The Superman topic

I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's attention that Superman is set to return next year with Henry Cavill as The Man of Steel with Zack Snyder directing and David S Goyer and Christopher Nolan on scriptwriting duties. What does one expect to see from this new movie, what would you like to see, who do you want to see playing Perry White, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen and does anyone else, like myself, have any reservations about this project. I know it got kicked about a bit by some, but I adored Superman Returns and thought Brandon Routh was a wonderful Clark Kent and truthfully I'm a little gutted he isn't coming back. I think Singer's take on the series, by going back to the Donner series was a good move and I loved how epic and romantic Superman Returns was. My biggest fear is that with Nolan involved he'll conceptually make The Man of Steel more realistic and take away some of the warmth and romance of the character, in the same way he took away some of the charm with Batman in The Dark Knight.

Anyway, would love to hear everyone else's thoughts on this.

I think Superman Returns stuck too close to the original first two films and didn't have enough action.

As for the new one - Billy Zane for Lex Luthor although the character may not be in the film.

Perry White - Not sure...Bruce Campbell, John Goodman, Billy Bob Thornton, Val Kilmer
Lois Lane - Olivia Wilder maybe

The poll I have running for who should play Lois Lane currently has Rachel McAdams in the lead followed by Billy Zane and Zooey Deschanel and Olivia Wilde are joint third

I think the film has some problems at the moment with the script.

They just need to make sure they have good villain and a chance for Supes to do some super stuff.

What bad guy would be perfect for the film (although it looks as if Zod could be the one who will be in it).

I miss Christopher Reeve.

Apparently Warners are a little concerned about Zack Snyder as the current rumour doing the rounds is that Sucker Punch hasn't been doing well at test screenings and there's concern about Legends of the Guardian not exactly making a dent at the box office and that they've offered the 300 prequel to Guy Ritchie.

I actually like the idea of McAdams as Lois Lane, Zooey Deschanel may be a bit too quirky though, although I am a fan of the lady (as you can tell from my avatar). Billy Zane definitely has the right level of baldness for the Lex, but given that the previous movies (with the exception of Superman III) have all dealt with Luthor I think maybe it might be right to give the character a bit of a break. When the movie was in pre-production in the 90's (with Burton and Cage) Braniac was a big favourite to be villain if I recall correctly.

I wonder what direction the film will go in though, because given the wonderful treatment the Batman origin got, I wonder whether Goyer and Nolan have opted for a similar take with the Superman beginnings.

Reports do seem to suggest it will be a young Clark Kent travelling around the world deciding whether to be Superman.

Live for Films wrote:Reports do seem to suggest it will be a young Clark Kent travelling around the world deciding whether to be Superman.

Wow, that's kind of different actually, it would be interesting to see if that were true. If I recall correctly Bruce Wayne also travelled the world for a spell in Batman Begins so they're definitely taking a cue from what they've done before.

What do you think of the latest casting rumour about Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. I actually have to say, I think that's a good choice actually. Costner has always had that all American thing going on that would suit Pa Kent to a tee.

Approaching a new Superman movie will always be extremely difficult.

The legacy of the Donner's films is too big and the way Superman Returns was received didn't help changing that pattern.

I personally believe that the reason why Superman works is because it's the closest thing we've got to modern mythology. You could consider it the most successful remake of all time. A superior human-shaped "deity" sends his only son to earth to help humanity and save us from ourselves, has different names, lives a life as one of us but always knowing he has a duty to fulfill.

Because it was born out of comic books at a time where they needed to be colourful, it has a greedy rich bald man as an enemy and then some other creatures that pop-up from time to time but what I always understood with the character of Lex Luthor was that Superman's enemy was us, the very same people he had to save and the dilemma the great source of drama that makes Superman such a compelling story.

I love the Richard Donner films because they offer a charming vision of the story while still keeping the whole serious of the character on them.

Superman Returns wanted to show us Clark Kent while celebrating Donner's films and I really enjoyed it. I agree with the above statement about Brandon Routh. He's perfect as Superman / Clark Kent.

Now on the Zack Snyder version.

If the above rumour is true (and it definitely fits Nolan's style) then that's a good thing, Superman needs to be above Superman having to be Superman.

Probably the studio thought that Superman had to kick-ass and have more action, and yes that's a good thing as well, but I don't know if Zack Snyder's the best option. It will definitely look incredibly snazzy with super slow-motion on a rainy sky and all that, but I'm not sure if he will be able to bring the interior drama of the character to the screen.

Similar problem with Watchmen, trying to keep lots of cool visuals instead of focusing on the story and the characters.

But hey, what the hell do I know

Nice write up Neo.

I have no doubt that visually Snyder can make Superman look unbelivably great and that element of the film will probably be spectacular, but as you've said, he seems to be more into the physical than the emotional. I adored Watchmen actually and thought he handled it pretty well, but they are mostly visual spectacles that he delivers, 300 was the same and from the looks of things Sucker Punch will be too.