Superman: Man of Tomorrow, which is not an origin story, is set in the early days after Clark Kent's arrival in Metropolis as he reveals himself as Superman for the first time to battle both Lobo and Parasite.
Explains Sheridan, "Our guiding principle with Man of Tomorrow is that we were going to look at it like an indie art house movie and not shy away from the sort of live action-ness of it. I can understand why people would be a little thrown, because it’s very different from the types of movies we normally make in animation. There’s a lot of people talking and figuring thing out together in rooms with two people having conversations."
“There’s a scene in the movie,” he adds, “with Martian Manhunter and Clark sitting at the Kents’ kitchen table. If I had gone in and pitched, ‘Okay, it’s Clark Kent and Martian Manhunter. They’ve met for the first time and they’re sitting and having tea!’ — that’s the kind of thing you’d expect from any good character-driven live action story. So why don’t we do it in animation? Why don’t we lean into character and reveal through conversation rather than just big plot action stuff? Now this movie has big action, but we couldn’t have made this movie if we didn’t allow Clark and Lois to be having a conversation in his apartment and that be a thing that really changes the dynamic of the plot that informs what he’s going to do for the rest of the movie. Those things we leaned into.”
As they did with the character’s inherent hopefulness in a world of darkness. Sheridan explains, “It’s the kind of Superman story we all love, which is really upbeat and optimistic, but that something optimistic and upbeat grows out of some challenging circumstances. I don’t know how you can think of the character of Superman and not consider the hope and optimism that he has always represented. Having said that, I think there’s room in the great big multiverse for every angle on a Superman story.”
Check out the full interview below!
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