When you’re a character with almost a century of stories, there are bound to be a few updates here and there. And Superman certainly fits that bill. DC has been publishing Superman stories for longer than most people have been alive and, slowly but surely, the character has evolved. From only being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, the Last Son of Krypton can now fly. Heck, despite the moniker of being the only survivor of his planet, many more survivors from Krypton have now populated the DC Universe.

A lot of the time, it’s the folks over at DC who retool Superman’s story and lore. Other times, it’s from other media. That’s not really special as even the concept of Kryptonite came from the Superman radio and not DC themselves. However, there is one relatively recent chance that changed how DC treats Superman these days and it really impacted how the character’s stories are written today.

It’s Superman’s undying love for Lois Lane.

Now, this might seem weird to some comic book readers who got into the hobby recently or those who grew up watching the movies or watching the various television shows featuring the Man of Steel. So you may be a little surprised to find out that Lois Lane, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t really super important during the Golden Age, Silver Age and Bronze Age of comics. It’s only when we hit the Modern Age of comics, roughly after Crisis of Infinite Earths or around the mid-’80s.

That’s not to say Lois Lane wasn’t important in Superman’s lore. Rather, she wasn’t really important in Superman’s life. Sure, she was his main love interest and a lot of her stories do revolve around her trying to prove Clark Kent was really Superman. She was also one of the most recurring damsels in distress Superman would have to rescue.

However, despite being the main love interest, all throughout the Golden Age, Silver Age and the Bronze Age, Lois Lane and Superman’s relationship never really matured beyond them just almost kinda dating. Oh, there would be those “imaginary stories” where they would get married or the occasional tales where Lois Lane would finally give up on pining over Superman. But, after a few issues or even that very issue, the status quo would revert back to normal and Lois Lane and Superman would be all lovey-dovey again.

But during the very early days of the Bronze Age, Superman would come flying into theaters with the 1978 live-action movie, craftily titled Superman. To say the movie was a big hit would be an insult as it raked in a ton of money and single-handedly made Christopher Reeve a household name. More importantly, it showed that comic books, especially superheroes, can appeal to more than just geeks and nerds.

However, the movie also slipped in the little nugget that was Superman’s great love for Lois Lane. Remember, this wasn’t something that was focused too much in the comics before this. But the movie made special emphasis on this, especially during the climax when Lex Luthor launches a nuclear missile to destroy the United States coastline so all of the land he bought would become beachfront property. Side-note: this might have been the gestation of why DC opted to change Lex Luthor from the mad scientist archetype to unscrupulous businessman during the Modern Age?

Anyway, Lois Lane gets caught in the earthquake and actually dies. Superman is so heartbroken and angry that he flies around the planet and reverses its rotation. Okay, that was a joke. In actuality, Superman flies around the planet so fast that he travels back in time so that he would be there to save Lois Lane before any of that happens.

This may not seem like anything but, if you really think about it, Superman never thought about doing this until Lois Lane died. Sure, he was trying to save America after Lex Luthor caused a major earthquake. But did Superman ever think to travel back in time to prevent Lex Luthor from firing the missile, which still probably caused a lot of death and destruction despite him eventually repairing the fault line? No, he only turned back time just so Lois Lane wouldn’t die. This was the first seed planted.

Then came Superman II and, once again, Superman’s love factors in greatly into the story. This time, Superman voluntarily gives up his powers so he can be with Lois Lane. This actually seemed out of character for the Man of Steel as, by this time, he realizes he has a greater purpose and he knows, thanks to his Kryponian abilities, he can help a lot of people. But here, he gladly has his abilities stripped from him and give up from being a superhero because he just has to be with Lois Lane. They’ve just watered the seed they planted in the first movie.

Things really came to a head during the Modern Age of comics. After Crisis of Infinite Earths, DC revamped their entire comics line and even made changes to their decades long loose continuity they’ve established. Clark Kent became the “real” person while Superman was the disguise. Lex Luthor became a shady businessman. And Lois Lane was… now pursuing a romantic relationship with Clark Kent! The seed that was planted all the way back when the first Superman started to sprout.

Now, I do have to clear up a misconception that the only reason why Clark Kent and Lois Lane got married is because of the Lois and Clark television series starring Terri Hatcher and Dean Cain. In a weird twist, yes, Lois and Clark did meddle with DC comics plans for Superman and Lois Lane. But rather than being the cause of the two of them getting married in the comics, the Lois and Clark television show actually delayed them from getting married. DC’s writers had decided to tell the wedding story in Superman #75. But when they were told they couldn’t proceed because of the show, they opted to do something else with Superman #75…

But even death couldn’t stop Superman from eventually marrying Lois Lane. After a while, the stars aligned and, just when Lois and Clark wed in the TV show for real this time (insert long story about clones here), DC released Superman: The Wedding Album.

Ever since Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane got married, their love for each other has become an integral part of Superman’s lore. The most recent DC Extended Universe movies, namely Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, it’s Superman’s love for Lois Lane that gets exploited or the reason why he stops his murderous rampage. The storyline reason as to why Superman has become a villain in the Injustice fighting games is because the Joker tricked Superman into killing Lois Lane. In the comics, the “Post-Crisis” Clark Kent and Lois Lane are still married, even after the other multiple reboots like Flashpoint and the New 52. The couple now have a kid, Jon Kent, who also has his father’s powers and abilities.

While Superman and Lois becoming a couple does seem like a natural evolution to their story, I don’t think it would’ve been possible without the help of Superman and Superman II. Without these movies planting the idea of how much Superman indeed loves Lois Lane, comic book writers would’ve been content with simply continuing their “just dating” relationship. They had to shake things up a bit thanks to the movies.

How else would you say the movies and TV shows influenced comic book superhero lore? Let me know in the comments section below!