A being with strange powers descends from the heavens; he's been sent to Earth as a baby. Once there, he embraces the role of humanity, experiencing everything that man typically experiences. He grows up and enters into a ministry to save mankind from many dangers. Sound familiar? That’s because the story of Superman draws a lot from the story of Jesus.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 notes the mythology surrounding the superhero, singling out Superman in particular. Most superheroes, like Batman or Spider-Man, are actually people (Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker, respectively) with superheroic alter egos. Not Superman. He is superheroic. Clark Kent is his startlingly human alter ego.

What’s the difference? "Clark Kent" is a disguise to blend in with us-it's him taking on humanity to become like us. If you think the comics are unaware of this parallel, or that I read too much into things, consider the following: a few years back, DC published a mini-series entitled DC One Million. The premise was to look at the DC canon of superheroes one million years from now. Who did the story revolve around? Superman, who at some future point ascends into the heavens to live a glorified life within the sun. It had been "prophesied" that one million years from now, he would return to bring lasting peace. Which brings us to Smallville.

Smallville, the television show drawn from Clark's early years, used the Superman mythos as its own metanarrative and overarching story. The show was also aware of the comparisons to Jesus. The pilot, for example, featured the image of Clark on a wooden cross (a freshman hazing tradition known as "scarecrow"-ing). The premise of show was simple: what did Superman, then only Clark Kent, do between the time we saw him as a child and he fully became Superman? Again, to draw Biblical allusions, we see Jesus as a child teaching in the synagogue (the story of him being lost was the inspiration for the movie Home Alone), but we don’t know what he was up to until he comes on the scene as an adult.

Clark Kent has his gang of teen pals: Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), his childhood love remaining just out of reach; Pete Ross (Sam Jones III), who, along with Clark's parents, shares his secret; Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), budding investigative reporter and cousin to Lois Lane (the woman destined to be Superman's love). But the most intriguing relationship is the one with Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). While Clark Kent is learning what it means to be good and selfless, Lex slowly walks toward the dark side. It adds another layer of subtext to the mythos.

One of the main themes of the 2004 season was fathers and sons. Lex's own father Lionel (John Glover) screws up Lex's moral bearings in trying to shape him into his own image. There is also a battle over Clark. His biological father, Jor-El, foresaw him as world conqueror while his adopted father, Jonathon (John Schneider from The Dukes of Hazzard) sees him as world savior.

Smallville explores the concept known as "the Messianic Consciousness." Not all scholars believe this theory, but the principle works nicely for my Superman comparison. The Messianic consciousness works like this: Jesus gradually grew into his knowledge and role as the Messiah. The same idea is at work in Smallville. Clark Kent (Tom Welling) was a teenager undergoing the same growing pains as any other teen. In addition to the usual brand of awkwardness, he had to adjust to being different. And not just different in the way all teens think they are different - he had powers. Over the course of the series, he came to terms with who he was. Imagine Beverly Hills 90210 mixed with The X-Files, or The O.C. with super powers and you have an idea of what the show was like.

If you like teen angst mixed with creepy adventure and a coming-of-age messianic subtext, Smallville is for you.