SUPERIOR: A Mark Millar Mini-Series That Should Be Adapted To Film

“Simon Pooni, an angry, bitter 12-year-old South Asian-American boy suffering from multiple sclerosis, idolizes superheroes, particularly Superior, a Superman analogue. An alien monkey named Ormon appears at Simon's bedside, informing the boy that of all the people on Earth, he has been granted the honor of being bestowed a single magic wish. Simon is then transformed into Superior.”

Now, the graphic novel’s concept and other story attributes may have been heard before, but there is a reason why the folks at Fox bought the rights as soon as possible and why Vaughn wanted to produce the film for years. 

Making a Superior film would provide many benefits for Fox, overall, especially in terms of other releasing comic book movies from different studios e.g. Marvel Studios, Sony, Warner Bros. One of these benefits include finally giving Fox their very first solo-hero. Marvel Studios has each of The Avengers solo films and etc., Sony has Spider-Man, and Warner Bros. has Superman, Batman, etc. With the addition of a solo hero in their gallery of films, other than Wolverine (who is particularly a lone wolf and spin-off hero), Fox can finally have one of their very own flagship heroes since they primarily own the rights to comic book teams such as The Fantastic Four and X-Men.
 

In terms of character archetypes, Superior would be one of the greatest routes to delve into. Once again, Marvel Studios, Sony, and Warner Bros. actually have role models children and people can look up to i.e. Captain America, Spider-Man, and Superman. What’s in Fox’s stock, in terms of solo heroes? The only two heroes who actually have a chance at scoring box office money solo are Deadpool and Wolverine, who are anti-heroes. Not to mention, we are also getting a movie based around Gambit, a gambler and thief. The X-Men franchise has it’s other characters that can fit the role model role, but none of them would probably get their own spin-off film, which is why it is hard to make a cinematic universe out of Fox’s X-Men franchise with only solo films instead of team films e.g. X-Force.

Speaking of character archetypes, many of you (who either the read the book of Superior or just know about it) are probably concerned with how similar the hero Superior is with a property of DC Comics/Warner Bros., Shazam, who is supposed to be getting his own film in the year of 2019. Addressing this concern, I do not feel as though Fox is ripping off of Warner Bros., in terms of a Superior movie. Usually, what happens in the business of film, is that a studio put out a fresh new idea on the big screen, which allows for other studios to emulate the idea i.e. Marvel Studios launching their cinematic universe with Sony and Warner Bros. following along. In 2010, even before a Shazam movie was in the works, the duo of Millar/Vaughn had plans to adapt Superior into a film. Therefore, Fox is not ripping off of Warner Bros. for financial needs if there is no success to ride off of.

But, of course, this brings up the point of why a Superior film would make a greater film than a Shazam film, even though both would be fine. Many of the factors would depend on the writer, director, concept, etc. but more importantly, I think character is the true boundary between the two heroes.

I feel as though Simon Pooni is a much more interesting character than Billy Batson, especially in terms of rite of passage. Simon has multiple sclerosis, a disease that takes away the things that many people naturally have each and every day, setting a lot of boundaries, limits, and obstacles to overcome in life. Simon’s life is bounded by multiple sclerosis and the difficulties it comes with, which makes him different from the many other people in his life. The disease wasn’t always present in his life; he used to play and lead a basketball team, but the disease put an end to everything.

Not to mention, Simon’s role model was the hero he would soon become: Superior. There’s nothing stronger than seeing a child who is incarcerated to such limits in life such as being stripped of walking for years to becoming his role model: a man whose limits are limitless, being able to weight tons and fly. This shift in change is not only amazing to see, but is also emotional, as we always see videos online with kids suffering similar, and even worse, cases with that of Simon, looking up to such beloved heroes as their icons and role models. While writing the mini-series, Millar stated:

 “I wanted to write about a superhero with a disability and I chose MS because it's something that touched one of my school-friends growing up. I'm acutely aware of the unexpected way the disease can strike anyone and the enormous difficulties it can cause. Superhero stories are essentially wish-fulfilment fantasies and nothing seemed more powerful to me than a little boy with a magic wish not only wanting to WALK again, but to FLY. I'm delighted to work with such an incredible institution as the MS Society and feel privileged that they approached me to use this character in a positive way. We're used to seeing characters with MS as victims and I wanted to do something where the kid is not only a lead, but the most powerful person on the planet. I'm really delighted people have taken this to their hearts as much as they have.”

If the first flight scene in Man of Steel was emotional, imagine how it would be with Superior; it would be LEGENDARY.

Superior would also restore the traditional superhero story as seen in Iron Man, Spider-Man 2 and Superman I and II, which many of today’s comic book films seem to have forgotten. Going deeper into this topic could potentially spoil the book/movie, so I’ll leave it up to you to read it and hopefully see an adapted movie of the mini-series one day.