My Adventures With Superman season 2 just showed that its version of the Man of Steel is younger than me – and I really wasn’t expecting it. While Superman has had a considerable range of live-action series focused around the DC hero over the course of recent history, he’s had far less in the way of animated shows that center on him, instead more likely to crop up in shared universes and series. As such, this makes My Adventures With Superman all the more exciting, as a new animated Superman show imagines his lore and world in a fresh way.

Naturally, a new age means new depictions of iconic figures, with a range of Superman’s notable allies and enemies appearing in the first two seasons of the show. My Adventures With Superman season 2’s ending served as a great way to honor this considerable range, but its story also included a subtle way to allude to Superman’s age that may have been missed in all the exciting chaos. This came as a surprise, since – unless My Adventures With Superman season 3 timeskips to an older figure – it means Jack Quaid’s Superman is younger than both the actor and me.

My Adventures With Superman Season 2’s Ending Reveals The Man Of Steel’s Age

Krypton’s Destruction Helps Set Out A Timeline

My Adventures With Superman season 2, episode 10 sees Brainiac reveal that he destroyed Krypton 22 years ago. While the main focus for viewers watching this initial plot twist is the news that, in this universe, Brainiac is responsible for almost the entirety of Clark’s origin story, it does also reveal another major detail about the Man of Steel: namely, his age.

We know Kal-El was a baby when he was sent away to eventually land on Earth, as this was directly shown in My Adventures With Superman season 2, episode 1. As such, we can ascertain that at this point in the timeline, Superman is between 22 and 23 years old, depending on how old he was as a baby when Krypton was destroyed.

While this is totally in line with My Adventures With Superman being about a younger Clark starting out at the Daily Planet and as a superhero, it’s a reveal that took me by surprise. This is both because Superman is generally either depicted as older or in his teens Smallville style when it comes to choosing his age, and because it means the plucky hero is officially younger than me, which has until now been unusual for iterations of the character.

Superman’s Live-Action & Animated Age Range Explained

Superman Most Commonly Appears To Be In His 30s

The age of the movie versions of Superman tends to sit at around the 30s mark, allowing him to have undergone some considerable training and experience in order to justify his immense control over his powers. While Smallville starts out with one of the youngest on-screen versions of Superman – beginning the series at around 14 at the start of season 1 – the series also covers a huge chunk of his life, ending with him in his early 30s.

Superman & Lois’ Clark Kent is commonly thought to be in his 40s since season 3 reveals he graduated from high school in 1998, which makes sense since the show depicts an older Man of Steel who is more focused on raising his two teen boys and being there for his family while being a superhero. In the earlier Lois & Clark, Superman is born in 1966 and starts at the Daily Planet in 1993, making him around 27 at the point of the first season.

The animated versions of Superman are generally a little less clear in this regard, as they don’t need to be as tied to the rough ballpark of their actor’s age as much. However, the hero’s age tends to be comparable to Batman’s own age in the universes, both to better compare the two and to draw similarities between DC’s two biggest icons.

Since Bruce tends to be well into adulthood and with a roster of adoptive children and proteges, the same kind of age range as the movies tends to look the case for the shows. As such, it appears that most animated iterations of Clark Kent appear to be in his 30s or 40s himself broadly speaking, especially since the destruction of Krypton is often referenced as a less recent event.

Why I’m Glad I’m Older Than My Adventures With Superman’s Version Of The DC Hero

What Superman Means Can Change With Age

Having been invested in superheroes from childhood, figures like Superman have appeared in different lights as I’ve grown up. For a child, figures like Superman and Batman are prime examples of what to strive to be when they’re older – able to be kind and caring but to stand their ground and do what is right when the time calls for it, even when it’s hard.

While teenagers tend to lean towards edgier interpretations of heroes than when they were kids – and I was no exception to this rule – the sheer moral fortitude of a figure like Superman can pack more of a punch in this period, as a reminder of hope in a time where the world may begin to look increasingly complicated and alienating. With this past in mind, it’s nice to once again be able to define a new era via superhero association, and see how a new chapter of life can change even things like how you perceive Superman.

It’s not yet clear whether My Adventures With Superman will follow some other DC shows and depict the character aging more over the course of the series, or whether it will cement itself in the early era of the Man of Steel’s superhero career. Either way, I’m excited to see what comes next for the series, even if it may have inadvertently given me a small existential crisis about the unstoppable march of time.