What should the next Superman movie be?

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I'll keep an open mind and hope for the best no matter what direction they go in, but at this point I think a total reboot would be best. The so called Routhboot option would muddy the waters in my opinion (although that's reportedly the direction Warners is leaning towards).

I'd like to see them step up development of some of other DC characters to follow on after Green Lantern, pushing a Superman relaunch back to about 2013. Then bring in a new cast in a Superman film that's much more sci-fi oriented. I'd like to see a long break from Lex Luthor, with Superman's other major villains taking center stage.

And I wouldn't want another beat by beat origin story. Just retell the origin in quick beats in a montage as the credits play and then jump ahead to a point where Superman is an established superhero.

 

[JoeZhang]

I'd just start from scratch, the first one would be an origin story. I know a lot of people say "well we had that!" but it was 31 years ago, let this generation have it's Superman!

 

[Norrin Radd]

I'd just start from scratch, the first one would be an origin story. I know a lot of people say "well we had that!" but it was 31 years ago, let this generation have it's Superman!

Yeah, no shit. A whole generation of kids haven't experienced the Donner version like the rest of us geezers. I say go for it.

 

[Bad Bishop]

"Not a direct sequel but Brandon Routh should get another shot"

I don't see how this even makes sense. I mean, it kind of has to be a direct sequel in this case. If you have the same actor brought back...playing the title role...you can't just ignore what happened in the previous movie and you can't contradict it. That would just confuse audiences all to hell and they would have a right to be. For instance, you can't get rid of the kid; he was practically the main plot point of Returns.

I think audiences would get past their confusion in five minutes. The next director can keep Routh and still "sell" the film as a full or semi- reboot by making it visually different from SR.

 

[QuasarVM]

All I can say is, if they do that reboot shit then there will be at least ONE ticket they won't sell.

That God-awful wretched Smallville and all the TV adaptations since the 1978 Superman film are plenty reason for me to not trust any "reboots".

Very few producers and directors seem to understand what makes Superman work.

If the next one is a reboot, I'll stay home and save my money.

 

[Praetor]

I'm just glad so few people support Smallville going to the movies.

 

[QuasarVM]

I'm just glad so few people support Smallville going to the movies.

Yeah...who's the genius who said "Hey! Let's make a Superman TV series where Clark Kent never turns into Superman and never flies!"?

I mean, WTF??!

The only thing worse was Jon Peters' idea for SR that Kevin Smith talks about on his DVD!

Good Lord...where do these idiots come from?

Apparently, they've never picked up a copy of Action Comics, World's Finest or Superman and READ the damned thing...ARRRRGGGGHH!!!!

It drives me...insane.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

Reboot. Superman is a big guy in his late 30's who looks like Alex Ross painted him. He wears red, yellow and blue. There is no kid. There is no back and forth Lois stuff in this one. There is no wacky real estate Luthor in this one. There is no FUCKING ORIGIN STORY, period.

Superman fights someone like Brainiac, Darkseid or Doomsday. Someone big. He saves the world. He kicks ass. He does it the Superman way. He does not brood, he does not fret. He is a big, optimistic boy scout and HOPE IS COOL AGAIN.

 

[Praetor]

Reboot. Superman is a big guy in his late 30's who looks like Alex Ross painted him. He wears red, yellow and blue. There is no kid. There is no back and forth Lois stuff in this one. There is no wacky real estate Luthor in this one. There is no FUCKING ORIGIN STORY, period.

Superman fights someone like Brainiac, Darkseid or Doomsday. Someone big. He saves the world. He kicks ass. He does it the Superman way. He does not brood, he does not fret. He is a big, optimistic boy scout and HOPE IS COOL AGAIN.

Yes, I quite agree in principle. In application, I think the studio may feel differently.

 

[Jetfire]

After season 9 of Smallville...A Superman movie with all the Smallville cast that would work...Welling, Durance, Ashmore, Rosenbaum, Kreuk, O'Toole, Mack, Hartley, Vandervoort, Freeman, Witwer and I would include Stamp as Jor-El and Slater as Lara, Morris as J'onn J'onzz. I would include villains ofcourse Doomsday and Lex, also Metallo, Bizarro and Zod.

JF

 

[JoeZhang]

After season 9 of Smallville...A Superman movie with all the Smallville cast that would work...Welling, Durance, Ashmore, Rosenbaum, Kreuk, O'Toole, Mack, Hartley, Vandervoort, Freeman, Witwer and I would include Stamp as Jor-El and Slater as Lara, Morris as J'onn J'onzz. I would include villains ofcourse Doomsday and Lex, also Metallo, Bizarro and Zod.

JF

But who would go and watch it? Welling regularly gets out acted by the set.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm not sure really. I don't mind if it's a sequel to Superman Returns, I quite liked Brandon Routh.

However, one rule I would like to apply is No Kryptonite. Give Superman a villain he needs to use his powers to beat - say Doomsday or Darkseid.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

"Not a direct sequel but Brandon Routh should get another shot"

I don't see how this even makes sense. I mean, it kind of has to be a direct sequel in this case. If you have the same actor brought back...playing the title role...you can't just ignore what happened in the previous movie and you can't contradict it. That would just confuse audiences all to hell and they would have a right to be.

It's not entirely unprecedented. Casino Royale is generally considered to be a total reboot of the James Bond franchise, and yet they continued to have Judi Dench play M, a role that she had previously played during the last 4 Pierce Brosnan films in the prior continuity.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

However, one rule I would like to apply is No Kryptonite. Give Superman a villain he needs to use his powers to beat - say Doomsday or Darkseid.

Agreed. The existing movies are pretty uncreative when it comes to how to challenge Superman. You either have Kryptonite (Superman, Superman III, Superman Returns) or a villain with nearly identical powers to Superman, whether its other Kryptonians (General Zod & co. in Superman II), an evil twin (Superman III), or a partial clone (Nuclear Man in Superman IV. I think the only difference between him & Superman was that he couldn't function in darkness and that he had fingernails that made you really sick).

One idea that was in the J.J. Abrams script that might be worth stealing is Superman fighting a giant robot in Washington D.C.

 

[Lookingglassman]

I vote for Tom Welling, but I know it wont happen.

I want a good Superman movie where he actually fights something. It dont have to be Doomsday, but it could be an alien from another planet or something Lex created.

 

[Takeru]

Yeah...who's the genius who said "Hey! Let's make a Superman TV series where Clark Kent never turns into Superman and never flies!"?

I think it's great that he's not wearing the costume, it's butt ugly and idiotic, easily the worst part of Superman.

For a new movie they should keep Routh but get rid of everyone else and toss the Returns storylines out of the window. I don't want Lex as the villain in the movie, but he should appear in a minor role, just to make sure the audience gets that this is not the Spacey dumbass Luthor. I also want a younger Martha and Johnathan (who's not dead), if Smallville did one thing right, it was not making the Kents old farts.

 

[QuasarVM]

Yeah...who's the genius who said "Hey! Let's make a Superman TV series where Clark Kent never turns into Superman and never flies!"?

I think it's great that he's not wearing the costume, it's butt ugly and idiotic, easily the worst part of Superman.

I also want a younger Martha and Johnathan (who's not dead), if Smallville did one thing right, it was not making the Kents old farts.

Well, then call it something else -- cos it's NOT Superman if you change that kind of stuff!

People who want to change the basics should create their own superhero and do all that shit!

But, if people don't like things about Superman they should leave Superman alone and do their own thing!

It's stupid to say "Let's do Superman but get rid of the costume, all the DC supervillains, Krypton and the Kents...oh, and let's change the name of Smallville to Littletown while we're at it!"

Idiots!!!

DC should be stricter about what people are allowed to do with the character. I know if it were my property, any of that revisionist bullshit would never go into production.

 

[Jetfire]

After season 9 of Smallville...A Superman movie with all the Smallville cast that would work...Welling, Durance, Ashmore, Rosenbaum, Kreuk, O'Toole, Mack, Hartley, Vandervoort, Freeman, Witwer and I would include Stamp as Jor-El and Slater as Lara, Morris as J'onn J'onzz. I would include villains ofcourse Doomsday and Lex, also Metallo, Bizarro and Zod.

JF

But who would go and watch it? Welling regularly gets out acted by the set.

I don't agree, there are many times Welling shines, it depends on the writing...I feel in some cases He gets handcuffed by the writing...I think He has done very well from season 3-8 I don't think he is the best actor in the world...but people need to cut him some slack. I watch Smallville all the time, got all the DVDs and watch new episodes on TV...I think alot of people will go see Smallville based Superman movie...I'd see it like a dozen times.


JF

 

[hyzmarca]

1) Superman Shouldn't Fly.
2) He shouldn't have a cape
3) He should fight a Giant Spider
4) Brainiac should be the villain.
5) Brainaic should have a flamboyantly gay robot sidekick.
6) Brainiac should fight a Polar Bear.

I think that'll satisfy the no tights no flight crowd.


Seriously?

Lets call this new film Superman Unleashed, inspired by The Force Unleashed. The entire point would be to have him use his powers in the coolest ways possible.

First thing, we tone him down a little. No flying FTL, time travel, or moving planets. We can keep it at a reasonable Low Silver Age/High Dark Age without hitting heights of absurdity like altering the very nature of reality by punching it.

And now that we've put some limits on his powers, we set about figuring out how to use them in the most awesome ways possible. To do that, we need a villain who can survive a Superman's best. Doomsday is tempting, but flat. There is nothing interesting to be done with him. So I would suggest Darkseid. He has an army, he has a motivation, he's a complex character, and he's all but invincible.

No origin story, of course. That gets in the way. It starts with Superman kicking butt and doesn't slow down.

On the relationship angle, Supes is more open and and honest with those in his life. Lois knows his identity and is living with him, providing him with emotional support in addition to kicking butt in her own right. She is never captured and is not a damsel in distress. There will be no rescue missions. There wil be no hostages. Superbaby can be ignored or included, depending on the direction they want to go. But he shouldn't be important to the plot. He's a kid and he's strong, but he can't do much against parademons, mostly because he's just a kid who happens to be strong. He doesn't develop any other powers.

Frame the conflict between Darkseid and Supes within a higher moral conflict of control vs freedom, tyranny vs chaos, safety vs risk, and efficiency vs compassion, with Superman seriously questioning how far he should go to save lives and if his unwillingness to step outside of his moral comfort zone makes him just as guilty as the countless criminals that he doesn't stop, precipitated by a disastrous suicide bombing that he could have stopped if he were willing to use lethal force against the bomber. Not angsty, of course. Superman and angst don't mesh, but just trying to feel out the limits of his moral obligations to the people of the world.

 

[Praetor]

I like your ideas, but I'm unsure about using Darkseid. I'm not sure how well he would work, at least for a reintroduction.

I think Brainiac would be an excellent choice, and would also allow subtle reflection on the Superman origins if he is Kryptonian as has been done of late.