Bryan Singer admits that he had every intention of directing X-Men: The Last Stand, which was hardly surprising considering the success (critically, commercially and artistically) of his first two entries in the series. But then the opportunity came for him to take the directorial reigns on the first new Superman film in nearly 20 years, and he leapt — perhaps over a tall building in a single bound — at the opportunity. But was it the right decision?
Singer seemed to get his answer last July when he flew 25 hours from Australia — where Superman Returns was shot — to be at San Diego Comic-Con, where he unveiled four minutes of edited footage that was greeted by 7,000 attendees with a standing ovation.
“It was very validating,” offers the 40-year-old New York native whose credits also include The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. “It made the very long flight from Sydney worthwhile. When you’re in the thick of shooting, you feel very insulated, so when you even show something small in front of an audience, it’s actually weird because you don’t have much contact with people or fans or anything. Suddenly you arrive in San Diego and there are all these people there and they’re really interested in what you’re doing. It really gave me a boost to get through part two of the shoot.”
One of the most interesting things about Superman Returns is the fact that Singer has made a very conscious effort to have Richard Donner’s 1978 production of Superman: The Movie and, to a lesser extent, 1981’s Superman II serve as a “vague history” to the new film. Compared to others who have spent over a decade trying to get a Superman film made, this was certainly a different approach. Whereas they attempted to distance themselves from the past, Singer embraced it.
“I never understood that,” he admits. “How do you avoid the past? I didn’t create these characters. The only reason I changed the costumes so drastically in X-Men is because the ones from the comics would just look silly in a movie. But I never understood people who take other people’s characters, often created before they were born, and sort of change them that drastically.”
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: What is the power of this film’s storyline as far as you’re concerned?
BRYAN SINGER: I’ve just always been a huge fan of the character, from the George Reeves television series to the Richard Donner film. I’m adopted, he’s adopted. I’m an only child, he’s an only child. In my practical life, I’m fairly awkward and Christopher Reeve crafted a very awkward Clark in his portrayal of that masquerade. Also, we’ve had a lot of cynical and angst-ridden superheroes that have emerged in the last five or ten years, and I think it’s time for one that is imbued with a greater sense of virtue and goodness. I think it kind of affords audiences today – in a very cynical world – a light at the end of the tunnel. Yet for Superman in the movie, things aren’t as clear-cut as they might have been when he first arrived on earth.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: I love the fact that this movie is connected to the Donner film, but I wonder if there is a risk of doing that at the same time.
SINGER: No, because there’s enough going on in it that you don’t need to have seen the Donner film as a compendium, but Superman has to look and sound and feel as though he stepped out of your collective conscious of who the character is. In most people’s conscious and subconscious, the character shines most brightly from the Richard Donner film. When I see a film I deem a classic, I know I have to make something new, I know I have to depart, but it doesn’t make sense for me to depart all the way. It would be great to have Christopher Reeve, but we don’t have that option. At the same time, Brandon, for all of the moments that he channels Christopher Reeve, is a very different character; a very different Superman.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: What does he bring to this character?
SINGER: He brings a vulnerability to the character that this particular story requires. Lois Lane has moved on, she has a fiance, she has a child. Superman hasn’t been around for five years and he has to face this, and Brandon brings a kind of vulnerability. Whereas Christopher Reeve played the character with a greater sense of confidence and at times flirtatious, this Superman finds himself more lost and ultimately more vulnerable as he tries to redefine his place in the world.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: Is it a challenge to make that character resonate with people when we are dealing with a world that is so gritty and so real and so cynical?
SINGER: I think people in their inner thinking like to believe they have a moral compass; a sense of what’s right and wrong, so they view things from that perspective. Now they’re returning to earth with Superman, seeing the world change with Superman and seeing a rather cynical dilemma unfold through the eyes of Superman and through the eyes, ultimately, of their own moral compass. I think it’s okay, because although Superman has remained the same, the world has changed. Where X-Men are cynical superheroes, here we have a virtuous superhero in a cynical world.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: This is a reach here, but did his departure in that universe trigger the cynicism of the world he returns to?
SINGER: I think the world moves on either way, and the saddest part is that people tend to forget. In the case of any celebrity when they return, they’re easy to accept, but it’s not as easy for Lois Lane to accept him. Really, it’s a story about what happens when old boyfriends come back into your life. That’s at the very center of the story.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: You do have a situation where Lois has a five year old kid and Superman’s been gone for five years – any connection?
SINGER: No, it’s a kid she’s had with Richard White. There is very little with the exception of Kryptonite that Superman can’t defeat. This dilemma is undefeatable. You can’t turn back the clock for five years and erase a child. You may be able to woo her away from her fiance, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: So this kid is a permanent reminder that he left.
SINGER: Exactly. And it was the greatest obstacle I could come up with for Superman. Honestly, I was trying to come up with all kinds of obstacles and I thought, “What would be something that he cannot overcome?” Even in the original Superman, Lois Lane died and he overcame that by turning back time. Here, this child has been around for nearly five years and there’s nothing he can do about it.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: I’ve been following the development of this project from, like, ’93 or ’94, and what I find fascinating in what you just said is that so much time was spent saying, “What is Superman going to fight? Brainiac. Doomsday. Giant spiders. Polar bears – all of these ridiculous things, because nobody could wrap their heads around what kind of challenge they could give Superman.
SINGER: That’s what occurred to me. There is a villain, the villain has a plan, he’s taking precautions against Superman, there are those physical obstacles that Lex Luthor unleashes. There is that mind over muscle that Lex Luthor is so clever at employing, but you know that Superman is going to find a way. But this is something that you don’t really know how he’s going to deal with. This becomes the genuine obstacle of the movie. There is heroism and things to overcome, but this is at the core of Superman’s ultimate dilemma.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: I think that just roots this thing in reality in a way that the big stunts can’t possibly do.
SINGER: The moments that you love, the ones that pump you up the most from any of your favorite action/adventure films, are generally character-motivated. The reason we love Star Wars so much is because there are five emotional epiphanies that occur in the span of five seconds at the end of that movie. The villain is thwarted off for a sequel, the Empire’s weapon is destroyed, the rebellion is saved, Luke uses the Force and Han Solo conquers his greed. And even though it happens with a torpedo blast and an explosion, those are the things that make you go, “Yeah!” and jump out of your seat, and it’s not necessarily because something big has exploded.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: I read an interview with Kevin Spacey in which he said that he was looking for a chance to work with you again following The Usual Suspects, not necessarily that he was pining away for the opportunity to play Lex Luthor. How was it to collaborate with him again and what does he bring to the role of Lex Luthor?
SINGER: When we were crafting the script, he was very much in the forefront of our minds because I have a relationship with him and there are very few actors who can play that fine line between comedy and sinister, and he can do that better than anyone. Those are the primary aspects he brings to the character. You like watching him talk. In these movies where villains tend to be verbose, especially Lex Luthor who’s always patting himself on the back for his own ingenuity, you want an actor that you just savor everything that comes out of his mouth, and Kevin is that kind of actor. For me, we hadn’t worked together in 10 years, but it felt like it was yesterday. This Lex is much his own interpretation. There are moments where he’s a bit funny and moments when he’s very mean, very sadistic.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: What did Kate Bosworth bring to Lois Lane?
SINGER: She made a concerted effort not to watch the original film so she wouldn’t be affected by Margot Kidder’s performance. She is very young and had to play a mother, but I like the fact that she’s young because I think she’s a very young spirit and Kate is really an actor mature far beyond her years. So I got the best of both worlds. I got her youthful impetuousness, which is classic Lois Lane, and at the same time a motherly sense, a protective sense regarding her child, who plays a significant role in the picture.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: Superman was introduced in 1938 and here we are in 2006. Why does he endure the way he does?
SINGER: Several reasons. One, he’s the first superhero ever. People don’t realize that, but before that the heroes were The Shadow and things like that. He’s very American in the sense that he’s the ultimate immigrant and he kind of represents who we all are as American settlers. We’re all basically immigrants, the descendents of immigrants and we all bring with us a certain kind of heritage and a certain kind of value system that dates back to our forefathers and other cultures. And I think Superman embodies that. I think that by virtue of his idealism and noble point of view, he makes us feel safe. He does it with an eloquence we like to see. He also represents the adolescent dreams of strength, flight – the ultimate fantasy to be able to defy gravity and move mountains. I think these things are quintessentially the fantasy of every child. And there’s something about the symbol that’s just endured.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: You’re right, the “S” is pretty universally known.
SINGER: I mean, you can take the “S” and a cross into the jungle, and you’re going to have pretty much 50/50 recognition. It’s pretty amazing. Such an iconic figure. Even little kids who don’t know anything about Superman, never grew up with Superman, they see the S and they know. I had an experience where the woman who works in my house brought her nephew over – actually he was the first person I told I wasn’t doing X-Men 3. I came into my room and he was watching X-Men 2 on TV and he said, “This is my favorite movie.” “Oh, thanks.” “Are you going to make X-Men 3?” I said, “No.” He looked at me very dismayed and I said, “I’m going to make Superman.” He just smiled and I said, “Will you see Superman?” “YES!” Whew. That was my test of my career trajectory.