What does the S on Superman's chest stand for? 🤔 | QI

Quiz show. Sandi Toksvig looks at animals which start with a P with Alan Davies, Phill Jupitus, Danny Baker and Teri Hatcher.

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[darinfoat]

Artist John Byrne, who has illustrated many iconic Superman comics over the years, once said that as a child he suffered from dyslexia, and didn't recognize the symbol as a letter. It was only when he was an adult, and a working comic book artist, that someone told him it was supposed to be an S. He said that he still draws the symbol by first making the outline of the shield, and then filling in the negative spaces around the S. He finds it easier and more accurate.

[jedsithor]

In the original comics, it was just an S that stood for "Superman" and was drawn as an S. Over time, the design of the S became more artistic but it was Mario Puzo who had the idea of turning it into a Kryptonian symbol for Superman The Movie. Originally it was just going to be the symbol of Krypton but it became the symbol for the House Of El.

This was cemented by Marlon Brando who requested to wear the S in the movie. From then on different comics and shows went back and forth on the S, with some having it come from the Kents, others having it be a Kryptonian symbol. In Lois And Clark, the show that featured Hatcher, the S is Kryptonian. In fact the very symbol Superman wears in the show was in the space ship and Martha kept it hidden away along with the baby blankets Kal-El was wrapped in.

It was Superman: Birthright, a (then) new retelling of the origin story that established that not only was the S a Kryptonian symbol for the House Of El, but is in fact a symbol for "Hope."

[KennAKALeo]

Asking what the S on Superman's chest stands for is a little like asking what "#" means? Is it a pound symbol? Does it mean number? Does it mean that a note is sharp? Is it a hashtag? Is someone playing It has been an 'S' for "Superman" and in some stories it was chosen for that reason. Sometimes it's a Kryptonian glyph referring to the house of "El". Sometimes it's a Kryptonian symbol for hope. Sometimes the Kryptonian symbol for hope is the coat of arms of the house of "El".

But the "S" for "Superman" was the intent of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Anything else came later as the mythology grew.

[ryiin]

That's brilliant that Terri Hatcher went on.

[comicenthusiast]

At the very VERY beginning, when Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, in the 1920's, had the idea for a superhero and gave him a cape but didn't have a name for him. So they put an "S" on his chest for their collective last names first letter "S" for Siegel and Shuster.

It wasn't until after many failed attempts to get A DIFFERENT character rejected for comics, a character named "The Superman" who was a Bald, evil, scientist/businessman they scrapped that idea for a possible villian later on.

They eventually realized "oh shit, we have this old superhero design who has an 'S' on his chest, why don't we just call this guy 'Superman' instead, and call it a day?" And thus, the 'S' originally meant "Siegel/Shuster"

[pferreira]

I mean even on the show they made fun of Lois not knowing Clark is Superman. 😂

[sleepinglionarchives]

I loved Lois and Clark. To this day I still recall the night it first aired. It was opposite Seaquest DSV. That's the one I foolishly taped because I thought Lois and Clark looked lame in commercials. But wouldn't ya know it, it became one of my favorite series. Years later it was an easy DVD purchase and can now be streamed in remastered HD on HBOMax, though the old school digital effects were just upscaled

[MrHomeArcade]

Terry Hatcher can still get it ❤️... she's like a fine wine 🍷 ..better with age 😉

[jessecarliner]

When they were filming the 1978 Superman movie I walked by where they were doing the exterior shots of the Daily Planet.
Little known fact; this was in the middle of the NYC blackout.

[BadgerOff]

Actually, the symbol doesn't mean 'Hope' at all, that's a fairly recent and popular misconception. It's actually the family crest (or Coat of Arms) of the House of El, hence why they were worn by Kal ELs family back on Krypton. General Zod also has his own symbol too, because he is from a different family - The House of Zod

The 'myth' began in the 2003 comic Superman: Birthright, where it was mentioned in passing with an almost throwaway line that "Clark realizes the S insignia had great significance on Krypton and seemed to symbolize the Kryptonians' hope for a better tomorrow." but it's never explicitly stated that it literally stands for hope.
Also, although Clark is a Kryptonian, he never really 'lived' there, so had little understanding of Kryptonian language, customs or symbols. At the time that line was mentioned, he was at the start of his journey as Superman and had not fully learned the language yet, so he had no way of knowing what the symbol actually meant.
It's certainly not considered part of canon because the story was originally a non-canon story, that was then adopted into the canon, but was then retconned in 2005-6's Infinite Crisis story, which rebooted the whole DC continuity (one of MANY times they've rebooted continuity).

Sadly, Birthright seems to be one of the only comics Zack Snyder ever actually bothered to read, and was his basis for 2013's Man of Steel. So he essentially mistranslated that idea into the simplified 'Hope', and shoehorned it into his godawful movie, so now any time you Google "What does the S stand for?", you'll unfortunately get "Hope" as an (incorrect) answer in reference to Snyders film.

[Phenom]

The S is also his family's crest, which is the House of EL.

[eurocentric]

Superman liked to show off his designer labels, and S stands for Spandex.

[GhostofCTC]

Been in love with Teri Hatcher since I was about 10 ☺️ and then she was a Bond girl and I didn’t know what to do with myself 😳🤣

[espec]

The S Symbol represents the House of EL. El means 'hope' in krptonian and if the symbol is upside down, it means 'Resurrection'

[daysofpool]

In the CW TV show, Supergirl, the title character explains that in addition to it meaning the House of El, it also means 'sheara' (sp?) and that translates to 'stronger together'.

[MePeterNicholls]

Seriously had someone not recognise me wren I had glasses on after wearing contacts all day. Friend took them off to wear as a joke, as people annoyingly do, and the girl cried out: “OMG! It’s you!” 😂

[davidlance]

Would’ve not hesitated to use the whole show to roast Dean but totally would’ve got that answer though

[trompentertainment]

It stands for hope I’ve met Dean Cain. He’s a wonderful person and a underrated gem of a actor. I grew up watching him as superman

[datsneakysnek]

"Hope starts with an 'H', stupid!"

[skrrskrr]

Well, it didn't start meaning "hope" until seven years after Teri played Lois.