SuperMan: Thoughts?

I’ve never been too much into Superman. Maybe it’s just me, but a superhero who is basically invincible except against kryptonite(and maybe something else I don’t know about) is just a little boring. I think it is easier to relate to a superhero like Spiderman or Batman who were basically just average dudes. Well Bruce Wayne was rich, but he has no super powers. Spiderman inherited his abilities through a spider bite, but is still just a struggling student.

About the new movie, it looks promising and i’m sure I will go see it. I’m just not going to hype it up too much, because the last Superman movie was kind of crappy.

[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
I’ve never been too much into Superman. Maybe it’s just me, but a superhero who is basically invincible except against kryptonite(and maybe something else I don’t know about) is just a little boring. I think it is easier to relate to a superhero like Spiderman or Batman who were basically just average dudes. Well Bruce Wayne was rich, but he has no super powers. Spiderman inherited his abilities through a spider bite, but is still just a struggling student.

About the new movie, it looks promising and i’m sure I will go see it. I’m just not going to hype it up too much, because the last Superman movie was kind of crappy.[/quote]

That’s a bit of a misconception as pretty much every hero is invulnerable until they come to their final battle.
Sure Superman in real life would be so much stronger than anyone, but in stories, the protagonist will always come close to death many times before finally defeating the bad guy.
I mean look at what John McClane does in the Die Hard movies…all kinds of stuff that come close to killing him but in the end he beats the bad guy…Captain Kirk, James Bond, Doc Savage…all of them are basically a Superman.
Sure it takes different things to harm them…but that doesn’t really matter. You could have a story about a mouse and his greatest foe would be a house cat…but the story would end up the same as Superman versus an asteroid.

[quote]Ripsaw3689 wrote:
Christopher Nolan will be the saving grace of this film(and bringing redemption from previous Superman films).

All the Superman movies watched were fucking terrible. I was reluctant about this until I saw who is producing it. This could be good…[/quote]

Don’t forget Zach Snyder. who is responsible for the excellent 300 and Watchmen, is directing this, as well. It’s as close to a dream team as you get with a movie.

Rumours around at the minute of a Christopher Reeve esque cameo

Nice way to pass the torch if true.

I remember watching the Christopher Reeve, Superman when I was a kid. Watching him just jump and fly up catch Lois and the helicopter. Just inspired me as a child. And to be honest I still get a chill when I see Superman fly and do incredible things. I can tell you now even if the story sucks I will go see it. Why cause I want to see larger then life stuff done for an hour or two. Maybe get that feeling of larger then life again. Be a child for a bit. That is why I will be there.

Christopher Reeve? What about George Reeves?

[quote]dirtman wrote:
I remember watching the Christopher Reeve, Superman when I was a kid. Watching him just jump and fly up catch Lois and the helicopter. Just inspired me as a child. And to be honest I still get a chill when I see Superman fly and do incredible things. I can tell you now even if the story sucks I will go see it. Why cause I want to see larger then life stuff done for an hour or two. Maybe get that feeling of larger then life again. Be a child for a bit. That is why I will be there.[/quote]

X2.

I was a teen when the Reeve film came out, but I still felt incredibly inspired, and still do.

[quote]zecarlo wrote:
Christopher Reeve? What about George Reeves? [/quote]

Interesting you mention this. My earlier post regarding the type of film I’d want to see is a bit based on the old George Reeves show. Reeves was terrible looking and too old for the role, but as a kid I loved that show and the vintage feel of it gives me a sense of nostalgia that I’d like to see in the new film.

I had totally forgotten that the “originals” name was George Reeves!

Great stuff, guys! Thanks!

Again…I think that curiosity; love of an iconic character; an All-Star production Team; great casting, etc…will all come together to make this a money-maker, no question. (And I hardly EVER listen to the opinion of Critics when it comes to Sci-Fi).

And it will most likely be a pretty darn good film.

What will be interesting will be a) its staying power and b) whether or not it will represent a significant “reboot” of the franchise.

Mufasa

I think the movie is going to be great. I was watching smallville from 8 to 17 so I’m pretty much going to like this movie the same way teenage girls love twilight. And if the movie is good - even better!

I really liked “Smallville”.

I thought that the most amazing part was 1) the ability of the Producers to essentially keep the same cast so that we could literally see them all grow up before our eyes and 2) keep a high production value over the years.

(Anyone know if they considered Tom Welling…“Smallvilles” Clark Kent…for this role? I think he could have pulled it off!)

Mufasa

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
I really liked “Smallville”.

I thought that the most amazing part was 1) the ability of the Producers to essentially keep the same cast so that we could literally see them all grow up before our eyes and 2) keep a high production value over the years.

(Anyone know if they considered Tom Welling…“Smallvilles” Clark Kent…for this role? I think he could have pulled it off!)

Mufasa[/quote]

I could not disagree more. The guy from smallville looked(s) like a pussy. Same with the one they just a couple years back Superman Returns. The other guys mentioned seemed like teen age boys from boybands.

I think a grittier more down to earth person would be better in reboot. Someone with some muscles. Someone with a very manly look. Strong chiseled facial features.

[quote]dirtman wrote:

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
I really liked “Smallville”.

I thought that the most amazing part was 1) the ability of the Producers to essentially keep the same cast so that we could literally see them all grow up before our eyes and 2) keep a high production value over the years.

(Anyone know if they considered Tom Welling…“Smallvilles” Clark Kent…for this role? I think he could have pulled it off!)

Mufasa[/quote]

I could not disagree more. The guy from smallville looked(s) like a pussy. Same with the one they just a couple years back Superman Returns. The other guys mentioned seemed like teen age boys from boybands.

I think a grittier more down to earth person would be better in reboot. Someone with some muscles. Someone with a very manly look. Strong chiseled facial features.

[/quote]

I agree with this. After all he is SuperMAN!

Smalleville deserves a hell of a lot of credit. They focused intensely on how the main difference between Lex and Clark weren’t themselves…but their upbringing.

The Kents are why Superman is the way he is. Without them, he could have been another Lex Luthor easily. It is that focus on family and upbringing that made that character work even if he wasn’t built…but he was supposed to be a kid on that show growing up into Superman so I let that pass.

It ain’t Superman without the Kents.

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:

[quote]dirtman wrote:

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
I really liked “Smallville”.

I thought that the most amazing part was 1) the ability of the Producers to essentially keep the same cast so that we could literally see them all grow up before our eyes and 2) keep a high production value over the years.

(Anyone know if they considered Tom Welling…“Smallvilles” Clark Kent…for this role? I think he could have pulled it off!)

Mufasa[/quote]

I could not disagree more. The guy from smallville looked(s) like a pussy. Same with the one they just a couple years back Superman Returns. The other guys mentioned seemed like teen age boys from boybands.

I think a grittier more down to earth person would be better in reboot. Someone with some muscles. Someone with a very manly look. Strong chiseled facial features.

[/quote]

I agree with this. After all he is SuperMAN!
[/quote]

From the previews I think they nailed it. Could be a bit bigger like the rock’s size but still not a bad choice.

Agree, guys…!

Who they picked seems like a good choice…I was just wondering if Welling was even a consideration.

(By the way…the focus by using Welling probably WAS directed toward Teenaged Girls! After all…didn’t “Smallville” air in the U.S. on the “CW”? LOL!)

Mufasa

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Agree, guys…!

Who they picked seems like a good choice…I was just wondering if Welling was even a consideration.

(By the way…the focus by using Welling probably WAS directed toward Teenaged Girls! After all…didn’t “Smallville” air in the U.S. on the “CW”? LOL!)

Mufasa[/quote]

That is why I give it credit…it came on the WB and was actually watchable. Most of that was because the scriptwriters came across as true fans.

Some changes they made on that show were so significant they added show characters to the Superman mythos.

I liked how they portrayed Darkseid as more of spiritual presence…and I doubt Lex Luthor has been played better by anyone ion tv history…no joke.

Michael Rosenbaum killed that role.

People have short memories.

Batman was a joke before Nolan got ahold of it. For several films it was nothing but a terrible movie with poor clown-like characters.

Sure Jack Nicholson was good as the Joker, but he wasn’t the joker you’ll remember 20-30 years from now who was unhinged and made lunatics look friendly.

How could a man in a cape go around teaching criminals to learn fear? That was a big question but hey, Gotham was a city, like every other big city and it had very dark areas.

People identified with that and actually wished there was some man with the strength and skill to show the scum who is boss.

The design of batman preys on the fears of those who prey on others.

  • You dont know who he is
  • You know he can kick the shit out of you
  • You dont know any of his friends or family, he is anonymous
  • He doesn’t like you

Thats a real world application put into a comic book.

My nephew loves Batman, he is 7 years old. He has more than a dozen batman toys, hell when I was a kid batman toys were good.

Superman will be a good movie. Its realistic, its gritty and doesn’t have the wishy-washy feel like previous Superman movies.

You cannot fairly say the old Superman would do well today, it would bomb because its cheesey but its old and thats all anybody knew at the time. The heart has grown to love it.

The Man of Steel has a feel to it, the US military going in for him throws up an interesting angle. What would the modern military machine think of someone who could pick up a tank and throw it?

As long as it isn’t stupendoulsy kiddie-friendly like the Green lantern, it’ll be good.

[quote]harrypotter wrote:
People have short memories.

Batman was a joke before Nolan got ahold of it. For several films it was nothing but a terrible movie with poor clown-like characters.

Sure Jack Nicholson was good as the Joker, but he wasn’t the joker you’ll remember 20-30 years from now who was unhinged and made lunatics look friendly.

How could a man in a cape go around teaching criminals to learn fear? That was a big question but hey, Gotham was a city, like every other big city and it had very dark areas.

People identified with that and actually wished there was some man with the strength and skill to show the scum who is boss.

The design of batman preys on the fears of those who prey on others.

  • You dont know who he is
  • You know he can kick the shit out of you
  • You dont know any of his friends or family, he is anonymous
  • He doesn’t like you

Thats a real world application put into a comic book.

My nephew loves Batman, he is 7 years old. He has more than a dozen batman toys, hell when I was a kid batman toys were good.

Superman will be a good movie. Its realistic, its gritty and doesn’t have the wishy-washy feel like previous Superman movies.

You cannot fairly say the old Superman would do well today, it would bomb because its cheesey but its old and thats all anybody knew at the time. The heart has grown to love it.

The Man of Steel has a feel to it, the US military going in for him throws up an interesting angle. What would the modern military machine think of someone who could pick up a tank and throw it?

As long as it isn’t stupendoulsy kiddie-friendly like the Green lantern, it’ll be good.[/quote]

Good points.

Good points, Prof. and HP!

Mufasa