Christopher Reeve Superman never had any scenes with Marlon Brando’s Jor-El; the information sessions in the Fortress of Solitude were with the image of Jor-El, not Jor-El himself. Seeing these two legendary actors onscreen together would have truly been remarkable. A planned Superman 5 would have included Brainiac but unfortunately was never put into production, but this Superman finally meeting his father – on his home planet, no less – would have been just as welcomed by the fans.

Unfortunately, both Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve have sadly passed away years ago. Thus this reunion could only take place within the pages of a comic. Nevertheless, future issues of Superman ’78 will no doubt explore the relationship between Kal-El and Jor-El; hopefully the two will find a way to restore Krypton to its former size.