Superman (casting, rumors, pix till release)

[Christopher]

ObiWanShinobi wrote:

---

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

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.

[Obiwanshinobi]

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

[Aragorn]

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.

[Too Much Fun]

Christopher wrote:

---

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.

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.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

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.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Aragorn wrote:

---

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.

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.

[Christopher]

Too Much Fun wrote:

---

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.

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.

[Captaindemotion]

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

[Obiwanshinobi]

I can see him as Lex.

But before Admiral Young pipes in...just a rumor for now.

[Aragorn]

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

He can be Zod and Ramirez can be Brainiac.

[Nerys Myk]

ObiWanShinobi wrote:

---

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

I was mostly making a joke about Movie Luthor's obsession with land.

[A beaker full of death]

Christopher wrote:

---

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 ...

The hair, man! It was always about the hair.

[A beaker full of death]

Too Much Fun wrote:

---

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.

Though in fact Lex's science angle was played up in the ill-received Superman IV.

[Admiral_Young]

I hope Michael Shannon turns out to be Lex Luthor. I think he'd make an incredible Lex.

[JacksonArcher]

Admiral_Young wrote:

---

I hope Michael Shannon turns out to be Lex Luthor. I think he'd make an incredible Lex.

Agreed.