New Superman Movie

[Mr. Hamrick]

Zack Snyder has apparently cast him.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/superman-henry-cavill/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0147147/

Yes, he's British.  So is the guy playing Batman.  So what?  Sherlock Holmes is American.  

His IMDB page has a photo of him without a beard that seems to be a few years old.  (Not uncommon for IMDB photos to go un-updated.)

Before all the complaining begins, let's give the guy a chance. 

[BWPS]

  ... but, who was complaining?

[gengoro]

Wait, Christian Bale is British?  Learn something everyday.

[lugaru]

I'm much more surprised that Zack is in charge of the movie, must have missed earlier news. I like him, hopefully he is what the series needs.

[BentonGrey]

... but, who was complaining?

Hamrick is convinced that we're a group of malcontents who unfairly tear apart every adaptation of a comics property of which we catch wind. 

I don't know the fellow, but I suppose Snyder could do a decent Superman flick.  To be honest, I think this one is going to come down to just how much the suits at the top dabble.  If he's told "Superman must be "dark" because "dark" is in right now," then we may be in for a train-wreck.  If they let him just make a Superman movie with an antagonist other than Lex Luthor....well, honestly, it should be relatively easy to get it right.

[Talavar]

I haven't seen Henry Cavill in anything, but he looks like he could suit the character visually at least.  I'm hopeful about Zach Snyder; he's made several interesting movies, if not an outright great one yet.

And Christian Bale is Welsh, if I'm remembering correctly.

[Reepicheep]

I'm quite fond of Zack Snyder. His action scene style could be perfect for Superman.

Seconded what Benton said there. If the film stays lighter than, say, Watchmen or even Batman we should be in for a treat.

Who would we like to see as an antagonist? If it isn't Lex, maybe we'll be seeing someone like Darkseid?

[steamteck]

 I actually think  Snyder might be able to make an excellent  Superman movie and not fall into the ponderous, pretentous trap Superman movies seem to needlessly fall into.. I'd rather see someone I'm really not familair  with as Superman. Thsi guy looks fine so far.

[Courtnall6]

My complaining won't start until the costume is revealed....

[lugaru]

My complaining won't start until the costume is revealed....

You will hate it and you will skin it regardless, knowing you. 



I'm just a little concerned with Zacks love of violence, he even made Watchmen a lot more violent than the comic which was already adults only. This could hopefully be the first time I get to see him be really creative (not adapting a specific work, less violence, a lighter palate) so this could be his real break out.

[BentonGrey]

My complaining won't start until the costume is revealed....

You will hate it and you will skin it regardless, knowing you. 

Ha!

As for antagonist, I feel like the obvious choice is Brainiac.  He offers a great way to revisit Supes' origins if they feel they must without retelling them, he is actually able to stand up to Supes physicallly, and he could easily support an entire movie by himself.  What I REALLY would love to see is the same thing I said way back when Superman Returns was still in production.  I'd love to see Brainiac up front, then some Apokolips villains in the second movie, an encounter with Darkseid himself in a third, and Apokolips invades in a JLA pic.  It won't happen, but how awesome would that be?  I also think Metallo might make a nice bit player in this film or the next, a-la Scarecrow in Batman Begins.  Parasite and Bizarro could both show up if they wanted to have Luthor in the movie again.  Either of those characters could easily be used as catspaws that would still give us an exciting film.

[captmorgan72]

and what was wrong with Brandon Routh?

[Courtnall6]

and what was wrong with Brandon Routh?

I think Warner Bros wants to forget that film ever existed. Brandon Routh was never Superman. They did not make a boring Superman movie. And so forth....

[Shogunn2517]

My complaining won't start until the costume is revealed....

You will hate it and you will skin it regardless, knowing you. 

Ha!

As for antagonist, I feel like the obvious choice is Brainiac.  He offers a great way to revisit Supes' origins if they feel they must without retelling them, he is actually able to stand up to Supes physicallly, and he could easily support an entire movie by himself.  What I REALLY would love to see is the same thing I said way back when Superman Returns was still in production.  I'd love to see Brainiac up front, then some Apokolips villains in the second movie, an encounter with Darkseid himself in a third, and Apokolips invades in a JLA pic.  It won't happen, but how awesome would that be?  I also think Metallo might make a nice bit player in this film or the next, a-la Scarecrow in Batman Begins.  Parasite and Bizarro could both show up if they wanted to have Luthor in the movie again.  Either of those characters could easily be used as catspaws that would still give us an exciting film.

Superman's orgin is quite known.  You'd have to be from another planet if you don't know that Superman came from Krypton and was raised on a farm.  I even think my 5-year old niece knows that.  That being said, this is Hollywood and theymay want to go with some sort of origin material, like what Singer did in SR using flashbacks.  With that in mind, I could see them using Brainiac(with the TAS origin) as an antagonist or even Zod(I don't think they technically said no) to use the villain to tell Superman's origin.  Then again, it's kinda hard to imagine Superman without Lex Luthor.  However, kinda hard to imagine Batman without the Joker but that's exactly what Nolan did by going with Ras Al Ghul and Scarcrow, two fairly unpopular(in the mainstream) villains and made a really compelling movie.  So it wouldn't be hard to imagine Snyder going with lesser known (action-oriented) villains if that's the style he wants.  The only problem I see with villains like Metallo and Parasite is them being characters that take the "super" out of Superman.  If you want a movie where Superman can exercise his Super powers, which is the problem many had with SR, then I don't think that favors those two guys.

[lugaru]

and what was wrong with Brandon Routh?

I think Warner Bros wants to forget that film ever existed. Brandon Routh was never Superman. They did not make a boring Superman movie. And so forth....

It's a shame because I remember liking Brandon Routh, and actually liking most things about the movie EXCEPT for the fact that it was boring. It even caught me off guard since the first two X-Men movies where funny and full of action (not to mention Unusual Suspects). Superman had good effects, acting, cinematography, dialog... but a practically plotless script.

[Mr. Hamrick]

The problem with Superman Returns was two things: the script and Singer being more interested in channeling Donner's work on Superman 1 and 2 than on doing a good Superman move.  I don't think Singer went in with a good understanding of the character but rather an admiration of the two earlier films.

With regards to Routh, it's not that anything was wrong with him directly.  It's the fact that there were so many misfires from the previous film that I think Warner Brothers wanted a clean slate.  Routh's been detached from the project from years and no one is complaining too loudly that is in a position to make a different on the matter.

A few notes on Henry Cavill, this is the second time he's been cast as Superman.  The first was in the McG film that was in production before Singer started his.  McG's stalled and then shut down, Singer's carried on and was eventually made.  And the funny thing is that McG's film fell apart because of his fear of flying.

As for a villain in the film, or villains, I know what I hope happens.  I hope that Luthor is in the movie but not really the "main villain" but more lurking in the background.   And that the main villains are something like Brainiac and Metallo.  It's be interesting to see Luthor portrayed more as the behind the scenes manipulator than direct threat to Superman.

[Renegade]

About Henry Cavill,

I remember when I started watching the Tudors a few years back. Cavill immediately stood out to me. I thought he was a handsome and charismatic actor, even moreso than the lead be was playing second banana to. I found myslef thinking that if I was directing some kind of feature, especially something that needed a dashing adventurous lead, he'd be someone I'd look at. That thought stayed upfront in my mind through the rest of the series, so I guess I'm saying that I'm really glad he's now getting this shot at the big time. 

[Talavar]

If Luthor is the main villain (probably inevitable, let's face it) I hope for a few things:

1.  He's competent, and has competent associates - no comic relief bunglers need apply.

2.  He is not openly villainous.  He fights Superman through proxies, like secondary villains, until the end or near the end of the film.

3.  Luthor's proxies can take at least one punch from Superman.  Whether it's an army of robots, a giant robot, Metallo, Bizarro, whatever - I want an actual super-powered fight scene.

[AncientSpirit]

I like having someone new.   I hated Routh from the beginning because it seemed to me that he was playing Christopher Reeve playing Superman and Clark Kent rather than play the characters themselves.  Cavill looks nothing like Reeves so I don't have to worry about that.   Of course for someone my age, until I saw Christopher Reeve, my idea of Superman had always been George Reeves. 

I hope they don't use Lex again; its been done to death.   Really like the idea of featuring Brainiac, especially given the tie-in with (free plug here to) DC Universe Online.    I still remember as a kid reading Superman coming up against Brainiac and not being able to make a dent in that 50s force field he had.  And of course, now Brainiac is so much more than what he was back in the day.

Hope the "reboot" is only being done to get rid of the Superman as deadbeat dad crap.    They don't need to do much retelling, as been pointed out, virtually everyone  on the planet knows Superman.

   

[BentonGrey]

It would probably be a good thing to have Luthor in the film as an ancillary character, or at most a puppet master like Talavar described, because eventually the franchise will want to bring him back.  They may as well establish him as part of Supes' world (hopefully in the TAS fashion), and portray him as competent and understated...rather than Gene Hackman.

[Tawodi Osdi]

One of the biggest problems with Superman over Batman is that for an iconic hero he doesn't have that many iconic villains to choose from.  In the hands of good writers who are dedicated to good movies, it could be an advantage, but if they are only trying to cash in on Superman's name value then their aren't many options.  The way I see it the less known the villain is to the audience the more wiggle room you have to shaping him into an interesting property.

[BentonGrey]

One of the biggest problems with Superman over Batman is that for an iconic hero he doesn't have that many iconic villains to choose from.  In the hands of good writers who are dedicated to good movies, it could be an advantage, but if they are only trying to cash in on Superman's name value then their aren't many options.  The way I see it the less known the villain is to the audience the more wiggle room you have to shaping him into an interesting property.

He's got less iconic villain, but he does still have several excellent villains, and many of them (like Brainiac) would translate quite well to a feature-length story.

[Shogunn2517]

To be quite honest, I don't think I wouldn't mind seeing Luthor as the villain, but instead of a criminal mastermind that we've seen or the behind the scenes, exploitation-type we want, why not give him his powersuit?  Again, part of the problem with Superman Returns was an inadequate villain for Superman to fight.  give him a powersuit and let him fight Superman.  It could be fun.

In regards of Cavill, I've only seen him as a kid in The Count of Monte Cristo.  Judging by his look, the chin, the jaw-line I guess I could see him as a "Superboy"-ish type.  If he is Superman, I could see those traits in him.  I just hope he gets bigger.

[UnkoMan]

You know who I'd love to see in a Superman movie? Bizarro. Then you could have Lex AND somebody for Supes to fight! Of course people would compare that to Supermans three and four. Wait, do people still remember those?

Okay, how about Parasite or Titano or something? Neither of them can hold up a movie on their own either though. Lex is really all he's got. Except maybe the Ultra-Humanite.

Alright, I'm cool with Brainiac. And I like the look of this new guy. More square-jawed that Routh. Is DC going to build up to a crossover movie yet? Ever?

[BentonGrey]

Unko, I mentioned Parasite too.  I think he could definitely round out a movie, even if he couldn't carry it on his own.  I'd be fine with them putting Lex in the background of a series of films and throwing the likes of Metallo, Parasite, and Bizarro at Supes in the foreground.  The Ultra-Humanite...that would be interesting, but he's a bit too much like Luthor to give Supes a good, physical, fight.

[BWPS]

It'd be hard to go wrong with many of DC's awesome villains. Lex is so great, and can bring with him Metallo or pretty much anyone else. Bizarro has been done 100 different ways and is often awesome. Braniac is like the coolest villain ever. Darkseid brings with him some excellent enemies and storylines despite his stupid name. Vandal Savage and Solomon Grundy aren't specific to Supahbloke, but they are cool. Just not Doomsday.

[steamteck]

One of the biggest problems with Superman over Batman is that for an iconic hero he doesn't have that many iconic villains to choose from.  In the hands of good writers who are dedicated to good movies, it could be an advantage, but if they are only trying to cash in on Superman's name value then their aren't many options.  The way I see it the less known the villain is to the audience the more wiggle room you have to shaping him into an interesting property.

I actually way prefer most of Superman's villains to Classic Batman's who tend to be just a bunch of insane giuys playing dressup except for Ras and Hugo Strange.

Nolan has proved to me a lesser mainstream known villian may be the best way to go anyway. At least at first.

[Viking]

One aspect that I have always liked about Superman (at least in audiovisual media that I have seen) is that he is also Clark Kent.  This contrasts against Batman, where the persona of Bruce Wayne (though incredibly entertaining to watch) is a fake persona.

It is because I enjoy Clark Kent so much that I would be concerned about a movie that involved an otherworldly villain.  The more otherworldly the plot gets, the more that I fear that it would be at the expense of Superman's ability to be Clark Kent.  Obviously, it can be done with skilled direction and writing - but Hollywood can very easily use alien adversaries as an excuse for special-effects schlock.

[JeyNyce]

Why can't they do it like the animated series:  Lex creates villains to fight Superman and Supes stops them but can't prove that Lex was behind them.  You can do for 2 movies and the third, make Lex become President and he gives Superman orders.  I think it would be a great concept

[steamteck]

Why can't they do it like the animated series:

Not to be Benton lite again but that would be the gold standard for me.