Pro Bot
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By the way, the interview with Lois in the tie-in comic stating "over 21" is taken directly from the film. We know Clark is 30 because it is established that he creates the Fortress at age 18 and spends 12 years preparing before getting to Metropolis. Just to clarify where that reference comes from.These images best represent my theory on how Earth-96 could work.
Everything is known but post crisis as is known, some things changed like the kingdom come event, post crisis Joker failed to kill the people of the Daily Planet, an event that happened approximately 1 year before the events of crisis.
Maybe one more change could be the existence of supergirl.
Post crisis supergirl existed which would explain the cameo of Chris Reeve and Helen Slater in The Flash, this crossover took place while in the earth of Flashpoint it was the year 2013, it is not far-fetched that it is also 2013 in that universe that we saw with Reeve and Slater, since if it were Earth-96, it would make perfect sense considering that Superman IV happened last year.
Here's my thoughts on Pre-Crisis Earth-96.
1. Jonathan Kent has the same actor from 1978 in an old photograph. Same logic as Selina Kyle in Catwoman (2004), this should imply Superman Returns is probably the same universe.
2. The kryptonite fround in the first film from Addis Ababa is marked "1978" in Superman Returns, meaning that it supports the timeline presented in those original films rather than a sliding timeline.
3. Marc Guggenheim is a bit of a fool with his reasoning, but Crisis on Infinite Earths was still written to have Earth-96 as the Universe of ALL Superman films, including III, including IV, and including Returns. He confirmed it, the episodes confirmed it, and the film itself supports this claim. If we go with this, it does mean that Jason wasn't conceived during Superman II so that is retconned.
4. The only real continuity issue is Martha being dead, but if we take that as a simple mistake on Lana's part, where she confuses his mom and dad, it fits.
5. The characters would be mostly in their 40s and 50s, which isn't too unbelievable, they aren't 60s or 70s or anything, it's just odd aging.
So, Pre-Crisis Earth-96, based on official word, the references in the crossover and the dates throughout the series, should be:
1948 - Superman Returns: Prequel #1
1978 - Superman: The Movie: Extended Cut
1978 - Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut [Alternate Timeline]
1978 - Superman II
1980 - Superman III
1984 - Supergirl: Director's Cut
1985 - Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
2000 - Superman Returns: Strange Visitor
2006 - Superman Returns: Prequel #2-4
2006 - Superman Returns
2010 - Human Target 1x01-1x12
2010 - Human Target vol. 3 #1-6
2011 - Human Target 2x01-2x13
2019 - Batwoman 1x09, "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part 1"
The Superman '78 comics shouldn't count for Crisis, since it's confirmed to take Batman '89 as the same universe (which exists separately at this point). Call it Crisis mergers like with Earth-Prime, I guess. Since Superman learns his parents survive in those comics, you could either argue that Kandor city is destroyed between Superman '78 and post-crisis Superman Returns, or Superman Returns was written out entirely. Or maybe Clark was just being dramatic and his parents are fine, he's just upset that he can't unshrink them.