You will believe a man can fly….I did and I’m sure most of you did as well. Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve brought us a Superman that had heart, spirit and gave us hope. The first Comic Book Movie of its kind, a costume made from tights, special effects created just for the movie, an actor that put as much work into Clark Kent as he did to Superman. It was the Comic Book Movie that started it all and set the bar for years to come. Do we need another Superman Movie? Yes….why? Read on….
There are two good Superman movies, Superman and Superman II (disregard the throwing of the “S”). Superman: The Movie, gave us the heart, the background, the soul of the character, Superman II, gave us the fight, the spirit, the raw emotion, the sacrifice and yes Zod and company but what neither one of these movies gave us were the villains that gave Superman a “fight like the world depends on it” fight. Lex Luthor, yeah, he’s Superman’s arch enemy, brilliant, suave, manipulative but it wasn’t until Superman IV that Lex upped the ante with that “Nuclear Man” villain but….come on really??
I’ve read in recent editorials that the villains are they key but it’s also more than that. Here is what I think needs to be done to make the next Superman movie not only a success but make it the movie that stops us from saying, “They got it wrong AGAIN”….
Costume: Yeah, it’s important and we know that even more now since the “Singer Superman Suit”. NO small symbol, NO “S” on his belt, NO color change....Keep it simple, that costume has been around for over 70 years PLUS Superman is pretty much invincible, he doesn’t need an alien costume to help protect him like Green Lantern because he IS the alien..
Villain: I totally agree with “plot master_22” Lex Luthor should play second fiddle to a more menacing bad guy or possibly be responsible for that villain coming to earth or even building him. Darkseid, Metallo, Mongul, Brainiac….these are ALL villains that the Comic Book Movie community would get behind. A huge special effects movie with fight scenes that just about destroy Metropolis….We’ve been waiting since 1980 in Superman II where a big fight took place between Superman and Zod, Non and Ursa….just imagine that between Superman and Darkseid etc and lasting a half an hour? EPIC
Emotion: Superman cares more for the people of a planet that he is a stranger to than for himself. Superman NEEDS emotion, he’s NOT Rambo from space. The reason for epic fights is because the villains are always wanting to test “the strongest being on any planet” but without the heart, the emotion, then the character just becomes another Superhero that puts on a costume and fights evil. Superman is more human than alien, more human than the humans he protects. Don’t lose the humanity of the character, it’s vital….
IMHO: I might get “you’re an idiot” responses for this but I think they should treat Superman as a “first contact with aliens” type scenario. Keep the “real world” as real as possible and one day something (much like in Superman: The Movie) goes wrong and Superman appears. It would be a worldwide frenzy and of course much like Margot Kidders Lois Lane interview, the world get a first glimpse of this “Superman”, where he’s from and why he’s here….I know that Nolan wants to keep Superman and Batman in separate worlds but I would personally love to see how a world like Nolan created for Batman would react to a “Super Human” appearing….Just a thought….
Origin: If it’s a reboot, then it has to be done but do it quickly, we all know the background story but that doesn’t mean that some of us don’t like seeing it, just do it quickly….nuff said
Actor: Get an unknown, someone we can relate to as Superman, not another character that the actor has played, I believe that this is VERY important to the character. I know some of you have your favorites but one of the MANY reasons that Christoper Reeve IS Clark Kent/Superman is because he burst out on the scene in a big budget movie that way....
Besides that, no Lex Luthors that wear wigs, no super babies, no leaving out other aliens from other worlds, no 2 and a half hours without a punch being thrown by the main character, no using kryptonite as an excuse to beat Superman and PLEASE, no failures….on that note….
Christopher Nolan is a genius. For those of you reading YES I know he’s not directing it but do you honestly think that he would let something in his scope be turned into crap? With Batman Begins and The Dark Knight being the enormous hits that they were, he was given a golden opportunity and I don’t think he will screw that up….Inception is simply amazing and he WILL be the one to bring Superman back to the big screens with a vengeance….The Man of Steel….2012