In essence, this is me winding the clock back a good six months or so and doing Superman: Earth One as I see it should have been; a true, complete re-imagining whilst preserving the true spirit of Superman as a mythos. This ties in by also being what I think should be the basis for the upcoming film version of Superman under Zack Snyder.
First the main points to this new mythos and quick reasons why:
1. The Kryptonians and Krypton
The major bugbear I have always had with the Superman mythos, which whilst not enough to make me put down any book, yet is enough to put me off is the humanoid appearance of Kryptonians. The point of Superman is that he is an alien brought up by human values. I am definitely not suggesting a Roswell-like little green man in a supes costume , there lies Krypto the SuperDog territory (Shudder)
But I do think that an interesting portrayal tying towards the planet climate of Krypton would be better. I ended on liquid life-forms which could inhabit and animate certain crystalline shapes, hence obviously tying into the crystallised tech of Superman inherited from the Donnerverse.
This obviously would mean that Krypton itself would be a volcanic, hot planet with two levels. The lava level, where the alien Daxamites work day and night to provide energy for the Kryptonians. Then above it, an upper level of crust which rapidly cools allowing for the crystals to form. The portrayal of Kryptonians as a race would change too, gone are visions of a peaceful race with the occasional criminal. Instead, a race with one motto; the search for truth. They have become a galactic powerhouse which harbours great military potential yet rarely acts, a race torn between which way to obtain truth: force or diplomacy. There would also be a caste system based upon the families/ houses you were born into i.e. Zod is warrior caste.
Krypton’s destruction is in this canon due to a dying red sun. It is preserved though at the cost of all lifeforms except the city of Kandor kept secretly in stasis by Braniac and Jor-El as the rest of Krypton is terraformed in preparation for a return.
2. Superman’s reason to exist
Jor-El, Zod, the other council members and other great scientific minds are rescued by Braniac, a program working for Jor-El. The two of them began terraforming the planet for the greater good. On this spaceship is: Zod, Non and Ursa including their creation (Doomsday). Jor- El and his crystal which contains his programmed version of Superman to lead Earth by example and other council members. Zod stages a coup and succeeds in capturing the Crystal of El but not before Jor-El scrapes off a part of Doomsday and sends it to his Martian spy, J’onn J’onzz for analysis and seperates the ship into two disabling Zod in space, yet he suffers mortal wounds and is assimilated into Braniac. Zod injects a poison (Parasite) into the crystal and sends it to Earth.
This fascination with Earth is that the New Gods (Darkseid) are planning a full scale offensive and the Kryptonians believe that the powered down army of Manhunters are involved yet the Guardians will not listen to such talk. Zod plans to militarise Earth to protect Krypton and stop Darkseid by force whilst Jor-El wishes to utilise the Manhunters for himself with Earth as a science tower to study the yellow sun. This less positive portrayal of Jor-El is due to a return to Siegel’s original motivation, his relationship with his father which I feel should be more cathartic as it is portrayed well, for once, on Smallville.
3. Villains and other characters
Obviously the poisoned crystal Superman is Bizarro, who is the only Kryptonian not to adopt an appearance based on his initial surroundingings due to his digital nature. He possesses a physical presence whilst also highlighting Kal-El’s power at manipulating people’s feelings and government. He strives to become the leader of the free world whilst encouraging the extreme retaliation to crime and other such things, streamlining the human race.
Parasite would leave the crystal and have the ability to possess people and control them. This allows Bizarro to use him to manipulate the political figures and keep the population scared whilst being caught by Bizarro intentionally for the publicity.
Lex Luthor is a young head of a media conglomerate, Luthorcorp, yet who has his eyes on the Oval Office. This puts him in opposition to Bizarro’s conquest so he publicy supports and privately plots the Kryptonian’s overthrow.
The majority of supporting characters are extremely similar yet I would keep Jimmy Olsen’s change to a mature photographer who wishes to become more of himself. I would have him as a young reporter who had to stop due to diagnosis of type 2 diabetes yet continues as a determined photographer, this gives a Clark an example of his effect on humanity.
In general, the Daily Planet would be shown as more of a modern media centre involving a news website, radio station and newspaper, perhaps also T.V. station, like the BBC. This updates the Daily Planet more than the actual Earth One did. The premise being that all the old workers have been made redundant in the current climate, replaced by younger and more affordable young’uns. The only survivors being Ron Troupe, the father of the bullpen and Steve Lombard, the cocky sports anchor. The relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent is obviously in its infancy at this point yet an attraction is shown towards Clark’s assertive silence whilst fixing Lois’s computer.
4. Clark Kent/Kal
The main man, I liked the visual stylistic choices for both Superman and Clark Kent , they both made sense and re-invigorate the character. So for starters, I would keep the suit as original mainly. It is iconic and yes, trunks on the outside are always out of fashion but I love that oddball touch it adds which is so right and so wrong. Although Steven Johnson’s recent Flyby designs were extremely good and a middle ground could perhaps be best.
Right boring stuff out of the way, the biggest change if you had already guessed is that Superman is not the original intended heir to the House of El. He is not even related, he is a part of Doomsday which kills the original Clark Kent upon impact in his truck. As I said above Kryptonian’s adopt the likeness of whatever is around at the time. Here Kal, absorbs Clark Kent; his memories, his appearance and his emotions. This obviously is a major turning point yet it concentrates on the element that Superman is actually an alien in a human world. This shows the differences between Kal and Bizarro.
Clark finishes school with a surprisingly improved last year especially due to a newfound fascination with technology due to his form as a crystallised lifeform. Clark quickly succeeds in applying for a job at the Daily Planet as an IT consultant along with his friend from high school, Pete Ross. Yet the detective in Kal cannot be contained and so instead of actively stopping crime, he begins a blog which exposes all kinds of crimes which no ordinary human could have found out. Lex Luthor takes interest and secretly begins employing Clark to investigate Bizarro and General Sam Lane, the four star general in charge of containing Parasite. This leads to the final climactic battle between Kal and Bizarro above the Daily Planet, which concludes with Kal stabbing Bizarro with the Crystal of El. This causes Bizarro’s suit to copy onto Kal with some modifications as the colours change to form the suit that we all know and love. Kal then proceeds to throw the weakened Bizarro hurtling directly toward the yellow sun. The film concludes with Clark Kent being fired as IT consultant and hired as a reporter after being strangely nearby as Lois Lane interviewed Superman for the first time. The film ends on a sinister note though, as Lex Luthor manages to manipulate his obtained Parasite sample to infect Earth crystals to become green Kryptonite.
In general, whilst I know that origin of Superman and all superheroes have been done to death yet I feel that this serves up enough difference from the expected to provide entertainment for both fans and the masses. I do also have more detail in the story and this is a brief overview if you will( well as brief as I could be). Oh and P.S. those of you wondering where the Fortress of Solitude is, the spaceship containing Jor-El crashes into the Arctic in the epilogue with the final shot being Superman flying to investigate and claim his name: Kal-El.
Fan Cast:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Clark Kent/Kal-EL
With some weight training, JGL has converted me. He is the person to bring a brilliantly acted yet wholesome portrayal of the Man of Steel. Serious without all the brooding that the normal Earth One brought.
Anna Kendrick- Lois Lane
Damn good actress and good looking
Pa Kent- Tom Hanks
Ma Kent- Annette Benning
Iconic roles filled by two great actors who eaily can portray the parent figures that Kal-El lacked
Jor-El- Jon Hamm
Many people figured him as great Superman, there is a reason which I appreciate but it really is bit of a pipe dream. Same reason suggest him as Jor-El
Lara-EL- Lena Headey
Very good at portraying strong female roles, see Sarah Conner Chronicles
Gerard Butler- General Zod
Passion as Leonidas would be great if channeled through Zod plus gives Butler better chance at villain other than Phantom of the Opera.
Doug Jones- Parasite
Highly uncredited actor, bringing untold number of great creations to life, I think we know who would have helped portray Smaug if GDT had stayed with Hobbit.
Anton Yelchin- James ‘Jimmy’ Olsen
Rising Star, one good thing really about Terminator:Salvation.
Leo DiCaprio- Lex Luthor
Previous reasons stated e.g. Howard Hughes plus bald head = version of Lex
Chris Cooper- Perry White
I wanted a serious portrayal with high credit character actor who could truly show what it means to be fair yet harsh editor of world newspaper.
Voice of Braniac- Benedict Cumberpatch
Chilling voice, which can perfectly show robot nature. Props to whoever suggested this first.
Lana Lang- Amy Adams
Hot, young actress with 'take home' quality of Lana
Cat Grant- Emily Browning
Hot, young actress. Don't see any need for further justification.
Ron Troupe- Cuba Gooding Jr.
Could be an amazing return for the largely forgotten and shunned, Oscar-winning actor
Steve Lombard- Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Whilst he could be great as Lobo, his great portrayal of arrogance of the Comedian in Watchmen would translate well here. Plus Danny Trejo for Lobo.
Also if this radical change to the mythos is appreciated, I have ideas for all of Justice League (that includes GL , Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. I believe Nolan’s vision is reboot enough and his Batman would not join instantly instead sizing his friends up i.e. Tower of Babel. A good Justice League sequel story)