Superman (casting, rumors, pix till release)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Obiwanshinobi, Jan 30, 2011.

  1. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The important thing to the story is determining exactly how the villain challenges the hero as an individual - not whether they're going to blow up the world or how, but basically how the two get under one another's skin so to speak.

    In that regard, there isn't another established Superman villain who comes close to the modern versions of Luthor. Ignoring the whole you-made-me-bald nonsense, Lex's motivations for opposing Superman range from the completely narcissistic to the rational all the way to a twisted sense of responsibility to oppose what he believes is a public danger.
     
  2. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Zod and Brainiac and the others have also been popularized by the various animated shows, not to mention ten years of SMALLVILLE.

    Trust me, my CW-watching niece, who has never read a comic book in her life, knows who Zod and Brainiac are now.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2011
  3. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Does she say, the guy from Buffy and the guy from Dead like Me? well maybe not the latter.
     
  4. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Nah, I think BUFFY was before her time . . ..
     
  5. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    And the recent Sherlock Holmes movie managed quite well without Moriarty.
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Except that
    it did set up Moriarty as the unseen mastermind behind its events.
     
  7. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Kind of hope that's where Lex's role fits in (if he does make it in) He is a criminal mastermind is he not? Not the main antagonist but a looming pain in Supes ass. Similar to BB and TDK with the use of the mob as secondary villains.
     
  8. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It really bugs me when popular movie or tv versions supplant the popular conception of these characters (and ultimately change their portrayal even in the comic books themselves). And while I know that without this phenomenon Alfred would still be dead, there would be no Batgirl and I'd never have heard of Kryptonite, it still offends the purist in me.

    Already people think that Kitty Pryde was one of the first X-Men, Sue Richards is a scientist and Captain America always wore a helmet.
     
  9. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    So he's not an evil real estate mogul?
     
  10. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think he was a mad scientist first and then later became an industrialist.
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yes, in the comics from the '40s through the '80s he was a scientific genius who used his brilliance for crime and for battling Superman. He actually became a somewhat sympathetic character, someone who could've done great good if he hadn't developed hatred and jealousy of Superman (or the belief that Superman's existence was a threat to humanity) and turned to crime in order to battle him. Then, when the continuity was restarted in '86 or thereabouts, Lex was reinterpreted as a corporate mogul who owned most of Metropolis and had all the best scientists on his payroll. Since then, he's increasingly been portrayed as a mix of both; for instance, in Superman: The Animated Series, Lex started out as the business mogul, but "Ghost in the Machine" established that he was actually a gifted scientist as well, and later in Justice League he was portrayed more along the classic evil genius/high-tech criminal lines, at least until he "reformed" and went into politics. And in the comics these days he's portrayed as both mogul and scientist, I believe.
     
  12. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    So...I guess we're both right? Nerys and I that is.
     
  13. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Random unsubstantiated internet rumor of the day #1,143:

    Edgar Ramirez (The Bourne Ultimatum, Che, Vantage Point) is being eyed for the still-unrevealed villain.
     
  14. Too Much Fun

    Too Much Fun Commodore Commodore

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    And yet, in the movies, he was repeatedly portrayed as being ambitious about real estate more than anything else, including science and politics. I wonder where that idea came from.

    It was a cute running gag that lead to some funny lines for the Gene Hackman interpretation for the character, but bringing it back for the Kevin Spacey version was lame. I really hope that if and when Lex Luthor is depicted on the big screen again, we get a version more in line with the animated one.

    The real estate angle is played out and I'd love to see a Luthor who poses a challenge for Superman partially because he protects himself well by convincingly setting himself up as a legitimate businessman. This arrangement always made the interaction between he and Superman more dynamic in animation.
     
  15. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    There was a long period in the comics where it was necessary for Superman to unambiguously win against Luthor and for Luthor to be seen as punished in (almost) every story. Once that requirement was disposed of, IMAO Luthor should never be definitively defeated - simply stymied or frustrated in a specific aim at any given moment. He ought to be as nearly equal to Superman by virtue of his differences as possible.
     
  16. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Looks like he's scheduled to be in Wrath of the Titans too. If this is true, are we gonna have to prepare to put our kneepads on?

    Oh and not in that way, coz you know, because of all the kneeling we'll have to do.
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    In the Reeve films, I think it was really just the first two (which were written back-to-back as essentially a single 2-part story) where Lex was concerned with acquiring land. And I think that probably arose because it was a way to motivate his scheme to topple most of the West Coast into the ocean, which was probably picked because it was a big enough scheme to be worthy of Superman and because it touched on timely fears like nuclear weapons and the destructive potential of the San Andreas Fault. So they probably started with the villainous scheme and worked backward from there to come up with Luthor's justification for it. And his desire for a country to rule in S2 was just a continuation of that, as well as being a pretty standard trope (a character backing a potential world conqueror in exchange for being given a minor kingdom of his own). When Luthor returned in S4, as far as I recall, his goal was simply to kill Superman.

    As for Superman Returns, bringing the "land grabbing" motivation back was just part of the movie's excessive imitation of the Donner films. So I wouldn't call it a running gag; it was something that was established as part of the character in the single work that encompasses Superman and Superman II (as scripted), and was then imitated by a single later work that was basically a very expensive fanfic.
     
  18. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    On top of the Ramirez rumour, it's now been suggested that the excellent Michael Shannon, so good in Boardwalk Empire, may be up for a villainous role:

    http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48995
     
  19. Obiwanshinobi

    Obiwanshinobi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I can see him as Lex.

    But before Admiral Young pipes in...just a rumor for now.;)
     
  20. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Michael Shannon, without any superpowers, looks like he could take on a Kryptonion. :lol:

    He can be Zod and Ramirez can be Brainiac.