Could a Superman movie work if they completely change his history? Is this the only solution to keep the character, in some form, at DC? Would drastically changing where Superman came from also change his character? Or would it be better to just jump into the movie and ignore the telling of his origin? I don't know if I could see a 'reboot' not try to tell the origin.I think if I was ever going to go near Superman, I would do a complete reboot—take it in a direction that you would absolutely not expect, actually. So, that would be my thinking on it, if I was ever going to go near Superman.
I think it's good that they just had a court case where, basically, if you make another Superman movie, you can't touch Superman growing up—that's part of the story that you can't touch any more. That wouldn't be a bad thing. I think everybody's a bit sick of seeing the origin story.
Superman
Character » Superman appears in 18885 issues.
Sent to Earth as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, Kal-El was adopted by the loving Kent family and raised in America's heartland as Clark Kent. Using his immense solar-fueled powers, he became Superman to defend mankind against all manner of threats while championing truth, justice, and the American way!
Will The Next Superman Movie Reboot The Character?
If it's done right.. this could be a good movie... but with so many Superman movies coming out plus the Smallville series... This might be a little confusing to non-fans.....
All I know is now that anything pertaining to Superman is a bit chaotic in my view. I don't think a re-telling of a re-telling of a re-telling in terms of his origin is necessary. I can forget Superman Returns just like I forgot Ang Lee's Hulk and the Schumacher Batman craptastic films.
Its up in the air--pun intended--concerning where Superman will fly next--again, pun intended. Will Warner Bros. make a movie simply to retain rights and say darn with the story content? Seems like that was the case with Superman Returns.
While all this copyright news is fascinating it is also frustrating.
I think we talked about it in the podcast last week but what if everything Superman knew about his origin was false? What if someone just messed with his Kryptonian crystals and such. The only problem is all the Kryptonians running around New Krypton now. Would changing where he came from change who Superman is?
I always got the impression that people hated Superman. That seems to be a lot that I see around here. If DC has to change the origin because of the legal mumbo jumbo, how many people would care? What if it was either change the origin or have him slip away to another publisher?
What they could do if they did reboot and didn't want to do an origin story is flash parts of his origin in the opening credits like they did with punisher war zone if they started production before they lost the rights to the origin or whatever
They should just give him a badass Harley and a sawn-off shotgun and pump him full of one-liners. He could wrestle alligators and eat beef jerky. He'll be the ultimate super man.
Mark Millar would have been the perfect guy for this job, but apparently that isn't going to happen. Granted he wanted to do a reboot including his origins on Krypton. But right now Millar is money at the box office. So I don't know if this movie is ever going to happen or if it will be any good. McTeigue might be the right man for this film, but they just need to go completely in a different direction and leave the Richard Donner era in the dust (as awesome as it was).
"God no, just don't reboot. It takes so much exposition before Sups fights anyone interesting. "
That's a good point. I've been aching to see Superman lay the smack down on ANYONE who is similarily powered but its yet to manifest and I don't know if it ever will. Metallo, Mongul, Darkseid...someone!
Like G-Man pointed out, how much of an impact will the removal of the Kryptonian origin have? I agree, removing the Kryptonian origin would really eliminate who Superman is on many levels yet simoultaneously, it would be interesting to see if any writers can create something to explain it all but that remains doubtful.
I like Superman although he's not my fave. However, despite how some feel about the character, it seems Superman has been mishandled time and time again and now in the "real world" the same thing is happening to the Boy Scout from Krypton--or wherever he hails. *sigh*
To not let Supermans orgin be refered to again is a slap in Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel's face. I don't think they would want anyone altering anything about their character drasticly. The estate still made millions off the Superman name, and still they're trying to cash in. It's horrible. D.C. should come to some kind of arrangement, Superman is worth so much now, but to have to go through what they are going thru is insane. All in all they still own the rights to do what they want.
Isn't it funny how Image comics was the place to go where the creaters could create thier own charcaters and orgins and where they still owned rights and had a point system so they made some money off of everything didn work and most of the big names some how ended up coming back to one of the big 2. The exception was McFarlane but he got to wrapped up in making toys and sculputures and Spawn just starting sucking. Even Jim Lee and Mark Silvestri came back. Oviously artists get paid pretty well when they do good work.
leave the origin alone. keep John Kent alive and have Superman actually fight someone.
I'm surprised that one of the greatest heroes ever has had so many problems in film adaptations.
Don't get me wrong, Christopher Reeve and Routh were great but the films just don't have the intensity people are looking for or the commitment to the character and the comics.
*sighs* This doofus they talk to is why I'm still pretty pissed about them dropping Singer, and worry about the possibility of Warner Bros, AGAIN, catching a case of the STUPID VIRUS they got post-Donner, and got a near fatal case of it post-Quest for Peace. They have enough money to pay off the estates and still make a freakin' movie. Don't change one of the most famous origins in history.
Just let Superman cut loose a bit, while I love 3 out of the 5 movies, he still doesn't get many chances to face a worthy opponent, or a major threat, Zod's crew and that lame-o Nuclear Man aside. What people want is Superman using his powers, punching stuff, and just being a hero. WHY can't Warner Bros GRASP this concept??? I say go the Incredible Hulk root, not exactly a reboot, but not ANOTHER retelling of the story you ALREADY know, and go on from there, no need to re-establish too much, just go from there.
*hopes to god they don't give the movie to asshats like James McTiegue* People who obviously don't know who Superman is, probably don't CARE who Superman is and just want to cash in on the name.
Superman Returns sucked! How does Superman get stabed by one piece of kryptonite then pick up a whole island of it.
ignore the origins. I think a movie would be just fine if they jumped right into the action without explaining where he came from. Pretty much everyone knows that part anyway, and if they don't they're probably little kids who could care less anyway and would be more interested in all the cool things happening on the screen.
I think the a reboot should go the Birthright/ John's secret origin/ early smallville route and have clark in the dark about all of the Kryptonian backstory. If they can't touch it then don't everyone already knows it anyway. That way they can focus on actually making him a real character with depth instead of all the son of jor-el stuff, you don't need to name the planet to make superman a guy trying to find his place on Earth.
Man all I know is DC better keep him. DC without Superman is like Magic Johnson not being on the Lakers.
Hmmm It would be a good idea rebooting the whole Superman Saga and Brandon Routh would be great to play Clark Kent.I really loved his Clark in Superman Returns.Also if Smallville ends with it's Season 9 making a movie wich follows the show's storyline would have a big succes I think.
About the origin,well some fans would be really pissed off if they change his origin story.
Anyhow,I'm looking forward to see what will happen with this iconic superhero in the near future.
Why even refer to the origin at all? Anyone going to watch a Superman movie most likely knows it by heart anyway. It would just be a waste of film better used to form the story.
I dont think they need to change it. It is kind of common knowlege.
But boy i would love to see a good movie. The first was really the only good one for me. Forget all the rest. No more dead beat dad sups or trying to break up a marrage. Lets see him DO SOMETHING! Smallville is the only time Clark Kent has ever interesting to me. I'd like to see and Alien invassion film taking out a galactic threat. Or even a movie about Kandor.
No one at DC or Warner Brothers is going to let Superman out of their possession or change an over 70 year history. They will pay whatever is necessary to keep Big Blue where he belongs just the way he should be. As for McTeigue I don't want him to direct Superman purely because he wants to take him in an unexpected direction. Superman can only go one way, it's not like he can be dark like Bats. In order to make a successful Superman movie they need to stick to the basics. The hell with Shazam someone get Geoff Johns on Superman.
i say just ignore the origin dont really talk about it enough people know it that you can just go on. My understanding is the whole reason that hollywood is doing nothing but KNOWN properities like comics and 80 cartoons is that they already have a following and are already KNOWN to the public. That way they dont have to spend money on pomoting a movie and story that know one knows about. If thats the case YOU DONT need an origin since the whole point is that the public already KNOWS it.
just catch superman in mid fight! did starwars give you an orign of darth vader? no there is a space battle he busts through the door and chokes some fool out of his boots! and BAM you know all you need to know.
all you need is some artistic skill and find a jump on point NOT a whole new start.
I may be wrong but I don't think DC is really not allowed to use that origin story anymore. I think the issue is that they just wanted to be paid for the work their grandfathers did, which is fine by me, who cares? DC will just have to buy the rights from them which they didn't do in the first place. So good for them and DC will still be able to use it.
"GO FOR THE REBOOT! Superman returns blew! "
It was so bad i had like five chances to watch it and i never finished it all the way =/
I think if they were to do a super-man movie, they should approch it with him already being super-man and throughout the movie tell his origins through flashbacks. This comming from someone who isnt the biggest super-man fan, but respect the character. They could have Luthor still be his top enemy but he shout hire a tough badass from super-man's rouge gallery so there will still be a kickass fight scene. I mean its is sad that they still havent done a truly successful revival of DC's first real super hero. ( Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were Amazing, but Batman's pal should get in some good movies too.)
@FallenX said:
u mean u love the character that was basically just an extra? im down with routh for whatever they choose to do but whenever they do do it they need to make clark an actual character. the only thing clark did was act all geeky and nervous around lois and trip over stuff. clark is an investigative reporter, they need to let him do some real and investigating. thats the only way a superman movie could ever with anybody as clark. they tried way too hard to make brandon like chris reeve and didnt even do a good job at that cause supeman seemed completely emotionless. but i think brandon diserves a second chance to redeem himself" Hmmm It would be a good idea rebooting the whole Superman Saga and Brandon Routh would be great to play Clark Kent.I really loved his Clark in Superman Returns.Also if Smallville ends with it's Season 9 making a movie wich follows the show's storyline would have a big succes I think. About the origin,well some fans would be really pissed off if they change his origin story. Anyhow,I'm looking forward to see what will happen with this iconic superhero in the near future. "
I don't care if they reboot it or not. It would nice for a reboot because who ever is taking over after Bryan Singer is gonna have a heck of a time kind of following in those same footsteps because it was meh movie. But I do have an opinion about who shold play the NEXT Superman!! He's not big and buff, but he has that Superman look and feel to him. He's from the TV Series Criminal Minds. His Name is Thomas Gibson. He's got the Seriousness and the Voice. I think he would make a Great Superman. What do you think????
He's older, but he's got that look You know? And he's a good actor.
Or if Christian Bale ever gets tired of playing Batman I think he would make a good Batman Too.
OK... NO MORE ORIGINS!
And secondly... I would love to see a sequel to wrap things up with that whole child that Lois is hinted at having with Superman. I guess everyone forgot about that?
@Silver Knight75 said:
I'm surprised that one of the greatest heroes ever has had so many problems in film adaptations.
Same here, the game industry hasn't been kind to him either. I think it's because of the magnitude of influence he has one people. They expect him to be a certain way and that's it. It makes it hard for writers then to come up with truly original stories to add to him. Not to mention the enormous amount of money involved with this character. To be sure though, I love Superman and I don't want to see another 2,000 re-tellings of re-tellings EVER again. He's Kryptonian, he was sent to earth to be saved from Krypton's destruction, he was adopted by the Kents, he works at the Daily Planet, his costume's red & blue - the works. That's how I want it... and I think that's how Siegel & Shuster would have as well..
If they're gonna make a movie without that origin then they shouldn't make a movie, IMO.
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