I’d like to try something a bit different today. Normally, I just use the “Coming Attractions” category to report what’s already out there with a bit of my own opinions thrown in. This time, however, I’d like to type down all the thoughts buzzing in my head about the Superman movie currently in development. But first, the facts.
For those who aren’t in the know, the Superman film franchise has been in dire straits for quite some time. It was bad enough when Superman IV killed the franchise a la Batman and Robin, but things didn’t get much better when Superman Returns was released two decades later. Bryan Singer’s attempt to wipe Superman III and IV from canon was bloated, made some stupid creative choices (Superman’s kid. Need I say more?) and was surprisingly flat for how much CGI went into it. The budget and hype for it were so huge that even the film’s $200 million domestic take was considered a box office failure. The film was an all-around disappointment, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Singer’s many tries to make a sequel went nowhere.
The real difficulty, however, came from lawsuits. The heirs to Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel started taking legal action against DC Comics and Warner Bros in an attempt to take back certain rights and royalties regarding the character, including allegedly unpaid royalties from Superman Returns. The judges ultimately ruled in DC’s favor, but with a catch: Warner Bros. must get a new Superman movie into production by 2011 or the rights to Superman will revert back to the Shuster and Siegel estates.
Enter Christopher Nolan.
Apparently the only competent mind bringing DC Comics to the big screen, Nolan came forward with a supposedly brilliant Superman idea that he’d been working on with Batman collaborator David Goyer. Since then, Nolan’s been acting as producer and “godfather” to this latest effort at rebooting the Man of Steel. The notoriously secretive Nolan is of course keeping his Superman treatment under tight wraps, but work on the movie is now quite visibly underway. A few days ago, it was rumored that Nolan was meeting with potential directors for the project. Here’s who they are:
Tony Scott — It’s not exactly a surprise to see his name here, considering that Nolan has reportedly called Tony Scott one of his directorial influences. However, he’s definitely my least favorite candidate of the bunch, simply because he hasn’t made a movie that could remotely be considered “fun” since Enemy of the State in 1998. The man has skill for action and a keen visual eye, but the next Superman has to be bright, fun and energetic above all else. I just can’t see Scott going back to that after ten years of dark and gritty action/drama vehicles for Denzel Washington.
Matt Reeves — This candidate greatly interests me. Cloverfield showed that he could use VFX dollars very efficiently and I’m sure Nolan would appreciate Reeves’ experience of working under that invisibility cloak JJ Abrams uses to cover up all of his works-in-progress. Then there’s the imminent Let Me In, which is already picking up rave reviews everywhere. However, as much as the story of Cloverfield was epic in scope (New York City getting destroyed), it was very small and intimate in its telling (some guy and his friends try to get out of there), and Let Me In is about as small-scale and intimate as movies can get. I don’t know if Reeves is looking to work with a bigger budget or if he’s interested in louder, larger, more mainstream fare, but if he is, this one’s his ticket.
Zack Snyder — He reportedly turned this job down some time ago, but that was before Nolan got on board. Snyder’s qualifications speak for themselves: After Watchmen, the guy can take on whatever superhero movie he damn well pleases. However, it must be noted that Snyder’s forte is in close-quarters combat. He’s clearly most comfortable when characters are beating each other up and he’s there to highlight every frame of the action. This may be a problem, as Superman is better-known for flying, lifting mountains and shooting lasers from his eyes than he is for any fighting prowess. Moreover, Snyder will be hard at work on Sucker Punch until next March. That doesn’t give him a lot of time to get Superman ready for 2012.
Duncan Jones — Another intriguing candidate. I loved Moon, as did everyone else who’s seen it, and his upcoming Source Code is getting some good vibes, but there’s nothing else in his filmography. His action skills are thus completely untested. However, Moon did show us a director who’s great with visuals, skilled in his use of score, excellent at casting and unparalleled in his ability to wring production design and VFX out of a shoestring budget. Personally, I’d much rather see him use these skills toward bringing us another original bit of heady sci-fi, but anything that gets him more Hollywood clout is fine with me.
Jonathan Liebesman — This one is a complete unknown. He’s made a couple of go-nowhere horror flicks, but his work on the upcoming Battle: Los Angeles was apparently so impressive that WB gave him the director’s chair for the Clash of the Titans sequel. Strangely enough, this is what makes him my favorite for the job. As far as I can tell, the Titans franchise and the Superman franchise both require similar skill sets: Both are loud and fun multi-million dollar projects that demand CGI competence, ability to stage action, etc. What’s more, the folks at Warners must obviously love him if they handed him the keys to their franchise du jour with only one notable film under his belt. Availability is definitely a problem, however.
DC and Warners are expected to make some big announcements about their comics-to-film lineup in the next few weeks. I’m expecting Superman’s director to be among them, along with the most recent developments on Batman, Green Lantern and The Flash. But as long as I’m on the subject of Superman, I’ll type down some other miscellaneous thoughts on the developing movie:
Superman — I don’t know about you folks, but I remember when Superman Returns was in prep. I remember all of the rumors and speculation about who would be cast as Clark Kent. That was all well and good back then, but DC is on a deadline right now. They really don’t have the time to go into that again. They need to get Brandon Routh back.
If Returns did nothing else, it proved that Routh got this character and that he was the best Superman we could have gotten. His direction wasn’t the best and he was a touch too young at the time, but he’ll presumably be under better direction this time and it’s been a few years since then. He’s gotten older, he has more experience and he’s got box office clout that he didn’t have before. Of course, Routh’s contract will need re-negotiating and he’ll assuredly be more expensive now than he was back then. But it’ll be worth it to get a proven Superman and to avoid the time and trouble of recasting.
Lois Lane — Kate Bosworth was woefully miscast the last time around. She was made way too sweet and matronly to accommodate that ill-advised choice of making her a mother. Sure, Bosworth was young and beautiful, but that’s not enough. Lois needs to be strong and whip-smart. Someone who can be sassy in one moment and screaming her head off in the next. It’s a tall order for any actress, but the right one may be deceptively close.
In The Town, Rebecca Hall played a woman who was clearly traumatized by getting caught up in a bank heist, but she still showed great charm and intelligence. She also fell in love with a man who had a secret identity. That’s Lois Lane! Seriously, if she could turn up the sarcasm and limit the crying to a scene or two, she’d be perfect for the role. Moreover, she’s got a lot more clout now (thanks to a recent Warner Bros. picture, I might add), but not so much that she’d be overly expensive or hard to cast. She’d be perfect.
Villains — It’s a given that Lex Luthor has to be involved in some capacity. Superman without Luthor would be like the X-Men without Magneto. However, I really hope that the next Luthor is less like the campy Gene Hackman portrayal and more like the stoic and calculating gentleman from the ’90s animated series, as voiced by Clancy Brown. I find a criminal hiding in plain sight as a respectable businessman to be much more appealing than some transparently evil little man prone to monologuing.
Of course, Luthor can’t be the only villain. If this movie is gonna be done right, it needs a villain formidable enough to take Supes head-on. Brainiac would be a good candidate, as would Metallo. Darkseid and Doomsday would be great choices for future sequels.
Above all, I just want DC and Warner Bros. to start getting their shit together and start giving Marvel some decent cinematic competition. Close the Batman trilogy with a bang, give us a fun Superman movie, start developing the other A-list heroes and get us a Justice League movie.