Man of Steel Trilogy? Why Not!

Man of Steel Trilogy? Why Not!

With the success of The Dark Knight Trilogy, and Man of Steel coming next year, why does everyone assume DC/WB will immediately go for a Justice League movie? Here's my plan for a Man of Steel Trilogy

Editorial Opinion
By SuperBatAquaman - Oct 05, 2012 03:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

With the success of Marvel's The Avengers, many assume DC will attempt a Justice League movie of their own. This remains the likely action, but I don't think this is the route to go. DC superheroes, particularly Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, have a far larger significance in the non-comic book world. I'm not sure how a collaboration of these heroes can be successful while giving these big names enough screen time. There's also the obstacle of Bruce Wayne being a mere mortal man. In the Dark Knight Trilogy, lacking the supernatural, Batman seems like a badass. Next to Superman, however, he would not have the same "wow" factor. That's why I believe that Warner Bros. and DC's plan should be to release multiple solo movies with no collaboration. I know it's not the popular route and I would be shocked if we didn't see a JLA movie in the near future, but I believe DC heroes have a stronger solo entity. The strongest of these entities being Superman, and here is how I would set up the Man of Steel Trilogy:

1. Man of Steel
Clearly this is beyond me at this point. Like Batman Begins, I hope it's an origin story with a solid action ending. Man of Steel appears to be utilizing relatively unknown villians, like Batman Begins, who still pose a significant threat. Rumor has General Zod, Black Zero, etc. being among the antagonists, all from space. Rumor also has Wonder Woman in a cameo, which I hope isn't true. Although if the JLA movie is happening, it might be a good idea.

2. Man of Steel Reigns
This will have a similar structure to The Dark Knight. TDK featured Batman's most popular villan, The Joker, as well as another popular enemy, Two Face. MOSR would feature Lex Luthor(the scientist/business man version, no supersuit) trying to destroy Superman for some reason or another. He would invent Bizarro, who Superman defeats, and then creates Metallo. This could be an epic movie which, unlike TDK, ends with Superman on top of the world, victorious.

3. Superman
After a long legal dispute, Warner Bros. gains the right to use the movie title Superman. This has the potential to conquer The Dark Knight as the greatest superhero movie of all time. Brainiac and Derkseid team up with intent to destroy not only Metropolis, but Earth, and potentially the universe. Lex Luthor could team up with them a la Superman II or he could create that supersuit. I prefer option one. The world expects Superman to win this war, and that burden is almost too much for Superman, for he knows it's nearly impossible. He ends up sacrificing his life for mankind but, unlike TDK, he stays dead. Not only would this reflect Jesus, who Superman is extremely loosely based on, but it would shock the world. It would be a ballsy move, but done right, could be the most epic ending to a movie the world has ever seen.

In conclusion, I believe DC should not only make a trilogy for Superman, but Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg. All incarnations of Flash and Green Lantern could get their own trilogy, as well as a Nightwing trilogy featuring John Blake. There are still plenty of unused Batman villians like Penguin, The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. All in all, this is what I want, not what I expect. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

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EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 10/5/2012, 4:50 PM
Sounds decent and all but my biggest complaint is Luthor is done to death. Give us something new. I like the idea of Metallo in the sequel though, give him a origin that doesn't involve Luthor. Unfortunately I don't have the room to talk, I (without realizing) used The Dark Knight trilogy villain formula. I had (of course) The Lizard as the first films villain then I had Green Goblin as the bad guy in the second involving the Death of Gwen Stacy. For the final film, my idea was Venom. Have his origin be through out the second movie with Peter, the black suit, Peter gets rid of it after Goblins death and it finds its way to Eddie at the end of the movie. Have the final film be Peter grieving over Gwens death but being tortured and beaten to hell by Venom. Have Aunt May try to get Peter to go on a blind date with the girl next door. Spider-Man defeats Venom in an epic battle on a bridge and then end the movie with Peter agreeing to the blind date, he opens the door and it's Mary Jane. The movie ends with her saying "Face it tiger, you hit the jackpot."

Anyways, back to your article. Other than the dark knight villain formula and Luthor done to death. Nice work :)
Darklypse
Darklypse - 10/5/2012, 4:50 PM
Completely disagree with your second choice. Lex Luthor is something I believe should be saved for a World's Finest film. Then again, they have a world of opportunity with the world's two most iconic heroes working side by side.

Your idea for the third film isn't too bad. While I do firmly believe Darkseid should be used for the final Justice League film (as oppose to what I think they Avengers series should. Personally, I would like Ultron in Avengers 2, Thanos for Avengers 3 and possibly the Civil War story arc for Avengers 4) some build up could be done to his character, although a New Gods film could be made.

I personally would like Brainiac as the second villain, then CADMUS and Doomsday.
Darklypse
Darklypse - 10/5/2012, 4:56 PM
On second, thought, maybe Lex and Brainiac. Seeing Bizarro and Metallo would be nice, but I'd rather see Brainiac.
Sabconth
Sabconth - 10/5/2012, 5:40 PM
You say this is what you want, not what you expect, which is good, since it'll never happen.

Suggesting Superman being in a film with Batman would diminish the dark knights presence is a really out of touch notion.

Batman has been and will always be cooler than the big blue boyscout, no matter the medium, no matter the situation. Having superpowers is cool and all, but not having any powers and still being able to save the day will always be more endearing.

I also really fail to see how Superman facing off against an entire alien invasion would come close to threatening The Dark Knight as one of the best comic book films ever, the premise alone sounds done to death.

Having Superman sacrifice himself in the third film also seems like a desperate attempt to try and outdo Rises. And as The Avengers have shown if you get there first, you'll own it forever.

I know as a Superman fan you and many others would love nothing more than a Dark Knight Trilogy level of success and admiration heaped upon your favourite character, but you have to set your expectations a little more realistically.
Darklypse
Darklypse - 10/5/2012, 5:49 PM
Annoying Nolanite/Batard is annoying, and I ain't even a big Superman fan.
Psyche
Psyche - 10/5/2012, 10:08 PM
I agrre with you idea for the second film, although I have my own twist to it. I feel that at the end of the 1st film Zod should tell Superman about a kryptonian weapon long forgotten, that weapon being Doomsday. And towards the end of the second after Supermans triumph over Lex and Metallo, show doomsday heading to earth and the death of superman threw the third film to have him truly become the mos.
My titles:
Man of Steel
Last Son of Krypton
Man of Tomorrow
lokibane2012
lokibane2012 - 10/5/2012, 11:43 PM
[frick] off with the trilogy shit.

Nolan ended Batman because he thinks he's too good for Batman now. Notice how soon after Inception's success the news of TDKR being the last Nolan Batman came.

Make superhero films go on as long as they can be good. that could be one, two, three, four, five... doesn't [frick]ing matter.

And none of that "it gets shitty with too many films" nonsense. If the efforts are put in, they can make good movies. The stories in the comics are abundant. Even Harry Potter managed 8 decent films. Superman can do the same.
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 10/6/2012, 12:46 AM
lokibane2012: The reason Harry Potter made good films is because the entire story was already there and the author had complete say over everything. That's why they are so good. The superhero genre has proven to get crappier after a third movie (Marvel's Cinematic Universe doesn't count). Superheroes are proven to be best off as a trilogy, Superman and Batman have proven that. Especially characters like Spider-Man, Superman and Batman. They're better off as trilogies. The Dark Knight trilogy was brilliant, Spider-Man is going into it's second and seperate trilogy and it is onto a good start and I think Man of Steel can do the same providing they don't try to make it the start of a shared universe.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 10/6/2012, 7:40 AM
What lokibane2012 said. When you do trilogies, you embrace a stiff formula.

First movie: the title character discovers who he is, and battles an enemy close to home.
Second movie: the title character faces a conflict of interest and doubts when someone wants him to give it up.
Third movie: the title character is comfortable in the role, and faces threats which uproot the past.

X-Men. Godfather. Star Wars. Spider-man. Dark Knight. Star Trek.

Put it in a blender. Have Superman involved with other heroes. If you need focused bookends, hand it off to a different character - pass it on.
tonytony
tonytony - 10/6/2012, 10:32 AM
I hope we have a few cameos in each superman film to help promote the shared Universe
lokibane2012
lokibane2012 - 10/6/2012, 5:52 PM
Superman should not end in a trilogy. That's a shit idea.

TDKR being an ending was a shit idea too. What we were left with is a franchise which felt like we missed several important chapters in Bruce's life, and the three films didn't really tie together too well anyways. It never felt like this was all meant to be the end game since the beginning.

Keep going till you think you can still make great movies. Change directors if you have to like Potter did.

Just put in full effort into EVERY film like James Bond and Harry Potter and you'll be gold. Don't descend into half-assing it like the Schumacher films.
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 10/6/2012, 8:58 PM
TDKR was a great movie and I thought it was a really good idea to end it. It tied together events from the first two films into the last one so it feels like it has come full circle. Batman and Superman can end in a trilogy just like Spider-Man can, Avengers could but it wouldn't feel complete because it's too big of a movie and franchise to end in a trilogy.
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