Superman Delayed Indefinitely

Superman Might Actually Be Dead

By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (34)

I’m a freak.

Why, you ask? Because I love Superman. I do, I can’t help it. I’ve always loved the comic book, though I’ve certainly lost track of it in recent years. I’m a huge fan of the first two Donner films (I don’t care for Superman III, and I try to pretend that IV is just a fever dream). The John Williams score still gives me chills. I even kind of like Superman Returns, despite all of it’s flaws. I maintain that the plane scene is still pretty damn thrilling, and Spacey’s turn as Lex Luthor is outstanding. I know it’s not a good movie, but I’m still strangely enamored of it.

Superman ideas have been kicking around for forever — at one point, there was even a rumored Superman Vs. Batman project to be directed by Wolfgang Peterson (which ended up being mostly nonsense). Anyway, all of that said, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be seeing much of Superman on the big screen any time soon. Diane Nelson, the head of the newly created DC Entertainment (owned by Warner Brothers) had the following to say:

“We actually don’t have any current plans for Superman. We’ve obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it’s a key part of the family, but we don’t have current plans behind Superman”

The property is in the midst of a bit of a legal mess right now anyway — Warner Brothers would basically have to make a new film by 2013, or they’ll lose the exclusive rights to Superman. Whether or not they’ll just let the rights lapse remains to be seen, but clearly it’s not something high on their list. Hopefully, if it does lapse, whoever picks it up will do the Man of Steel the justice he deserves. Meaning, any studio that isn’t Fox, who I will never trust with a superhero property ever again. Bastards.

In the meantime, all we’re left with is the wretchedly dumb “Smallville,” which continues to fuck up the comic book storyline with reckless abandon, and use more and more wooden actors that the CW seems to have an endless supply of.

Balls.

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balls, indeed.

Posted by: gp at September 16, 2009 10:01 AM

I love Superman also TK, but for whatever reason the studios just couldn’t figure out a way to make him interesting. Unlike “Batman” or “Iron,” Superman doesn’t have any emotional flaws that people can relate to. Maybe Superman’s problem is that he’s just too super.

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 16, 2009 10:10 AM

I actually liked Superman Returns. Had it not been for Kate Bosworth sucking the life out of everything she touches, I might actually consider it quite highly among modern superhero movies. But I just can't care about the future of Superman as an entity. As a superhero, he's just *too* powerful, and after watching a few years of Smallville's "Ooh! Random way for him to be exposed to Kryptonite! OK, it's gone now; commence kicking ass" method of 'storytelling' I honestly don't care if he dies as a big-screen hero.

Posted by: Shay at September 16, 2009 10:11 AM

It doesn't matter that Superman doesn't have emotional flaws. The whole point of Superman is that he's about overcoming the impossible and always doing the right thing, and when done right, he produces a more powerful emotional response from me at least than any other character but Animal Man.

Try Grant Morrison's Superman Beyond, which is about Superman having to team up with insane versions of himself to retrive the only thing that can save Lois Lane from dying.

Posted by: Tim Jones at September 16, 2009 10:15 AM

Have you had the pleasure of reading It's Superman by Tom De Haven? I could not recommend it more. It is a delicious, nuanced treatment of the Superman legend - set amidst the height of the Great Depression. It's just different enough to justify yet another big-screen treatment, but faithful enough to the spirit of the canon that even my die-hard Supe-fan dad and husband loved it.

Knowing Hollywood they'd just fuck it up by casting Rainbow Killer as Lois....

Posted by: Tammy at September 16, 2009 10:19 AM

“It doesn't matter that Superman doesn't have emotional flaws. The whole point of Superman is that he's about overcoming the impossible and always doing the right thing, and when done right, he produces a more powerful emotional response from me at least than any other character but Animal Man.”

Posted by: Tim Jones at September 16, 2009 10:15 AM
______________________________________________________

Overcoming the impossible my ass, that’s his fucking job to overcome the impossible that’s why he’s called Superman. He was no emotional depth like “Batman,” Batman cries, Batman is at times conflicted, and Batman is not above bending the rules, but not goodie two shoes, I would love to see Superman just once get medieval on a motherfucker.

Posted by: Guess Who!@ at September 16, 2009 10:36 AM

I'll also forgive Superman Returns it's flaws for Spacey's Luther but mostly for the opening credits, which gave me chills.

Smallville is still on the air? At this point it seems like it should be a show about how Superman retired and lives with an elderly Lois in Kansas, considering how quickly they abandoned the "small town Superman" concept and just barreled headlong into actual continuity.

Posted by: Macafee at September 16, 2009 10:40 AM

Superman Returns ALMOST got into the "with great power comes great responsibility" theme on a global scale: If you have Superman's power, don't you have the obligation to protect everyone on the planet? But the movie only used that as the superhero equivalent of going on a bender to forget about your ex. Other than that, it was the standard "bad guy gets Kryptonite; Superman gets over it" format, which has been the only way to create conflict in a Superman story. That's why he's the most boring superhero.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at September 16, 2009 10:50 AM

Good to know!
And thousands of sincere and serious tall people I met on ___Tallloving C om___ are the most amazing people I ever met! they care nothing but real love and chemistry! that's what we are looking for in today's world! :-)

Posted by: Pattylove at September 16, 2009 10:58 AM

they care nothing but real love and chemistry!

So on one hand, they have no feelings, but on the other, real love and chemistry! That seems like a compromise. A compromise I can get behind.

Posted by: Macafee at September 16, 2009 11:01 AM

Maybe all the actors that have played Superman were just average actors which hasn‘t helped the Superman franchise, lets face it when you have Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale as your lead actors you are dealing with the cream of the crop. No offense to Brandon Routh but at best that guy is some woman’s lover on a lifetime movie.

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 16, 2009 11:01 AM

I could not have been more excited for Superman III after the implications at the end of Superman II. But they totally dropped the ball and did not explore the "Lois is preggers with Superbaby" instead opting to take a hot comic and cut his balls off.

~25 years pass....

I am again excited about Superman Returns and really juiced that they will pick up the lost thread from II. Then I see the movie. What genius decided it was a good idea to re-use the Luther story from Superman I as the A-story in Returns? Plus they completely screw up Superbaby by having him be some asthmatic wimp (until he's not), and turn Superman into some skeevey stalker. I could have forgiven it all if it hadn't been so damn BORING. I'm actually kicking myself for not nominating it last week.

Anyway, maybe I was just wrong about the potential of a bastard baby-of-steel.

To sum up: I am just fine with leaving Superman on the shelf.

Posted by: ed newman at September 16, 2009 11:06 AM

I second Tammy's book rec for It's Superman. It really is an awesome book.

Posted by: Vi at September 16, 2009 11:19 AM

Yes?

Oh, I thought you were asking for me.

Nevermind.

Balls out.

Posted by: Kballs at September 16, 2009 11:25 AM

It's said more and more celebrities have their profiles on a great millionaire dating site____W e a l t h y S o c i a l . C O M_______ . The best club for seeking the rich singles, sexy beauties and even hot celebs...You should check it out!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted by: happyone11 at September 16, 2009 11:26 AM

You guys hear the one about Superman is flying over New York and he sees Wonder Woman laying by her pool with her legs open, so he flies down and starts to fuck her. After about 10 minutes of fucking her a mile a minute he looks at her and sees a black expression on her face. He jumps up and ask her didn’t you feel that, she says no, Invisible man jumps up and says I did, and my asshole is killing me.

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 16, 2009 11:26 AM

I'm all for plucking plunging airliners out of the sky and settling them safely on the tarmac, especially if I happen to be on board, but as a side project could a modern Superman maybe put his skills to use obliterating those Janjaweed motherfuckers in the Sudan or imprisoning Kim Jong Il or Mugabe or some other real-life boogeyman in the Fortress of Solitude?

Could he maybe find bin Laden? Is that too much to ask?

Posted by: , (TCFKAB) at September 16, 2009 11:28 AM

Can't say I'm a huge fan of Superman (he just isn't very interesting!) but I love the Hugh Jackman sketch on SNL when he's talking to his parents in the Fortress of Solitude...

Posted by: MN_Jen at September 16, 2009 11:55 AM

I'm probably going to piss off a lot of people, but I fucking hate the original Superman movie. "Can you read my mind?" Fuck your mind. Clearly the only thing Superman wants is your snatch. And snatch is apparently what the only black guy with a speaking role in the ENTIRE MOVIE is selling, as he's a pimp, and his only line basically amounts to "Good lordy, suh, you-sa flyin' so craaaazay!" I was at a friend's birthday party, and with ten people there, we played 'Count the black people.' You know who won? The KKK. The film couldn't have been more racially insensitive if it was an Uberman movie (yes, the old SNL sketch with Dan Akroyd, which was better in five minutes than that Donner shit was in two hours). And don't get me fucking started on the fat guy. I feel like I've been fighting that bullshit for years. That and Homer Simpson (asshole). Christopher Reeve got paralyzed by a horse, but he should have been paralyzed by shame. And if Gene Hackman wasn't great in every-fucking-thing else, I'd demand he be blackballed from ever being in another film just on the basic principle that his Lex Luthor was complete shit. If Superman can turn back time by flying in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation (retarded), why couldn't he just go back to the '40s and stick to fighting Nazis, because every movie they've done about Superman since he beat Hitler has been a complete waste of film and time.

I hope Fox gets Uwe Boll to direct Superman starring Tom Arnold and Roseanne Barr and no minorities whatsoever and uses the same script as the original down to the last period. At least then, people won't try to guilt me into liking it.

Posted by: ChristianH at September 16, 2009 12:25 PM

Sounds like a gigantic plea for help from DC/TimeWarner -- a plea for someone with passion and a vision and a decent treatment to get a deal for a script and maybe a co-producer deal.

Dustin.

Posted by: Frank Turk at September 16, 2009 12:27 PM

I would love to see Superman just once get medieval on a motherfucker.

-----

Yep. There was a Smallville a while back right after Lana married Lex where a seriously pissed-off Clark ended up in a cage match with a murderous Kryptonian psycho. Dude beat up on CK for a while before CK turns around, grinning with blood between his teeth, says, "My turn," and proceeds to beat the guy to death with his bare hands.

That one scene was almost enough to make all the tedious years of the Clark-Lana drama worthwhile.

Almost.

Posted by: Pete Ross at September 16, 2009 12:46 PM

Guess Who, your wish is granted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1flEhacNaKY&feature=related

The Justice League/Justice League Unlimited run on Cartoon Network was some of the best comic book material ever put on screen and includes 2 or 3 instances of Superman opening up big time when sufficiently provoked.

Posted by: ZombieScientist at September 16, 2009 1:10 PM

You wan't "I've fucking had enough!" Superman? Read "Kingdom Come" already, fer chrissakes!

Posted by: Jay at September 16, 2009 3:03 PM

Kingdom Come is the answer to everything.

HOWEVER, the problem with Superman is that he is only interesting when contrasted with other superheroes, and DC seems loathe to do that.

Kingdom Come would be a great fucking film that will never fucking happen.

Posted by: JakesAlterEgo at September 16, 2009 3:15 PM

Yeah, Kingdom Come, Dark Knight Returns and New Frontier all do a great job with other people giving him shit and how he feels about it. They usually have a point too, but he just can't help being the Boy Scout that occasionally gets on people's last fucking nerve.

Posted by: Jay at September 16, 2009 3:39 PM

You know, I kinda liked Superman Returns too. The thing that I disliked the most about it WAS, actually, Lex Luthor. Not in that Spacey was bad at the role (he wasn't) but that the character was just a slightly darker variation on Gene Hackman's portrayal. The last time I read the comics (back in the mid-90s. It's been a while) Luthor was handled as a nearly untouchable billionaire industrialist who did JUST enough good works to keep a GOOD public image and be able to be evil as fuck in the background, frustrating Superman's efforts to stop him. THAT was actually quite compelling and put Superman in a position of being helpless against forces more powerful than a locomotive: free-market capitalism.

I'd also love to see a film treatment not unlike how Frank Miller treats Superman in The Dark Knight Returns: as a sort of unwitting fascistic agent of a corrupt government. I mean, a guy like that--an unstoppable boy scout--WOULD get co-opted by the government to do their work, and it would not be pretty (but he, being a boy scout, would not know that what he's doing isn't pretty). Superman as villain. Wouldn't that be cool?

Posted by: Armando at September 16, 2009 5:07 PM

They usually have a point too, but he just can't help being the Boy Scout that occasionally gets on people's last fucking nerve.
That's incredibly debatable, Jay.

People "giving [Superman] shit" usually amounts to them saying either "You need to start killing people" or "You need to stop cooperating with the legal government." Sometimes both for extra complete and utter misunderstanding of the dude they're talking to.

The first is utter bullshit and the second is a sincere point of contention. Which touches on Armando's post... I don't think there's anything unwitting about Supes in DKR. He's choosing the lesser of several evils in his eyes. Miller was pretty straightforward about now Supes ended up in that situation, he's basically collared so that the government would stop hunting down capes.

Plus, when you're living in a dystopia and you refuse to set yourself up in authority... you're not left with a lot of choices about who to work with. While the world could do worse than "God-King Kal-El" I have to respect sticking to his moral guns on that one.

Posted by: ZombieScientist at September 16, 2009 5:33 PM

I think the point raised in Kingdom Come, and would be interesting to explore in a film, is less that Supes needs to start icing motherfuckers and more that society has grown past his brand of justice. His "eternal Boy Scout" credo had its place, but the question rasied is that, in a world of child rapists and terrorists and mass murderers, is Superman's brand of squeaky clean justice the proper response? And, most interesting of all, how does Superman deal with the question and the potential answer?

Posted by: kyle at September 16, 2009 6:21 PM

Well, I don't mean it as a question of his lethality or lack thereof, after all Batman has the same code, but more that he gets very inflexible and narrow-minded about solutions. His best friends, Bruce and Diana, have to light a fire under his ass when he gets uncooperative or avoids doing something because he can't see around corners or doesn't want to take any risks. Not that his colleagues arguments are always right, but he does sometimes need someone to challenge him. When he's all self-pitying and bitter, he needs Diana to say "do your fucking job, BE Superman, cause no one else can". His entrance is akin to when someone pushes The Doctor too far. No, he's not gonna kill you, but he's gonna put an end to your shit NOW. "And suddenly.....there was a WIND". Gets me every time.

Posted by: Jay at September 16, 2009 6:55 PM

Yeah ZombieScientist, let Supes stick to his moral guns, that’s why his ass won’t be getting rebooted anytime soon. Look at the Dark Knight, that motherfucker knows how to bring the crazy and subsequently before it’s all said and done he’ll break the billion dollar make easily. The last time I saw Supes he was slumming over at the CW.

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 16, 2009 7:58 PM

Superman has two major weaknesses: Kryptonite and Magic. There is a whole world of opportunities that could be explored with magic, but they never do.

Posted by: Leaf at September 16, 2009 8:23 PM

His "eternal Boy Scout" credo had its place, but the question rasied is that, in a world of child rapists and terrorists and mass murderers, is Superman's brand of squeaky clean justice the proper response? And, most interesting of all, how does Superman deal with the question and the potential answer?
What long-term viable alternative is there to capturing criminals and putting them in jail?

I'm serious. Been considering this for more than a decade, personally, with nary a good answer forthcoming.

If there's a problem with that system, it's not in Supes' end of things. It's in the courts and politics. Or its in corruptible people on the enforcement end. If more people in the system were half as incorruptible as Supes is portrayed, we'd have simultaneously fewer prisoners AND less crime.

Posted by: ZombieScientist at September 16, 2009 9:04 PM

Posted by: Casper at September 17, 2009 9:21 AM

What about the excellent origin story in Superman:Birthright.You have a conflicted Clark,a world that fears Superman in the wake of post 9/11,and a evil billionaire Luthor.Jim Lee is the one to write a new movie.

Posted by: J.mathiau at January 2, 2010 11:58 PM

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Superman Might Actually Be Dead

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