Advice From a Fanboy: Superman Edition

[PeterDawson]

Smallville is overall weak (though I think when they stopped trying to be different and just ran with stuff actually from the comics it got decent and posed some interesting interpretations), but to totally deny its impact is a bit jarring. It has run for several seasons, started interest in hero-based shows (which recently gave us No Ordinary Family as well as Season 1 of Heroes a few years before it), and brought in one of my favorite recurring characters on Chuck, so laughing it off is a bit much. Of course, it is easy to laught at the show sometimes. They did make Aquaman kind of a badass though, and considering popular consciousness, that's pretty impressive.

Oh yeah, Wonder Woman never showed up on Smallville because of the movie deal as well. A shame they're just doing another show, but hopefully they can give the character some of the dignity lost with the last show. I vote Lewis Lovhaug be made a consultant.

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

As long as they FINALLY put Brainiac on the Big Screen I couldn't care less. Be ven better if they got Casey Affleck for the part.

 

[Varya]

The thing is no one is looking for Supermans 'Secret Identity' because he gives them no reason to. He doesn't wear a mask, he acts completely normal. Lex Luthor isn't going "Who's Superman's secret identity" he just goes "That damn ALIEN!" because there is no mask!, John Stewert and Guy Gardner didn't wear masks as Green Lanterns, hell they went by there real names! Kyle Rayner wore a mask and everyone close to him (and far from him) figured it out. Superman is like John and Guy, he isn't giving them a mystery to solve so they don't care! He's not Spiderman who wears a full body suit to hide his identity.

That's just BS. Sorry but it is. A lot of stories center around the people close to Clark trying to stop figuring out Supermans identity. I just don't buy it. It's like the breaking point where I'm no longer bothered to suspend my imagination

 

[matrix3509]

I swear to fucking God, if they make Luthor the villain again, I am going to find a Warner Bros. executive and stab him with a ball point pen. ENOUGH WITH LUTHOR ALREADY!

 

[SpaceMedarotterX]

The thing is no one is looking for Supermans 'Secret Identity' because he gives them no reason to. He doesn't wear a mask, he acts completely normal. Lex Luthor isn't going "Who's Superman's secret identity" he just goes "That damn ALIEN!" because there is no mask!, John Stewert and Guy Gardner didn't wear masks as Green Lanterns, hell they went by there real names! Kyle Rayner wore a mask and everyone close to him (and far from him) figured it out. Superman is like John and Guy, he isn't giving them a mystery to solve so they don't care! He's not Spiderman who wears a full body suit to hide his identity.

That's just BS. Sorry but it is. A lot of stories center around the people close to Clark trying to stop figuring out Supermans identity. I just don't buy it. It's like the breaking point where I'm no longer bothered to suspend my imagination

No there WERE a lot of stories, in the silver age. In the Silver Age everything was stupid.

And way back then it was always something like 'super hypnotism' or something else, or using a body double to appear as Superman and Clark Kent at the same time. Although no if you can, show me a recent story where someones tried to find his real identity.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Think huge. Think Godzilla huge. Hell, think Roland Emmerich huge - remember Independence Day? 2012? Imagine that, but if Superman was there.

That's something that'd have people talking.

Oh hell ya! Make this Superman movie with a threat that big and I can guarantee it won't fail. Maybe they should bring Brainiac into the picture... Maybe, but they might be reserving him for a Justice League movie.

 

[Varya]

The thing is no one is looking for Supermans 'Secret Identity' because he gives them no reason to. He doesn't wear a mask, he acts completely normal. Lex Luthor isn't going "Who's Superman's secret identity" he just goes "That damn ALIEN!" because there is no mask!, John Stewert and Guy Gardner didn't wear masks as Green Lanterns, hell they went by there real names! Kyle Rayner wore a mask and everyone close to him (and far from him) figured it out. Superman is like John and Guy, he isn't giving them a mystery to solve so they don't care! He's not Spiderman who wears a full body suit to hide his identity.

That's just BS. Sorry but it is. A lot of stories center around the people close to Clark trying to stop figuring out Supermans identity. I just don't buy it. It's like the breaking point where I'm no longer bothered to suspend my imagination

No there WERE a lot of stories, in the silver age. In the Silver Age everything was stupid.

And way back then it was always something like 'super hypnotism' or something else, or using a body double to appear as Superman and Clark Kent at the same time. Although no if you can, show me a recent story where someones tried to find his real identity.

Admittedly, my contact with the comic is limited, I am talking about what I've seen from movies and DCAU, where it at least is touched upon several times.
However, even if what you say is true, I don't buy it. You mean to say that people just don't care that the guy working on a NEWSPAPER look a lot like the worlds greatest superhero? Simply never bringing up the fact isn't enough. Has all bad guys decided suddenly that you simply do not try to kill his family and friends anymore? Doesn't the tabloids and paparazzi care about shit like superheroes? Even a Superman-robot would be totally worthless. If I saw Clark next to Superman I would still wonder why the hell Supermans twin-brother doesn't have superpowers.

 

[WolfThomas]

Admittedly, my contact with the comic is limited, I am talking about what I've seen from movies and DCAU, where it at least is touched upon several times.
However, even if what you say is true, I don't buy it. You mean to say that people just don't care that the guy working on a NEWSPAPER look a lot like the worlds greatest superhero? Simply never bringing up the fact isn't enough. Has all bad guys decided suddenly that you simply do not try to kill his family and friends anymore? Doesn't the tabloids and paparazzi care about shit like superheroes? Even a Superman-robot would be totally worthless. If I saw Clark next to Superman I would still wonder why the hell Supermans twin-brother doesn't have superpowers.

Well firstly the reason he doesn't have a mask is largely due to concept of a "grandfather clause", an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. Because Superman was created in the 30's, where there wasn't tv or internet, there were less risks with his identity. Because he's a classic we let it slide because it's part of his character, but if a new hero didn't wear a mask we'd have to write about them dealing with the consequences.

But it's touched on in Birthright, that Clark has a very generic face (but distintive blue eyes), however he also wears heavy prescription glasses (his eyesight immediately corrects for the thick lenses), as you might know from real life these tend distort the shape of the eyes. Anyone who tried to look through Clark's glasss would think he was nearly blind.

A big thing is how he acts and talks, he can see peoples reactions and facial expressions in slow motion and has amazing comprehension of sound. So modifying the way he acts and talks to be completely different is very easy. There are many talented actors in real life able to make you think they're two different people and Clark's possibly the best. In All Star Superman it's pretty amazing in that he's drawn identical in facial features when Clark and Superman but simply in posture, actions and expressions he looks completely different. Reading this comic you could believe they were too different people.

And honestly who would believe a god worked a day job?

 

[Varya]

Admittedly, my contact with the comic is limited, I am talking about what I've seen from movies and DCAU, where it at least is touched upon several times.
However, even if what you say is true, I don't buy it. You mean to say that people just don't care that the guy working on a NEWSPAPER look a lot like the worlds greatest superhero? Simply never bringing up the fact isn't enough. Has all bad guys decided suddenly that you simply do not try to kill his family and friends anymore? Doesn't the tabloids and paparazzi care about shit like superheroes? Even a Superman-robot would be totally worthless. If I saw Clark next to Superman I would still wonder why the hell Supermans twin-brother doesn't have superpowers.

Well firstly the reason he doesn't have a mask is largely due to concept of a "grandfather clause", an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. Because Superman was created in the 30's, where there wasn't tv or internet, there were less risks with his identity. Because he's a classic we let it slide because it's part of his character, but if a new hero didn't wear a mask we'd have to write about them dealing with the consequences.

But it's touched on in Birthright, that Clark has a very generic face (but distintive blue eyes), however he also wears heavy prescription glasses (his eyesight immediately corrects for the thick lenses), as you might know from real life these tend distort the shape of the eyes. Anyone who tried to look through Clark's glasss would think he was nearly blind.

A big thing is how he acts and talks, he can see peoples reactions and facial expressions in slow motion and has amazing comprehension of sound. So modifying the way he acts and talks to be completely different is very easy. There are many talented actors in real life able to make you think they're two different people and Clark's possibly the best. In All Star Superman it's pretty amazing in that he's drawn identical in facial features when Clark and Superman but simply in posture, actions and expressions he looks completely different. Reading this comic you could believe they were too different people.

And honestly who would believe a god worked a day job?

This is the first somewhat satisfying answer I've heard. Sure, there are plot-holes, but I still kinda buy it. This, however, doesn't translate very well on the big screen, since I can't see any actor who can pull of this.

 

[WolfThomas]

This is the first somewhat satisfying answer I've heard. Sure, there are plot-holes, but I still kinda buy it. This, however, doesn't translate very well on the big screen, since I can't see any actor who can pull of this.

Yeah getting an actor who both looks like him and can pull of the switch is very hard. Christopher Reeves was quite good at this despite the ridiculousness (and poor quality) of his movies.

 

[WaderiAAA]

Yeah, making things realistic rarely works. Also, I would like to see many characters interract in a Superhero movie. Look at the spider-man movies. Only spider-man and the bad guys, with the small exception of Harry Osborne being a good guy in the end. I would love to see a Spider-man movie where for instance Maddam Web was in it. Good old MW deserves to be in a movie.

 

[BaronFelX]

Superman is and always has been a dull, terrible superhero. He is the original Mary Sue character, and it kills any possibility of being intriguing. He is interesting only as an archetypal superhero, which leads to some cool deconstructions, but that's it. Superman Returns is an awful movie for the reasons movies are usually awful (shallow, poorly defined characters, gaping plot holes, etc), not because "they did Superman wrong."

Glad to get that off my chest. Stay frosty, folks.

 

[Saarai-fan]

Here's my thoughts.

One, please do not include the kid from the last film.

Two, bring in either Brainiac or Darkseid into the film. Brainiac if you want to give the film a much more sci-fi feel for it, or Darkseid if you want it more action packed. If it's Brainiac, let it be based on somewhat of the Brainiac of the Superman Animated Cartoon that used to be on the WB (now CW), an AI that used to work for Krypton and Jor-el before leaving the planet once it found out it was going to blow up, or even better, say he's the one who caused it to blow up in the first place. If it's Darkseid, make it as if he and his forces are going to invade the planet Earth. Making it apolcaylptic somewhat as they swarm the planet, and make Superman the guy who stands as the only thing that can fight off the invasion.

With Lex, instead of making him a guy who obsesses over real estate, make him as how the Superman animated series made him look like. An arms dealer. A guy who sells advanced technology to bad guys in the black market, while doing military arms dealing for a good public image. Make him into a guy who teams up with either Brainiac or Darkseid to access to whatever terrible device or BFG that they have with them, that can cause great trouble for Earth and even kill Superman, and then have him double-cross them so that he has the only access to the terrible device or BFG. Possibly even making him the guy who might be responsible for either Darkseid or Brainiac's defeat or death, then have Lex try and use that device or BFG to try and kill Superman.

Also, I don't like the idea of a silly villian like Toyman put in the film. If anything, should the villian be Darkseid, bring in the Female Furies. Hopefully adding Lashina into their ranks for fan service. Granny Goodness can be used as the silly villian, since she's after all, somewhat of an old hag.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Superman is and always has been a dull, terrible superhero. He is the original Mary Sue character, and it kills any possibility of being intriguing. He is interesting only as an archetypal superhero, which leads to some cool deconstructions, but that's it. Superman Returns is an awful movie for the reasons movies are usually awful (shallow, poorly defined characters, gaping plot holes, etc), not because "they did Superman wrong."

Glad to get that off my chest. Stay frosty, folks.

I do have to somewhat agree with this. To me, Superman is, above all else, uninteresting. He's basically "too awesome to relate to"- unless the situation involves either glowing green space rocks or an opponent who regularly eats entire civilizations before washing them down with their morning coffee, Superman is not going to even break a sweat. There's no point in even watching, unless you like seeing bullets bounce off of a perfectly-sculpted chest. And in situations where he's teamed up with other, less omnipotent characters, his vulnerability suddenly comes from him holding himself back to give the B-squad a chance to look good.

You could take almost any other hero from any fictional universe and they'd be far more interesting than Superman. Why? There's always the chance of failure, even death, for them without ridiculously contrived or over-the-top circumstances. Rooting for Superman feels like rooting for the New York Yankees against a Little League team. Even if Hank Aaron shows up in the bottom of the 7th to bat for Tony's Auto Service, I think we all know what the final score will look like.

[small]I apologize to our international audience, and those who are less than familiar with baseball, for the American-sports-centric metaphor in the previous paragraph. Please pretend I instead referenced football [American or international], rugby, cricket, jai alai or whatever other sport you prefer.)[/small]

 

[BaronFelX]

I do have to somewhat agree with this. To me, Superman is, above all else, uninteresting. He's basically "too awesome to relate to"- unless the situation involves either glowing green space rocks or an opponent who regularly eats entire civilizations before washing them down with their morning coffee, Superman is not going to even break a sweat. There's no point in even watching, unless you like seeing bullets bounce off of a perfectly-sculpted chest. And in situations where he's teamed up with other, less omnipotent characters, his vulnerability suddenly comes from him holding himself back to give the B-squad a chance to look good.

You could take almost any other hero from any fictional universe and they'd be far more interesting than Superman. Why? There's always the chance of failure, even death, for them without ridiculously contrived or over-the-top circumstances. Rooting for Superman feels like rooting for the New York Yankees against a Little League team. Even if Hank Aaron shows up in the bottom of the 7th to bat for Tony's Auto Service, I think we all know what the final score will look like.

Glad to see someone who agrees with me. This is pretty much what I think every time I see Superman do anything.

 

[Lord_Panzer]

Superman vs. Dr Manhattan.

Superman Views his own Colon

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I wasn't a fan of Watchmen at all. If only they picked another comic series to adapt-

Well it doesn't matter. Snyder will give us good fight scenes and all, but I can't say I'm thrilled at him directing Soupes.

Zod Is in the Details

Where is your Zod now?

Nobody Cares About Smallville

AHEM!...Lex Luthor? Lionel Luthor? Two of the greatest evil guys since evil was invented. The Seto Kaiba's of Metropolis.

Apart from that it's toss, but it isn't The New Adventures of Lois and Clarke now, is it?

What, you mean the greatest television series ever made?

Seriously though, Terri Hatcher...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Seriously though, Terri Hatcher...

Not even with yours. Desperate Housewives is spot on.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

On the whole issue of properly portraying a Superman character without stripping him down or whatever, I can't help but kill a little shout-out to my favorite Supes-type character, Majestros.

See, Majestros is better than everyone, and he knows it. He selfishly imposes his own view of what's right on everyone else. He won't get busy with women, not because he doesn't want to, but because he actually believes there are no worthy females on Earth. He's an alien with an alien mindset. And because of that, I love the guy. He's awesome.

No surprise the Wildcats comics are good, 'cause Alan Moore wrote at least some of them. Hopefully Snyder will go the right way with a Superman movie. He already has experience characterizing omnipotent super beings.

Superman just sucks. He's good because somebody has to be, and all-powerful because somebody has to be. His "weakness" is readily dealt with at every opportunity and hardly ever feels like a legit threat. Apart from a series of Superman stories Alan Moore wrote as well as Final Crisis, I have to say I've hated everything Supes has ever been in... EXCEPT the first 3 seasons or so of Smallville. Say what you will, but Smallville did start off good. Just a shame it turned to complete bilge.

 

[ima420r]

I like smallville. It's an alternate reality where things happened different than they did im the movies or comics. It was interesting how they statred out with kryotnite effecting people to make the 'villian of the week' and now they are bringing in all kinds of other heroes from the comics in one form or another. I'm looking forward to him putting on the suit and flying away at the end of the series (he can't fly yet!).