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.

Look how happy they all are. Don't you want to see
more about this Justice League?

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.

I said "if you refuse to vote,you give up your right 
to complain about the results!"

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.

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

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!).