Superman Returns... Again

Earlier today, I posted an article on the sidebar with three major comic book writers talking about how they would "reboot" the Superman movie franchise. It's been a topic under a lot of discussion lately as it was comic writer Mark Millar who implied that he had been asked for his pitch by the studios. Until then, it was all but assumed that JJ Abrams would helm any possible next Superman movie with Brandon Routh resuming the role.

Now? All bets seem to be off.

It's interesting because something about Superman Returns always bugged me a bit. There were elements of it that I liked a lot and some that I didn't care for too much but all in all, I thought it was a decent attempt. Superman is a tough character to write for in any medium so it's tough to have high expectations for it, I think - somewhat similar to Hulk in that respect.

I can still remember the debut of footage from the movie at Comic-Con in 2005. The footage was cut together so beautifully. When the John Williams score started up and the Brando voice was heard, the place went nuts. So nuts in fact that they had to show the footage a couple of more times before all was said and done. It was the perfect example of a director showing up at Comic-Con and saying the right things and showing the right cut of footage to whip people into a frenzy.

Unfortunately, the end product fell a little flat. And as I was reading the article, Mark Waid hit the nail on the head finally as to what bothered me the most about it.

If you’re making the movie in a vacuum, and there will be no other Superman movies ever again, go ahead and give him a son. But otherwise, that’s a staggeringly awful idea. What are you going to do next? Either the kid has to be a part of his life, or get superpowers, which no one wants to see

Exactly! And it's not just the kid that missed the mark. As I thought about it more and more throughout the day, more and more things about the movie bothered me.

-- One sequence with Ma Kent. Her son was gone for years and that's all we get?

-- Lois is married with a kid? Yeah, everyone REALLY wants Superman to be a homewrecker. The kid thing is just wrong. It was the number one thing that bugged me about it when I left the theater.

-- The "death" of Superman. This essentially killed off any chance of doing the Doomsday story which has the potential to be an awesome piece of work if the franchise can get back on its feet.

So, there's those among others.

In the end, I think Waid nailed it. If it's made in a vacuum, it becomes a better movie. But as the relaunch point for a new franchise, it falls flat.

Now the question becomes will Warner Bros have the cajones to admit it and let someone pull a Batman Begins/Incredible Hulk "reboot" on it.

We shall see.