Topic: Superman Reboot

[EasyCure]

I killed a kitten once. Remind me to tell you the story sometime.

we know all about it

[nickmitch]

I just thought about this.  Who cleaned the microwave after that?  Do they still use it?  Is there a smell?

[EasyCure]

i'm sure they would of thrown it out

[nickmitch]

I dunno.  Those can be expensive and part of a set with the oven and match the fridge.  But then, do you really wanna keep the radiation box that killed fluffy?

[EasyCure]

probably not, hence why i figured they'd throw it out.

hell if it happened to me i wouldnt wanna cook anything for awhile, i'd be to mortified. take out for months

resisting....chinese take-out joke....too...easy!

[nickmitch]

That could make an awesome funhouse thread. . .

[ThePerm]

wal-mart has all sorts of crazy dvd deals,

i got all 4 Chris Reeves Superman movies for only 10 bucks

they have two different sets of nightmare on elm street that I'm eying (shat thats how you spell eying, frickin wierd)

[ThePerm]

Well looks like the Siegel estates won the rights to supermans backstory...

but
recently, i bought the Fleischer Superman  cartoon episodes from wal-mart for a dollar
and back in the day he had a totally different backstory..he still came from Krypton, but he was raised by the Government and not the Kents...

the kents backstory i dont think came till the 70s. Allthough i'd rather him be raised by the government because thats way more interesting.

[Halbred]

I thought Superman Returns was an EPIC FAIL. It should've been called "Superman Lifts." Kate Bosworth (eat a goddamn burger, girl!) is the worst Lois Lane ever. Also, since the movie is supposed to come after Superman 2, how did Lois have any memory of her previous dealings with Superman? Even better, as Kevin Smith pointed out, after she figured out that Supes fathered her kid, why wasn't she all like "When did you rape me, Superman?"

EPIC FAIL on so many levels.

But Superman fails in general. He's an alien who looks exactly like a human--he even has red blood. He can fly, use heat and freeze beams, has super strength, can survive in the vacuum of space, apparently doesn't need to breath, has X-ray vision, and regenerates from the power of the sun. He's a goddamn plant.

His weakness is Kryptonite, which every villain in the series has warehouses full of. Luthor stabbed Superman in the chest with a Kryptonite crystal in Returns, but SUPERMAN DIDN'T DIE.

I just don't think Superman is relevant anymore. By the same token, they're gonna have a hard time making anybody give a crap about Wonder Woman too.*

*Brief aside: Megan Fox is, I guess, in the running for the role. This would be awful. I can't picture a worse Diana Prince. Aside from being brunette, Fox is the wrong body type to be Wonder Woman. The character is chesty, hippy, and strong. Megan Fox is a beanpole with a push-up bra and no upper body strength to speak of. She's also WAY too young. My vote would be Michelle Ryan (from the recent "Bionic Woman" show) who exemplifies all of Woman Woman's physical features and is also British.

[that Baby guy]

Superman has had decent enemies and difficult times before, Halbred.  Additionally, freeze breath is an ability he rarely uses in the comics, but whomever writes scripts for movies seems to just love it.

Superman has two types of enemies that could make for a good movie.  The first is the type that goes after people in Clark Kent's life, or takes control of other super heroes.  Manchester Black was a psychic who read Superman's mind to find out his secret identity as Clark Kent.  From there, he sent every run-of-the-mill, two bit villain after anyone who ever helped Clark Kent... even his dentist.  His goal?  To make Superman kill, to drive him to the edge and make him take a life.  To me, it was one of the best Superman arcs.

Then, there's Brainiac:  A highly intelligent alien who can slip a device on top of anyone's head and then gain complete control over that person.  Brainiac has had a complicated story in the comics, but if the movies made his appearance a one-time event and used the Panic in the Sky storyline... (maybe split it into two movies?) You'd have an epic DC tale that consisted of several DC heroes in a story where they're all but invincible.

The last villain that could create an interesting movie, I think, is Metallo, the guy who absorbs and uses machines and metal to consistently power himself up.  He wouldn't be a problem for Superman, except for two things: Collateral damage and his Kryptonite heart.  I dislike Superman's Kryptonite weakness in the movies, especially after Superman returns, where it basically didn't matter, but it certainly does help Metallo fight him.

Another potential villain is the Parasite, but that seems like it would start more along the lines as a mystery/horror movie, then turn into a bright cheerful Superman movie... so maybe that could be saved for a Superman/Batman crossover.

[UncleBob]

The next Superman movie will probably feature Lex Luthor teaming up with Toyman or some crap.

[BlackNMild2k1]

My guess is that after Superman realizes his last movie may ruin his hollywood career, he decides to fly around the world so fast that he rewinds time so he can pretend the last movie never happened. But things don't go exactly as planned. Now, not only did he rewind time, but he is constantly trying to take his place on the set to play his part only to realize that in this time period, there is already a Superman and he wants to play his own part. Now Superman must battle Superman to see who is the better Superman for the part.

[Khushrenada]

I just don't think Superman is relevant anymore. By the same token, they're gonna have a hard time making anybody give a crap about Wonder Woman too.*

In a post about epic fails, you just made your own. It's interesting. For the most part, I've always been a Batman guy. But lately, I'm findin Superman to be my hero of choice. Maybe that is because lately, there have been a lot of good Superman stories put out there. Even now, with Blackest Night going, I'm looking forward to the Superman titles more, especially World of New Krypton. If you haven't been following along at home lately, let me bring you up to speed. Superman is living alongside 100,000 other Kryptonians and has been assigned into the military working under General Zod. Now, you may think that having him surrounded by 100,000 Kryptonians would make Superman even less relevant but I think it's made him more Super than he has been in along time. More inspiring as well. I wish the series could continue longer instead of the 12 issue run it is supposed to have. But I look forward to each new installment each month.

Besides what's happening right now, you can find a lot of other great Superman stories. Recently with Geoff Johns writing, there have been some great stories, Last Son, Superman and The Legion of Superheroes, and Braniac. As well, Grant Morrison recently finished a 12 issue story called All-Star Superman which received a ton of praise. Superman was a large part of Final Crisis. There is a really great Superman story called Red Son which I've recommended on these forums before in which the story is told of what might have happened had Superman landed in Communist Russia instead of the U.S.A.

Finally, I wish the movies would take more direction from the Superman Animated Series. That was my big introduction to all things Superman, and even now, those cartoons are quite well done. Frankly, if it was up to me I know exactly the direction I'd take for the movies.

Instead of Luthor being the goofy crazed mad scientist they keep projecting him to be, I'd make him into the powerful business man that he is in the Animated Series. Head of Lexcorp and the man who believes Superman is harming humanity's growth. I'd follow the story from the Animated Series entitled "The Way of All Flesh" which shows the origin of Metallo. Since Warner Bros. would like the movie darker, that could be done with the villains transformation. I'd call the movie The Man of Steel which is a play on Superman's nickname and Metallo as well. That should go over well since it follows the Batman example when they called the next movie, The Dark Knight. From there, I could delve into just what that nickname means for Superman. I'd also take some scenes from the pilot episode in which the man who became Metallo was actually working with Lex until Superman captured him. That way, you establish a bit of history between him and Superman and show off the new status quo Lex Luthor. With Metallo losing all his human senses, you can get the darkness that Warner Bros. craves for Superman. You do it through the villains. But that is a just a flight of fancy I have.

[Halbred]

When I said "not relevant anymore," I meant to a modern average movie-goer audience.

[that Baby guy]

And Khush showed a way he could become relevant.... Ehhh?  Ehhh?

[bustin98]

Whats not relevant is the movie industry's vision of Superman. The tighter they remain to the core story, the better the movie will be.

[BranDonk Kong]

Superman can only be hurt by Kryptonite and Doomsday, apparently, so that makes him pretty boring if you ask me.

[Khushrenada]

When I said "not relevant anymore," I meant to a modern average movie-goer audience.

Oh, of course. Because when I look through your original post, I can totally tell that you were talking about the modern average movie-goer not relating to Superman as opposed to what I thought was your original intent of him not being relevant at all since you listed a number of faults you think the character has.

Alright. Rather snarky, I know. But my point is not to come here and keep attacking you. I just think you are trying to backpedal a little and have made my point on that.

I do, however, agree with you on a few points. #1 being that I don't see how Wonder Woman can be made relevant without changing a lot about the character. I know Wonder Woman is supposed to be equal with Superman and Batman and they are considered the big 3 but I just do not have much interet in her. I hate the whole Greek Mythology thing. It just doesn't fit in anywhere in the DC Universe itself. What about all the other Mythological gods like the Roman gods or Thor and Odin or Babylonian gods? Why do only the Greek gods exist and keep exherting power? Is it really that exciting to see Wonder Woman battle mythological creatures or team up with Hercules? Not really. It worked with Xena or shows like that since it was set in those times. But when you put this setting into a modern world, it just clashes horribly and raises too many questions. She flies an invisible jet!? Where does that fit into the whole Greek setting? What's with the lasso? I can think of many greater Greek weapons than a lasso. She can reflect bullets off her bracelets. How does that work? Is there an incredibly strong magnetic pull that brings the bullets to them so they can deflect off them? Is she able to move her arms that fast and stop them? If that's the case, why can't she run like the flash or use her speedy hands for other things? The contradictions are too many. I don't like thinking about Wonder Woman much.

But when I have, I've often wondered if there is a way to somehow re-invent the character. A way to reconcile all these contradictions together. Is there a way to move Wonder Woman away from this Greek Mythology and Magic and yet still retain some of that influence? What kind of an origin should she have? I draw a blank everytime. Pretty much every other woman in the DC Universe is more interesting and more thought out than Wonder Woman. I wish one of them would take her place.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Superman can only be hurt by Kryptonite and Doomsday, apparently, so that makes him pretty boring if you ask me.

Superman can only be hurt by Kryptonite, Doomsday & Superman

that's why I like my movie idea the best.

[Khushrenada]

Superman can only be hurt by Kryptonite and Doomsday, apparently, so that makes him pretty boring if you ask me.

Thank goodness we didn't. Hello red sun. Hello magic. (Ok. I shouldn't mention that weakness. It bugs me) Hello other Kryptonians. And that's just some of the ways to hurt him physically. There's still mental, emotional and psychological ways to harm him.

But, like you, I prefer my heros to get injured a lot so that they are more interesting. Unless he is getting the snot beaten out of him or is just barely clinging to life each adventure, there is really no fun to be had following his exploits.

[nickmitch]

Cyborg Superman punches pretty hard.

[nickmitch]

Also, Khush, I see what you're saying about Wonder Woman.  I feel the same way about the X-Men.  They're great until you consider that they exist in a world with 1000s of other non-mutant metahumans.  I still love the series, but it's just not fitting right.  Especially now with Dark Reign.  Any mutant with powers could easily chalk them up to a lab accident and register with the government.  I doubt anyone other than Osborn would look in to it or even care.  Hell, it worked for the freak submariner!

[Khushrenada]

Marvel comics. My only weakness. Oh well. At least, you get what I'm saying about WW.

[nickmitch]

Marvel comics. My only weakness. Oh well. At least, you get what I'm saying about WW.

Yeah, the best you can say about it is that they choose not to interfere with the world at large, much like the new gods (until Final Crisis).  Then you have all of the magic users, characters returning from the dead, heroes that ARE dead and now you have this big debate about religion in comics.  On the Marvel hand, you have Hercules (and I guess Aries) as Avengers and readers (mostly me) too lazy/uninterested to look in to their origins.

[ThePerm]

do the same people who like the dragon ball z cartoons disparage superman? They have the same plotline. I would make superman a stronger story by making him not so insanely powerful, over time building up his power. What were the original aspects of Superman? Originally he couldn't fly..he could just jump really high over buildings, he was faster than a speeding bullet(but not so fast he could turn back time like Cher wishes she could do), more powerful than a locomotive. Bam make that his only powers. What is a Super Man? Superman should seem like a powerful ant in a big world. Also Superman should take place in the Era of his inception...not modern times