The DCU Just Found The One Argument About Why Superman’s Secret Identity Is Never Revealed You Can’t Beat

Published Sep 27, 2026, 12:40 PM EDT

Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.

The DC Universe just hit upon one very solid reason the Superman of the on-screen world is able to keep a secret identity so effectively despite the clues that could potentially be picked up by curious people around him throughout much of his life. One of the most common plot points discussed about Superman both in the real world and in-universe is how the superhuman Kryptonian is able to keep his superhero life and civilian life separate, since in many ways there is only a thin line seperating Superman and Clark Kent to those around him.

With this being the subject of much fan curiosity and sometimes skepticism, it's a concept that the comics and their movie adaptations alike have taken to delving into in no small way, be that by giving new explanations for why those around Clark Kent don't pick up on any clues about his other identity, or exploring the turmoil this dual life adds to Superman's day-to-day dealings.

Of course, some arguments or explanations around how Superman is able to maintain his secret identity are stronger than others, especially given how extensive the hero's history truly is.

With that said, the DCU has certainly stood itself in good stead when it comes to providing concrete reasons the Man of Steel is able to live as Clark Kent without anyone suspecting anything, firstly with the Hypno-Glasses Superman is established as wearing, and now by a reveal about the DCU timeline that explains why folks may not have been paying attention to Clark Kent even when his attempts to stay unsuspicious will have no doubt been at their most questionable.

The DCU's Gorilla Grodd Reveals Would Provide A Very Good Explanation As To Why Nobody Ever Worked Out Clark Kent Is Superman

The set photos we've seen thus far of The People Vs Gorilla Grodd have been a wild ride, to say the least, showing everything from Gorilla Grodd as part of an a cappella band, to his university graduation. However, eagle-eyed people (as per The Direct) were able to spot that part of the Metropolis University scenes for Grodd included a banner that reads "160 Years, 1855–2015", setting Grodd's time in university around this period.

Interestingly enough, this aligns with when Clark Kent would have been making his fateful foray out of Smallville and into Metropolis to attend university himself, as is established in Superman. Notably, the DCU movie also establishes its titular hero to be around 29 years old, meaning he would have been around 20 at the in-universe year of 2015 - and, thus, that he and Grodd would seemingly have shared the same campus for a period of time.

This has many potential fascinating implications, but perhaps the most salient is that this goes a long way to explain why nobody appears to have twigged that Clark Kent had superpowers, or would go on to draw lines between Kent and the later debut of Superman around 2022 in this timeline.

While Metropolis University appears to have seen Clark's first steps on his own - meaning his powers are most likely to have slipped out at this time, and any efforts to help others out or do any low-key superhero stuff would have been easier to detect - the idea this would have been happening around the same time a sentient talking gorilla was on campus means many uni-goers would no doubt have had other things on their mind, and the benchmark for odd behavior or unusual figures would also seemingly have been far higher.

Even If Gorilla Grodd's Backstory Isn't At Metropolis University, The DCU Reference Makes A Key Point Clear

With all of this said, it is possible that the Metropolis University sequence isn't meant to be taken entirely literally in The People Vs Gorilla Grodd depending on how things go - as it's equally viable for the scene to be used as an example of how Grodd's life could have gone had he lived in a world wherein he was accepted, and could go through the normal channels to educate himself and use his immense intelligence.

However, even this approach would serve to highlight why the DCU's version of Superman has one of the best excuses of just about any live-action DC world in terms of going incognito as Clark Kent - and indeed, would explain why people may not have picked up on the two being one and the same even before Clark created the Hypno-Glasses themselves.

In a world wherein figures like Gorilla Grodd are around and have been present in the world for as long as Clark himself if not longer, it makes sense for attention to be less on otherwise ordinary-seeming figures like Clark Kent, even if he likely slipped up once or twice along the way. Ultimately, the more the DC Universe highlights this as it builds out its rich tapestry of characters, the more common questions like why so few people can spot that Clark Kent is Superman become easy for audiences to answer themselves on several different levels.