Superman: Man of Steel Options

[Anthony Hochrein]

That is to say it's been too long since a good live action Superman movie. I don't want to discredit the amazing animated films.

The animated series' have been nice worlds unto themselves! I wish the live action movies had been that good!!

[Tim Tilley]

I am in the minority here, personally I liked the Superman Returns film, sure it was cheesy but that's what I loved about it. I loved that Bryan Singer had used the original Donner film as a basis for his, and I thought that he and his team pulled it off well. Everyone's just ticked off about him being a "dad," had that not been the case, I bet it would have been more successful let alone accepted.

This one on the other hand doesn't seem to impress me just yet, even with Superman Returns I had been impressed with early photos and test footage. This one just doesn't give me that "geeked out" moment that the last film had. The costume itself makes me cringe. It looks as if they tried to make the suit look like armor with all that texturing... even the insignia has texture added to it. Heck, his hair looks like it has texture added to it. The cape seems to be made of hard rubber like that of a tire, or possibly a new form of fiberglass (okay, that one was a joke), still I just don't see the appeal yet.

I'll wait for the test footage/teaser to give it my full opinion.

EDIT: High Resolution photo: http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/0804supes-big.jpg I used Google Search to find it, so there may be a better version floating around.

This post has been edited by Tim Tilley: Aug 6 2011, 11:45 AM

[Cary]

I am in the minority here, personally I liked the Superman Returns film, sure it was cheesy but that's what I loved about it.

Well, minority perhaps, but you're not alone. I love Superman Returns. I felt like it was a faithful follow up to Superman 2 which we certainly didn't get with the subsequent Chris Reeves films, which all now sort of blend into one horrible bucket of suck after Donner left the helm. But then I really dug the Last Son of Krypton story they ran with Donner's help as well, so go figure.

The issue I have with this new suit is pretty typical of my issues with the X-men costumes. They're downplaying the bright colorful costume in favor of a more dark and realistic version, and I think that completely sucks. Superman is supposed to be bright and shining not dingy and leather. This early version might be just a test pic, I dunno. I hope so. I do like the larger S symbol, but I'd rather see some brighter colors in the final version.

[doombug]

I love the costume but I am still completely opposed to the whole idea of Zod being the villain of the movie.

[Tim Tilley]

I'd rather have Zod be the antagonist than Lex. Personally I think they made a HUGE mistake passing up Kevin Smith's treatment. While it was not anywhere close to perfect, it would have made a FANtastic movie.

[ChadStrohl]

I'd rather have Zod be the antagonist than Lex. Personally I think they made a HUGE mistake passing up Kevin Smith's treatment. While it was not anywhere close to perfect, it would have made a FANtastic movie.

Except for the part where I read that Smith planned on casting Ben Affleck as Superman, Linda Fiorentino as Lois Lane, Jason Mewes as Jimmy Olson, and on and on. It would be like Dogma with a Kryptonian spin. I liked the concept he had, but I doubt I would have liked the execution of that concept.

[cougar18]

The Smith script was completely rubbish when compared to the far, far greater script with Metallo and LEx as the villains (Metallo was, in servitude to Lex, albeit against his will). That would have been amazing, and it gave us a villain who was complex.

KS would have been highly unlikely to cast Linda Fiorentino in the movie. According to his own accounts, she was not exactly on speaking terms with him during the filming of Dogma.
As for Ben Affleck playing Superman...that may have been a joke, since he suggests him for everything. Including the shark in Jaws.

Pity the DD directors did not realise that was meant to be a joke, considering how bad the film was.

[Cary]

The Smith script was completely rubbish when compared to the far, far greater script with Metallo and LEx as the villains (Metallo was, in servitude to Lex, albeit against his will). That would have been amazing, and it gave us a villain who was complex.

KS would have been highly unlikely to cast Linda Fiorentino in the movie. According to his own accounts, she was not exactly on speaking terms with him during the filming of Dogma.
As for Ben Affleck playing Superman...that may have been a joke, since he suggests him for everything. Including the shark in Jaws.

Pity the DD directors did not realise that was meant to be a joke, considering how bad the film was.

Lex Luthor is not complex by any stretch of the imagination. He's been done, and done to death. Over done in fact. Between the Hackman version, the Spacey version and the Smallville version, we're Lexed out. Now Metallo I might be able to get behind, at least for a brawl type thing...but Lex needs a break. That's why Zod will be awesome, if he's well written. I also gotta wonder if they'll borrow anything from the Last Son story at all. Interesting to see for sure.

And Kevin Smith had nothing to do with the Daredevil film other than having a bit part in the flick. I think his proposed casting for his Superman treatment was completely tongue in cheek.

[Liam Bradley]

I just want to see Superman beat the crap out of someone. An epic fight scene. Something we haven't really had in any of the movies.


The fight scenes in the Chris Reeves movies are so dated and don't hold up for me. Superman Returns the only fight was between him and a kryptonite wielding human. Not very exciting. I'm not big on Zod but at least it provides an outlet for action rather than resorting to the same old tired Lex Luthor stories.

I would love, LOVE LOVE to see Doomsday.

[Liam Bradley]

Also I think they made necessary alterations to the costume to make it work better in another medium. Primary colours look great in cartoons and comics but look cheap and unrealistic in real life. With Nolan on board they're giving it a realistic feel. Which I think makes sense when it's live action.

[cougar18]

Lex Luthor is not complex by any stretch of the imagination. He's been done, and done to death. Over done in fact. Between the Hackman version, the Spacey version and the Smallville version, we're Lexed out. Now Metallo I might be able to get behind, at least for a brawl type thing...but Lex needs a break. That's why Zod will be awesome, if he's well written. I also gotta wonder if they'll borrow anything from the Last Son story at all. Interesting to see for sure.

And Kevin Smith had nothing to do with the Daredevil film other than having a bit part in the flick. I think his proposed casting for his Superman treatment was completely tongue in cheek.

The complex villain I was referring to was Metallo, not Lex. Metallo in this film version was similar to the animated series version of Metallo, a guy who was controlled by Lex, with the threat being that if he did not comply, Lex would press the button that controlled him and kill him. Metallo was torn between fighting for Lex against Superman, and wishing to just be allowed die and rest in peace. He was tired, and sick of being controlled.

[cougar18]

Also I think they made necessary alterations to the costume to make it work better in another medium. Primary colours look great in cartoons and comics but look cheap and unrealistic in real life. With Nolan on board they're giving it a realistic feel. Which I think makes sense when it's live action.

As long as they do not ignore the fantastic elements of the character. Superman needs to be a combination of the fantastic and the human.

Which, among other things, is one of the reasons the last film failed so miserably. No brawling, which we Superman for, just a really forced Jesus metaphor, and they never seemed to be consistent on his power levels. One minute he could lift an island, the next he had trouble holding a plane. Regarding the realism (sorry, my brain hops about alot) they seemed to add too much of it to make the fantasy element work, and then they employed too little of the fantasy to make the 'you will believe a man can fly' element of the film even work, so much so that he just seems like a man in a suit, not a Superman.

Darn shame, but that's what happens when you have someone who does not understand the character, or the history of the comic books.

And then, just like every other terrible element of every bad sequel or bad remake, they added a freaking kid, and had nothing for the kid to do. What the heck is it with Hollywood adding an annoying kid? Flipper and Bud, Terminator Salvation, this new Real Steel film (kid looks annoying from the trailer alone), kid Anakin in Phantom Menace etc etc

[cougar18]

Hey Check it out, it's Jor El!!!

[Gonzogoose]

A couple of stories from Comic-Con, including the leaked trailer shown at the con (at least until it gets pulled):

http://comicrelated.com/films.php#man-of-steel

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/man-ste...aks-comiccon/2/

The trailer is hard to see, but what I did see and hear was pretty good. Totally a different feel for him than we've had before.

[cougar18]

I have to say, I almost cried. In a good way.

The music, the dialogue....It just feels right...

To see the way the audience reacted when Superman walked out in the red cape... Just amazing. I was reacting in pretty much the same way.
Goes to show that Superman is still popular amongst the masses. Just look at the way the audience cheered.

The world still needs a Superman. The guy is definitely relevant to modern times, no matter what folks think. It looks amazing, like the Superman we have been waiting for for the last 30 years.

It seems to follow a line between Superman Birthright, and Geoff Johns Secret Origins of Superman. ie the government is suspicious of this 'alien' whilst Superman genuinely wants to help. Superman has power, yet with all of this power, he still feels like the outsider.

Genuinely thrilled by this. I was worried about casting, but Costner and Crowe really add quite alot to this. Amazing.

Thrilled like a child for this.