
Mister Oz, a more recent adversary of Superman introduced in issue #32 of Superman (2011), seems older in the Superman universe’s lore, having made an appearance long before that. This enigmatic figure observed Clark Kent’s dual life from some unknown extraterrestrial realm and was eventually unmasked as Jor-El, Superman’s deceased Kryptonian father. Instead of perishing with Krypton, Jor-El was saved by Doctor Manhattan at the moment of Krypton’s destruction and used to manipulate Superman’s timeline and that of the entire DC Universe.
The challenge in bringing Mister Oz to live-action is that his survival storyline is too complex for anything outside the DC comics. Introducing him into movies would prompt questions about who he survived, why he didn’t raise Clark Kent, and how he managed to survive at all. Integrating Doctor Manhattan and his plotline would be impossible, leading to drastic changes in Mister Oz’s character that would effectively transform him into a different version of Jor-El.
Moreover, keeping Jor-El alive complicates Superman’s origin story, which should be avoided given its iconic status and wide recognition. It is best to keep Jor-El as an inspiring figure from beyond the grave rather than introducing him as a living character in live-action adaptations.