As one of the few who made it into Hall H for the Warner Bros. panel at SDCC last Saturday, I thought it would be cool to lay out my thoughts on the atmosphere of the event and reactions to both the teaser and answers from the panel.
I could remember waiting in line forever and nobody was really talking about the anticipation for the Man of Steel segment. Most conversation was concerning the Hobbit. As one of the few in line with a 'Superman' logo tee on people were making a note to tell me how skeptical they were about the film. I've heard it all, including oh god the guy who made Sucker Punch is following with this? How well do you expect it to be? Too bad batman is ending there, that's all DC got. etc. etc.. I personally always liked Snyder's films (except for Sucker Punch, unfortunately that movie was awful), I think he is a good director with remarkable vision, but lacks writing and producing capability.
I knew that Nolan's contribution to the film was more than it seems. I felt that if someone like him wrote the story, his screenplay writer David Goyer, and literally the same producers as the Dark Knight trilogy (including composer Hanz Zimmer) were involved with the Man of Steel, then it could go no wrong. Why bring in Snyder? It needs the vision. Nolan doesn't handle CGI, who's the expert? Snyder.. there's no good way to make a Superman film without CGI. When Snyder was asked how he landed the opportunity to reboot the franchise, he said Nolan asked him to lunch where he could talk about it... That obviously implies that this is Christopher Nolan's project first, and Snyder was brought in to make it happen. Let's trust in Nolan's grand master plan, as ever since Memento, he's never let us down.
After the trailer was screened, 6,500 people in the room were ecstatic as ever. Either it changed the expectations completely for those who never believed in the films potential, or it affirmed those who stuck by Superman. People next to me were like "whaaaaaaaaaa no way." "it looks and feels like batman begins."
While that is sort of true, I thought it'd be good to note that personally I feel that (for those who saw the trailer or read about what it entails) this is the way Superman has always been. A very conflicted being who is lost in the world, struggling with his identity and influence between his two fathers. His earth father advising to hide his powers out of fear of acceptance and be good, and his Kryptonnian father advising to expose himself to the world and rule over earth. In the end, Clark will chose to follow parts of both fathers and become the Superman we know and love. It is a struggle that no other superhero canon deals with and would naturally yield a "darker" film if done correctly.
Finally we can say there will be a version of Superman that cares about the character himself and not the problems he faces in saving the world. In prior superman films, the world just happily accepts an alien to save the inhabitants of the earth no question. The conflict was how can Superman save us, rather WHY is Superman? When Clark reaches an adult, how does he live his life and if he chooses to come out, how would the world receive him? These are questions the film seems to interrogate based on the trailer that no previous vision of Superman dealt with except for Smallville.
I think eventually we'll have to place Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner films in the past and leave them there so we can make way for a more compelling, introspective journey of the character. With all due respect to those two, I will always love Reeve's Superman films but i'm itching for a cinematic film with a more complex story like Nolan was able to do with batman. A story like Superman Earth One seems to be sort of the direction it's heading but with a more alien feel based on the suit and Crowe's kryptonian outfit. Jor-El's dialogue in the film by the way is just as epic as Brando in both delivery and content, same with Jonathan Kent, I'm really excited to finally see the conflicting viewpoints and how it affects Clark's upbringing.
On a side note, Nolan's batman trilogy does stray a bit from the natural canon for bruce wayne also. In some ways his trilogy is way too over the top in action, as Bruce was naturally smart and considered a real "Detective." Nolan's films are masterpieces for sure, but i do look forward to a reboot perhaps showcasing more of a mysterious plots and elements with villains like the Riddler and Penguin, in perhaps a Mad Men type setting and the gadgets showcased like James Bond or something.
Everyone should get to see the trailer soon with the TDKR premiere and hopefully those who haven't caught the bootleg trailer will get to know what I'm talking about and and start believing too.
Please leave a comment on your thoughts too and give a "thumbs up!". Thank you!!