Superman is always an all-time favorite among DC comic fans after Batman. He best embodies good old-school values still carried through in modern times. And it makes sense given that he was raised by humble farmers in Midwestern America. In time, he expanded from his family in the vein of his cousin Supergirl and eventually his son Jonathan, the new Superboy; having more or less taken the mantle from his clone/younger brother figure; Conner.
Unlike the Batman, who had expanded his team beyond the adopted family of misfit boys he took in, Superman keeps things among his immediate family. Which makes sense given his overall alien origins. He does have allies; ranging from the former weapon designer and engineer John Henry Irons, to his once greatest childhood love Lana Lang, who recently became Superwoman. The few allies he keeps aren’t just because of his secret but also because he has crazy high standards and expectations that he lives up to no matter what, and holds those close to him to a similar standard. If there were other more heroic Kryptonians, there would likely be more members. But those are rare as many of them follow his major enemy; General Zod. That doesn’t mean that no other Kryptonian has the heroic spark and drive in them.
In other realities and continuities, there have been other heroic Kryptonian figures that do come close to Superman. One of which has gotten more traction; Calvin Ellis. Calvin Ellis is an African-American version of Superman but certainly not the first, as there have been brief iterations of an African-American Superman. Calvin Ellis is Superman in nearly every way as possible, and could hold that standard even more by representing community more so than before. Not to say that Superman does not, but given that he’s associated with the Justice League more often than not, Superman primarily represents hope and inspiration on a global scale rather than overall community. But they could incorporate elements of an other African-American Superman figure; Val-Zod.
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because in a different reality, Val-Zod is the presumed son or last living relative of General Zod. A major thing for him to overcome would not be in revealing his identity, but perhaps his potential in him for veering towards his family’s inclination for violence. It could be a new way to highlight that this new Superman has baggage of sort. A Superman who wants to be seen as a force of good for the community, and move past the image of his family. But this is not the only possibility of a Superman. Once a one-off joke made in passing, but a Mexican Superman has happened on a small scale, in the DC Animated movie; Of Gods and Monsters.
Hernan Guerra is a different take on Superman, as when he crash landed, he was taken in by a young Mexican couple who had been crossing the border. His own experiences hardened his worldview and embittered him. But whereas Superman was the son of Jor-El and his wife Lara, Hernan is the son of General Zod and Lara; as Zod messed with the Kryptonian incubation process, placing his DNA instead of Jor-El. Hernan is a heroic figure in his own right, but he’s much closer to that of an anti-hero, as his approach towards crime-fighting is more violent than the Man of Steel.
Rather than inspire hope, he ends up instilling fear; that’s Batman’s job! Hernan could be introduced as a cousin to Superman; closer to that of a distant relation. In previous iterations, Superman did have a distant cousin of sorts who became a heroic figure to the people of Krypton named Van-Zee, who had used the mantle of Nightwing. The main focal point around him being that Hernan’s willing to cross lines that Superman wouldn’t dare cross; be it through acts of violence and intimidation to get the results he wants. Hernan could demonstrate and represent that he can be as heroic as his fabled cousin while fundamentally being his own person, even if he doesn’t get his famous cousins stamp of approval.
