My last dip into fantasy Hollywood was to armchair screenwrite 'The Phantom Menace' with an imaginary George Lucas and produce a prequel story that both stuck with Lucas' vision/ideas for his universe while molding it a little bit into a more cohesive story that I (at least) wanted it to be.
Doing that, though, assumed that I'd be following it up with a Maybe Studios re-do of 'Attack of the Clones,' which I've found a little more challenging because, to be honest, I didn't hate that movie. Now, I didn't hate 'Menace' either, but my recent re-watching of the prequels showed that 'Clones' was pretty good if you cut out all the scenes with C3PO and ended all of Padme and Anakin's scenes together about 90 seconds early.
So mostly this version will be to integrate some of the minor changes I did in 'Menace' and set the stage for some much bigger changes in 'Revenge of the Sith.'
Again, it isn't my intent to actually re-write the movie. Many other fans have done that and a lot have done it better than I probably could. Holding true to my original intent, this re-do will take the elements Lucas created for the story, and just kind of trim and refocus them to align more with my tastes. In other words, we at the Maybe Machine are pretending that we're working with George Lucas rather than replacing him.
Setting the Stage: The Galactic Senate
I don't know how the Galactic Republic has been running for a thousand years because the Senate I see in action is indecisive and powerless. It feels a lot like a space-United Nations, with individual member nations/planets pushing for their own interests and only cooperating with others when it benefits them. Obviously there are power blocks within the Senate, such as however many systems have united to form the Trade Federation, and they would wield more clout than any other single system. That's how they were able to stalemate the Senate during their embargo of Naboo.
The Senate itself (and the position of chancellor) doesn't have any real authority beyond that which the planets grant them. Obviously Palpatine is trying to change this, but as we enter Episode II, the Republic is fracturing as the Separatists chip away at the Senate, enticing away systems and groups who don't feel the benefit of staying. It's a parallel to the American Civil War (or any civil war, I guess), where the nation couldn't survive if the member states were allowed to pack up and leave whenever they disagreed. Frankly, I have a hard time understanding why Amidala was opposed to the idea of a Republic Army, but there you go...
The Plan:
Again, I think it's important to spell out Palpatine's original plan here to fully appreciate the string pulling as well as identify when the heroes have disrupted a part of it that he needs to adapt to.
When last we left him, he'd just been elected chancellor of the Galactic Senate. Although our experience with that body shows that it's actually pretty powerless, Phase Two of his plan involves the Senate granting an increasing amount of power to the position. He does this by manipulating Count Dooku into forming a secessionist movement and then pushing him to greater acts of violence against the Republic. Of course the senators will agree that they need an army to defend themselves rather than leaving it up to each planet alone. Once he's been granted control of a galaxy-spanning army, he'll be ready to tighten his grip on the Republic systems.
To sway the Sentate to his way of thinking, though, he'll need to strike closer to the heart of the Republic where those indecisive Senators have gathered.
That's our stage as we roll the opening crawl.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Act I
Three years have passed since the end of 'Phantom Menace,' and Obi-Wan and Anakin have been trucking around the galaxy doing good deeds. Despite their best efforts, though, they've been unable to stem the tide of Dooku's secessionist movement. They've been recalled to Coruscant to brief the Senate on what they know of Dooku's actions.
So far, the Secessionists are just a political movement backed by a terrorist group. Amidala believes that fielding an army against them will only unify the rebel systems and escalate things. In the Senate, she and Organa oppose the formation of a Grand Army and promote the Jedi as the peacekeeping solution against Dooku's terrorist forces.
Her efforts take a sudden blow when an explosion rips through the Senate building and a hologram of Dooku takes credit for it. Anakin, of course, is mostly concerned with Padme and races to find her in the wreckage. Fortunately, she was kept safe by her now-fiance Bail Organa, and Anakin doesn't know whether to be happy or jealous.
For those who knew Dooku as a Jedi, this terrorist attack doesn't seem like him, but Anakin and Obi-Wan saw first hand what his forces were doing in the Outer Rim and wouldn't put it past him.
Act II pt 1
In the wake of the Senate bombing, Palpatine takes on some additional executive authority to preserve the security of the Republic. The senate approval of the Grand Army looks imminent, and only catching those behind the bombing can halt the coming war. Of course Anakin makes vast, empty promises to her, which only adds to the pressure he's under to produce.
Obi-Wan and Anakin investigate the source of the bombing through some good old fashioned sleuthing and they report their findings to the Jedi Council. Of equal importance is Anakin's growing frustration with his lack of control over the great powers at his command. He hides it well, but it's there under the surface for the darkly observant Palpatine to notice.
Ultimately, they track the explosion to a Mandalorian clan which had proclaimed for the Separatists. The two Jedi infiltrate their hideout, and a battle between them and a handful of Mandalorians ends with the Mandos taking their own lives rather than being captured.
Meanwhile, Padme is attempting to block the formation of an army by blocking its funding, but in the process uncovers evidence that Palpatine has already begun illegally outfitting an army and traces it to a planet called Kamino.
Act II pt 2
Padme wants to go on a fact-finding mission to Kamino and asks Bail to go with her. He needs to stay and continue their work at the Senate and actually suggests Anakin be the one to go with her. For Obi-Wan's part, he saw a bit of the rage that Anakin was displaying during the fight with the Mandos and suggests it might be good for him to get away for a bit. He assures him that the Mandalorian situation is resolved and he can spare some time off.
He's lying, though, because as soon as Ani is gone, he begins following up on the head of the Mando clan. He knows how they work and knows those on Coruscant wouldn't be acting without orders from their clan head. A Mandalorian named Jango Fett was calling the shots. He ultimately tracks Fett to a planet called Geonosis.
While all this is going on, Anakin and Padme are on their way to Kamino. It's obvious there's some romantic tension between them, but there still remains a class barrier. Anakin has the Jedi Order guiding his life, and Padme is ruled more by politics than by heart. Such talk is spread out over their discovery of, and introduction to, the massive army of clones that is being prepped for Republic service and has been in the works for a few years.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan infiltrates the compound and discovers the headquarters of the Separatists, but is captured half-way through giving his report.
On Kamino, Padme is reporting her discoveries to Organa who agrees to reveal it at the next Senate assembly. Their conversation is interrupted, though, by the receipt of Obi-Wan's report. They witness his capture by Fett and the battle droids. Organa also witnesses the transmission and says he'll inform the Council. Anakin heads out immediately to rescue Obi-Wan, and Padme won't be left behind.
Dooku has a talk with Obi-Wan, explaining his suspicions about a Dark Side presence in the government, but Obi-Wan doesn't believe him. It's worth mentioning that, in this version, Dooku is not a Sith. Rather, he's a former Jedi who left the order when he sensed it falling under the control of the Dark Side. Everything he says to Obi-Wan is his true belief, and it's a real shame he doesn't believe him.
Act III
The finale plays out almost exactly like it did in the original film. Anakin, Padme and R2 maneuver through the droid factory until they too are captured, and all three are dumped into the arena. Thinking they're going to die, Padme admits her love to Anakin before they and Obi-Wan are trussed up in the arena to face off against the three space monsters.
They're a hair's breadth away from being executed by the Geonosians when the rest of the Jedi Council shows up. What started as a rescue, though, turns into a war as the Geonosian droid factory opens up and spills out squads of battle droids and tanks. The Jedi are saved by the timely arrival of Bail Organa and the Clone Army, and the battle of Geonosis begins.
Padme declares that they can end the war before it starts if they can get Dooku, and she leads Obi-Wan and Anakin after him.
He leads them into a trap, though, and Padme is seriously injured. Anakin loses his shit and goes after Dooku hard. His power can't match Dooku's skill, though, and he manages to defeat him by lopping off one of his arms. As more back-up arrives, Dooku flees.
Anakin's last sight before blacking out is seeing Padme being cared for by Bail Organa.
Credits.
So again, it's recognizable as the original 'Attack of the Clones', but with some adjustments to play up Palpatine's manipulations (Dooku is not a Sith but rather an unknowing tool) and stay true to the original trilogy characters (Yoda is not a great warrior).
The love story between Anakin and Padme gets a little help by being introduced more in Phantom Menace and allowed to grow over the course of this film.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
A little less Phantom, a little more Menace
I'm sure it's no coincidence that, on the heels of the release of Star Wars VII, my local single-screen theater decided to have an all-day marathon of the first six Star Wars movies. It'd been a long time since I'd seen the original trilogy on the big screen so of course I jumped at the chance.
You'll be happy to know that those older films still hold up today as some solid examples of film making (and shows that even the hokiest story can be salvaged by some great character work). To be honest, seeing the orig trig again just made me really sad about how the prequel trilogy turned out. The saga of Luke Skywalker proves that George Lucas really knew how to make a movie, and I can't help but wonder what happened in between the trilogies to give us the much-poorer-by-example saga of Anakin Skywalker.
I've read (and watched) more than one fan pitch on what they would do if -they- were making the prequels. And since that's the whole premise behind the Maybe Machine, I figured I too could give my ideas for a better prequel trilogy. However, while many of those other synopses were based on total rewrites and clean slates, I don't have the hubris to think that I know better than Lucas how to use his characters and universe.
Rather, I'd like to imagine this as a more collaborative effort. A process where George and I teamed up for a week at Skywalker Ranch to take his ideas and turn them into a more cohesive and fan-pleasing product. Effectively, I'll try to keep as many of his characters, locations and events in place, but might be shifting those elements around a bit.
Our first stop, of course, is 'The Phantom Menace,' but first let's set the stage for the opening chapter of our re-prequel series:
Setting the Stage: The Jedi Order
By the time of Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the Jedi Order was already faded from the galaxy, often derided as a hokey and ancient religion. Our Phantom Menace takes place just 25 years before that, and we're already seeing the Jedi Order in decline. Their numbers are diminished with fewer and fewer force sensitive youths found to join their ranks. Their glory days as galactic peacekeepers are well behind them, being relegated now to an almost ceremonial presence.
Where once they could claim to have been on the front lines in the war against the Sith Empire or leading the way in galactic expansion in the outer rim, now they serve as political escorts or mediators in trade disputes. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant is an old, dusty edifice far too large for the less-than-100 Jedi currently occupying it. Their clothing is more like ancient robes and frontier-wear than the modern clothing and uniforms worn by the citizens of the Republic.
In all ways they're fading in the eyes of the average Republic citizen, which is why it's so important when a young slave is discovered to be so strong in the force...
The Plan:
Before we get too deep into the weeds, I think we need to understand what Palpatine's plan is. As much as I liked the idea of seeing the master string-puller work things to catapult himself into the seat of ultimate power, his actual plan was never very clear. I'll at least want it spelled out here so we have some context of what drives Episode I.
Phase One of his plan is to be elected to the leadership position of the Galactic Senate. Even as that political body seems ineffective and powerless, it's a place to start building power and getting there is all that concerns us in Phantom Menace.
Through his alternate identity as Darth Sidious, Palpatine engineers a political upheaval on his home planet of Naboo. When the current chancellor of the Senate sends a couple Jedi to mediate the dispute, all Palpatine has to do is make sure they fail and he'll have grounds to declare the chancellor a failure and move for a new election (and, as the wounded party, would have the best chance of getting elected). As a Sith, his assumed way of ensuring this failure is to kill the Jedi on Naboo. Of course they escape, but at least we know Palpatine's plan as the movie starts.
And that's where our saga starts. Cue John Williams music!
Act I
Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on Naboo to mediate a dispute between the planet and the Trade Federation which has placed an embargo around the planet. Obi-Wan is frustrated with this menial task and longs for the days when Jedi were respected peacekeepers rather than glorified honor guards. Qui-Gon sends him to check the building exterior where he meets a 14-year-old slave named Anakin. This acerbic, acid-tongued teen gives Obi-Wan some insights into the dichotomy of Naboo society, only lightening his tone when he catches sight of the beautiful young Princess Padme as she makes her way to observe the meeting.
Because Obi-Wan is wandering the grounds, he's in the perfect spot to notice the additional landing ships which have come to Naboo and recognizes the occupation for what it is. He and Anakin race back to the council chambers to warn them, but they arrive too late to save the royal family from the assassin droids. Instead, the two Jedi, with the aid of Anakin, are only able to spirit away now-Queen Amidala.
Trade Federation leaders occupy the city, but their cloaked master reports his displeasure. The new queen and her Jedi escorts must NOT reach the capital. Despite the manhunt, they manage to make it to a hangar and break through the embargo.
Act II pt 1
Qui-Qon watches Anakin closely during their flight, pointing out to Obi-Wan some strange intuitions and "lucky" moments that aided their escape. Obi-Wan thinks he's suspicious of him, but Qui-Gon doesn't voice his real concerns yet. Meanwhile, Anakin gets some face time with Padme and starts trying to break down those social barriers between the new queen and the former slave. They're of the same age, and Padme becomes a little smitten with the rough young man she owes her life to.
Unfortunately, their ship was damaged during its escape from Naboo (and I don't mind introducing R2-D2 as a ship's maintenance droid here) and they need to lay low while they gets some parts. Fortunately, Obi-Wan knows somebody on the nearby Hutt-controlled world of Tatooine, and he leads them there.
On the desert planet, the fugitives hook up with Obi-Wan's friend, Owen Lars, and eventually learn that their best bet for escape from the planet is to participate in a dangerous but potentially rewarding pod race. Obi-Wan offers to pilot, but when Anakin volunteers, Qui-Gon backs him. It all goes as originally written, Anakin wins the race, they claim their winnings, and they buy the parts they need.
As in the original version, this is when Darth Maul makes his first appearance. The battle is brief but one-sided. Qui-Gon only barely manages to hold off the dark warrior while Obi-Wan gets the rest to safety before making his escape himself.
Act II pt 2
On Coruscant, Maul's master, Darth Sidious, voices again his displeasure of their escape. However, he's prepared to intercept them at the capital. Perhaps he can still work this to his advantage. He cuts communications and pulls back his hood to reveal his true face. He's showing some of the dark side deformities we'd come to expect since 'Empire Strikes Back', but with great concentration, he represses those features until he's finally Ian McDiarmid again.
When Amidala arrives on Coruscant, she goes to meet with Naboo's Senator Palpatine where it's revealed he's secretly the Sith master we'd just seen transformed. She calls on him to get her a meeting with the senate where she can notify them of the unjust invasion of her homeworld. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take Anakin to the Jedi Council. They have news of an enemy warrior they believe to be trained in the ways of the Sith, but have good news in the discovery of Anakin. It's been a while since they've discovered anybody strong enough in the force to become a Jedi, and it's Qui-Gon's opinion that he's stronger in the force than anybody they know. This is news to Obi-Wan (who's not as perceptive as Qui-Gon, I suppose). Qui-Gon declares that Obi-Wan is ready for the trials of knighthood and that he wants to take Anakin as his new apprentice.
At the Senate, Amidala puts forth her case, but just as in the original film, the Trade Federation refutes her claim and the bureaucrats start weighing in. The only ally she has, it seems, is Bail Organa, the representative from Alderaan. His planet regrettably has no military force to offer her (they're a peaceful planet with no weapons), but promises to fight for her cause in the Senate. It doesn't hurt that this Bail Organa he's a handsome and charming man.
When reunited with her Jedi companions, she voices her frustration. Qui-Gon says they need to allow time for the Senate to work, but Obi-Wan remembers a time when Jedi were committed to protecting peace on all planets of the Republic. Anakin agrees, and has a plan for Naboo to earn its own freedom. Palpatine is skeptical and agrees with Qui-Gon to let the Senate do it's thing, but Amidala is determined.
This, by the way, is also his first meeting with Anakin, and he quickly (but subtly) perceives his power as well as his obvious affection for Amidala and slight jealousy toward Organa.
Act III
Organa doesn't have a fleet of ships, but he -does- have a fast corvette that might work to run the blockade around Naboo. With his help, the heroes smuggle themselves back to Naboo and into the capital. There, Anakin arranges a meeting between the queen and the heads of the underclass and slaves. They agree to rise up and overthrow the occupiers, but only if all class barriers are broken. Amidala agrees, and a rebellion (of sorts) is born of the planet's underclass and the queen's surviving security volunteers. If they can capture the viceroy, they can force him to deactivate the battle droids, ending the conflict and the occupation. The rebellion lays siege to the palace and engages the droid forces while Amidala and the Jedi sneak in to capture the viceroy. They all know the Naboo-ians can't hold out for long, but they only need to hold out long enough for the heroes to get the viceroy and shut down the opposition.
Unfortunately, there's a slight delay as the heroes arrive at the throne room to find it protected by Darth Maul. Anakin wants to help his master fight, but the two Jedi remind him the viceroy is the true target. They'll hold off the Sith while Anakin and the queen go after the leader.
The initial stages of the saber battle are scattered, but when Obi-Wan sets aside his rambunctiousness and they start working as a team, they're able to corner Darth Maul. It culminates in a flurry of lightsaber strokes that sees Obi-Wan taking advantage of an opening Qui-Gon created to finish off Maul. It's only when the Sith falls that Obi-Wan realizes that opening came at the cost of Qui-Gon's life.
Meanwhile, Padme and Anakin have been fighting their way through the Viceroy's guards and/or using shortcuts known to the queen to reach the palace hangar. Unfortunately, they get pinned down and can only watch as the viceroy's shuttle lifts off. That is until Anakin senses Qui-Gon's death. That combines with a sudden awareness of all the Naboo-ians dying around them pushes him across a line that Qui-Gon had warned him about. He taps into his rising anger and is able to use the force to actually grab hold of the fleeing shuttle and ground it.
With the viceroy in their grasp, the battle droids get powered down. The war for Naboo is over.
In the end, the now-free and united planet celebrates, and Palpatine arrives to congratulate them on their victory in achieving what an impotent Senate couldn't do. Their actions have lead the Senate to select a new chancellor, and sympathy for Naboo has made him the top contender.
End credits.
So basically it's the Phantom Menace we saw in theaters, but with an older Anakin introduced a lot earlier in the story and 100% fewer Gungans.
You'll be happy to know that those older films still hold up today as some solid examples of film making (and shows that even the hokiest story can be salvaged by some great character work). To be honest, seeing the orig trig again just made me really sad about how the prequel trilogy turned out. The saga of Luke Skywalker proves that George Lucas really knew how to make a movie, and I can't help but wonder what happened in between the trilogies to give us the much-poorer-by-example saga of Anakin Skywalker.
I've read (and watched) more than one fan pitch on what they would do if -they- were making the prequels. And since that's the whole premise behind the Maybe Machine, I figured I too could give my ideas for a better prequel trilogy. However, while many of those other synopses were based on total rewrites and clean slates, I don't have the hubris to think that I know better than Lucas how to use his characters and universe.
Rather, I'd like to imagine this as a more collaborative effort. A process where George and I teamed up for a week at Skywalker Ranch to take his ideas and turn them into a more cohesive and fan-pleasing product. Effectively, I'll try to keep as many of his characters, locations and events in place, but might be shifting those elements around a bit.
Our first stop, of course, is 'The Phantom Menace,' but first let's set the stage for the opening chapter of our re-prequel series:
Setting the Stage: The Jedi Order
By the time of Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the Jedi Order was already faded from the galaxy, often derided as a hokey and ancient religion. Our Phantom Menace takes place just 25 years before that, and we're already seeing the Jedi Order in decline. Their numbers are diminished with fewer and fewer force sensitive youths found to join their ranks. Their glory days as galactic peacekeepers are well behind them, being relegated now to an almost ceremonial presence.
Where once they could claim to have been on the front lines in the war against the Sith Empire or leading the way in galactic expansion in the outer rim, now they serve as political escorts or mediators in trade disputes. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant is an old, dusty edifice far too large for the less-than-100 Jedi currently occupying it. Their clothing is more like ancient robes and frontier-wear than the modern clothing and uniforms worn by the citizens of the Republic.
In all ways they're fading in the eyes of the average Republic citizen, which is why it's so important when a young slave is discovered to be so strong in the force...
The Plan:
Before we get too deep into the weeds, I think we need to understand what Palpatine's plan is. As much as I liked the idea of seeing the master string-puller work things to catapult himself into the seat of ultimate power, his actual plan was never very clear. I'll at least want it spelled out here so we have some context of what drives Episode I.
Phase One of his plan is to be elected to the leadership position of the Galactic Senate. Even as that political body seems ineffective and powerless, it's a place to start building power and getting there is all that concerns us in Phantom Menace.
Through his alternate identity as Darth Sidious, Palpatine engineers a political upheaval on his home planet of Naboo. When the current chancellor of the Senate sends a couple Jedi to mediate the dispute, all Palpatine has to do is make sure they fail and he'll have grounds to declare the chancellor a failure and move for a new election (and, as the wounded party, would have the best chance of getting elected). As a Sith, his assumed way of ensuring this failure is to kill the Jedi on Naboo. Of course they escape, but at least we know Palpatine's plan as the movie starts.
And that's where our saga starts. Cue John Williams music!
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Act I
Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on Naboo to mediate a dispute between the planet and the Trade Federation which has placed an embargo around the planet. Obi-Wan is frustrated with this menial task and longs for the days when Jedi were respected peacekeepers rather than glorified honor guards. Qui-Gon sends him to check the building exterior where he meets a 14-year-old slave named Anakin. This acerbic, acid-tongued teen gives Obi-Wan some insights into the dichotomy of Naboo society, only lightening his tone when he catches sight of the beautiful young Princess Padme as she makes her way to observe the meeting.
Because Obi-Wan is wandering the grounds, he's in the perfect spot to notice the additional landing ships which have come to Naboo and recognizes the occupation for what it is. He and Anakin race back to the council chambers to warn them, but they arrive too late to save the royal family from the assassin droids. Instead, the two Jedi, with the aid of Anakin, are only able to spirit away now-Queen Amidala.
Trade Federation leaders occupy the city, but their cloaked master reports his displeasure. The new queen and her Jedi escorts must NOT reach the capital. Despite the manhunt, they manage to make it to a hangar and break through the embargo.
Act II pt 1
Qui-Qon watches Anakin closely during their flight, pointing out to Obi-Wan some strange intuitions and "lucky" moments that aided their escape. Obi-Wan thinks he's suspicious of him, but Qui-Gon doesn't voice his real concerns yet. Meanwhile, Anakin gets some face time with Padme and starts trying to break down those social barriers between the new queen and the former slave. They're of the same age, and Padme becomes a little smitten with the rough young man she owes her life to.
Unfortunately, their ship was damaged during its escape from Naboo (and I don't mind introducing R2-D2 as a ship's maintenance droid here) and they need to lay low while they gets some parts. Fortunately, Obi-Wan knows somebody on the nearby Hutt-controlled world of Tatooine, and he leads them there.
On the desert planet, the fugitives hook up with Obi-Wan's friend, Owen Lars, and eventually learn that their best bet for escape from the planet is to participate in a dangerous but potentially rewarding pod race. Obi-Wan offers to pilot, but when Anakin volunteers, Qui-Gon backs him. It all goes as originally written, Anakin wins the race, they claim their winnings, and they buy the parts they need.
As in the original version, this is when Darth Maul makes his first appearance. The battle is brief but one-sided. Qui-Gon only barely manages to hold off the dark warrior while Obi-Wan gets the rest to safety before making his escape himself.
Act II pt 2
On Coruscant, Maul's master, Darth Sidious, voices again his displeasure of their escape. However, he's prepared to intercept them at the capital. Perhaps he can still work this to his advantage. He cuts communications and pulls back his hood to reveal his true face. He's showing some of the dark side deformities we'd come to expect since 'Empire Strikes Back', but with great concentration, he represses those features until he's finally Ian McDiarmid again.
When Amidala arrives on Coruscant, she goes to meet with Naboo's Senator Palpatine where it's revealed he's secretly the Sith master we'd just seen transformed. She calls on him to get her a meeting with the senate where she can notify them of the unjust invasion of her homeworld. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take Anakin to the Jedi Council. They have news of an enemy warrior they believe to be trained in the ways of the Sith, but have good news in the discovery of Anakin. It's been a while since they've discovered anybody strong enough in the force to become a Jedi, and it's Qui-Gon's opinion that he's stronger in the force than anybody they know. This is news to Obi-Wan (who's not as perceptive as Qui-Gon, I suppose). Qui-Gon declares that Obi-Wan is ready for the trials of knighthood and that he wants to take Anakin as his new apprentice.
At the Senate, Amidala puts forth her case, but just as in the original film, the Trade Federation refutes her claim and the bureaucrats start weighing in. The only ally she has, it seems, is Bail Organa, the representative from Alderaan. His planet regrettably has no military force to offer her (they're a peaceful planet with no weapons), but promises to fight for her cause in the Senate. It doesn't hurt that this Bail Organa he's a handsome and charming man.
When reunited with her Jedi companions, she voices her frustration. Qui-Gon says they need to allow time for the Senate to work, but Obi-Wan remembers a time when Jedi were committed to protecting peace on all planets of the Republic. Anakin agrees, and has a plan for Naboo to earn its own freedom. Palpatine is skeptical and agrees with Qui-Gon to let the Senate do it's thing, but Amidala is determined.
This, by the way, is also his first meeting with Anakin, and he quickly (but subtly) perceives his power as well as his obvious affection for Amidala and slight jealousy toward Organa.
Act III
Organa doesn't have a fleet of ships, but he -does- have a fast corvette that might work to run the blockade around Naboo. With his help, the heroes smuggle themselves back to Naboo and into the capital. There, Anakin arranges a meeting between the queen and the heads of the underclass and slaves. They agree to rise up and overthrow the occupiers, but only if all class barriers are broken. Amidala agrees, and a rebellion (of sorts) is born of the planet's underclass and the queen's surviving security volunteers. If they can capture the viceroy, they can force him to deactivate the battle droids, ending the conflict and the occupation. The rebellion lays siege to the palace and engages the droid forces while Amidala and the Jedi sneak in to capture the viceroy. They all know the Naboo-ians can't hold out for long, but they only need to hold out long enough for the heroes to get the viceroy and shut down the opposition.
Unfortunately, there's a slight delay as the heroes arrive at the throne room to find it protected by Darth Maul. Anakin wants to help his master fight, but the two Jedi remind him the viceroy is the true target. They'll hold off the Sith while Anakin and the queen go after the leader.
The initial stages of the saber battle are scattered, but when Obi-Wan sets aside his rambunctiousness and they start working as a team, they're able to corner Darth Maul. It culminates in a flurry of lightsaber strokes that sees Obi-Wan taking advantage of an opening Qui-Gon created to finish off Maul. It's only when the Sith falls that Obi-Wan realizes that opening came at the cost of Qui-Gon's life.
Meanwhile, Padme and Anakin have been fighting their way through the Viceroy's guards and/or using shortcuts known to the queen to reach the palace hangar. Unfortunately, they get pinned down and can only watch as the viceroy's shuttle lifts off. That is until Anakin senses Qui-Gon's death. That combines with a sudden awareness of all the Naboo-ians dying around them pushes him across a line that Qui-Gon had warned him about. He taps into his rising anger and is able to use the force to actually grab hold of the fleeing shuttle and ground it.
With the viceroy in their grasp, the battle droids get powered down. The war for Naboo is over.
In the end, the now-free and united planet celebrates, and Palpatine arrives to congratulate them on their victory in achieving what an impotent Senate couldn't do. Their actions have lead the Senate to select a new chancellor, and sympathy for Naboo has made him the top contender.
End credits.
So basically it's the Phantom Menace we saw in theaters, but with an older Anakin introduced a lot earlier in the story and 100% fewer Gungans.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Thunder...thunder...THUNDER...
Then I came across this:
In fact, I DON'T need to present a hypothetical toyline because the fine craftsmen at Four Horsemen and Mattel are actually going to be starting up line of those very same figures. This is even better for me because, although I still regret missing out on the MotU line, I'm actually more of a fan of Thundercats, having enjoyed their cartoon more than I did He-Man's. Also, I'd heard some grumblings of collectors of the MotU line about some early fails in Mattycollector's online store and sale strategies. Getting in on the ground floor of a follow-on Thundercats line means that any of those bugs and errors should've been worked out long ago and I can expect some stress-free collecting.
It's pretty obvious what characters I'd like to see/get from this line. Of course the 'Cats themselves and the main villains like Mumm-Ra and the Mutants. But I'm also pretty stoked to see characters like Mandora the Evil-Chaser and Captain Cracker in toy form.
But instead of simply talking about what I assume is going to happen, I figured I'd crank up the Maybe Machine and push an idea that I -hope- they pick up on. While there's no shortage of Thundercats characters to mold into plastic, I'm dreaming of a line that fulfills earlier, unvoiced promises of a wider, linked universe.
Along with the Thundercats, the similarly-modeled Silverhawks and Tigersharks would make an awesome expanded universe of '80s Rankin & Bass cartoon goodness.
For the uninitiated, here's a quick rundown of the three titles:
Thundercats
Once nobles from the planet Thundera, the Thundercats fled the destruction of their homeworld to the mysterious and primitive world of Third Earth. They're followed there by a handful of the same Mutants who had destroyed Thundera, and also encounter the ancient evil from First Earth, Mumm-Ra.Silverhawks
Tigersharks
Each show follows the same format of five animal-themed characters battling a rogues gallery of enemies. Although there were no official cross-overs or Easter eggs, I'd always imagined they were in a shared universe, although that assumption takes some squinting if you look at it too closely. The 'Hawks and 'Sharks are easy, as they both occur in their own corner of space at some unspecified time in the future when humanity has expanded into the stars. The Thundercats kind of muck it up a bit because their adventures take place on a planet that is very (very) heavily implied to be a future Earth after humanity is gone. Why did they leave? They never say. I'm assuming some great catastrophe between the eras of First Earth and Second Earth.
 |
| I'll have to re-watch some episodes of Thundercats to see if their moon is split in half. |
Fun Fact: in the Masters of the Universe mythology, He-Man/Prince Adam's mother is an astronaut from Earth. I don't know the full story of how she got to Eternia, but if there's an historical connection between He-Man and Earth, that means the Masters of the Universe are ALSO part of this shared universe.
And while I'm fishing, I wonder if there are any other cartoon/toylines from the '80s which feature animal-themed characters and blend swords with lasers...
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| They rode giant bugs that you would wear like a glove to work their legs. Literally the best toys ever. |
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Fantastic Four movie me-boot
I finally took the plunge and went to see the recent, Josh Trank-directed 'Fantastic Four' movie. It was pretty much just as bad as people have been saying, but I'm pretty sure that if he'd tried making a 'People Go to Another Dimension and Come Back Changed' movie rather than a 'Fantastic Four' movie, he would've nailed it.
Unfortunately, he DID try to make a Fantastic Four movie, and the results missed the mark by some margin. That seems to be happening a bit lately, and I don't think I'm being too much of a fanboi by wondering why studios are so intent on re-imagining characters like Peter Parker and Superman to be so distant from the source material that made them so popular in the first place.
But while I've been a huge fan of Superman and Spider-Man in the past, I was even more a fan of the Fantastic Four back in the day, and seeing the characters wasted like this really got my juices going. I've already talked a bit about the Fantastic Four comic that I would want to write, but here's my window to pitch the Fantastic Four movie I would make.
The idea here is that, faced with the failure of their latest attempt at an FF film, Fox called me up and offered me a chance to take over the franchise (likely done as a dick move to keep the rights from reverting back to Marvel, but whatever). So with the recent version barely out of theaters, and with an intent to hew closer to the tone that made the comic so popular, here's my pitch for Maybe Productions version of the Fantastic Four.
There is a caveat before I get started, though. It is my intent to stay true to the source material, and that means I have to accept that there are some elements that must be included in any FF movie, even if they were done (and done well) in previous attempts. Fer instance, There has to be an element of Ben Grimm learning to cope with his monstrous appearance while Reed struggles to find a cure. So even though the 2005 Tim Story film did a pretty good job of showing that, I won't ditch the idea for the sake of being different. I believe there's room for originality while still sticking to these timeless elements, and it's the writer's job to find new ways of exploring the same content.
Big picture-wise, there are two things that have to be in any Fantastic Four movie.
First, I think the entire world is in agreement that the Fantastic Four work best as a family. Despite the fantastical events shaping their lives, their personal quirks and interactions are so immediately recognizable that it keeps their adventures relatable even while they're battling world-eating spacemen.
And that's the second thing that needs to be in an FF film. Not Galactus per se, but a grand scope of unbelievable science and fantasy. If I could, I'd totally sign up Steven Moffat to write the script. You may be familiar with his work as some of the best Dr. Who stories in recent decades, and his grasp of grand scope vs. intimate moments is exactly what a good FF script calls for.
What the Fantastic Four movie DOESN'T need, though, is another origin story or another attempt at Dr. Doom. Certainly the former needs to be touched on to explain the premise, but if Reed and the crew aren't exhibiting superpowers by minute 15, I've missed my mark. As for Doom, he's one of Marveldom's greatest villains and trying to share time introducing him alongside the Fantastic Four and their supporting cast is doing him a great disfavor. He could certainly appear in a sequel where the main characters have already been introduced and more time can be spent on him, but he's Doom! Nothing short of his own solo film would do him justice before integrating him into a future FF film.
But that's for the future. Right now, we're dealing with my FF launch film, and with Dr. Doom out of the equation, I'm going to turn to the shape-shifting alien menace of the Skrulls. Beyond your basic alien invasion, the Skrulls offer a whole 'nuther level of story as they infiltrate the Earth and possibly have been for decades. It's the Red Scare on a cosmic scale. Leaning back on Dr. Who, if you're familiar with the Silents, you have an idea of what I'm going for.
So how does this play out? Glad you asked.
Act I
NORAD alarms are going off the hook as an object is detected entering Earth orbit and targeting upstate New York. Military forces move to intercept and manage to down it in an unpopulated area. To their surprise, it turns out to be a rocket ship holding four humans: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Susan and Johnny Storm, all who had disappeared after a failed rocket test in 1968.
Guess it wasn't such a failure after all, but an unexpected side effect of Reed's experimental warp drive kept them out of the action for 50 years. Spending that much time in a warp dimension, though, has altered the four crewmen. Their fantastic powers aren't completely apparent from the start (Ben, fer instance, is still human looking when he exits the capsule), but they start to develop when the military moves in to apprehend them. Confused by what has happened to them, the four agree to go with the authorities.
Meanwhile, it's become obvious to some that their attempt to delay Earth's interplanetary capabilities by sabotaging Dr. Richard's prototype all those years ago wasn't as successful as they'd hoped. The alien Skrulls are now faced with proof that Earth has functioning intergalactic space travel and the hidden menace must move up their timeline to absorb the Earth into their empire.
Act II pt 1
The military tries to debrief the Fantastic Four, but Reed is in control. His main concern is the changes that are overcoming his friends, especially the disfiguring nature of Ben's transformation. The whole program is derailed, though, when several members of the government team are revealed to be shape-shifting alien infiltrators who attempt to assassinate the quartet. Their now more fully-developed powers come to their aid, letting them defeat the aliens while exposing the hidden conspiracy.
No longer willing to stay as guests of the military, the quartet moves to Reed's old mothballed lab in New York. It exposes them more to public scrutiny, but it gives Reed access to equipment he needs.
Act II pt 2
The Four have an interesting time trying to adapt to the modern world, with family members long gone, technology far in advance of what they knew, and the media still trying to get a good look at the foursome and their fantastic powers. Reed makes some progress in analyzing the Skrull tissue, and the aliens seek to silence him. Because the assassins didn't work, the Skull empress turns to her greatest warrior, Kl'rt. This Super Skrull is not only able to take on their likenesses, but can mimic their powers as well. The fight is great, but ends with Reed making a breakthrough in unmasking the aliens. Using a device inspired by his efforts to reverse Ben's transformation, he is able to cancel the Super Skrull's transformation abilities, robbing him of his powers.
Act III
Reed is able to adapt his device to broadcast around the world, neutralizing Skrull shape shifting across the globe. Everywhere, green-skilled aliens are unmasked and the infiltration is broken. Unfortunately, this forces the Skrulls into Plan B, Forced Conversion. A cluster of Skrull destroyers arrive in orbit to conquer the Earth by brute force. With Reed's guidance, Earth forces are able to hold them off long enough for him to figure out a solution. Combining his device with Skrull technology taken from his foes, Reed can not only cancel out the aliens' abilities, but can trigger them remotely. It's a simple matter to transform all Skrulls in range into harmless creatures (like cows), ending the alien invasion and likely preventing any future return from the Skrulls.
The Earth is saved and the Fantastic Four are global heroes.
Cast
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
Jamie Bamber
This is a guy who is not only smart enough to develop a functioning warp drive, but ballsy enough to fly it himself. In his earlier publishing days, he was a pretty manly scientist, alternating between developing portals to other dimensions while threatening to knock Ben's block off if he didn't stop moping. Jamie Bamber convinced me he could play an intelligent combat leader/astronaut in Battlestar Galactica, and with the added maturity he's gained since, I'm even more convinced he's my Reed.
In this movie, his intellect was miles beyond his 1960s contemporaries, but seeing what the 21st century has available to him has put him in Heaven. Rather than playing catch-up, he takes an immediate grasp on modern technology and starts projecting beyond it. It's not humbling enough that he's able to make a de-evolution ray, but that he does it with technology everyone else also has access to is what elevates his mind above all others'.
His is a hard power to put on film, I think. The effects in the Tim Story film never looked less than goofy, and, as Chris Evans said, kind of gross. I much prefer the effect we saw in Elasti-Girl (from 'The Incredibles') or the sadly limited use we saw in the Josh Trank movie. These characters lash out and whip around rather than being all sinuous and snakey which I think works best for a live-action human.
Sue Storm/Invisible Girl
Brie Larson
Yes, I want to start Sue Storm as Invisible Girl (rather than Woman), because I want to see her doing the most growing up during the story. Looking back over the run of FF comics, I think Sue's best characterization is how she started off as this meek young girl with a mad crush on Reed and became a badass chick in the years to follow.
I first noticed Brie Larson in '21 Jump Street' (but since learned she was in Scott Pilgrim which I also really liked). In Jump Street, she played the perfect blend of sensible yet rebellious and impressed with her ability to play a high school student but with an added layer of maturity. I think she can totally nail the arc between young girl and monster beater.
Of all the four, she's the one who feels the most impact from their time in stasis. Reed and Ben didn't have much family (aside from a time-traveling Nathaniel Richards and ol' Aunt Petunia who I just now decided should still be alive, the tough old bird). Sue, however, at least had a mother and father whom she misses dearly. I suppose Johnny would miss them too, but he's much better at hiding those feelings...
There's nothing too challenging about putting Invisible Girl's powers on the screen. FX artists have been making people invisible and generating force fields for generations. I don't want to see the the 'coruscating energy' playing over the surface like in recent attempts, but rather limiting it to a faint outline and highlights (like a bad chroma key effect) when we really need to see where she is or what's interacting with her force field.
Ben Grimm/The Thing
Jared Keeso
Ben and Reed go way back, and a lot of ink could be spent on describing how these two completely different people became such good friends. Ultimately, Ben benefits from being a self-made man who dug himself out of a Brooklyn gang to become a top Army pilot and NASA astronaut applicant. He's so comfortable with himself, that he never felt threatened by Reed's intelligence and was one of the few people who didn't hesitate to call out the emperor on his new clothes whenever Reed started overthinking things or distancing himself from real life. After the change, this same self-confidence goes a long way to helping Ben cope with his transformation.
Keeso first caught my eye as looking a lot like what I imagine Ben Grimm looks like, but his performance as the loyal partner cop in the Canadian police drama '19-2' (although you probably saw him as the parachute jumpmaster in 'Godzilla') cemented him in my mind as the perfect counterpoint to Reed. To be honest, Keeso is about 10 years younger than Bamber, which would complicate their mutual college background if this weren't fantasy Hollywood and we couldn't just make Jamie Bamber look a little younger on film.
Since we don't spend any time with Ben before the accident, I'd like to have his transformation happen more slowly. He can emerge from the crash as handsome Jared Keeso, but the initial fight with the Army causes some notable swelling and discoloring. Using his strength seems to accelerate it until he's soon completely orange and lumpy by Act II and full on rocky by the final battle. This would call for an evolution of practical costuming turning to CG. Although initially horrified by his changes (as any true Ben Grimm story should have), he accepts it on condition that it makes him more able to protect those he cares about and with a promise from his best friend that he'll find a cure. One thing I'll make clear, though, is that he's not made out of rock. Sure his skin is a rocky texture, but it shouldn't look like a pile of rubble.
Johnny Storm/Human Torch
Callan McAuliffe
Johnny Storm is Sue's brash little brother and skirts the edge of rebellious as the story progresses. Give any teenager the high-flying powers of the Human Torch and see how conformist he becomes. Add in the lack of parental oversight and Johnny could easily tip into delinquency if it weren't for surrogate big brother Ben Grimm on hand to talk him back based on his own childhood experiences in a Brooklyn gang.
Beause I'm looking for a younger Johnny Storm, I went to Callan McAuliffe, a young actor who first impressed me in the drama 'Flipped.' He later turned up in 'I Am Number Four' where he got to have some action scenes, and I realized he'd do a fine job of showcasing the fine line Johnny walks over the course of this story as he learns the responsibility of his powers.
Credit where due, Josh Trank and his crew really nailed the Torch look. I like the darker core with the brighter, burning corona, and the way the throws his fireballs rather than jets fire from his hands adds some cool motion to the character.
Kl'rt/Super-Skrull
Richard Armitage
As a member of the Skrull warrior caste, Kl'rt is unhappy with all the hiding and creeping about his empire has been doing in the name of 'invasion.' He thinks they should just obliterate the humans in a grand show of power and take what they want. He is a loyal warrior, though, and must acquiesce to his Empress' wishes. He doesn't hesitate to express his feelings on the subject, though, and is actually quite happy with the turn of events that leads to him being unleashed on the FF.
You may or may not recognize Richard Armitage as the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield in 'The Hobbit.' Don't let his performance there fool you, though, as Armitage is actually over 6' tall. Imagine all of Thorin's intensity but in his proper, towering frame. That's what the Fantastic Four face when the greatest of all Skrull warriors comes barreling down on them. Also, he's no stranger to working in prosthetics, so that's a plus.
Because we've already figured out all the special effects with each individual member of the Four, they can just copy them over to Kl'rt. The shape shifting is a new effect here, but it's been done so many times, I don't doubt it can be done with a truly organic appearance.
Veranke/Skrull Empress
Jessica Chastain
To be honest, I just cherry-picked Veranke from the recent(-ish) 'Invasion' series at Marvel. There are other characters who can be used as the Emperor of the Skrull Empire, but I think a female leader would contrast well with Kl'rt and help distinguish them beyond all their Skrully prosthetics. In the comics, Veranke had a religious calling to conquer Earth, and I thought that lead a nice distinction to any other, more generic "conquest for the sake of conquest" invasion.
Jessica Chastain dominated a group of SEALs in 'Zero Dark Thirty' and that same interaction will be called for here when she must keep her top warrior Kl'rt in line. Also, she apparently doesn't mind being bodycast, so the prosthetics should be no sweat.
Because her conquest is a religious calling, she truly wants to bring the humans into the fold and doesn't want to use forceful conquest. When humanity defies them, though, it's their own fault and she almost seems sad to order the decimation of Earth and enslavement of the humans. Almost.
Future Expansion
Franchises are all the rage and I think there's room to expand the FF universe. Altough I actually really like them in their own world, not combining with the Avengers or X-Men, there's still plenty of characters in their circle to warrant future films.
Dr. Doom I mentioned earlier that Dr. Doom should get his own film, and I see one which maintains him as the despotic ruler of Latveria. This Doom would retain the mystic knowledge he inherited from his mother, but would combine it with his advanced scientific knowledge. These disciplines wouldn't be separate sciences, but rather fully integrated, like laser pentagrams or bio-alchemistry.
In his solo film, Doom would be reunited with the love of his life, Valeria, only to learn that she was in league with a group of rebels causing troubles in his nation. Of course mention will have to be made of the fate of his mother, doomed to Hell and enslaved to the demon Mephisto, as I have plans to include him later and it'd be nice to tie them together. In fact, Mephisto could even get some lip service in the religion of the Skrulls, but it's not critical.
Fantastic Four II A Fantastic Four sequel would assuredly feature Galactus. Sure that was the premise behind the Tim Story sequel, but I've no qualms making him a humanoid and last survivor of the Big Bang. Most of the movie would feature all four of Galactus' heralds (Air Walker, Terrax, Fire Lord and Silver Surfer) whom the FF would be facing off against. The heralds would be quite effective in preparing the Earth for consumption, and it's only when the Fantastic Four are able to convert the Silver Surfer that the Big G is turned away.
This movie would also feature the wedding of Reed and Sue as well as introducing Alicia Masters (who, in some versions of the story) is key in persuading the Silver Surfer to save humanity.
Silver Surfer
Spinning from FFII, the Surfer gets his own solo film. I'm avoiding the temptation of launching him into space and we instead will see him trapped on Earth and seeking redemption for the sins he committed while serving Galactus. The quest will be complicated by the involvement of Mephisto. While the demon may seem tonally mismatched to the star-soaring Surfer, they faced off quite often in the comics and their stories were always quite good. Hopefully introducing the devil in the Dr. Doom movie will help pave the way for his larger role here.
Fantastic Four III Finally, our Fantastic Four trilogy wraps up with the final showdown between the FF and Dr. Doom. With the birth of Reed and Sue's son, Doom decides he is the perfect prize. Undoubtedly bestowed with great power, Doom seeks to claim him for his own purposes, not the least of which would be the conquest of Earth. At least part of this story should include Doom succeeding in using little Franklin Richards' powers to alter reality and make him emperor so the FF can see that the world would actually be as peaceful and ordered as Latveria under his rule. The price would be too high, though, but it would add some debate to the defeat of this world conqueror.
So that's at least five films in my Fantastic Four franchise. Hopefully that will see us through the 10 years it usually takes before somebody decides it's time to reboot the franchise again.
Unfortunately, he DID try to make a Fantastic Four movie, and the results missed the mark by some margin. That seems to be happening a bit lately, and I don't think I'm being too much of a fanboi by wondering why studios are so intent on re-imagining characters like Peter Parker and Superman to be so distant from the source material that made them so popular in the first place.
But while I've been a huge fan of Superman and Spider-Man in the past, I was even more a fan of the Fantastic Four back in the day, and seeing the characters wasted like this really got my juices going. I've already talked a bit about the Fantastic Four comic that I would want to write, but here's my window to pitch the Fantastic Four movie I would make.
The idea here is that, faced with the failure of their latest attempt at an FF film, Fox called me up and offered me a chance to take over the franchise (likely done as a dick move to keep the rights from reverting back to Marvel, but whatever). So with the recent version barely out of theaters, and with an intent to hew closer to the tone that made the comic so popular, here's my pitch for Maybe Productions version of the Fantastic Four.
There is a caveat before I get started, though. It is my intent to stay true to the source material, and that means I have to accept that there are some elements that must be included in any FF movie, even if they were done (and done well) in previous attempts. Fer instance, There has to be an element of Ben Grimm learning to cope with his monstrous appearance while Reed struggles to find a cure. So even though the 2005 Tim Story film did a pretty good job of showing that, I won't ditch the idea for the sake of being different. I believe there's room for originality while still sticking to these timeless elements, and it's the writer's job to find new ways of exploring the same content.
Big picture-wise, there are two things that have to be in any Fantastic Four movie.
First, I think the entire world is in agreement that the Fantastic Four work best as a family. Despite the fantastical events shaping their lives, their personal quirks and interactions are so immediately recognizable that it keeps their adventures relatable even while they're battling world-eating spacemen.
And that's the second thing that needs to be in an FF film. Not Galactus per se, but a grand scope of unbelievable science and fantasy. If I could, I'd totally sign up Steven Moffat to write the script. You may be familiar with his work as some of the best Dr. Who stories in recent decades, and his grasp of grand scope vs. intimate moments is exactly what a good FF script calls for.
What the Fantastic Four movie DOESN'T need, though, is another origin story or another attempt at Dr. Doom. Certainly the former needs to be touched on to explain the premise, but if Reed and the crew aren't exhibiting superpowers by minute 15, I've missed my mark. As for Doom, he's one of Marveldom's greatest villains and trying to share time introducing him alongside the Fantastic Four and their supporting cast is doing him a great disfavor. He could certainly appear in a sequel where the main characters have already been introduced and more time can be spent on him, but he's Doom! Nothing short of his own solo film would do him justice before integrating him into a future FF film.
But that's for the future. Right now, we're dealing with my FF launch film, and with Dr. Doom out of the equation, I'm going to turn to the shape-shifting alien menace of the Skrulls. Beyond your basic alien invasion, the Skrulls offer a whole 'nuther level of story as they infiltrate the Earth and possibly have been for decades. It's the Red Scare on a cosmic scale. Leaning back on Dr. Who, if you're familiar with the Silents, you have an idea of what I'm going for.
So how does this play out? Glad you asked.
Act I
Guess it wasn't such a failure after all, but an unexpected side effect of Reed's experimental warp drive kept them out of the action for 50 years. Spending that much time in a warp dimension, though, has altered the four crewmen. Their fantastic powers aren't completely apparent from the start (Ben, fer instance, is still human looking when he exits the capsule), but they start to develop when the military moves in to apprehend them. Confused by what has happened to them, the four agree to go with the authorities.
Meanwhile, it's become obvious to some that their attempt to delay Earth's interplanetary capabilities by sabotaging Dr. Richard's prototype all those years ago wasn't as successful as they'd hoped. The alien Skrulls are now faced with proof that Earth has functioning intergalactic space travel and the hidden menace must move up their timeline to absorb the Earth into their empire.
Act II pt 1
The military tries to debrief the Fantastic Four, but Reed is in control. His main concern is the changes that are overcoming his friends, especially the disfiguring nature of Ben's transformation. The whole program is derailed, though, when several members of the government team are revealed to be shape-shifting alien infiltrators who attempt to assassinate the quartet. Their now more fully-developed powers come to their aid, letting them defeat the aliens while exposing the hidden conspiracy.No longer willing to stay as guests of the military, the quartet moves to Reed's old mothballed lab in New York. It exposes them more to public scrutiny, but it gives Reed access to equipment he needs.
Act II pt 2
Act III
Reed is able to adapt his device to broadcast around the world, neutralizing Skrull shape shifting across the globe. Everywhere, green-skilled aliens are unmasked and the infiltration is broken. Unfortunately, this forces the Skrulls into Plan B, Forced Conversion. A cluster of Skrull destroyers arrive in orbit to conquer the Earth by brute force. With Reed's guidance, Earth forces are able to hold them off long enough for him to figure out a solution. Combining his device with Skrull technology taken from his foes, Reed can not only cancel out the aliens' abilities, but can trigger them remotely. It's a simple matter to transform all Skrulls in range into harmless creatures (like cows), ending the alien invasion and likely preventing any future return from the Skrulls.The Earth is saved and the Fantastic Four are global heroes.
Cast
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
Jamie Bamber
In this movie, his intellect was miles beyond his 1960s contemporaries, but seeing what the 21st century has available to him has put him in Heaven. Rather than playing catch-up, he takes an immediate grasp on modern technology and starts projecting beyond it. It's not humbling enough that he's able to make a de-evolution ray, but that he does it with technology everyone else also has access to is what elevates his mind above all others'.
His is a hard power to put on film, I think. The effects in the Tim Story film never looked less than goofy, and, as Chris Evans said, kind of gross. I much prefer the effect we saw in Elasti-Girl (from 'The Incredibles') or the sadly limited use we saw in the Josh Trank movie. These characters lash out and whip around rather than being all sinuous and snakey which I think works best for a live-action human.
Sue Storm/Invisible Girl
Brie Larson
Yes, I want to start Sue Storm as Invisible Girl (rather than Woman), because I want to see her doing the most growing up during the story. Looking back over the run of FF comics, I think Sue's best characterization is how she started off as this meek young girl with a mad crush on Reed and became a badass chick in the years to follow. I first noticed Brie Larson in '21 Jump Street' (but since learned she was in Scott Pilgrim which I also really liked). In Jump Street, she played the perfect blend of sensible yet rebellious and impressed with her ability to play a high school student but with an added layer of maturity. I think she can totally nail the arc between young girl and monster beater.
Of all the four, she's the one who feels the most impact from their time in stasis. Reed and Ben didn't have much family (aside from a time-traveling Nathaniel Richards and ol' Aunt Petunia who I just now decided should still be alive, the tough old bird). Sue, however, at least had a mother and father whom she misses dearly. I suppose Johnny would miss them too, but he's much better at hiding those feelings...
There's nothing too challenging about putting Invisible Girl's powers on the screen. FX artists have been making people invisible and generating force fields for generations. I don't want to see the the 'coruscating energy' playing over the surface like in recent attempts, but rather limiting it to a faint outline and highlights (like a bad chroma key effect) when we really need to see where she is or what's interacting with her force field.
Ben Grimm/The Thing
Jared Keeso
Keeso first caught my eye as looking a lot like what I imagine Ben Grimm looks like, but his performance as the loyal partner cop in the Canadian police drama '19-2' (although you probably saw him as the parachute jumpmaster in 'Godzilla') cemented him in my mind as the perfect counterpoint to Reed. To be honest, Keeso is about 10 years younger than Bamber, which would complicate their mutual college background if this weren't fantasy Hollywood and we couldn't just make Jamie Bamber look a little younger on film.
Since we don't spend any time with Ben before the accident, I'd like to have his transformation happen more slowly. He can emerge from the crash as handsome Jared Keeso, but the initial fight with the Army causes some notable swelling and discoloring. Using his strength seems to accelerate it until he's soon completely orange and lumpy by Act II and full on rocky by the final battle. This would call for an evolution of practical costuming turning to CG. Although initially horrified by his changes (as any true Ben Grimm story should have), he accepts it on condition that it makes him more able to protect those he cares about and with a promise from his best friend that he'll find a cure. One thing I'll make clear, though, is that he's not made out of rock. Sure his skin is a rocky texture, but it shouldn't look like a pile of rubble.
Johnny Storm/Human Torch
Callan McAuliffe
Johnny Storm is Sue's brash little brother and skirts the edge of rebellious as the story progresses. Give any teenager the high-flying powers of the Human Torch and see how conformist he becomes. Add in the lack of parental oversight and Johnny could easily tip into delinquency if it weren't for surrogate big brother Ben Grimm on hand to talk him back based on his own childhood experiences in a Brooklyn gang.Beause I'm looking for a younger Johnny Storm, I went to Callan McAuliffe, a young actor who first impressed me in the drama 'Flipped.' He later turned up in 'I Am Number Four' where he got to have some action scenes, and I realized he'd do a fine job of showcasing the fine line Johnny walks over the course of this story as he learns the responsibility of his powers.
Credit where due, Josh Trank and his crew really nailed the Torch look. I like the darker core with the brighter, burning corona, and the way the throws his fireballs rather than jets fire from his hands adds some cool motion to the character.
Kl'rt/Super-Skrull
Richard Armitage
You may or may not recognize Richard Armitage as the dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield in 'The Hobbit.' Don't let his performance there fool you, though, as Armitage is actually over 6' tall. Imagine all of Thorin's intensity but in his proper, towering frame. That's what the Fantastic Four face when the greatest of all Skrull warriors comes barreling down on them. Also, he's no stranger to working in prosthetics, so that's a plus.
Because we've already figured out all the special effects with each individual member of the Four, they can just copy them over to Kl'rt. The shape shifting is a new effect here, but it's been done so many times, I don't doubt it can be done with a truly organic appearance.
Veranke/Skrull Empress
Jessica Chastain
To be honest, I just cherry-picked Veranke from the recent(-ish) 'Invasion' series at Marvel. There are other characters who can be used as the Emperor of the Skrull Empire, but I think a female leader would contrast well with Kl'rt and help distinguish them beyond all their Skrully prosthetics. In the comics, Veranke had a religious calling to conquer Earth, and I thought that lead a nice distinction to any other, more generic "conquest for the sake of conquest" invasion. Jessica Chastain dominated a group of SEALs in 'Zero Dark Thirty' and that same interaction will be called for here when she must keep her top warrior Kl'rt in line. Also, she apparently doesn't mind being bodycast, so the prosthetics should be no sweat.
Because her conquest is a religious calling, she truly wants to bring the humans into the fold and doesn't want to use forceful conquest. When humanity defies them, though, it's their own fault and she almost seems sad to order the decimation of Earth and enslavement of the humans. Almost.
Future Expansion
Franchises are all the rage and I think there's room to expand the FF universe. Altough I actually really like them in their own world, not combining with the Avengers or X-Men, there's still plenty of characters in their circle to warrant future films.
Dr. Doom I mentioned earlier that Dr. Doom should get his own film, and I see one which maintains him as the despotic ruler of Latveria. This Doom would retain the mystic knowledge he inherited from his mother, but would combine it with his advanced scientific knowledge. These disciplines wouldn't be separate sciences, but rather fully integrated, like laser pentagrams or bio-alchemistry.
In his solo film, Doom would be reunited with the love of his life, Valeria, only to learn that she was in league with a group of rebels causing troubles in his nation. Of course mention will have to be made of the fate of his mother, doomed to Hell and enslaved to the demon Mephisto, as I have plans to include him later and it'd be nice to tie them together. In fact, Mephisto could even get some lip service in the religion of the Skrulls, but it's not critical.
Fantastic Four II A Fantastic Four sequel would assuredly feature Galactus. Sure that was the premise behind the Tim Story sequel, but I've no qualms making him a humanoid and last survivor of the Big Bang. Most of the movie would feature all four of Galactus' heralds (Air Walker, Terrax, Fire Lord and Silver Surfer) whom the FF would be facing off against. The heralds would be quite effective in preparing the Earth for consumption, and it's only when the Fantastic Four are able to convert the Silver Surfer that the Big G is turned away.
This movie would also feature the wedding of Reed and Sue as well as introducing Alicia Masters (who, in some versions of the story) is key in persuading the Silver Surfer to save humanity.
Silver Surfer
Spinning from FFII, the Surfer gets his own solo film. I'm avoiding the temptation of launching him into space and we instead will see him trapped on Earth and seeking redemption for the sins he committed while serving Galactus. The quest will be complicated by the involvement of Mephisto. While the demon may seem tonally mismatched to the star-soaring Surfer, they faced off quite often in the comics and their stories were always quite good. Hopefully introducing the devil in the Dr. Doom movie will help pave the way for his larger role here.
Fantastic Four III Finally, our Fantastic Four trilogy wraps up with the final showdown between the FF and Dr. Doom. With the birth of Reed and Sue's son, Doom decides he is the perfect prize. Undoubtedly bestowed with great power, Doom seeks to claim him for his own purposes, not the least of which would be the conquest of Earth. At least part of this story should include Doom succeeding in using little Franklin Richards' powers to alter reality and make him emperor so the FF can see that the world would actually be as peaceful and ordered as Latveria under his rule. The price would be too high, though, but it would add some debate to the defeat of this world conqueror.
So that's at least five films in my Fantastic Four franchise. Hopefully that will see us through the 10 years it usually takes before somebody decides it's time to reboot the franchise again.
Friday, August 14, 2015
The (Cinematic) Adventures of Superman
I had quite a bit of fun in my last foray into fantasy Hollywood, correcting what I saw as a failed Fantastic Four movie with a description of what *I* would produce if given the opportunity.
It was so much fun, in fact, that I knew I couldn't hold off too long before taking a stab at another comic property I felt Hollywood didn't get right. If you read the title to this blog entry, you'll know I've set my sights on Superman. So let's pretend 'Man of Steel' didn't earn sacks of cash, and see what I can do when Warner Bros. calls me up with an offer to relaunch their DC film franchise.
Setting the tone for the film is critical, not only to capture the feeling of Superman on film but also because it will set the tone for the rest of the DCCU (or at least the Justice League-related ones).
Tonally, I think the big misstep of 'Man of Steel' (and 'Batman Begins' before that) was in how bleak it was. While I get the concept of the reluctant hero, Clark clearly didn't want to be Superman and appeared miserable throughout the whole film. Some of my favorite Superman portrayals focused instead on his confidence and competents, and allowed for some levity and joy in his mission.
George Reeves, from 'The Adventures of Superman,' is one of my favorites. He had an air of authority, but smoothly tendered it with a subtle sense of humor. He took his responsibilities seriously, but still enjoyed his role. In fact, I'll be drawing a lot of inspiration from that 1950's series, including a larger role for the trouble-prone Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane's struggle against gender barriers, and Clark Kent always seeming to be in on a joke that nobody else got.
Another throwback is to dodge the recent trend (in the past 40 years or so) of focusing so much on Kal-El's alien ancestry. Originally just the source of his powers, his stories soon became dominated with explorations of Kryptonian culture and how humanity reacts to the alien in their midst. While those are completely valid story-telling approaches, I find them a bit inaccessible to us normal, Earth-bound humans, and would like to use Kal-El to tell more relatable stories.
Rather than focusing on his literal alien status, I'd like to tell a story of his figurative alien status. With the character's relocation from Smallville to Metropolis, we get a chance to contrast his upstanding Midwest beliefs with the dog-eat-dog world of the big city. This will not be a well-traveled Clark Kent, but more of a fish out of water, with his strongly-held morals and beliefs challenged at every turn. In fact, that's Clark's big moral challenge of the film. Can he hold onto his values and become a symbol for his new neighbors, or will he fall in line with the rest of the populous and get dragged into the rat race. With the "Other 99%" movement still strong across America, Clark provides a good venue for exploring how the diminished American farmer can compete with the "1-percenters" on his own terms.
These human elements are critical to any science fiction story. Without them, the audience won't be able to relate. If all we're seeing is an invulnerable alien space god punching a giant, radioactive robot gorilla, our minds would just tune out under the spectacle. But if we can be engaged by the social commentary or daily struggles that we ourselves struggle with, we'll be more invested in the events when these fantastical moments happen.
On the surface, there are a lot of elements that must be in any Superman story. He has powers beyond human comprehension, and they need to be demonstrated to full effect. He needs to out-power locomotives and out-race bullets. He needs to soar over tall buildings, rescue endangered reporters, and stand firm in the face of moral quandaries. And while it flies in my past arguments against using a character's iconic nemesis in the first film of the franchise, I can't think of a better foe to contrast with the Man of Steel than his evil genius opposite number, Lex Luthor.
In his current interpretation as a ruthless businessman, Luthor challenges all of Clark's values of might v right, while his mechanical genius is fully capable of creating physical challenges for Superman to pound on. Plus, as a human foe, he allows me to keep those elements more grounded than if he were fighting some of his other, more alien foes like Brainiac or Zod. Luthor isn't just a foe that can be punched away, and if I learned one thing in 'Man of Steel', it's that punching something away for 40 minutes is really kind of dull.
As you may have caught in my 'Fantastic Four' me-boot, one element of superhero stories I'm a little tired of is the origin story. While the decision to become a superhero is an important one, it's sort of foregone that it's going to happen and spending the first third of the film building up to it is a waste of time. Even more so in Superman's case as his origin story is so iconic, I can't imagine a potential audience member NOT knowing it.
Still, it'd be irresponsible from a storytelling point not to at least explain his origin, so it will definitely be included in the backstory somewhere, but our film would pick up near the moment he decides to become Superman and moves to Metropolis.
Those are the broad strokes. Let's break it down into slightly-less broad strokes.
Act I
Clark Kent returns home from college with a journalism degree from Kansas State University. His parents at the farm are proud of him being the first Kent to graduate college, but they're even more proud of all the mysterious rescues they know he was secretly behind during those years. They all wish he could act more openly, though. He could be such a fine example to others, just as his adoptive parents were such good role-models for him, but they learned early on the danger of revealing his powers to others (vague backstory pending in some future film, I imagine).
Despite knowing he was adopted, they don't suspect his alien origin. All they know is he was found in a rocket, and it seems more likely that he's the result of some inhuman yet earth-based experiment. That rocket, however, may have the solution to their quandary, though, as they still have the flight suit they found him in. He'd worn it once or twice as a young boy, so they know its special fabric expands to fit him, and it only takes a little effort to rework it into a public costume for him to be seen in. This lets him serve as a public example of how the powerful should help the weak, but separates that identity from his own so he won't get pestered for being so different. His mother coins the name 'Superman,' and his new identity is formed.
In Metropolis, it's an immediate culture clash as the Midwest boy is introduced to the dog-eat-dog world of the big city. Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet, is impressed with Kent's technical skills, but finds his "feel good" news portfolio lacking in content. He offers him a chance to bring in some hard news and teams him with another reporter, Lois Lane, to cover local tycoon Lex Luthor's reveal of a new construction project down by the river.
At the press conference, Lex reveals a new, automated construction process which can build and even reconfigure buildings in a fraction of the time as living work crews could. There are a lot of protests on site, though, both from out-of-work construction workers as well as the displaced citizens who live at the location where Lex is building. But things get really protest-y when an armed terrorist force arrives and starts blowing things up. There's a lot of destruction, providing the perfect opportunity for Clark to debut as Superman. The leader of the terrorists underestimates Superman's invulnerability and winds up caught in his own explosion.
Act II pt 1
Although this new Superman is considered a hero for saving Metropolis' first son, he can't let go of the idea that something screwy was behind the attack. They were a well-organized and seemingly experienced terrorist crew, but their attacks seemed to miss their specified target. Lex's automated construction machinery had survived and was quickly able to rebuild the damage. It was the surrounding homes and businesses which were mostly destroyed in the attack.
Technically Clark meets White's challenge by turning in a good article about the construction and it's impact on the community, but the editor is boggled by how he completely ignored the presence of this Superman character. Lois, of course, nails that story and takes the first step to being a star reporter. White hires Clark, but doesn't support any further investigation into the attack on LexCorp property. Clark has to work on the side to follow his suspicions about Luthor.
Lex himself, however, is interested in meeting Superman, and arranges an apparently reckless display to get his attention. Superman responds, discovers it's all a sham, and rejects Luthor's offer to come work for LexCorp. Lex assures him that he won't abide competition and his track record of ruthless domination should be taken for the warning it is.
Clark's investigation into the terrorist attack uncovers an interesting connection between Luthor and the man who led the attack, John Corbet. He doesn't make too much more headway, though, as Perry White discovers he's still working the story despite his orders not to, and the still-probational news writer is fired.
Act II pt 2
Without the Planet's resources, Clark goes to Lois and photographer Jimmy Olson for help in digging up all the dirt on Luthor. Clark's instincts lead him to uncover some legal shenanigans that allow Luthor to claim all the now-destroyed properties around his new factory as well as some fast-tracked re-zoning laws at City Hall. Lois, meanwhile, is more interested in the history between Luthor and Corben. She and Jimmy dig a little deeper and discover Corben has worked -for- Luthor in the past, and even manage to track the still-living mercenary to a secret LexCorp-funded lab where he's recovering.
The surprise comes not from the fact he's still alive, but in how Luthor has integrated him into the building's machinery. Related to the automated factory that was demonstrated earlier, Corben/Metallo can now reconfigure his mechanical body into the means to capture Lois and Jimmy.
Clark learns his friends have gone missing, and is able to track them to where they're being held (possibly listening for the oscillation noise of Jimmy's camera flash as a nod to his signal watch in the comics.) He finds where Corben is holding them, but is in for a more challenging fight than the first time, as Metallo's robotic body is able to dish out and take a lot of punishment. The presence of Jimmy and Lois as hostages doesn't help.
It's only when Superman is able to appeal to Corben's lost humanity that he gets him to calm down. Rather than pounding him into scrap, he chooses to understand Corben and, when Metallo is confronted with his lost humanity, he surrenders.
Act III
Clark has finally uncovered Luthor's true plan and suspects he'll be able to find him at the new factory which has been slowly expanding along the waterfront into the area he's claimed from the demolished homes. Not waiting for his political maneuvering to rezone the area, Luthor has already configured the plant to produce munitions, and it's in this fully operational and heavily armed factory Superman knows he'll find Luthor.
But he knows the only way to stop Luthor is to stop him in the public eye. So while he goes to confront Lex, he sends Lois to tell the story to Perry and hopefully get the media behind the revelation that Luthor's empire is built on lies and graft. Inside the factory, Superman is faced with a number of advanced weapons and robotics. At the finale, even the factory itself is used to attack Superman. The battle is hard fought, but ultimately Superman exposes the inner workings to the public which includes a few news agencies Lois has managed to motivate to their cause. Lex is taken down, Superman is a hero of the people, and even Clark manages to turn up with an independently-written story about the whole deal that gets him hired on full-time at the Planet.
Cast
Clark Kent/Superman
Matt Bomer
Superman is not a grim character. He doesn't see helping people as some sort of duty or obligation, it's just in the nature of how he was raised. People should help each other, and he's just uniquely suited to helping people in bigger ways. Catching falling planes isn't a burden, it's just what you do. In fact, he can even have some fun doing it. Whether it's teasing the thug who throws a gun at him after emptying the clip into his chest or just using his x-ray vision to mess with Jimmy, he can afford a wry smile.
The challenge, though, is to make him just as interesting as Clark as he is as Superman. "Bumbling" Clark Kent is good for some laughs, but that's really just a screen. I think Christopher Reeve pulled it off the best. His Clark came across as a little meek, but we all knew that he was secretly taking care of business. This Clark Kent will also use his superpowers to help people, but it'll be done with the same level of subtlety to protect his identity.
I've only seen Matt Bomer as the con artist-turned-FBI agent Neal Caffrey in the series 'White Collar,' but he nails that fine line between playfulness and concern that I want from my Superman. Plus, I did get to see him in an interview (I think he was plugging 'Magic Mike') and he was a bit of a dork. If he brings half of that to the table when portraying Clark, I think he'll have that role locked down.
Costume-wise, I'll confess that I don't hate the newer outfit they created for 'Man of Steel,' but I'm not in love with the dark and muted colors. In fact, I think the fabrics used in 'Superman Returns' are closest to what I would want, with contour-fitting performance wear in the brighter blue with the darker, almost maroon cape and boots. I'm pretty confident a costumer could make the red trunks viable too. My suggestion is to go bigger, like the set Kirk Alyn wore in the old Superman serials rather than the bikini briefs Brandon Routh wore. Still, I'm not married to them, and if I'm the only one who thinks the trunks can work, I can do without.
Lex Luthor
Jason Isaacs
Lex Luthor is the exact opposite of Superman in almost every way, which makes him such a perfect foe for him. His scientific genius can create any number of weapons to challenge him physically, while his deviousness allows him to confront Superman on an entirely different level.
One example of their differences is that, while Clark is a product of a good, midwest upbringing, Lex is a result of growing up in Metropolis. A self-made man, he dragged himself from poverty (possibly over the bodies of his own parents), and has made himself the most important person in Metropolis. His company employs hundreds of thousands of people, either directly or indirectly, and his military contracts extend his influence into the highest reaches of the government. He gets whatever he wants, and Heaven help anyone who he even considers to have gotten in his way.
I'll be honest, Isaacs' presence here is based almost solely on his performance as Captain Hook in the 2003 Peter Pan movie. He was just so charming and scary at the same time, and those are exactly the traits I'd expect to see in my connivingly deadly Lex Luthor. If you still need convincing, don't forget that he also played a pretty menacing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies, so there's that. Don't let his British upbringing throw you off, though. He's great at accents.
For most of the film, Lex will stick to really expensive business suits and the like. Toward the end, when he takes control of the munitions factory I might have the control suit be reminiscent of his outfit from the older comics and cartoons, but I'll be saving his actual battle suit for some future use.
John Corben/Metallo
Seann William Scott
First and foremost, John Corben is a henchman who doesn't ask questions. Admittedly, he's a highly-skilled henchman, but ultimately if the price is right, he's in. That's why he agrees to Luthor's plan to up-power him with Metallo alloy and why he doesn't realize what that really means until Superman reveals it to him. He's worked for Luthor in the past and he's never been let down, so his loyalty is going to be a tough nut to crack. It's possible, though, that having his entire body taken from him just might do the trick...
As the main foe Superman comes to blows with in this story, Corben needs to be more than just a throwaway thug for Lex to hit Superman with. He needs to have a recognizable presence and personality if only because it's that personal depth that Superman needs to delve into and appeal to if he's going to survive.
Although mostly known for being a dumbass in the American Pie movies, Seann William Scott has a broader acting career that touches on many of the traits I'd want to see in my Metallo. I can totally see Scott playing the cocky bastard who assumes he's the only one who can beat Superman and then turn around and be the rage-fueled monster who discovers his body has been taken from him. He's got kind of a thug mentality that makes him a good stooge for Luthor, but at the same time be likeable enough that we feel bad for the raw deal he gets. Plus, 'Bulletproof Monk, showed he can handle the action scenes.
After the conversion into Metallo, he'll actually look completely human such that even Corben doesn't know the extent to which he's been changed. Initially just thinking he's been upgraded with bionics, his clash with Supes will soon lead to the reveal of the metallic skeleton beneath the fake skin. Kind of like the Terminator, but without actual meat.
Lois Lane
Erin Cummings
Strangely, I've never seen a Lois Lane I didn't like. I think she's underrated as a character and could easily see a movie based just on her. Her greatest assets are dogged determination, and heaps of ingenuity. Unfortunately, she's a bit of a sensationalist which doesn't sit too well with her more traditional editor.
In fact, we're catching her pretty early in her career, and she's got a long way to go before she's the Pulitzer winner we've come to expect. She's still trying to prove herself, and doesn't have the nose for news she'll get with some more experience. Instead, she tends to shotgun stories, running leads into the ground until they either fall through or turn into a great expose. Her batting average in that regard isn't the best, but it's getting better.
Less love interest than friendly competition in this movie, we'll still see the groundwork laid for one of the greatest love triangles in comic history. She really doesn't have the time of day for Clark Kent, the new rival reporter she's been teamed with, but she becomes quite infatuated with Superman by the end of the film. Clark, meanwhile, is quickly drawn to this amazing woman, but doesn't want to "cheat" and win her over as Superman. He'd rather win her over as Clark Kent and is a little distant to her while in his caped identity.
As an actress, Erin Cummings combines aspects of a few of my favorite Lois Lanes. In 'Astronauts Wives,' she played the sassy Marge Slayton with the same vibe as Dana Delaney's Lois from the animated series, while as Sura in 'Spartacus,' we get to see her play the love interest to the hero without coming across in any way as subservient or needy. As an added bonus, she has a degree in journalism so already has a head start in preparing for the role.
Perry White
Peter Gallagher
Perry White is not there to be your friend. He's a mentor, yes, and will work hard to make you a better reporter, but in the end he's there to make the Daily Planet the best newspaper it can be. The fact that the Planet still exists as a print newspaper in this day and age is a tribute to how hard he's worked to maintain the paper's credibility and reputation as an in-depth news source.
As the hard-assed Deputy Chief Dodds on 'Special Victims Unit,' Peter Gallagher displays exactly the traits I want from my hard-edged editor. He has that quiet demeanor that shows that he's listening to you, but can follow that up with a stern direction that shuts down all argument. He also looks like he was designed by Jack Kirby, so...
Jimmy Olsen
Jason Dolley
While a movie version may take a back seat to Lois Lane in the Superman/Clark relationship, I still want to see a hint of the adventurous, disguise-wearing, getting-into-trouble Jimmy Olsen. It's his youthful nature that leads to some of his more outlandish plans, but it's his lack of experience that sees those plans often falling apart midway. While I don't really think a Jimmy Olsen spin-off movie could work, I certainly want to set him up as a possibly YA series lead just in case.
Interestingly, I seemed to have subconsciously cast my entire movie with actors with double letters in their names. Hm... In any case, Dolley was great as the lead in 'Minutemen,' and I'm sure he can bring that "I've got a plan" geekiness to full bore as Jimmy Olsen.
Future Expansion
The unspoken truth is that this Superman movie is laying the groundwork for an upcoming Justice League movie. Rather than issuing a series of solo movies before combining them into a single title, I'm going to take a different tack and slowly build as the franchise progresses. I don't know how the contracts would work out for the actors, but that's not my job.
World's Finest
After introducing Batman in some yet-to-be-described solo film, they'd both get a second film in this team-up movie. Although as different as night and day, this movie is less about them fighting each other than it is about them comparing notes and finding common ground. In the end, they'd realize that each has their place and the can still be friends even if they don't agree on methods. It's truly an Odd Couple pairing made more interesting by the ways they agree than by the ways they don't.
I think the best foe for a cross-over like this is Intergang, a group that brings all the challenges of dealing with organized crime (Batman's strong suit) and mixes in extra-terrestrial weaponry (that might require a Superman to stop). For the sake of our first cross-over, we'll let the reveal be that TV station owner Morgan Edge is the secret boss behind Intergang, but there can be hints and allusions to Darkseid's involvement. It's a little parallel to how Thanos is used over at Marvel, but Darkseid is a far better character and I won't let that purple poseur cheat the audiences of such a great villain.
Superman 2
With Supe's position in Metropolis established, let's go back and explore his roots a little more than I wanted to out the gate. In fact, it's Kal-El's unknown alien roots which come back to haunt him in the arrival of Brainiac. Having traveled the galaxy collecting cities from advanced planets, Brainiac has set his sights on taking Metropolis. At one point, even succeeding so far as to shrink the city and place it on display in his space ark.
Amidst all the chaos comes the revelation that Superman is not human and the discovery of a city which survived the destruction of his homeworld. That this city unknowingly is a source for Kryptonite is an additional problem for a Superman trying to stop Braniac and return what he has taken.
Trinity
By now, Wonder Woman's been introduced and she gets to join her other top tier DC characters in a proto-JLA film. As a build-up to the Justice League, this story will also play with Darkseid in the form of the New Gods. Wonder Woman's ties to mythology are challenged by these new beings claiming to be gods, and Superman's newly-discovered extra-terrestrial status ties into their alien origins. Batman has time for none of this and never loses focus on how they need to stop them from taking over the world.
From Glorious Godfrey's media manipulations to an Amazonian throw-down with the Female Furies, the New Gods can challenge these three heroes on many fronts.
Superman 3
While I'm tempted to do something akin to the 'Death of Superman' storyline from the comics, I'm pretty sure nobody would want to see a Supeman movie advertised as not having Superman in it.
Instead, I think we can go the other direction and explore Superman as an uber-powerful entity living among us fragile humans. As Superman's powers begin growing out of his control, he becomes a living hazard, endangering the citizens of Metropolis and the world just by being around. So the world calls on Lex Luthor to save the day. Having committed much of his vast intellect to finding ways of stopping the Man of Steel. In the process he creates the Parasite, Bizarro, and possibly even an upgraded kryptonite-powered Metallo.
Superman has to stay alive long enough to discover what's causing his power boost and how to dampen them, and even begins to question if the world wouldn't be safer with him gone.
Justice League
And finally we have it. By now we've introduced Flash and Green Lantern to the mix (at least), and we're ready to unite them against a common threat. I'll save this storyline for another day, though. I think it deserves more than a couple paragraphs to do it justice (pun!).
It was so much fun, in fact, that I knew I couldn't hold off too long before taking a stab at another comic property I felt Hollywood didn't get right. If you read the title to this blog entry, you'll know I've set my sights on Superman. So let's pretend 'Man of Steel' didn't earn sacks of cash, and see what I can do when Warner Bros. calls me up with an offer to relaunch their DC film franchise.
Setting the tone for the film is critical, not only to capture the feeling of Superman on film but also because it will set the tone for the rest of the DCCU (or at least the Justice League-related ones).
Tonally, I think the big misstep of 'Man of Steel' (and 'Batman Begins' before that) was in how bleak it was. While I get the concept of the reluctant hero, Clark clearly didn't want to be Superman and appeared miserable throughout the whole film. Some of my favorite Superman portrayals focused instead on his confidence and competents, and allowed for some levity and joy in his mission.
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| Look how happy they all are. Don't you want to see more about this Justice League? |
Another throwback is to dodge the recent trend (in the past 40 years or so) of focusing so much on Kal-El's alien ancestry. Originally just the source of his powers, his stories soon became dominated with explorations of Kryptonian culture and how humanity reacts to the alien in their midst. While those are completely valid story-telling approaches, I find them a bit inaccessible to us normal, Earth-bound humans, and would like to use Kal-El to tell more relatable stories.
Rather than focusing on his literal alien status, I'd like to tell a story of his figurative alien status. With the character's relocation from Smallville to Metropolis, we get a chance to contrast his upstanding Midwest beliefs with the dog-eat-dog world of the big city. This will not be a well-traveled Clark Kent, but more of a fish out of water, with his strongly-held morals and beliefs challenged at every turn. In fact, that's Clark's big moral challenge of the film. Can he hold onto his values and become a symbol for his new neighbors, or will he fall in line with the rest of the populous and get dragged into the rat race. With the "Other 99%" movement still strong across America, Clark provides a good venue for exploring how the diminished American farmer can compete with the "1-percenters" on his own terms.
These human elements are critical to any science fiction story. Without them, the audience won't be able to relate. If all we're seeing is an invulnerable alien space god punching a giant, radioactive robot gorilla, our minds would just tune out under the spectacle. But if we can be engaged by the social commentary or daily struggles that we ourselves struggle with, we'll be more invested in the events when these fantastical moments happen.
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| I said "if you refuse to vote,you give up your right to complain about the results!" |
In his current interpretation as a ruthless businessman, Luthor challenges all of Clark's values of might v right, while his mechanical genius is fully capable of creating physical challenges for Superman to pound on. Plus, as a human foe, he allows me to keep those elements more grounded than if he were fighting some of his other, more alien foes like Brainiac or Zod. Luthor isn't just a foe that can be punched away, and if I learned one thing in 'Man of Steel', it's that punching something away for 40 minutes is really kind of dull.
As you may have caught in my 'Fantastic Four' me-boot, one element of superhero stories I'm a little tired of is the origin story. While the decision to become a superhero is an important one, it's sort of foregone that it's going to happen and spending the first third of the film building up to it is a waste of time. Even more so in Superman's case as his origin story is so iconic, I can't imagine a potential audience member NOT knowing it.
Still, it'd be irresponsible from a storytelling point not to at least explain his origin, so it will definitely be included in the backstory somewhere, but our film would pick up near the moment he decides to become Superman and moves to Metropolis.
Those are the broad strokes. Let's break it down into slightly-less broad strokes.
Act I
Despite knowing he was adopted, they don't suspect his alien origin. All they know is he was found in a rocket, and it seems more likely that he's the result of some inhuman yet earth-based experiment. That rocket, however, may have the solution to their quandary, though, as they still have the flight suit they found him in. He'd worn it once or twice as a young boy, so they know its special fabric expands to fit him, and it only takes a little effort to rework it into a public costume for him to be seen in. This lets him serve as a public example of how the powerful should help the weak, but separates that identity from his own so he won't get pestered for being so different. His mother coins the name 'Superman,' and his new identity is formed.
In Metropolis, it's an immediate culture clash as the Midwest boy is introduced to the dog-eat-dog world of the big city. Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet, is impressed with Kent's technical skills, but finds his "feel good" news portfolio lacking in content. He offers him a chance to bring in some hard news and teams him with another reporter, Lois Lane, to cover local tycoon Lex Luthor's reveal of a new construction project down by the river.
At the press conference, Lex reveals a new, automated construction process which can build and even reconfigure buildings in a fraction of the time as living work crews could. There are a lot of protests on site, though, both from out-of-work construction workers as well as the displaced citizens who live at the location where Lex is building. But things get really protest-y when an armed terrorist force arrives and starts blowing things up. There's a lot of destruction, providing the perfect opportunity for Clark to debut as Superman. The leader of the terrorists underestimates Superman's invulnerability and winds up caught in his own explosion.
Act II pt 1
Although this new Superman is considered a hero for saving Metropolis' first son, he can't let go of the idea that something screwy was behind the attack. They were a well-organized and seemingly experienced terrorist crew, but their attacks seemed to miss their specified target. Lex's automated construction machinery had survived and was quickly able to rebuild the damage. It was the surrounding homes and businesses which were mostly destroyed in the attack.Technically Clark meets White's challenge by turning in a good article about the construction and it's impact on the community, but the editor is boggled by how he completely ignored the presence of this Superman character. Lois, of course, nails that story and takes the first step to being a star reporter. White hires Clark, but doesn't support any further investigation into the attack on LexCorp property. Clark has to work on the side to follow his suspicions about Luthor.
Lex himself, however, is interested in meeting Superman, and arranges an apparently reckless display to get his attention. Superman responds, discovers it's all a sham, and rejects Luthor's offer to come work for LexCorp. Lex assures him that he won't abide competition and his track record of ruthless domination should be taken for the warning it is.
Clark's investigation into the terrorist attack uncovers an interesting connection between Luthor and the man who led the attack, John Corbet. He doesn't make too much more headway, though, as Perry White discovers he's still working the story despite his orders not to, and the still-probational news writer is fired.
Act II pt 2
The surprise comes not from the fact he's still alive, but in how Luthor has integrated him into the building's machinery. Related to the automated factory that was demonstrated earlier, Corben/Metallo can now reconfigure his mechanical body into the means to capture Lois and Jimmy.
Clark learns his friends have gone missing, and is able to track them to where they're being held (possibly listening for the oscillation noise of Jimmy's camera flash as a nod to his signal watch in the comics.) He finds where Corben is holding them, but is in for a more challenging fight than the first time, as Metallo's robotic body is able to dish out and take a lot of punishment. The presence of Jimmy and Lois as hostages doesn't help.
It's only when Superman is able to appeal to Corben's lost humanity that he gets him to calm down. Rather than pounding him into scrap, he chooses to understand Corben and, when Metallo is confronted with his lost humanity, he surrenders.
Act III
But he knows the only way to stop Luthor is to stop him in the public eye. So while he goes to confront Lex, he sends Lois to tell the story to Perry and hopefully get the media behind the revelation that Luthor's empire is built on lies and graft. Inside the factory, Superman is faced with a number of advanced weapons and robotics. At the finale, even the factory itself is used to attack Superman. The battle is hard fought, but ultimately Superman exposes the inner workings to the public which includes a few news agencies Lois has managed to motivate to their cause. Lex is taken down, Superman is a hero of the people, and even Clark manages to turn up with an independently-written story about the whole deal that gets him hired on full-time at the Planet.
Cast
Clark Kent/Superman
Matt Bomer
The challenge, though, is to make him just as interesting as Clark as he is as Superman. "Bumbling" Clark Kent is good for some laughs, but that's really just a screen. I think Christopher Reeve pulled it off the best. His Clark came across as a little meek, but we all knew that he was secretly taking care of business. This Clark Kent will also use his superpowers to help people, but it'll be done with the same level of subtlety to protect his identity.
I've only seen Matt Bomer as the con artist-turned-FBI agent Neal Caffrey in the series 'White Collar,' but he nails that fine line between playfulness and concern that I want from my Superman. Plus, I did get to see him in an interview (I think he was plugging 'Magic Mike') and he was a bit of a dork. If he brings half of that to the table when portraying Clark, I think he'll have that role locked down.
Costume-wise, I'll confess that I don't hate the newer outfit they created for 'Man of Steel,' but I'm not in love with the dark and muted colors. In fact, I think the fabrics used in 'Superman Returns' are closest to what I would want, with contour-fitting performance wear in the brighter blue with the darker, almost maroon cape and boots. I'm pretty confident a costumer could make the red trunks viable too. My suggestion is to go bigger, like the set Kirk Alyn wore in the old Superman serials rather than the bikini briefs Brandon Routh wore. Still, I'm not married to them, and if I'm the only one who thinks the trunks can work, I can do without.
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| I also really like the shorter cape. I think I'd go as low as the tops of his boots, but no longer. |
Lex Luthor
Jason Isaacs
One example of their differences is that, while Clark is a product of a good, midwest upbringing, Lex is a result of growing up in Metropolis. A self-made man, he dragged himself from poverty (possibly over the bodies of his own parents), and has made himself the most important person in Metropolis. His company employs hundreds of thousands of people, either directly or indirectly, and his military contracts extend his influence into the highest reaches of the government. He gets whatever he wants, and Heaven help anyone who he even considers to have gotten in his way.
I'll be honest, Isaacs' presence here is based almost solely on his performance as Captain Hook in the 2003 Peter Pan movie. He was just so charming and scary at the same time, and those are exactly the traits I'd expect to see in my connivingly deadly Lex Luthor. If you still need convincing, don't forget that he also played a pretty menacing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies, so there's that. Don't let his British upbringing throw you off, though. He's great at accents.
For most of the film, Lex will stick to really expensive business suits and the like. Toward the end, when he takes control of the munitions factory I might have the control suit be reminiscent of his outfit from the older comics and cartoons, but I'll be saving his actual battle suit for some future use.
John Corben/Metallo
Seann William Scott
As the main foe Superman comes to blows with in this story, Corben needs to be more than just a throwaway thug for Lex to hit Superman with. He needs to have a recognizable presence and personality if only because it's that personal depth that Superman needs to delve into and appeal to if he's going to survive.
Although mostly known for being a dumbass in the American Pie movies, Seann William Scott has a broader acting career that touches on many of the traits I'd want to see in my Metallo. I can totally see Scott playing the cocky bastard who assumes he's the only one who can beat Superman and then turn around and be the rage-fueled monster who discovers his body has been taken from him. He's got kind of a thug mentality that makes him a good stooge for Luthor, but at the same time be likeable enough that we feel bad for the raw deal he gets. Plus, 'Bulletproof Monk, showed he can handle the action scenes.
After the conversion into Metallo, he'll actually look completely human such that even Corben doesn't know the extent to which he's been changed. Initially just thinking he's been upgraded with bionics, his clash with Supes will soon lead to the reveal of the metallic skeleton beneath the fake skin. Kind of like the Terminator, but without actual meat.
Lois Lane
Erin Cummings
In fact, we're catching her pretty early in her career, and she's got a long way to go before she's the Pulitzer winner we've come to expect. She's still trying to prove herself, and doesn't have the nose for news she'll get with some more experience. Instead, she tends to shotgun stories, running leads into the ground until they either fall through or turn into a great expose. Her batting average in that regard isn't the best, but it's getting better.
Less love interest than friendly competition in this movie, we'll still see the groundwork laid for one of the greatest love triangles in comic history. She really doesn't have the time of day for Clark Kent, the new rival reporter she's been teamed with, but she becomes quite infatuated with Superman by the end of the film. Clark, meanwhile, is quickly drawn to this amazing woman, but doesn't want to "cheat" and win her over as Superman. He'd rather win her over as Clark Kent and is a little distant to her while in his caped identity.
As an actress, Erin Cummings combines aspects of a few of my favorite Lois Lanes. In 'Astronauts Wives,' she played the sassy Marge Slayton with the same vibe as Dana Delaney's Lois from the animated series, while as Sura in 'Spartacus,' we get to see her play the love interest to the hero without coming across in any way as subservient or needy. As an added bonus, she has a degree in journalism so already has a head start in preparing for the role.
Perry White
Peter Gallagher
As the hard-assed Deputy Chief Dodds on 'Special Victims Unit,' Peter Gallagher displays exactly the traits I want from my hard-edged editor. He has that quiet demeanor that shows that he's listening to you, but can follow that up with a stern direction that shuts down all argument. He also looks like he was designed by Jack Kirby, so...
Jimmy Olsen
Jason Dolley
Interestingly, I seemed to have subconsciously cast my entire movie with actors with double letters in their names. Hm... In any case, Dolley was great as the lead in 'Minutemen,' and I'm sure he can bring that "I've got a plan" geekiness to full bore as Jimmy Olsen.
Future Expansion
The unspoken truth is that this Superman movie is laying the groundwork for an upcoming Justice League movie. Rather than issuing a series of solo movies before combining them into a single title, I'm going to take a different tack and slowly build as the franchise progresses. I don't know how the contracts would work out for the actors, but that's not my job.
World's Finest
After introducing Batman in some yet-to-be-described solo film, they'd both get a second film in this team-up movie. Although as different as night and day, this movie is less about them fighting each other than it is about them comparing notes and finding common ground. In the end, they'd realize that each has their place and the can still be friends even if they don't agree on methods. It's truly an Odd Couple pairing made more interesting by the ways they agree than by the ways they don't.
I think the best foe for a cross-over like this is Intergang, a group that brings all the challenges of dealing with organized crime (Batman's strong suit) and mixes in extra-terrestrial weaponry (that might require a Superman to stop). For the sake of our first cross-over, we'll let the reveal be that TV station owner Morgan Edge is the secret boss behind Intergang, but there can be hints and allusions to Darkseid's involvement. It's a little parallel to how Thanos is used over at Marvel, but Darkseid is a far better character and I won't let that purple poseur cheat the audiences of such a great villain.
Superman 2
With Supe's position in Metropolis established, let's go back and explore his roots a little more than I wanted to out the gate. In fact, it's Kal-El's unknown alien roots which come back to haunt him in the arrival of Brainiac. Having traveled the galaxy collecting cities from advanced planets, Brainiac has set his sights on taking Metropolis. At one point, even succeeding so far as to shrink the city and place it on display in his space ark.
Amidst all the chaos comes the revelation that Superman is not human and the discovery of a city which survived the destruction of his homeworld. That this city unknowingly is a source for Kryptonite is an additional problem for a Superman trying to stop Braniac and return what he has taken.
Trinity
By now, Wonder Woman's been introduced and she gets to join her other top tier DC characters in a proto-JLA film. As a build-up to the Justice League, this story will also play with Darkseid in the form of the New Gods. Wonder Woman's ties to mythology are challenged by these new beings claiming to be gods, and Superman's newly-discovered extra-terrestrial status ties into their alien origins. Batman has time for none of this and never loses focus on how they need to stop them from taking over the world.
From Glorious Godfrey's media manipulations to an Amazonian throw-down with the Female Furies, the New Gods can challenge these three heroes on many fronts.
Superman 3
While I'm tempted to do something akin to the 'Death of Superman' storyline from the comics, I'm pretty sure nobody would want to see a Supeman movie advertised as not having Superman in it.
Instead, I think we can go the other direction and explore Superman as an uber-powerful entity living among us fragile humans. As Superman's powers begin growing out of his control, he becomes a living hazard, endangering the citizens of Metropolis and the world just by being around. So the world calls on Lex Luthor to save the day. Having committed much of his vast intellect to finding ways of stopping the Man of Steel. In the process he creates the Parasite, Bizarro, and possibly even an upgraded kryptonite-powered Metallo.
Superman has to stay alive long enough to discover what's causing his power boost and how to dampen them, and even begins to question if the world wouldn't be safer with him gone.
Justice League
And finally we have it. By now we've introduced Flash and Green Lantern to the mix (at least), and we're ready to unite them against a common threat. I'll save this storyline for another day, though. I think it deserves more than a couple paragraphs to do it justice (pun!).
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