io9.com — WB VP Jeff Robinov says that he wants the movie versions of all of DC's superheroes to "go dark to the extent that the characters allow it,". How can one man miss the point of one of the most famous fictional characters of the last hundred years so badly? We offer five simple steps to keep any movie reboot for the Man of Steel on track
Aug 23, 2008 View in Crawl 4
phrenzyAug 24, 2008
I honestly think they could use a similar formula to the 1978 Donner version. An epic 3-act movie, where Clark / Superman's sincerity is put up against the modern world's cynicism, ruthlessness and greed. Margot Kidder's Louis made that movie as much as superman did. If you watch the auditions of the other actresses on the DVD, it's amazing how she changes your whole perception of Superman. The other actresses tried to play along with Reeve's take on superman by playing the character as if she were in a comic book to match Reeve's iconic portrayal. Kidder played the total opposite, and by doing that represented all of society's wise-cracking cynicism to make us identify with somebody "not ready" to accept this "outdated" Superman character. Ultimately, Reeve's performance wins her (and us) over and allows us to believe in him and to let go of our cynicism for a couple of hours.Then you have Hackman's Luthor. Another genius stroke. Again, not some super-villain that can 'brawl' with superman, but a manipulative and greedy con-man who's world view is to simply "get his". He, like Louis, represents the modern world in a clearly down-to-earth way that people can recognize.I'm not sure who could pull this off, but the actors they used in the re-boot (not to mention the writing) were completely uninspired cardboard cutouts compared to Donner's characters.
judgedanAug 24, 2008
Keep Superman pure! No darkness, no dark side, no dark stories. It should remain as good clean wholesome fun, with good triumphing over evil, because, in the end, good will always win (even though it might seem that evil has the upper hand, but it is only temporary).
lilrabbitfoofooAug 25, 2008
Bushco makes baby Kal-El cry. Start there.
lilrabbitfoofooAug 25, 2008
Make the story dark. Superman is the light.
dandoniaAug 27, 2008
Luthor is the ultimate villain because the story is brains vs brawn. Sure Superman has all these powers but Lex is his superior interlect. Superman shouldn't be in fist fights or power fights, he should be torn between saving the world or his woman. He shouldn't be putting Luther in jail or killing him, he should suspect that it is him, but not have the proof. Lex should appear to be man of the year to everyone while at the same time been the master mind behind all the worlds problems. If they factored in Red Kryptonite for one of the movies it could be awesome to watch.