Jonathan Kent Superman: Pa Kent, Actors and Fate

Jonathan Kent is Clark Kent's adoptive father, a Kansas farmer who, with his wife Martha, finds the infant Kal-El near Smallville and raises him as their own son. The credits use two names for him: Pa Kent in Superman (1978), directed by Richard Donner, and Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel (2013), directed by Zack Snyder.

Jonathan Kent is not Jon Kent, who is Superman's son and a separate character. Search results for this name are crowded with the son, so this profile covers the father only. Searches that add John Schneider, Smallville or Superman and Lois lead toward television versions of the Kent family. In the films, the credits for the role name Glenn Ford and Kevin Costner, not John Schneider.

In the films, Jonathan is a human parent, not a Kryptonian. In Superman (1978), Glenn Ford plays him, billed seventh, with Phyllis Thaxter as Ma Kent. The cast list there credits the son as Superman / Clark Kent, played by Christopher Reeve, with Jeff East as Young Clark Kent. In Man of Steel (2013), Kevin Costner plays him, billed tenth, opposite Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Henry Cavill plays Clark Kent / Kal-El. Superman (2025), directed by James Gunn, features him at the Kent farm, in a scene where he talks with Clark after Clark escapes Lex Luthor's prison.

In Superman Returns (2006), Clark goes back to his adoptive mother's farm, and Eva Marie Saint plays Martha Kent.

Jonathan Kent's arc runs from adoptive father and early mentor in Superman (1978) to a cautionary voice in Man of Steel (2013) and a farm-scene guide in Superman (2025). Each film uses him differently, so it helps to take them in release order.

In Superman (1978), Jonathan and Martha find the baby, adopt him and name him Clark, and the boy learns to hide his powers. Jonathan then dies of a heart attack. After that loss, a green crystal from the baby's ship calls Clark to the Arctic, where the Fortress of Solitude forms and a hologram of Jor-El trains him for twelve years.

In Man of Steel (2013), Kal-El grows up in Kansas as Clark Kent, raised by Jonathan and Martha, and struggles to hide his growing powers. Jonathan urges him to keep his abilities secret, even at great personal cost. It is the film's clearest statement of what the Kents fear the world will do with a boy who can do what Clark can.

In Superman (2025), Jonathan appears at the Kent farm, where Superman recovers after Lex Luthor held him in a pocket universe prison. There, Jonathan tells him that his own choices define who he is. The scene is short, and it comes just before the final fight over Metropolis.

Jonathan Kent's key relationships are with his wife Martha and with Clark, and the films treat the three as one household.

Martha Kent appears in more films than Jonathan. She is Ma Kent (Phyllis Thaxter) in Superman (1978), Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) in Superman Returns (2006), and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) in Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). Martha Kent is the Kent parent who appears across the most films, so her profile is the natural next read.

Clark Kent, also known as Kal-El and Superman, is the link between every Kent scene. In Superman (1978), the young Clark is played by Jeff East. In Man of Steel (2013), Cooper Timberline plays Clark at nine and Dylan Sprayberry plays him at thirteen.

Lois Lane is the person Clark brings home to that family story. In Man of Steel (2013), Amy Adams plays Lois, who tracks Clark down and chooses to protect his identity. In Superman (2025), Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois, who interviews Superman, argues with him over Boravia, and later tells Clark she loves him too.

Smallville also brings in old friends. Lana Lang is played by Jadin Gould in Man of Steel (2013) and by Annette O'Toole in Superman III (1983), where Clark returns to Smallville for a reunion and meets her again.

Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack in Superman (1978), and he is alive at the Kent farm in Superman (2025).

In Superman (1978), his death comes before the green crystal from the baby's ship calls Clark to the Arctic. The loss sits at the turning point between the Kansas childhood and the Fortress of Solitude that follows, where Clark trains for twelve years.

In Superman (2025), Jonathan is at the Kent farm, where he talks with Clark about identity and choice and tells him that his own choices define who he is.

The best Jonathan Kent moment is his farm conversation with Clark in Superman (2025), where he says Clark's choices define who he is. The ranking here is editorial, and in my opinion this scene does the most work in the least time. Clark has just survived a prison, a public argument and a run of defeats, and one line from his father puts the whole film back on a single question.

Second, I would pick the heart attack in Superman (1978). It is a quiet loss in a film full of spectacle, and it explains why Clark leaves for the Arctic with such purpose. Glenn Ford gives the farmer a calm, plain authority that, perhaps, makes the absence felt through the long Fortress of Solitude sequence.

Third is the secrecy advice in Man of Steel (2013). Kevin Costner plays Jonathan as a worried father, and the advice that Clark should hide his abilities even at great personal cost shows the trade he asks of his son.

If you are new to the character, start with Superman (2025) for the idea, then Superman (1978) for the loss. Both sit in the Superman movies in order guide.