Summary
- My Adventures With Superman revitalizes the Superman franchise with a playful feel and nods to Japanese anime and manga influences.
- The show's bold creative decisions make it feel fresh and contemporary, reimagining classic characters in new ways, similar to X-Men '97.
- The series serves as a suitable counterpart to darker DC depictions, and helps prime audiences for Superman's cinematic return in 2025.
My Adventures With Superman has incorporated some seemingly unlikely influences to a winning effect, and the knock-on impact is that the Superman franchise has enjoyed a much-needed revitalization. The show is currently enjoying its second season and is riding high with a score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and with My Adventures With Superman season 3 on the way. The DC show creators have hit their stride with reinvented iterations of classic comic characters, including Lex Luthor and Steel, but there is also a softer, more playful feel to the show when compared to something like Superman's movie history.
The last decade or so has been a dynamic period for superhero entertainment, which has been in its ascendency. The same could be said for Japanese anime and manga, which has gone from a more niche subculture outside of its native country to a globe-conquering pop culture behemoth. Just as Western creators influenced those in Asia, the inverse is also true, with shows like My Adventures With Superman tipping their hats to it – and the impact of that influence has also helped the latest depiction of Superman and other characters become arguably the best in years.