Man of Steel: The Superman Movie I Want to See
Posted on August 23, 2008 @ 10:26 am
In the wake of The Dark Knight’s record-breaking box office haul, it’s no surprise that Warner Bros. has set ts sights on a complete reboot of the Superman movie franchise — more or less ignoring 2006’s disappointing Superman Returns.
My Superman reboot would take the franchise in a completely different direction. First up, I’d set the film in 1938, the year of Superman’s debut in Action Comics #1. Moreover, I’d use CGI to create a highly stylized Metropolis, evoking a retro pulp art aesthetic and harkening back to the Fleischer Superman cartoons from the 1940s. If you’ve seen Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, that’s very close to what I have in mind.
Lex Luthor would be the film’s villain — depicted here as a mad scientist who unleashes an army of giant robots on the unsuspecting citizens of Metropolis. Lois Lane is a tenacious reporter for the Daily Planet with a knack for finding herself in harm’s way. Meanwhile, Superman is something of a mystery — new to the scene, nobody knows where he came from or what he’s doing in Metropolis. I’d also scale back his powers a bit to bring them more in line with his early appearances (i.e. stronger than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound). From there, the film basically writes itself: Superman smashes a few dozen robots, captures Lex Luthor, and rescues Lois Lane from certain doom.
Of course, I’m probably the only person on Earth who would want to see a retro Superman flick. As far as a more “box office friendly” reboot of the Superman franchise goes, I have a few suggestions after the jump.
Completely forget the previous movies. Bryan Singer’s slavish devotion to the earlier Richard Donner films nearly sank Superman Returns. It’s time to go back to square one — recast and start from scratch. Oh, and for God’s sake — get rid of Lois and Superman’s love child.
Resist the temptation to make Superman a “dark” character. Grim and gritty works for Batman. For Superman? Not so much. Avoid playing up the whole Last Son of Krypton angle too much (i.e. Superman as the only one of his kind, alone on Earth). Superman isn’t some tortured soul in tights and a cape; he’s the superhero archetype. Save the deep inner turmoil for another character.
Find a new villain. Lex Luthor has already shown up in four of the five Superman film’s (and been played a bit too often as corny comic relief by both Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey). It’s time for Superman to face a new villain. Brainiac seems like the most obvious choice, but I could see Doomsday or Darkseid making for interesting antagonists, as well.
Find an actress who can play Lois Lane as a smart, strong woman. This is at least one area where Margot Kidder outshone Superman Returns‘ Kate Bosworth. Lois should be a strong-willed, aggressive reporter who will do literally anything to get the story (and who can’t stand being scooped by a farmboy from Kansas). Moreover, she should be like a force of nature at the Daily Planet — recklessly ignoring Perry White’s orders, bossing around Jimmy Olsen, and calling Clark Kent “Smallville” whenever the opportunity arises.
Feature a cameo from Ma and Pa Kent. Just like Alfred keeps Batman grounded, Ma and Pa Kent are an important part of Superman’s life. I’d love to see them appear in a new Superman movie — either in a flashback or during a brief visit to Smallville.
I’m curious to hear how my readers would go about rebooting the Superman movie franchise. Casting ideas? Favorite villains? Major “do’s” and “don’ts” for bringing the Man of Steel back to the big screen? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Geek, Pop Culture |
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Hm. Cool idea with the Sky Captain comparisons. I seriously thought for a while that I was the only person on the planet who’d liked that movie.
I think Superman Returns wasn’t terrible, to be honest, but with all the homeruns all the other movies have been hitting, it pales in comparison. A complete re-boot is a good idea, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Brandon Routh again. I’m not sure how that’d flow with the reboot idea, though… I agree Lex needs to be gone, but I’d always thought that Singer had plans to do a Death of Superman thing after “Returns” and I wouldn’t mind seeing that, either…
A lot of equivocating going on in the above paragraph… I’m not really sure if I want to see a re-boot. I just want to see the story move forward in a way that’s true to the mythos. Best way to do it? Bring in Zod. Do it better than it was done in II. Is Singer the guy to do that? I don’t know.
Wow. Just wow. That’s got to be one of the best write-ups on a movie reboot I’ve ever read. I’ve not read more than 2 now, but I like ALL of what you have written here. I’d love the classic feel of your first reboot, but I also agree that if they modernize it, they need to still hold true to the roots. Great post, and I hope they hire you to consult!
I liked “Returns,” but I felt the love-child angle could easily be forgotten. I’d rather see a differently styled sequel than a complete reboot (reboots means we have to watch the origin story over again for the hundredth time.) I think Singer’s movie is a good starting point, and a good excuse to get Lois Lane out of the way for now and let Supes focus more on the world-saving angle instead of sit on rooftops and mope.
My ideal sequel movie would feature Metallo as the main villain (mostly because they were calling it “Man of Steel.”) And it would take Superman out of Metropolis and finding himself working with government to hunt down and stop this thing that’s causing havoc all over the planet. And on several occasions, Supes would get his ass handed to him - without needing to be exposed to kryptonite each time. In the wake of “I, Robot” and “Transformers,” having a robotic adversary isn’t really too farfetched.
I’d still see like to see Luthor show up, but as more of a secondary villain who only complicates the situation further. And instead of being a goofy real estate guy, give him some political connections and his own laboratory full of scientists and henchmen. Even Dr. Evil got that.
In the end: mass destruction. Not as much as compared to when Brainiac and Darkseid show up for the sequels, but just enough.
I’d also like the show to be a bit more grounded in reality. Not dark, but just make it plausible so that Christopher Nolan’s Batman can also exist in this universe. It would take a little creative writing, but I can see it happening.
Yeah, crossing my fingers they won’t make it dark. It seems to be a challenge to make Superman have any depth at all, especially compared to Batman. He’s generally portrayed as being so wholesome, and I think it would corrupt the character’s legacy to be anything but.
To reply to what Kara said, part of the problem is that Superman IS a Boy Scout character, and he has only so much depth. All of his depth comes from any tension created by his feelings for Lois.
Reminds me of one of my favorite Batman/Superman Adventures cartoons, where they did a crossover. Superman hears of some weird reports coming from Gotham about Bruce Wayne going missing but Batman still operating, so he goes to investigate. He finds Robin fighting crime, I think in a modified Batman suit, and inquires as to where Bruce is. Robin confides that he’s gone missing, and he’s been trying to cover it up. Robin then gets the brilliant idea to have Supes pose as Batman in order to find Bruce. The scenes where Robin is like “you’re being too NICE!” are classic.
Ugh, I was slightly wrong after actually looking it up. The episode was called Knight Time and Superman hears that BATMAN has gone missing and goes to Gotham to find out why.
@Bart: The whole “Boy Scout” factor is part of why I think a 1930s Superman movie could actually work. In that setting, an angst-free, larger-than-life do-gooder doesn’t feel quite so out of place. It’s like a characterization cheat; what seems one-dimensional in the present day would seem iconic if transposed back to the 1930s. In theory, of course.
I’ll put is simply: I had absolutely no interest in seeing Superman Returns, but I would go see your retro reboot.
I think that a retro Supes movie might be okay. Also, I don’t really think that a reboot would be all that good. Personally, a sequel to Superman Returns would be ideal, because, going with Datadog, I don’t relish the thought of having to watch the original story again, and again, and again; unless that is it’s different to the point where there’d be referencing back to it in later movies, like having Brainiac in it. Speaking of Brainiac, I believe he’d be a potential villain. Superman’s son could really be a trap set by Brainiac (or maybe Darkseid) so that he can have Superman’s powers combined with that of his own. As to the issue of Lex: I think he shouldn’t be completely left out, but again like Datadog said, he shouldn’t be all comical and that rubbish, and he should be secondary. Or, an interesting idea would to invent a new villain, one that could really make Supes shake in his boots, like maybe Lex Luthor opens a portal to a parallel universe where an evil counterpart of Superman escapes (who doesn’t have the same powers as Superman, and isn’t affected by kryptonite, and gets evil superpowers from exposure to dark matter)and can’t live in this universe unless he destroys his counterpart–Superman. But, that’s very unlikely in my opinion. First off, I don’t think Bryan Singer would take the chance of inventing a new character, and second off he said the Superman Returns introduced all the characters. Doomsday isn’t likely to be a villain, because of the animated movie Superman: Doomsady. Anyways, for me, Man of Steel being a sequel to Superman Returns would be the best choice, but it should be (making a Star Trek analogy) Superman Returns:Star Trek the Motion Picture::Man of Steel:Wrath of Khan, meaning make it a little shorter and more action-packed. Another idea, make Man of Steel so it sets up the movie after it, like how Superman Returns probably set Man of Steel up. And have more action at the beginning, i.e. a assassination attempt at the President, super volcano eruption, a giant meteor on a collision course with Earth, etc. So that’s all I can think of for right now concerning Superman: Man of Steel ideas.
Like the ideas guys, I think one of the areas where superman returns and all the superman filims fall short is his powers. Hes never under any real pressure. I think doomsday would be the best choice to put him under pressure. Id like to see supes really having to move fast, really taking a beating and id like to see him strugling to get enough heat out of his heat vision, itd be great to see him brawling on equal terms wit doomsday. And i would like to see this really takng effect on the world around them. But i dont think brandon routh would go down this road to an intense battle his current opinion on the next filim is more time wit lois and developing there realashionship. Another problem wit this is emotion he never gets really angry in a filim we all seen the iconic pics in the comics of superman, where hes really angry or hes really in pain. But in the filim its all about him looking glorious.
Anger mixed wit an hour long battle on screen plus physical pressure resulting in it effecting him would give us whats needed. How to achieve this
1. the filim starts wit him saving two or so small disasters, and a major one, result the world loves him and show him getting cocky and unchallenged.
2.Bring him down to earth pardon the pun, let the world find out hes clark kent and let them hate him for it.
3. As a result he leaves again lets say hes in the fortress of solitude and angry and hurt at the way hes being treated.
3. que doomsday. Doomsday is wreckin the place crisis of concions for superman.
4. He goes to metropilis to face doomsday, fight starts the pressure is on there both taking a beating on equal terms and superman is still angry and hurt, that is if routh can act those two emotions.
5. lois goes to the core of the fihght to report, doomsday kills her on front of superman. Then lets see what happens, how will the fight play out when superman sees her die and doesnt have a reputation to uphold.
I think this kind of story line would give superman the depth it needs without being to dark or compremising his ideals.
But we all know the story allready so theres no point in retelling it and if i had my way id scrap the cast from sm returns. sorry if this was a bit of an essay to read.