My Adventures With Superman Is Being Marketed to the Wrong Audience

My Adventures With Superman is a delightful show and perfect for young children who don't know Kal-El, so why is it being marketed to adults only?

The following contains spoilers for My Adventures with Superman Episodes 1-2, "Adventures of a Normal Man," now streaming on HBO Max.

From a helpful Clark Kent to the best portrayal of Lois Lane yet, My Adventures with Superman is delighting DC fans. The look and style of the series are reminiscent of anime, with fast-paced dialogue equal parts endearing and awkward. This begs the question: why is Warner Bros. Discovery marketing this to adults?

The two-part series premiere of My Adventures with Superman features a fresh take on a common idea. Lois, Clark and Jimmy Olsen go sniffing for scoops, only to end up under attack by high-tech military robots. Yet, for all the cartoon violence, there doesn't seem to be any good reason for this show to be rated "TV-PG" in America. The villains don't even use realistic-looking guns, at least not like they did in Batman: The Animated Series. In fact, unlike any other adaptation thus far, Superman cleans up the area in town where the big fight happened. There's also a romance angle, as Lois and Clark are as fated for each other as two fictional characters could be. Still, with all the anime blushing and oh-shucks-style reactions from the characters, it's nothing kids haven't seen before. For whatever reason, it seems that WB Discovery doesn't trust its 85-year-old superhero cartoon would work if it were marketed to children.

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The series is many things that Superman fans from any generation will like, but most of all, it's cute. The animation style and the character mannerisms are clearly reminiscent of children's series like Dragonball Z. For example, while the ages of the characters are indeterminate, they are clearly kids. They have internships at The Daily Planet and live on their own, so it's most likely they are college-aged. However, they act far less mature than that in the way that children like their cartoon older kids to act. Superman being an awkward, uncertain mess feels like the kind of Kal-El kids could relate to.

In recent years, there haven't been many stories for children featuring DC characters. The comics are written with older teens and adult readers in mind. On TV, the best they could do were the Arrowverse series and shows like Stargirl. Still, these series were aimed more at adolescents and teenagers than the very young audiences My Adventures With Superman would be perfect for. Growing up is hard, which is one of the reasons kids relate to Superman. He's trying to fit in with the rest of the world, and he struggles despite his impressive powers.

Whether on Adult Swim or Cartoon Network proper, there are some grown-ups who just won't watch animation. However, those grown-ups have children who might watch My Adventures with Superman if it weren't being sold as a series for adults. Adult Swim's Superman, like The CW series before it, will likely find younger fans. However, if WB Discovery billed it as a show for kids, it would be a worthy long-term investment in DC Comics' future.

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When kids are old enough to graduate from the Disney XD Marvel shows, the Marvel Cinematic Universe awaits them. Today's DC kids can turn to Max for canceled series like DC Super Hero Girls or the DC Animated Universe of old. However, outside of Teen Titans, GO! and Batwheels, where all the heroes are sentient cars, WB Discovery aren't given kids anything to make them excited about the DC characters. With the exception of the first Shazam! movie, none of the recent DC Comics films are for kids. The Flash movie, for example, is a celebration of generations of DC storytelling, complete with genital jokes and a pointless F-bomb. No matter what one thinks of Batman v. Superman or Justice League, they are not stories for little kids.

My Adventures with Superman is the kind of series that all ages will love. It's a show people would put on for their kids and, if they also love Superman, end up watching with them. Fandom adults would also not let something like a kids' rating get in their way. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is proof of that. While that series is also TV-PG, it aired during regular Cartoon Network hours, complete with death and destruction. Comparatively, My Adventures with Superman is significantly less violent.

In fact, despite airing on Adult Swim, the series feels like it is for an audience that includes children in grade school. This doesn't mean the stories are juvenile, of course. Rather, My Adventures with Superman is exactly the sort of series that starts lifelong love affairs with Superman and comic book characters. Whether Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't trust children's animation or is just short-sighted, it may be excluding the show's most important audience.

My Adventures with Superman debuts new episodes Thursdays on Adult Swim and streaming the next day on Max.

Father, veteran, and storyteller. A cunning warrior, the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a good friend. The first installment of his superhero fiction book, TALES OF ADVENTURE & FANTASY, is available on Amazon in print and ebook!