@goldfarb:

Y'know, I bet Joss Whedon or Kevin Smith could do an awesome Superman.

Werrick

@Juancho: exactly...Superman is a God.
hmm...why not go that route with a film?...explore the fact that he can do whatever he wants, but chooses to be humanity's protector.
it will at least be a tad more interesting than yet another LAND SCHEME by Luthor...jezus! what is it with these people?
Warners basically has no idea what to do with Superman...and they don't have the balls to try something new...and I don't mean new as in all that Burton/Jon Peters bullshit...

goldfarb

Y'know why Batman did so well? 'Cause they stuck mostly to Canon and where they didn't they wrote it in a way that meshed well with the story. They were true to the characters, taking them seriously and leaving them unaltered from the characters that we know in the comics.

Superman failed because Singer thinks he's a genius. They messed with the canon, leaving it almost unrecognizable, then they messed with the character in a number of ways, portraying him as some kind of sneaky, dead-beat, whiney, creepy peeping-tom. They made him, literally, unlike-able in many ways.

What Hollywood doesn't understand is that their market for these movies are comic book geeks. Stop fucking with our shit!

Werrick

Not to take any credit away from Brandon Routh's mesmerizingly wooden performance, but if he acts opposite a block of wood like Kate Bosworth, then you basically have McBoringface meets Yawnwoman.

kookla

I just saw the original superman movie for the first time last night (at Bryant Park film festival no less). It was really good and not boring. How come they couldn't make the new one that way?

TimGunn

The problem with Superman is just that he's a boring character. I mean, what villain rivals what is basically a god?

WB has so many comic properties languishing. Give me Green Arrow/Supermax, give me the Flash, give me Wonder Woman. Hell, even that young JLA.

Just stop giving me Superman.

Juancho

I think Warner's really needs to give another stab at the Speed Racer franchise. Re-boot, reinvisioning, whatever you want to call it, but the next film needs to feature at least one of the ICP clowns as the bad guy, Jack Skellington as Speed's Sidekick, and a sweet sweet original soundtrack by Slipknot.

JudgeFudge

Only if Ed Norton plays him.

hummingpenguin

@goldfarb: Shit yeah. Byrne's relaunch covered that ground beautifully, and added a lot of layers to the big blue boy scout.

spankhaus

Kevin Smith is garbage. give singer another stab. established franchises go a long way (cough-TDK-cough.) Let's not forget SR made more at the box office than Batman Begins. People went and saw it.

TaintedBlood

Bring in Favreau, or someone with a light touch. Superman's always been the goofy, Golden Age-feel hero - I mean, he had a dog named Krypto and a monkey named Beppo, he's not a dark, broody hero!
A light, cartoony take, with an interesting visual style, and a great, cheesy villain like Brainiac or Electro would be the Superman move I'd flock to. Leave the angst to Batman - he does it perfectly - and create a diametric opposite with a shiny, inspiring hero. As a bonus, it'll make the (someday, goddammit) JLA movie even more interesting.

Or just make a movie about Beppo. It would still be better than that piece of shit they served up.

spankhaus

If only Chris Nolan could resurrect every dead franchise. Damn his high standards!

ColbertNation

@kookla: Their chemistry was as non-existent as her bodyfat. Her hair color wasn't even convincing. And that superbrat child plot line was stupid.

NoWireHangers

If Warner's next steps include throwing Superman in all black and placing a cape and cowl with pointy ears on his head/face, then I'm there.

Fry_Bread_Power

I think you can do both - have a light and fun Superman story, with the inclusion of darker themes - the physicalized alienation, the fact that his home/heritage is essentially the one thing that can kill him. Of course, some of the superman themes might just be done better in Watchmen, if they don't screw it up.

But the number one thing a reboot must do is find a way to give Superman a personality. I have NEVER seen an interesting Superman. I do like Lois, though.

juniperjenny

Gah! I would not give Kevin Smith a Super 8 camera and $50.
I agree that Supes needs another few years in his Fortress of Solitude before a reboot is recommended.
Next for DC?
Ryan Reynolds as a wisecracking Flash. There. You're welcome.
Or, barring that, an angst-ridden League of Super Heroes.

William Mize

@Werrick: I have never read the Kevin Smith script that was basically Doomsday/Death of Superman, but Warren Ellis described it as a fanboy's wet dream that would not do well on the big screen.

Juancho

@TaintedBlood: But SR lost money.

Pardon_The_Bad_Post

@NoWireHangers: Actually their chemistry was the best thing in the film for me. I was on an 11 hour flight and needed something to help me sleep.

kookla

Why not go the route of an older Superman who's been around for a while? He's sick of all the way humans are killing eachother. Sick of wars, sick of drugs, sick of having to save all these idiots from themselves. A world-weary Superman who no longer confines him-self to Metropolis and his ridiculous Clark Kent persona. The world knows who he is now.

Put Superman on the world stage.

AND DON'T CAMP IT UP!

Quilt

They just need to reboot it and make is all shiny, whizzy, and fun, like Iron Man. Problems with SR: It was just a beat for best remake of Donner's original, Lex Luthor as the quirky, outburst-prone land baron = lame, massive plot holes, poor casting, the kid, Parker Posey, etc, etc, etc.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld

I enjoyed Superman Returns. Didn't love it more than peanut butter itself, but certainly didn't hate it (and I don't really get the buckets of vitriol heaped on it).

And I have to say, if that didn't work, I don't think anything will. Singer took the character in the one interesting direction you can take him in -- make him more human, not universally loved, his powers are as much a liability as an asset, etc. Put him back where he was, and you have the 1978 Superman.

The 1978 Superman is a fun movie. It worked at the time because there hadn't been a superhero movie yet. Now, there have been all kinds of them, painting all kinds of different shades of heroes -- tortured, frustrated, out of control, struggling against the establishment, you name it. We're well past Superman. And Singer's movie tried to reflect on that fact, and most people didn't buy it. So I think the solution is to just let him go. Like Juancho says, there are a million other properties.

DarkKnightShyamalan

Sadly, I read the Smith Superman draft. If having characters basically recreate Mallrats pseudo-existential dialogue (not to mention yawningly dull action sequences) for pages and pages is your thing, then indeed it is the "wet dream" you are a "Fanboy" for.

Smith went on to make a dubious reputation on the touring college comedy circuit belittling Jon Peters' robot spiders. Hey...done Wachowski style, robot spiders could be very cool indeed within the Superman universe.

I'd be more interested in seeing comic book writer Mark Millar working hand-in-hand with an existing, accomplished screenwriter to rein back any more wacky notions. Now, THAT would be a pairing that could save Superman.

Oh, yeah. Singer. He's gotta go...

The-Flashing-Scribe

@William Mize: Ryan Reynolds in a skintight suit? I am so there.

princesstomato

@Juancho: Right. This has been the problem for Superman since about 1970. There's no dramatic tension there. They can get away with one movie or tv show every once in a while...but it always will get old fast.

Losin_it

i hated SR. it was yawnsville. but i do love me some 'smallville'. can't wait for next season. it's gotten really good. which, imo, is why they shouldn't even try to do a revamp of the film. why mess with the brand like that?

LLH

The answer to making a Superman movie good is very simple (and one most would eschew in a knee-jerk reaction, but...think about it for a moment):

MAKE HIM HIT SOMETHING. REALLY HARD.

Superman is not a thinker; Batman is. Wonder Woman is. Kal's no Hulk, but let's be honest...the best part of Superman Returns was when he caught the jet.

Give him Mongul, or Lobo, or Doomsday, or some other muscle-bound n'ere-do-well to beat the living shit out of onscreen. Superman is about POWER, and we've yet to see it on screen.

CapnCalamity

One day I will accept the fact that I am the only person alive who thought 'Superman Returns' was a perfectly good, enjoyable movie. Until then I'm going to go back to my corner and pretend none of this is happening.

syneblue

@syneblue: One of TWO people. I liked it, own a copy, and enjoy it quite a bit.

William Mize

@princesstomato: As long as he brings along Scarlett Johannson in a Black Canary outfit. Also, why haven't they done Brainiac as a villian yet? He knows all about Krypton and what can do damage to Supes. I mean if it's an FX issue I'm sure they have the tools today to render a good Brainiac. Just stay away from the golf shirt look from Superfriends.

bigredgambler

@CapnCalamity: NOW you're getting somewhere! Toss the kid subplot, get somebody who can do Lois on a Margot Kidder/Teri Hatcher level, make Luthor evil like he should be (see Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville's take when he's playing Lex as a villain for a great example) and, yes, GIVE SUPES SOMETHING SUPER TO DO!!!! For cryin' out loud let the guy HIT something, a giant asteroid, an alien spaceship, some big robot that Luthor builds, anything. Make the movie the fanboys want and just like TDK, everybody else will go and see it too.

TheQuestion

In all my life I've never understood the appeal of Superman. The guy takes off his glasses and people are all "Oh shit, it's Superman. He looks nothing like Clark Kent, even though he just took off his glasses!" How lame is that. I hated Superman Returns, it had nothing but the guy flying around and going on a jagged platform that made no sense. At least the Christopher Reeves movies were entertaining and good fun.

I like DC but Superman frustrates me. The whole concept is dumb.

kylo4