Superman revealed his secret identity to the world but why? Before going further note: It contains spoilers for Doomsday Clock #12 & Superman #18.
The Reveal
In Superman #18, Superman revealed his secret identity to the world. The revelation was handled very amazingly. If you are a regular reader of Superman titles you might think, “What led to this revelation?” Ain’t that the truth! This revelation came out of the blue. Nothing happened in previous issues of Superman to this point.
So this is my theory of why this revelation happened.
Doomsday Clock ending
“It is December 18th, 2019, Doomsday Clock #12 finally released. It changed the DC Universe forever.”
In the aftermath of the Doomsday Clock event, Dr. Manhattan saw future events. One of the events was “Secret Crisis” which is supposedly going to happen on July 10th, 2030. If you read closely its says, “Throwing Superman into a brawl across the universe with Thor” and “a Green Behemoth stronger than Doomsday”. This implies DC is going to have a crossover with Marvel in 2030. But what does it have to do with Superman’s revelation?
Worthy
This month Marvel released a Thor one-shot comic, Thor Worthy #1.
In one part of the comic, we can see all the previous holders of Mjolnir. We have Jane Foster, Beta Ray Bill, Thor, Throg, Awesome Andy, Superman and Wonder Women.
Superman lifted the Hammer in a JLA/Avengers crossover and Diana lifted it in DC vs Marvel crossover.
So anyone who lifts Thor’s hammer is worthy. That means both Superman and Wonder Woman are worthy. But here’s the catch.
Superman did lift the Hammer not because he was worthy but because Odin removed the enchantments as “few worthies have been allowed to overcome the spell, in desperate hours”. That indicates Superman isn’t worthy.
Now, for Wonder Woman’s case, she lifted the hammer twice. But here there was no lifting of spells. This crossover is not meant to be canon but if we focus on Thor Unworthy #1, this event is officially canon. She is indeed worthy.
This raises a question: Why is Diana worthy but not Superman?
There is an easy answer to the question. Wonder Woman is a warrior much like Thor, noble, do right, stand for whats right and more. Yes, Superman also stands for these but there is another aspect. Superman is Clark Kent. One cannot tell stories of Superman without telling the stories of Clark Kent. Clark Kent is the secret identity of Superman which he keeps private to keep his loved one safe from the ones trying to harm him. To keep that secret identity, he lies. He lies to protect his loved ones.
So he isn’t worthy because he lies. But what about Diana? Everyone knows she is Diana of Thymescric, the Amazon. She is a noble warrior who never lied.
The Relation to Superman Revealing his Identity
So what’s the connection with Superman revealing in his secret identity? If we consider Doomsday Clock as a base then there is gonna be a crossover event between DC and Marvel in 2030 and when it happens Superman will lift the Mjolnir but not because there is a change in enchantment but because he will be worthy.
You ask why? Because he accepted his lies and there is nothing more left to keep him unworthy. Superman revealed to the world that he lied. That he left them in dark and hid the fact that he is Clark Kent. Now he is free of it. No more lies, no more secrets. That’s what makes him worthy.
But why now? Why did they reveal it around the same time as Doomsday Clock? Maybe they will address this in the future. Maybe not. But from this point, it is the most possible explanation for the reveal in my opinion.
Tell me what you think of this theory in comments!!
