Landis recently caught a bit of flack for his comments made during MorrisonCon in Las Vegas where he refused to put his movie Chronicle in the superhero category. But this is also the same guy who made the 'mockumentary' short film about The Death and Return of Superman so clearly he's a fan or at least intrigued by the genre. Read on to find out how he'd approach writing Superman.
Do you have a big Superman story that you would like to write one day?
LANDIS: What would I do if I had the keys to Superman? Honestly, my opinion of Superman has always been that he should be a normal guy. In as much the sense, we don't go too cartoon-y, we don't go too far into the idea that he's an alien. We just focus on how [frick]ing weird it would be to be Superman. I would love to write a Superman comic, a series or an arc, which is about how bizarre it is that he's this guy who grew up in Kansas and he finds out that he's an alien. They sort of brush that over constantly, but this is a guy who, if the New 52 timeline works out, grew up watching "Alien," "E.T." and "Independence Day." And then he finds out, "Oh, that's me? I'm from space. I don't feel like I'm from space." That's what's so special for me. He's not a billionaire. He's not a [frick]ing Amazonian princess. He's not even a particularly picked-on guy. He's not Peter Parker. He's just a dude. And to grow into a slightly smarter than average dude and find out you're Superman, that's [frick]ing interesting to me.
Can you imagine if you were Superman dealing with someone like Lex Luthor? You are dealing with villains that are psychotic and want to kill you. It would take a toll on you. Of course you can say with old continuity, he's done this a million times but with New 52, I think there is room to do those stories again. Superman meeting The Joker, a character that can't actually hurt him, but easier scarier than most of his villains because of his disposition, is a fascinating story to write. Imagine if you met The Joker. It would be [frick]ing terrifying.
I feel like he should be a way-in for readers, which is a way that he really hasn't been used as. That's what I'd do with him.
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The shorts will feature art from Ryan Sook and will run in Action Comics Annual #1 out October 31st. You can read the interview in full by clicking the source link below.