This post really got it’s start the other day when I was at my local comic book store and the owner, a patron and myself got started talking about the news that Warner Bros. wants to relaunch the Superman film franchise and word is that comic book writer extra-ordinaire, Mark Millar (The Authority, The Ultimates, Kick-Ass, etc.), has written a script that has been well received and that it will be something that fans will love. Let’s hope.

My love for Superman all started back when I was 6 years old in 1978 and Superman The Movie starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel graced the silver screen across the world and people cheered the big blue boyscout for the first time in many years. At the time I was all about Star Wars and the only comic books I read were Star Wars/sci-fi related and anything with Godzilla. I liked Superman from the ultra-cheesy Superfriends cartoon but I wasn’t a huge fan until my father took me to see the movie. I was enthralled. The story, the special effects, the whole package had me and my father said he or my mother probably took me to see it at least 5 times in the theater. Thanks to that film I’m the hardcore superhero-loving comic book geek you have today (well, the film and my wife helping to feed my comic book addiction). In adulthood it was always a treat to see the flick on cable and reminisce about childhood. The film seems very cheesy to me now but still gives me warm feelings inside and watching Christopher Reeve’s portrayal makes me wonder if anyone will ever be able to pull the role off with the style he had.

But, that is unfortunately, and in my opinion, the only thing good about those Superman films. It’s all Reeve. He embodied the character. Upon reading the comics through the eighties, nineties and now I saw how corny the stories were compared to the comics and how most of the other characters are portrayed wrong. Okay, I’ll give you that Margot Kidder had the attitude to play Lois Lane but she just didn’t have the sex appeal needed for the role. The guy who played Jimmy was just okay. The guy who played Perry White was just okay. And damn it, I love Gene Hackman but his version of Lex Luthor sucks monkey balls! There is a lot of moments from these films that are iconic and fantastic but a collection of moments do not a good movie make. The first (and most of the second film) were directed by Richard Donner and everything I’ve read has me thinking that he really set out to make something fantastic but Superman was a victim of egos and the studio. And all of the films suffer for it. So, in 1987 we see our last Superman film for 19 years.

In the nineties through 2000 the Superman franchise started to get a lot of buzz around it. Directors like Tim Burton, McG and Brett Ratner all have their names being associated with ideas that never really get off the ground. Most of what I’ve read has me thanking the comic book gods that none of this ever worked out as they would have seriously fucked up the whole mythos. Scripts were written by people from Kevin Smith to J.J. Abrams and actors such as Nicholas Cage (ugh!) to Brendan Fraser were linked with the project and still nothing was happening. Then along comes director Bryan Singer who says he wants to do a loose sequel to the first two Superman films and has a script written by two buddies that Warner Bros. jumps all over. Singer had a lot of clout then being the director of the critically hailed The Usual Supects and the X-Men films. So, basically the studio gives him all the money he wants to make the flick and in 2006 we get a big letdown. Superman Returns sucked! Just like the previous films there are great moments but the story is disappointing and a lot of the characters are miscast, including Superman himself. Actor Brandon Routh really tried but he just didn’t have the gravitas needed for the role of Superman. Kevin Spacey brought a slightly sinister edge to the Gene Hackman modeled Lex Luthor but it still was off from what the character is in the comics. And Lois Lane? Kate Bosworth looked like a 17 year old trying to pull off the role of a sexy, gutsy, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter. And then the whole super kid thing? Ugh! Storywise you basically have the same storyline from the first film with some added details that actually make the story even worse. I loved director Singer’s X-Men movies and really thought the dude would kick ass with Superman but instead we really get Mediocre-Angsty-Metrosexual Man. Singer….YOU’RE FIRED!!!

Now it has been told that Warner Bros. wants to start from scratch. As I mentioned at the beginning, Mark Millar has a script that people love. I love the writing of Millar. He brings a contemporary take to superheroes without losing the mythology that we all love. But, Millar has had a property of his already made into a film, the comic book Wanted, and that film is a much different animal than what the book is. And that’s fine. Wanted is a very new comic and doesn’t have an iconic status. Which brings me to Superman. An executive at Warner Bros. wants a darker Superman. Since the very dark Batman flick, The Dark Knight, has made so much money the studio thinks that darkness is the answer for their superhero franchises’ sucess. Hey! Mr. Executive! Pick up a fucking Superman comic. The dude is not dark. He gets pissed at times and sometimes finds himself in dark situations but the guy himself is not dark. He’s the boyscout. A physical beacon of hope. Dark works for Batman. Keep Supes the optimistic superpowered farmboy.

I don’t know what Millar’s script is like and knowing the fickle nature of Hollywood this script might actually not even be used but those executives-in-charge should at least look at some of the other Superman material out there instead of the Reeves films. The only thing they should take from those is Reeves look and performance. For everthing else? Read some comics or at least check out the excellent Max Fleischer cartoons from the forties or the animated series from the nineties. That is what your film needs to be modeled after. Remember the source material.

What does the fanboy community want to see in a Superman flick? First, Superman does definitely need to be the boyscout as I’ve already said. He always does the right thing and is concerned for the innocents around him. And remember that he was raised on a farm by two very loving people who are his moral center. In the new film, Ma and Pa Kent should both be alive so Supes has a place to go back to so he can decompress from the stress of being the superhero. His alter ego, Clark Kent, needs to be the nerdy, clumsy but capable reporter with the heart of gold. Lois needs to be the epitome of a successful single woman and able to hold her own. Jimmy Olsen is likable and the perfect sidekick for Clark. Now, for Lex Luthor. Make him the ultra successful businessman who has tremendous influence in Metropolis but most look at him with a bit of disdain. Make him the polar opposite of Clark Kent without making him cartoonish. And Metropolis. This should truly be the city of tomorrow and not some knock-off of New York City. If this is going to be the relaunch Warner Bros. says it is then there is one thing they should realize and that is that most people know who Superman is. They know the basic origin. So, don’t make this an origin movie. You can do the whole Krypton and Smallville thing in the credits or in flashbacks throughout the movie. Get to the meat. Put Clark in Metropolis from the beginning. He could be the brand spanking new reporter to the Daily Planet sent to cover some big event put on by Luthor and something goes wrong, along comes Superman to save the day. But another thing, don’t make Luthor the villain or at least the only villain. Give Supes something that is a physical challenge. Somebody or something to hit. Bizarro, Parasite, Darkseid, Metallo, Brainiac or hell, even a giant fucking robot…the list goes on and on. And you don’t need to make kryptonite a plot device for the movie. There are other ways to up the threat level for Supes and one of the best is threatening those he cares about. The guy has a big heart and if a big bad guy hurts someone he cares about then you’ve hurt him worse than using kryptonite. Make the film huge with impossible action (but please, no lifting of giant kryptonite islands as we had in Singer’s film) and great sci-fi elements while staying true to the iconic nature of the character. People expect a certain thing from Superman. Give them a story that’s action packed and inspiring and the money will follow. But most of all Hollywood, do yourself and the fans a favor and read a Superman comic. You make a film with the same feel of the comics and I’m telling you that the people will see it. There’s a reason this character has stood the test of time. There have been costume changes and even death but we still want the original superhero that Superman is. He’s a true icon.

Truth, Justice and The American Way…