'Man of Steel’. It’s a film that really divided the CBM community; it seems you either love it or you hate it. Whilst I thought the film was entertaining and a relatively good reboot, I still think it was a slightly flawed film, which will hopefully rectify it’s mistakes in the sequel. Now, given the way ‘Man of Steel’ ended, there’s been much speculation and guess-work about what exactly will be the state of play in the sequel, and after thinking it through I think I’ve got a pretty solid idea as to what to expect/what will happen and of course, what I’d to happen in hopefully, the biggest team up film since ‘The Avengers’.
1. Metropolis Under Construction
Given the fact that Superman and Zod totalled half the city I think it’s a fair assumption by most to say Metropolis will be rebuilt if not, be in the process of being rebuilt- of course, this is dependent on how long after ‘Man of Steel’ the sequel is set, but realistically speaking I believe it’d be set at least a good couple of months after the last film (round about 6/7 if we’re trying to be precise).
2. Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne
As Superman’s archenemy was notably absent from the last film, I think it’s also fair to assume he’ll be present in the sequel, of course in some way connected to Bruce Wayne being in Metropolis. Personally, I believe that during the events of ‘Man of Steel’ (which whilst not specified, I assume to have happened in about a week) Lex Luthor was off in Gotham securing some kind of business deal with Wayne Enterprises leading to him returning to Metropolis before concluding his business as means of rebuilding his city. Due to this, Bruce Wayne who becomes aware of the Metropolis situation, aids Luthor in the construction of Metropolis as a ‘gesture of good will’ in continuing their business, but really as a means of closely examining Superman and whether or not he really is a threat.
Now, as for who should play these roles? Well, we already have Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne aka Batman. Frankly, he’s not who I’d have gone for, but I’m interested in seeing what he can do, and hopefully he’ll own the role and really put all those who doubted him to shame. As for Lex Luthor? Well, I always imagined Bruce and Lex to be a few years older than Clark, and to be round about the same age; seeing as we’ve already got an ‘older’ Batman, I think it’s safe to assume we’ll also get an older Lex Luthor. With that in mind, I think the best choice for the role would be Damian Lewis. A very talented and underrated actor, best known for his work in ‘Homeland’; the fact that he looks good bald, just helps things a little more and frankly, I’d love to see him take on the role as Superman’s nemesis.
3. A Divided Populace
Whilst it’s fair to say, Superman didn’t intentionally ‘destroy’ Metropolis it’s evident that he was reckless, really, really reckless (it was his first fight admittedly, though), but he did save the world. Due to this, I think in the sequel the general population of Metropolis and the world will be split as to what to think about Superman- should they accept him or fear him? I imagine they’d steer more towards fear though as I think Lex Luthor would run somewhat of a smear campaign against the Man of Steel, furthering their fears of him if not warning them to keep their distance, especially in light of the chaos in Metropolis.
Alongside this, I imagine Superman would start operating on a international level; something which makes a lot of governments feel nervous and lead to certain defences being put in to place if ever they need to put Superman down.
4. Sam Lane and Amanda Waller
At the end of ‘Man of Steel’, Superman told Harry Lennix’s General Swanwick to convince Washington he’s here to help. As I mentioned above, if Superman does operate on a more international basis I imagine the governments of the world becoming a little more nervous, especially the United States given that they know Superman was raised in Kansas. With this in mind, I imagine Swanwick to be presented as somewhat of an advocate of Superman’s, only for General Sam Lane and maybe even Amanda Waller to come into play, as an ‘insurance policy’ against Superman- something which I hope and imagine, will allow for a bit more conflict for Lois Lane to engage in.
Now, as I imagine Luthor, Lane and Waller to be the key players ‘working against’ Superman, this brings to question what could/would result in the conflict between these characters? As I mentioned a before, I imagine the governments of the world getting nervous; maybe Superman oversteps his place a few times or maybe, Luthor like in the comic ‘Superman: Birthright’ creates some kind of device which disrupts Superman’s powers resulting in him being even more ‘reckless’ leading to the Man of Steel being persecuted by the government only to be ‘redeemed’ by Batman.
5. An Achilles’ Heel
Whilst Kryptonite wasn’t present in the last film, I’d like it to be present this time around and I’d like Lex Luthor to discover it. I believe given that a chunk of Earth was semi-terraformed to become Krypton, the in complete process leads to a massive chunk of Kryptonite coming in to existence (though given that Krypton blew up, it could just be that Luthor goes on a scavenger hunt around the world discovering Kryptonite here and there). Regardless, Lex should discover Kryptonite can kill Superman, leading to him weaponising it; as I mentioned above, in the comic ‘Superman: Birthright’ he created a device with Kryptonite which made Superman weak and disrupted his powers- whilst I’d be fine with this, preferably I’d like for him to use it to power the Metallo or Metal-0 suit bringing John Corben into play (I imagine he’s also equipped with a Kryptonian metal suit- possibly scavenged from the remnant of Zod’s armour or the scrap from the Kryptonian ships/world engine).
Now, whilst Lex Luthor should discover Kryptonite I also went red solar radiation to be present. So, who should discover/weaponise this? Batman. Let’s be realistic, Batman is a human being, so ultimately he is killable and given how tough Superman was presented in ‘Man of Steel’ it’s clear in order for a Batman to stand toe-to-toe with Superman or hopefully, even the Justice League he needs to be badass and capable of taking super powered people down. So, like in the comic ‘Superman: Red Son’ I imagine at some point during the film, Superman is taken down by Batman via red solar radiation. Now a few of you might be against this as red solar radiation is ‘indistinguishable’ from Kryptonite, I still think both could work. How? Well, the way I see it Kryptonite doesn’t strip Clark of his powers, but still gives him access to them, only to a lesser and more uncontrollable degree whilst weakening him and making him, very fragile and killable, whilst red solar radiation would completely omit him of his powers making him straight up killable. If red solar radiation is utilised by Batman, I think it’d be a great way to showcase how smart and tactical the Dark Knight is and show general audiences at least, that he can definitely hold his own against super powered individuals.
6. More Lois and Clark
Whilst there has been some criticism regarding the chemistry between Henry Cavill and Amy Adams and the portrayals of their characters, I personally thought they did good jobs but just weren’t given enough time to fully show what they could do. Given that Clark joined the Daily Planet at the end of ‘Man of Steel’ I’d love to see more of him in his reporter persona, and given that Lois knows about his ‘secret identity’ I’d love to see more of a romance bloom between the two- frankly, I think this would probably be the ‘lightest’ aspect of the sequel and allow for some more down to earth moments.
I’d also like for there to be more of presence on the Daily Planet’s behalf. Lawrence Fishburne wasn’t given nearly enough to do and frankly, presenting Clark’s civilian life would be a nice change of pace and hopefully allow for some quieter moments amidst the action and drama.
7. Tease the League
Now, I know there has been some rumours about Wonder Woman showing up somewhere in the sequel, but frankly, rather than such a bold cameo like this to tease a potential Justice League film I’d prefer something a little more subtle. Personally, I think the best thing to do here is to throw in a smaller cameo or even a little shout out referencing a greater potential conflict arising. Whilst the New 52 origin for the Justice League is also something which has split fans, I personally think it’d be the most accessible way to introduce people to the Justice League and think it’d be the best route to take if a Justice League film is going to be made.
So, who should make the cameo? Well, I have two characters in mind; either Steve Trevor or J’onn J’onzz, or at least his human alter ego, John Jones. With Steve Trevor, I imagine someone like Sam Lane or Amanda Waller being informed of a distress call from Trevor about crashing into a ‘mysterious island’, or if you want something a little more bold, maybe him meeting with up Lane or Waller in regards to his ‘visit’ to Theymsicara and how ‘the world is changing’.
As for J’onn, well personally I like the idea of him operating like the Watcher (yes from Marvel) at first; maybe after the events of the sequel as Clark is getting back to work he’s visited by J’onn in his human form, who informs he knows who he is and warns him to prepare himself for an upcoming threat. Either way, I’d be happy, but like I said, I’d like something a little subtle, nothing too ‘on the nose’ like Marvel.
So, that’s my thoughts on ‘Batman v Superman’. Hopefully you liked what I had to say, if not agreed with it and if you did, please give me a thumbs up and of course share your thoughts as to what think would happen and what you’d like to see in the sequel.