J.J. Abrams Says Returning To Superman 'Would Be A Blast'

[suarezguy]

It seems to me that a lot of the praise for Abrams' Star Trek was based on nostalgia, which is what Singer was trying to do in Superman Returns.

I think you'd have to include a somewhat different origin/interpretation; I don't think people like just being dropped into an old-fashioned or already-established character/world. A lot of recent blockbusters have spent a good deal of the time in the first film just introducing the characters.

 

[Jetfire]

The Origin of Superman is the simple part and doesn't need to be changed...what does is alot after he become Superman. Having a Superman movie where he doesn't fight!? That was the biggest problem with SR. Take out the Lex Luthor real estate scheme and maybe have Lex uncover Doomsday...there is your SR.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Superman fighting is rarely very interesting. Some hits him and knocks him through an object; he hits back and knocks them into space. They throw the Eiffel Tower at him...ho hum. Just because fanboys get excited about Doomsday doesn't mean he'd make a decent character in a movie.

 

[Aragorn]

"Kal-El!!! I challenge you to... Madden 10!!!"

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

While I agree a Superman movie should be about more than hitting things, I agree it's high time we started delving a little deeper into his rogues gallery. There's more than just Lex Luthor, you know.

The other problem the previous movies had is that they only really had 2 ideas for how to challenge Superman. They either used Kryptonite (Superman: The Movie, Superman III, Superman Returns) or they created a villain that had exactly the same powers as Superman (General Zod & co. in Superman II, the evil twin created from Kryptonite contaminated with tar in Superman III, Nuclear Man in Superman IV).

Regardless of what else happens in the new film, I hope that they bring back Brandon Routh. He was good and deserves a 2nd chance. I'd hate it if he became the Superman equivalent of George Lazenby.

Wait, what? When was he involved with Superman before? Are they just talking about a screenplay?

He wrote a draft of a screenplay about seven years ago, but it never got further than that. This was after Tim Burton's Superman Lives attempt, but I think before rumors of Superman/Batman began circulating.

Actually, the J.J. Abrams movie came after Batman vs. Superman. The way I heard it, Wolfgang Petersen was all set to direct Batman vs. Superman based on a script by Andrew Kevin Walker. Then, just when they were about to start production on it, Warner Bros. instead announced that Petersen's next movie would be Troy. Supposedly, the behind the scenes reason for this switch was because some Warner Bros. executives read the Abrams script & loved it. Thus, they felt that the Abrams script would be the best way to reintroduce Superman to the big screen. (Particularly since one of the criticisms of the Batman vs. Superman script was that it was basically a Batman movie that just happened to have Superman in it.)

However, one of the reviewers at AICN got ahold of the Abrams script and made a big stink about all of its big departures from the Superman mythos. (Krypton doesn't explode but is merely conquered by an evil warlord named Ty-Zor. Lex Luthor is an FBI agent. Lex Luthor is a Kryptonian.) Warner Bros. put the brakes on the Abrams' version, although I think at least some of it was used as the basis for the Superman film that McG & Brett Ratner were working on before Bryan Singer came along with his completely new concept to revive the Donner-verse.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think Martin Campbell might be a great Superman director. He's already successfully revived the James Bond franchise twice, with Goldeneye & Casino Royale. He also gave us another surprisingly successful revival with The Mask of Zorro.

And has anyone asked Richard Donner or Tom Mankiewicz if they're interested in coming back to the property?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I thought the chronology went like this on the Superman project. Tim Burton. McG/JJ Abrams/Brett Ratner/then Wolfgang Peterson/Walker on Superman Vs Batman then Bryan Singer.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^No. It was more like--
Kevin Smith
Tim Burton
McG
Wolfgang Petersen/Andrew Kevin Walker on Batman vs. Superman
McG/J.J. Abrams
Brett Ratner
McG
Bryan Singer

The rumors of McG or Ratner casting Matthew Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Henry Cavill, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, etc. continued long after Petersen began production on Troy.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I think Martin Campbell might be a great Superman director. He's already successfully revived the James Bond franchise twice, with Goldeneye & Casino Royale. He also gave us another surprisingly successful revival with The Mask of Zorro.

And has anyone asked Richard Donner or Tom Mankiewicz if they're interested in coming back to the property?

Campbell is doing Green Lantern for WB. If it's a hit, they could well ask him to relaunch Superman for them; he doesn't really like sequels and might prefer to do that than GL2. Incidentally, the GL script is supposed to feature a Clark Kent cameo, so Campbell might be perfectly placed to put the Man of Steel back on the big screen.

IIRC, Richard Donner is effectively retired from directing. But I think that WB could do a lot worse than to invite him and Mankiewicz back as consultants for any future movie.

 

[Broccoli]

^No. It was more like--
Kevin Smith
Tim Burton
McG
Wolfgang Petersen/Andrew Kevin Walker on Batman vs. Superman
McG/J.J. Abrams
Brett Ratner
McG
Bryan Singer

The rumors of McG or Ratner casting Matthew Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Henry Cavill, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, etc. continued long after Petersen began production on Troy.

Don't forget all the aborted attempts by the Salkinds and Chris Reeve to get Superman V: The New Movie made.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah ok that order makes more sense than mine. Mine was a guesstimate. I think I have pointed out that I wouldn't mind seeing a JJ Abrams/Bryan Singer combination on a Superman reboot (again...doesn't have to have an origin sequence for those multitudes who hate them but if it's a complete reboot...guess what...he might have a slightly different origin! No one thinks about that when they complain bout his origin.We've only seen his origin once in the movies, twice if you count Superman II. So I don't get all of this oversaturation on it. Plus I doubt they could do it fully now. with that rights issue on the origin).

I think that JJ with no one telling him what to do and a free collaboration with Singer would turn in a very interesting screenplay. As I've said when it's brought up I liked parts of his 2002 Superman first draft...the obvious stuff that people hate can be removed but I think he got the jist of the characters and how to handle Superman.