A Superman 75th Anniversary short was produced by director Zack Snyder and Bruce Timm in 2013 and shown to audiences at the 2013 New York Comic Con, before being shown on DC Nation and released on the internet. The short is two minutes long and references many facets of Superman's career, beginning with Action Comics #1 and ending with Man of Steel.
Synopsis for "Superman 75th Anniversary (Short)"
The chronological series of events that are depicted include:
- Superman smashing a car, as depicted on the cover of Action Comics #1.
- He morphs into the Superman of the 1940s, his S-shield morphing into a more familiar version, running past friends and onlookers, including Lois Lane.
- Superman leaps over the Daily Planet in a Single Bound.
- On his way down, he becomes the Superman of the Fleischer cartoons and smashes through a flying Mechanical Monster.
- He punches a super-powered Lex Luthor through a wall, as seen in Action Comics #47
- He morphs into the black-and-white Superman, as seen in The Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves, and poses with his hands on his hips against a starry background as in the program's intro.
- He battles the Giant Turtle Man, as seen in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #53.
- He is then shot by the Silver Age version of Brainiac, who is standing next to the Bottle City of Kandor.
- He battles the Silver Age version of Bizarro, in front of the Fortress of Solitude; Htrae is visible in the sky
- He flies through Smallville alongside his cousin Supergirl, her pet Streaky the Supercat, Krypto the Superdog, and Beppo the Supermonkey.
- Mister Mxyzptlk appears, but disappears before Superman can grab him.
- Clark Kent, Andy Warhol, and Wonder Woman admire some pop-art paintings of Superman.
- Superman appears with the rest of the cast of Super Friends, in a scene from that show's title sequence.
- Superman boxes with Muhammad Ali, as seen in Superman vs. Muhammad Ali.
- He flies above the Earth as seen in Superman: The Movie and subsequent films.
- He flies above Metropolis as seen in the video game for Atari 2600.
- He battles Doomsday as seen in The Death of Superman.
- The four replacement Supermen, Steel, Superboy, the Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman, appear, as seen in the Reign of the Supermen.
- Superman appears in his black costume, shortly after having returned to life, as seen in The Return of Superman.
- Superman Red and Superman Blue appear, as he separates into two separate beings, as seen in Superman Red/Superman Blue.
- Superman, as seen in Superman: The Animated Series, flies onto a building.
- A crowd of supporting cast from the animated series watches. Among them are Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Bibbo Bibbowski, Professor Emil Hamilton, Perry White, Maggie Sawyer, Martha Kent and Jonathan Kent.
- The older Superman, as depicted in Kingdom Come, descends past a water tower from the TV series Smallville carrying two villains.
- The Superman of the New 52 era battles Darkseid, as in Justice League (Volume 2) #1.
- He is blasted into the door of a vault, and becomes the Superman of Man of Steel, before flying into the sky and landing atop the words "75 years".
Appearing in "Superman 75th Anniversary (Short)"
Featured Characters:
- Superman of...
Supporting Characters:
- Andy Warhol
- Angela Chen (DCAU)
- Bibbo Bibbowski (DCAU)
- Cyborg Superman
- Dan Turpin (DCAU)
- Danitra Evans (DCAU)
- Diana Prince (Earth-One)
- Emil Hamilton (DCAU)
- Eradicator
- Jimmy Olsen (DCAU)
- Jimmy Olsen (Earth-One)
- Jonathan Kent (DCAU)
- Lana Lang (DCAU)
- Lois Lane (DCAU)
- Lois Lane (Earth-Two)
- Maggie Sawyer (DCAU)
- Martha Clark (DCAU)
- Miss Stevenson (DCAU)
- Muhammad Ali
- Perry White (DCAU)
- Pete Ross (DCAU)
- Ron Troupe (DCAU)
- Steel
- Super Friends
- Superman Family
- Legion of Super Pets
Antagonists:
- Butch Matson
- Bizarro
- Brainiac
- Darkseid
- Doomsday
- Harlequin
- Lex Luthor (Earth-Two)
- Mechanical Monsters
- Mr. Mxyzptlk
- Mr. Terrific
- NIL-8
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Boom Tube
- Bottle City of Kandor
- Hyper-Ray
Vehicles:
Notes
- First appearance of Superman from Fleischer Studios since 1943.
Trivia
- The left painting viewed by Clark, Diana and Andy Warhol is Lois Lane as a black woman, from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #106. The middle painting is by Andy Warhol. The painting on the right is "Superman and Superdog in Jail, 1963" by Peter Saul.
- The John Williams Superman theme is heard during the first part of the short, and then transitions into Hans Zimmer's score for Man of Steel following the scene referencing the Richard Donner film.
See Also
- Characters from Superman 75th Anniversary (Short)
- Other things related to Superman 75th Anniversary (Short)
- Movie Gallery: Superman 75th Anniversary (Short)
Links and References
- Watch the short at Entertainment Weekly
- Detailed annotation by DC Comics
- Character models by Dusty Abell