EDITIORIAL: Why Man of Steel Could Be One of the Best Superhero Movies of All Time

EDITIORIAL: Why Man of Steel Could Be One of the Best Superhero Movies of All Time

My view on why next year's Man of Steel will not just be the best Superman movie ever, but one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.

Editorial Opinion
By LEVITIKUZ - Sep 04, 2012 11:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Superman

Superman is without a doubt the greatest superhero ever, so why hasn't he been a factor lately? In an age where comic book movies has dominated has 2000, why haven't we seen a great Superman movie? 2006's Superman Returns was in my mind good but not great. Coming next year we will see Superman being rebooted. His first origin story since 1978. Here is why Man of Steel will be one of the best superhero movies ever.

5. It’s A Reboot



Most people would view this as a negative but it’s not. Look at the movies that have been rebooted: Hulk, Batman, Spider-Man, Total Recall and many others. Most of those movies are nowhere near as old as 1978’s Superman. That was the last origin story we have seen from Big Blue. It’s been 34 years! Spider-Man was rebooted after 10. There’s a reason why audiences didn’t go see The Amazing Spider-Man and Batman Begins as much as Spider-Man and Batman. THEY ALREADY KNOW THE ORIGIN!!! Kid gets bite by a spider and becomes Spider-Man. Rich kid’s parents are murder and becomes a creature of the night in Batman. Man of Steel is different from that. Superman is seriously outdated. No one watches that like someone would watch Batman or Spider-Man. This is one of the few exceptions for a reboot.

4. Bow to Zod



Another reason why Man of Steel will be successful is its villain, Zod. Last time we saw Zod on the big screen was in 1980’s Superman 2. Zod is a great villain to have because he has the same powers as Superman. Anything Superman can do Zod can and it causes a conflict where Superman will have to use his brains over brawn.

3. The People Behind It



Just the amount of the people behind this film shows how it can’t fail. You have Christopher Nolan as the producer. However you feel about his Batman movies you have to give him credit with one thing: He successful brought Batman back. Before Nolan Batman was a joke. Everyone laughed at how bad 1997’s Batman & Robin was. No one thought Nolan could bring Batman to the point where he is now. He opened the door to DC heroes coming back on the big screen. Nolan also is writing the script for Man of Steel which is important because he understands the source material. In his 3 Batman movies he drew key elements and situations from the following Batman novels: The Dark Knight Returns, No Man’s Land, Knightfall, Year One, Killing Joke, and The Long Halloween. He could do the same for Superman.



Also we have Zack Snyder at the director’s chair. Zack knows and understands the character. Zack has made hit movies like Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Watchmen. He knows comic books like no other director. He even talked to Frank Miller asking him if one day it would be alright if he director an adaption of Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Miller responded “You can do it anytime you want to, Zack.” Snyder still wants to do it but it shows his love for comics.

2. The Cast



Let’s look at the line up for a second. Now we got Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Now I know in the comics Perry White is white but look at Michael Clarke Duncan’s (REST IN PEACE MAN) Kingpin in Daredevil. Kingpin was white but Duncan was black and Duncan still pulled off an incredible performance. He was perfect and even went on to voice Kingpin in a Spider-Man cartoon. My point is Fishburne is perfect and can pull off Perry White. Now we got Russell Crowe as Jor-El. You couldn’t pick a better actor to play Superman’s dad. Russell has proven his acting abilities again and again. We got Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent which is just a perfect pairing in my mind probably the best in the cast. Next is Michael Shannon as Zod. A great pairing for this movie. Next we got the lovely Amy Adams as Lois Lane which is a great pairing for Lois. Finally we got Henry Cavill as Superman. While to most people Cavill isn’t a big time star, he is about to be. I was a little worried and I still am but he seems to know Superman and Clark Kent and I think he can pull it off.

1. IT’S SUPERMAN!!!!!!!!!!!



This is a Superman movie. SUPERMAN! The greatest superhero ever created. Nothing can beat Superman. People have said maybe this film won’t do well because not that many people are interested in Superman. YOU KIDDING ME??? Everyone knows and loves Superman. This film looks to bring back what we love about Superman. We haven’t seen a great Superman movie since 1980. Also it could be the beginning of something great if it’s involved with the Justice League movie. What better character to start off than Superman! Now I’m a Batman fan but I’ve been getting a little sick of just seeing Batman get all the love at DC. It’s time we see other characters be great and let’s start with Superman. As a DC fan of have doubts to a Justice League movie but I feel that if Man of Steel is successful then WB’s will let Zack Snyder direct Justice League and if that happens I have no worries about the Justice League movie.

So what do you think? Do you think Superman will soar high like me or fall short?

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justified1
justified1 - 9/4/2012, 11:18 AM
I hope its good. Seeing Superman fly through the air and kick ass with todays tech. would be awesome.

fingers crossed
ArchAngel20
ArchAngel20 - 9/4/2012, 11:23 AM
I really do hope this movie does well... it can be what Iron Man was to the Marvel Universe and that is to set up a Justice League film, it should have action because everyone wants that, but never forget the storyline... We can only hope.
EdgyOutsider
EdgyOutsider - 9/4/2012, 11:44 AM
I'm gonna say it now, I am a Superman hater. I am actually really looking forward to this movie though because of who's involved in it. But your perspective on why Batman Begins and The Amazing Spider-Man not performing well at the boxoffice is lost.

It's all about how the audience reacted to the previous movie and how the new one looks. Nobody was ready to forgive Warner Bros. yet and that's why Batman Begins didn't make as much as it could have. The Amazing Spider-Man didn't make as much as the other three (while still being very successful) because nobody is gonna forgive Sony right away for Spider-Man 3. Not to mention that it's being rebooted 10 years after the first. I'm not saying people aren't looking forward to this because of Superman Returns (although It might play a part) but Man of Steel MIGHT be Batman Begins successful or better.

Also, it's Dawn of the Dead. Look up your information before you type it and also, it helps make your sentences look good.
LoudNoises
LoudNoises - 9/4/2012, 12:34 PM
Hopefully it's good if for no other reason than they learned from the failure that was Superman Returns and gave Superman some decent action and fight sequences, lol.
drellik
drellik - 9/4/2012, 1:47 PM
As a Superman fan, I really hope this movie rocks. And I truly think it will. But I agree with @BattlinMurdock, Goyer makes me nervous. There's not much you can do with a poorly written story.

Yes it's Superman, the cast looks good, it's a reboot, Nolan and Snyder, Zod (btw, it's "Kneel before Zod", not bow)...but not much of an argument for awesomeness. I am still nervous and can't wait for more footage.

Fingers crossed, folks.
kong
kong - 9/4/2012, 2:09 PM
I agree, but you're making a mistake with your rebooting time. You count how many years its been since the last movie.

Batman Begins-7 years
The Amazing Spiderman-5 years
The Man of Steel-7 years
Dredd-17 years
Total Recall-22 years.


Other than that you had some GREAT points.
superbatspiderman
superbatspiderman - 9/4/2012, 2:30 PM
I am so excited for this movie and it could quite possibly be one of the greatest CBMs of all time. I mean it is gosh darn Superman the greatest superhero of all time and he is finally getting a good movie after 30 years of crappy ones. Every time I watch the Comic Con footage I get a little emotional because it is just great with the great music and awesome scenery.


If you haven't seen the Comic con footage here is some of it along with the teaser trailer.
tboyer86
tboyer86 - 9/4/2012, 2:36 PM
Your arguments are a little weak, particularly when it comes to the actors. All you said was that the actor/actress will be great. But why? Amy Adams as Lois Lane? To be honest, I have my doubts. Adams is a red head and Lois Lane is a brunette. Also, Cavil looks a little old to play Super Man. I would have thought they'd go for a younger version. Also, Super Man is not one of the best heroes of all time. In fact, he makes out to be kind of unrelatable in the modern age where super heroes have any number of character flaws that make them human. Super Man doesn't have any, so unless they create some for him in this movie he will be hard to relate to.
Coldblood6
Coldblood6 - 9/4/2012, 2:55 PM
Despite being a die-hard MARVEL zombie, I have great respect for Superman as the progenitor of this genre that we love so much. I have to say though that he has been around so long that I find him a bit 'been there...done that'.

This movie does have the potential to be great, but fans need to stop counting their chickens before they hatch though. I am a great fan of Zack Snyder (despite his derogatory comments wrt to THOR and IRON MAN sometime back) and I think that at the very least he will do some very good action scenes. However a few things worry me.

Firstly nolan's involvement. Now I am definitely not a nolan fan (quite the opposite) so my opinion may be biased, but I don't think nolan truly understands Comicbook Fantasy. He sucked all of that out of Batman and maybe that can work for that character but I don't think it can for Superman.

Secondly Snyder does action great for fighting characters like Nightowl, etc. I'm not sure he is great at action for a Superman-type character.

Thirdly this route the teaser trailer shows suggests an over-melodramatic sappy tedious narrative style. This doesn't suit Superman for me.

Fourth, the origin again??!??

Fifth, Zod is a been there done that, rather boring villain. This movie should of had the balls to do Metallo or Brainiac.

To Superman fans I would keep your expectations in check at this point. Don't set yourself up to be disappointed.

Tainted87
Tainted87 - 9/4/2012, 3:25 PM


I'm looking to enjoy this one. As a CBM fan, you have to realize that another Superman movie (the 6th one since 1978) can go either way. Leave the expectations at the door.
CPBuff22
CPBuff22 - 9/4/2012, 4:24 PM
Reasons why MAN OF STEEL could tank the DC's Cinematic Universe...

5. Its a Reboot. How well did that just go for Spider-Man? What about Batman? Begins had the lowest ticket sales of the trilogy.

4. The villain is Zod. Sure last time we seen him on the big screen was Superman II but he was a big part of the Smallville television series. With so many other Superman villains is Zod really the right way to go?

3. The people behind this movie. Christopher Nolan gave us one good Batman movie in my opinion. He has become over rated by fanboys the world over and none of his movies have been anything like what a Superman movie should be. If he tries his "realistic" approach with Superman its going to be a disaster. As far as Zack Snyder goes, he has to do a lot to make up for Sucker Punch.

2. The cast. Just because you have an all star cast doesn't mean your going to have a great movie. This is one of the things people were worried about in the Avengers. Look at movies like Batman Forever, Battlefield Earth, & Red Planet for an example of how a stellar cast can still sink a movie.

1. Its Superman. And being that it is Superman that means this is the 6th time he has been on the big screen. And after the success of Smallville and the Nolan Batman Trilogy if this movie doesn't do at least as well as TDKR watch the Time Warner Executives get worried and pull the plug on the entire Justice League project. They have a history of doing that. They did it to WCW, New Line Pictures, AOL, and they pulled the same thing when they felt that Superman Returns failed to live up to their lofty expectations.

I hope Man of Steel does amazing and can lead to more of Superman on the big screen. But I am very nervous as I have seen how Christopher Nolan likes to remove important story aspects and rather then replace them just leave giant plot holes. I also have witnessed the entire Time Warner history during my life time and watched them kill some of my favorite companies and properties. So I have to look at this kind of article as very wishful thinking. Lets just hope Man of Steel is good enough to out gross TDKR so we see it stay around.
marvel72
marvel72 - 9/4/2012, 4:48 PM
i really hope this superman movie is good,we haven't had anything decent live action for thirty three years.

@ SUPERBATSPIDERMAN

very good footage,its shame the bits i want to see clear i.e clark on fire & it looks like superman vs zod are blured.
LoudNoises
LoudNoises - 9/4/2012, 5:13 PM
@tboyer86

You have your doubts that Amy Adams can pull off Louis Lane because she has red hair? Seriously?
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 9/4/2012, 5:40 PM
Perhaps we'll get Brainiac next.
CoolantTech
CoolantTech - 9/4/2012, 7:02 PM
Right, Im very excited to see other Superman villans, Doomsday, Darkseid, Brianiac, hell even Bizzaro, but Zod agian though, just don't make Lex the main villian in part 2
Fastestmanalive
Fastestmanalive - 9/4/2012, 10:15 PM
I agree ;)





Laudano
Laudano - 9/4/2012, 11:06 PM
This movie will win because Superman doesn't have to wear underpants outside his suit anymore. Plain and Simple xD That and it's not a copy or regurgitation of a previous movie.
Facade
Facade - 9/5/2012, 5:26 AM
Strange, but my expectations for MOS are low because of your sited reasons for its success.
MrReese
MrReese - 9/5/2012, 3:56 PM
This movie is gonna own!!!! no doubts whats so ever.....besides it can't b as bad as Routh!! hahaha XD
UrbanKnight
UrbanKnight - 9/5/2012, 11:31 PM
MoS cast and crew? OVER, B&R cast and crew. OMG thats funny.
Ghostt
Ghostt - 9/6/2012, 9:08 PM
This will be a damn entertaining movie. Zack Snyder directing Superman seems perfect. We are going to get some visually stunning action scenes. Nolan could help add the depth Snyder's other movies have lacked. right on right on
datNAMEtho
datNAMEtho - 9/7/2012, 6:21 AM
I cannot wait for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PeterParker1991
PeterParker1991 - 9/8/2012, 11:34 AM
Man of Steel is going to be the Superman film I been waiting for my whole life
JorL5150
JorL5150 - 9/8/2012, 7:53 PM
i HOPE its an excellent film.

but lets not put the cart in front of the horse.
FOOM
FOOM - 9/11/2012, 3:00 PM
Superman avec Christopher Reeve is already one of the greatest super hero films of all time. Not only that, but it still must rank as by far the most important super hero films of all time. About time it got the kudos it deserves on this site.
As for MOS, I bet it will be a visual feast and have a good vibe but I also can't help but think it will be a bit of an unfocused disappointment. Fingers crossed.
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