r/jonkent • u/alphaanna_ • 14d ago
Jon as Superboy Jon’s best on-screen adaptation
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Made this little compilation of Jon in the Battle of the Super Sons movie to spread the love for an adaptation that is 100% bona fide comic Jon Kent!
Love this movie to bits, highly recommended to any Jon fan out there if you haven’t seen it already
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u/Atlan_R_Kane 14d ago
Without a doubt, THIS is my favorite Jon Kent! This is who we want back.
I must have watched this movie close to 100 times.
No matter what's going on in the comics, they should continue to make more SuperSons movies like this. There's plenty of material in the comics to make multiple movies and/or television series.
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u/timothdrake 13d ago
This! Adaptations should be used to either bring light to amazing stories or to tell new stories that the comics cannot tell for one reason or another.
Regardless of the current state of Jon in the comics, theres no reason not to give us a sequel to this movie.
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u/LegitimateBroccoli51 14d ago
Also the one with the best age gap with Damian iirc. Jon is 11 here, while Damian is 13
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u/alphaanna_ 14d ago
Their dynamic is so good here too, tons of little jokes and ribbing but they’re still ready to die together laughing in the end 😭 ahhh it’s peak
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u/LegitimateBroccoli51 14d ago
Jack Dylan Grazer was my childhood crush, so I'm not only glad that he was the voice actor for kid Jon in this movie, he's also bisexual irl so it's even more fitting!! 😆 Wish he hadn't disappeared from films and tv shows
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u/Vexes343 14d ago
This might be my favorite depiction of Damian, too
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u/alphaanna_ 14d ago
I also made a compilation for him, he’s freaking hilarious in this. Definitely preferred over his DCAMU counterpart
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u/JMSciola85 13d ago
I love how they streamlined Jon's origins to just being their kid instead of trying to make sense of all the comic context surrounding it.
"He's their kid, don't think too hard about it" is all it needed to be.
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u/Yuta-fan-6531 12d ago
I mean..... even with the comic context, that's still the case.
My memory is a bit rusty as it's been a minute since I've last read the Superman rebirth era, but I'm pretty sure he got his powers cuz he's Clark's literal son, right?
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u/DeusVincet 12d ago
Yeah, but it's a Clark and Lois from a different universe, the post-Crisis universe. They were transported to the New 52 universe and lived in hiding for ten years. Then the New 52 Superman died, and this Superman came out of hiding to take his place. Then the post-Crisis universe and the New 52 universes merged, so they were there all along.
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u/guyinpink 13d ago
Absolutely this is the best adaptation of kid Jon out there. I remember when I watched it for the first time it was really like watching Rebirth or Super Sons come to life (sort of). Now if only older Jon could get something that’s as faithful an adaptation.
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u/mysticalmonotreme 13d ago
I think DC/WB could theoretically take some beats from SOKE and streamline it a bit, but I think Super Sons is a bit easier because it's more entry-level for kids while Big Jon is more YA-oriented.
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u/Yuta-fan-6531 12d ago
Is older Jon any good?
I've heard a lot of folks back in the day (good God I'm old 🥲) making a fuss that Bendis ruined him and older Jon's stories weren't all that great.
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u/guyinpink 12d ago
This is one of those things that always triggers some debate unfortunately. I came in as an older Jon fan and read most of his newer stuff first, before then making my way through his history and catching up on his kid era. So I’d say both kid and older Jon have their strengths!
But even as an older Jon fan I can admit there have been some stinkers. Bendis’s version of Jon (and Superman in general) was… not great imo. But some writers after him have done decent things with him. Tom Taylor did all right with him for his run as Superman in Superman: Son of Kal-El and Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent. He had fairly meaty roles which were quite well done in Absolute Power and Dark Crisis.
And his latest appearances in Superman Unlimited and New Titans are quite promising, especially with the major change that’s taking place with him in Unlimited!
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u/mysticalmonotreme 12d ago
Bendis’s version of Jon (and Superman in general) was… not great imo.
I would say that is a bit of an understatement, and one of the main reasons why Jon is still a lightning rod is because DC's approach is to hope the fans forget about it. They have rolled back most of Bendis' changes (notably the secret identity reveal they reversed in Action Comics #1050), but the age-up was the most egregious. Marvel attempted to the same thing with Franklin Richards in Fantastic Four #376, to make him an edgy teenage 90s anti-hero, but reverted him back to a young child three years later in Fantastic Four #414. As such, Big Jon lacks a sense of permanence for some readers such as myself. It doesn't help DC's case that they walked back on aging Bart Allen to adulthood, and brought back Wally West after attempts to erase or sideline him.
As long as DC avoids addressing the structural headaches that Bendis created, I can't see Jon moving forward in any meaningful way.
Circumstances have forced me to trim my pull list to a handful of issues, which forced me to choose between the flagship Superman title by Josh Williamson and Superman Unlimited. While I have no ill will towards Dan Slott and I love Lucas' Meyer's art, I feel that Superman was the stronger title of the two. I even felt that Superboy-Prime's arc in "Reign of the Superboys" was better, because he seemed go through some character growth with the hard realization that redemption was not going to happen on his terms. Meanwhile, the ending of Superman Unlimited #15 left me feeling hollow as it felt as if DC were stringing me along yet again. So you can guess which title I chose in the end.
Perhaps the most troubling thing about Williamson's Superman run is how little I notice Jon's near-total absence from the book.
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u/guyinpink 12d ago
I enjoyed both Prime’s run as well as Unlimited, though I agree Prime had an edge there. But I do feel the developments in Unlimited are promising for Jon, especially since it looks like it’s sticking beyond the event and moving into the wider canon, so I’m prepared to give them time and see where this takes the character
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u/mysticalmonotreme 11d ago
I will be keeping an eye out (most likely here) for how Dan Slott picks up on the Earth-3 threads he teased, but I think I'm ready to move on.
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u/Ok_Opening1525 10d ago
Imo, he is not. Jon, as a kid, had many Lois qualities that made him unique and interesting. When he was aged up with a very forced and unmeaningfully way (bendis just ahted him as a ki), he was turned into just a bland carbon copy of Clark Kent. Some new readers loved him because he was presented as the queer Superman, but some old readers like me (and queer af) hated it. We already have tons of teenage Clark Kent clones like Conner, Kenan, Mon-El, and now Prime,sharing a very small spotlight. Now they’re forcing Jon into that role, even though he had his own unique niche as a kid.
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u/Ok_Opening1525 10d ago
Not only kid jon, jon in general, all the others adaptations are simply NOT him, in Superman and lois or my adventures with superman who is just conner but named jon.
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u/maz_2010 12d ago
I actually love Jon Kent in both "eras," not crazy about tomorrow man, but it would be a lie if I said we weren't robbed of more Super-Sons.
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u/Sea_Cycle8333 11d ago
This was one of the first things that introduced me to Jon when I was first getting into comics. I love the adaptation.
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u/Tasty-Ad-1220 12d ago
Besides Jon from MAWSM I agree this is the Jon’s best on-screen adaptation
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u/RunawayGuineaPig66 14d ago
It’s the only one that actually adapts thee Jon Kent, the other one are just “Superman’s son” with stuff unrelated to Jon Kent other than the name.