Hi there, fellow CBM geeks! This is my second ever article on this site and I wanted it to be a good one. I’m sure we all can agree that once we saw that logo of the Man of Steel sitting so gracefully over a brand new Dark Knight symbol, geeks around the world let out a collective cheer of excitement. Myself like many others went and gathered our friends to discuss what this could mean, not only for a company that always seemed to be a few steps behind Marvel cinematically, but what this could mean for superhero team-ups that The Avengers may or may not have been able to accomplish. First and foremost, my favorite superhero is Spider-Man, followed closely by Batman and then the Man of Steel himself. But I still feel obligated to give you guys my ideas for this sequel, especially considering how much I loved MoS to begin with. So without further ado, here we go…
1. A Sequel/Origin
The first thing that needs to be established is that this a Superman Returns and a brand new Batman Begins at the same time. With that being said, for many of you who have seen MoS, you will have noticed that during the Superman/Zod fight on the satellite in space, there was a very cool blink-and-you’ll-miss-it logo of Wayne Enterprises (or Wayne Industries depending on who you’re asking). So this obviously establishes the fact that the Waynes –if not Bruce Wayne himself after his parents murder- exist in this world. This is great because it gives them the opportunity to skip over a big chunk of Bruce’s origin that Nolan and Co. already told so well. What if Bruce has already come back from trekking all around the world? What if he has already started to piece together fragments of what will soon become officially the alter-ego Batman? There are very interesting things that you could do with this one shot from MoS.
2. Tone
I can’t really stress enough how important it is to keep the same tone from the previous movie. Some may call it dark and gloomy and hated MoS simply for this reason, but I for one found it to be very realistic for as real as a first contact story about an alien from another planet who looks just like humans could be. Plus, this makes Batman’s inclusion all the more plausible. And just because we have now been introduced to Superman in our world and it looks like the humans will accept him, it doesn’t mean that the introduction of Batman in Gotham City alone wouldn’t bring a new kind of fear to people that Superman didn’t possess. Work off of that. Feed off of that, please.
3. Showcase Both Hero's Skill
This is very important as well and a must have for the die-hard fans of these individual characters. Bring out Batman’s more detective side. Show him actually solving crimes through his infamous Bat computer. Show how he is a master ninja and strategist. Not saying that Nolan and Co. didn’t do it well but there always felt like there was a part of it that was missing from the core Batman character IMO. And for those of who may not know, Superman is very intelligent. He has skills that will leave you questioning God’s existence if you lived in a world where Superman were real. Show that off. It will only work in making the film all the more better.
4. Enemies
When I say “enemies”, what I mean is have Superman and Batman start out as foes. I’m not saying to make the entire film focus on this but at least have animosity in the beginning between the two. I mean, obviously Supes is going to get wind of a new vigilante in neighboring Gotham that is scaring criminals straight. It only makes sense that he will go and investigate. Maybe he meets Batman similar to how they met in The Batman/Superman movie. Maybe Bats will tell Superman that he is very aware of his existence but that Gotham is HIS city and he’s stopping crime as HE sees fit. Build off of that. And I’m not saying this to mean that they should fight. Obviously Superman will know that he is human and he will not want to hurt him as he knows he could easily do. Plus, now that the world is aware of him and judging from the end of MoS, barely trusts him right now as it is, he will want to keep trying to convince us that he is here to protect us. Not beat up people who dress up as human-sized bats and tries to fight crime and look like they were inspired by none other THAN Superman. This can create some very much needed tension in the audience and keep us on the edge of our seats. But I only recommend this for maybe 20-30% of the film.
5. Lex Luthor
If you didn’t notice Lex Luthor’s company logo all over the place in MoS, I seriously doubt that you and I were watching the same film. Obviously Lex is around and this the perfect opportunity to have him make his proper appearance. Keep in mind what I said in the beginning: This is primarily a Superman sequel. We don’t need a Batman villain showing up as well just to shake things up. Lex can create a big enough problem for the both of them to have to fix. Lex is a diabolical genius. There is no way that his villainy should be downplayed if he is chosen as an antagonist. Where Zod was much more of a physical adversary, Lex presents a much more complex challenge for Supes. I feel that this character is a must.
6. Wonder Woman
Let me explain why I’m bringing this up here. Whenever I would hear about WB’s plans to make a Justice League film, I kind of always had this exact plan in mind of how they should do it. The three most important characters of the team are arguably Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. There was even a Graphic Novel called Trinity that showcased this trio of heroes. I always that they should make MoS, two years later make Wonder Woman, and then two years later reboot Batman. But now that I know for sure that they are doing this with Batman and Superman, it alters and reshapes my plan into a much more awesome idea. How about the next film after this that is made is about Superman and Wonder Woman? It would be a Superman sequel and a Wonder Woman origin. Superman can be the catalyst for all of this to come together to make something extremely awesome. And it is a way for DC/WB to do something cinematically for their heroes in a much more newer and different way than Marvel, even though they’re trying to reach the same accomplishments. This could be the last film before Justice League and the other two characters (Flash and Green Lantern, cause having any more is overkill) can make their appearance there. I stress very hard that they stick to the first five heroes for now and expand after it has become a success. It also gives the company something concrete to work with since it has been seeming like they can’t make a solo Wonder Woman film to save their lives. I mean, seriously, what’s up with that?
7. World's Finest
And finally, I think the film should be titled World’s Finest. Remember earlier that I said the animosity between them shouldn’t be too heavily drawn out in this sequel. At the end of the day, we want to see these two characters stand side by side as allies, not as enemies. It gives the audience further hope that a team is possible instead of having them question how it would work since these two characters seem to hate each other. Plus, if they’re going to stick to titles that don’t have the heroes names in them, this would be a perfect choice to keep the trend going. And it just sounds awesome, doesn’t it. I would want to go see it if I saw this pop up on screen after an amazing trailer.
Well, there you have it. That is how I would do this film and subsequent DC films going forward. I want to thank Khan for inspiring me to write this after his 10 Must Haves For The Batman Vs. Superman Movie. This is DC’s chance to show that they know what they are doing and are ready to start going head to head with the boys that are Marvel. I don’t know if ANY of this would actually be used in the films to come, but I am still very excited to see them trying to please the fans of these beloved characters. Once again, it is a good time to be a geek.