I was just hit by genius headcanon:
Clark Kent (Superman 2025) could be a 2nd gen Kpop fan
And he would have been a Sone™. He listens to a variety of groups but his main would always be Girls Generation. (James Gunn not including a single SNSD song in his playlist is criminal. Into the New World should have been in there.)
Anyway uuh I made a playlist of the songs I think Clark would be into, took matters into my own hands. I'm still slowly adding tracks, they are not in any particular order, but yea please enjoy 🥺🥺 ((I'm omw making a 2022 Batman one too))
Because it makes sense in a number of ways (please hear me out, even if you don't listen to Kpop):
1. Timeline checks out
The movie happened in 2025 and Clark was a baby 30 years ago—so lets say he's born in 1995.
Second gen Kpop started with TVXQ, who debuted in 2003 (Clark was 8), and reached it's golden age in late 2000s – early 2010s. That was when Clark was in his teens. We don't know how much computer access he got as a kid but it's my headcanon so I'll just assume (lmao). He could have been on Youtube and saw a music video in 240p or one of those fan made lyric videos and went down the rabbit hole. He's downloading songs into his phone, or iPod, if he owns one, and he's listening to songs on his way to school or doing chores in the farm.
And SNSD debuted in 2007, with Into the New World - which is his emotional thesis song - when he was 12 years old. Gee dropped in 2009, when he was 14. It completely checks out. He could very well have discovered Gee first and went back to ITNW, and fell in love.
2. Matches his canon music taste
Punk rock™ he says (although Lois says its pop, lmao).
Lmao anyway, it's established he likes pop/rock music, since he believed the bands he liked were punk rock—which basically means, he's not a musical snob, he's got an open heart and likes the emotionally sincere stuff and very into the aesthetic of 2000s music. (which means he would not be cringing at the 2000s visual kei phase of kpop sdsjdhs)
And 2nd gen Kpop did lean more into that pop/rock sound. (I'm not super knowledgeable on the technical terms used for music production this is purely based on personal experience). So yea, it makes sense that he would like songs like that, especially songs like Don't Don or Twins (Suju), or Rising Sun (TVXQ). These are SNSD adjacent bands so I think he would have been exposed to their music too.
3. These songs (esp SNSD ones) match his emotional language
Okay, have yall heard Into the New World?? Because it IS the Superman ethos. It's a very magical girl sounding pop song that is so so powerful. (James Gunn not including this in his official playlist is a crime. I'm still salty.)
This is the song sung at protests, not just in Korea, even Hong Kong and Thailand. It's a rally cry. It's about rebelling through hope, love, and inspiration. Here's some translated lyric excerpts:
Don’t wait for a special miracle There’s a rough road in front of us With unknowable future and obstacles, I won’t change I can’t give up
In the many unknowable paths I follow a dim light It’s something we’ll do together to the end Into our new world
And the particular few lyrics that always get me emotional without fail:
I love you, just like this
I get stronger just thinking about you It helps me so that I won’t cry
Like do yall get me?? 😭😭 This is literally, him. And about him. Imagine Clark chancing upon these 9 girls, singing about hope and love and choosing to believe and inspire others 😭😭😭 when he was 14 or something. When he's got powers he's trying to hide, when he's still growing into the man he becomes later, still finding his place in this world, when he knows he's different but he wants to belong, because he loves, and because he is as human as everyone else.
Like ?? I'm in tears??
And overall SNSD’s music is hopeful, wholesome, loyal, encouraging, and romantically uplifting without being aggressive. Which is exactly who Clark is, and whom he wants to be loved by.
These girls not only love you, they believe in you. They want you to shine as bright as they do. And they've got a very diverse discography. They got cutesy confession songs, they got vulnerable heartbreak ballads, they got anthems that command the room while uplifting those they love. And we know Clark loves powerful and competent ladies. (maybe I will do a full breakdown of why I chose the songs I chose for this playlist jsdjksjkdsj)
Clark wants to love and be loved like that, to believe and be believed like that. He wants to be the type of person they sing about, and he would grow into that man, eventually.
He'd probably have a poster of them in his room and Jonathan and Martha memorised the names of all 9 members because Clark had a bias crisis every three months. You can't tell me he doesn't gee gee gee gee baby baby in his room, or secretly do the leg dance from Genie.
AND groups like Super Junior and TVXQ is the emotionally literate soft masculinity that Clark embodies. Because the discography of these guys (in the 2nd gen era) are filled with stuff about first love, emotional intensity, and confessions with shaking hands and yearning™, coupled with intensity and drive, fighting for justice and change. Which is, yea, very Superman™. And Clark loves big, he feels big, he has crushes and he's clumsy and blushy and sincere about it. So yea, he would relate to these songs like they vocalised his emotional blueprint.
So yea maybe I'll write a detailed break down of why I think each song in the playlist resonates with Clark when I have time, sounds exciting.
But yea this is a long post thank you for staying with me hhhhhh
