Some Thoughts on the Superman Film Franchise

There has been some concern rolling around the nerdier corners of the internet in the past two days after Nikki Finke revealed that Warner Brothers might be putting Christopher Nolan in charge of a new Superman film franchise in a "Godfather" position, which I suppose must be fancy talk for him essentially being the film's executive producer, with an exorbitant amount of control over who ends up directing the movie, and who will star, and who the villains might be...

While at first glance this seems like the best decision Warner Bros. could possibly make, seeing as Nolan is responsible for the most critically and financially successful superhero film of all time, there is reason for some concern... This decision seems to be following the line of thinking Warner Bros. exhibited in the early nineties, when they realized, "Hey, these Batman movies are pretty popular! Dark takes on Superheroes seem to be what everyone wants right now, and we happen to have another enormously recognizable superhero whose film franchise has been dead for over a decade! Let's put the Batman guy on Superman!"

This was the result:



Yeah... That's Nic Cage in the test costume for SUPERMAN LIVES, which was going to be directed by Tim Burton in the mid nineties before it completely imploded. You can see how... For one, that is a TERRIBLE Superman costume. It looks like Nic Cage decided to cosplay as the big guy, but didn't really want to put much time and effort into it. There's plenty of other concept art from the film that would never be, and it all seems like Tim Burton was trying to focus on the Alien aspect of the character. Make him, darker, edgier, all those things everyone wanted their heroes to be back at the end of the 20th Century.

The real issue at hand is the simple fact that Superman IS NOT like Batman, and you can't really approach the character from the same mindset. Batman is about what a man can become when he dedicates himself to something completely in a world gone wrong. Batman is a bit about vengeance, and all about justice. Gotham City is supposed to be a corrupt, dark place, the sort of city where you don't feel safe walking the streets at night, where the cops are as morally ambigious and open to bribes and corruption as the gangsters.

In other words, Batman is a dark figure... There's always an edge to him where you're not quite sure if he's the sanest man on the planet, or if he deserves to be locked up in Arkham along with his villains. That lends itself to darker, more serious storytelling... It lends itself to the dark dreamworlds that Burton paints in each of his motion pictures, and it lends itself even better to the true-to-life very human Nolan films from the last few years. To approach Superman is something wholly different altogether. The Burton Superman film failed completely, because he tried to warp Superman into something darker. He tried to turn him into Batman. In fact, the more recent, and actually completed film, Superman Returns did much of the same thing. It didn't make him a twisted alien Batman, but it spent the whole film focusing on him brooding about his past and his mistakes, while the film aimlessly walked down the exact same plot as the first Richard Donner Superman film from the 70s, down to having evil genius Lex Luthor obsessed with real estate for some reason, somehow convinced that everyone in the world would just love to move to a radioactive crystal island in the middle of the ocean.

"And this is where we'll put the swing set!"

To find the depth in Superman you need to take a wholly different approach, because what he symbolizes is something wholly different than Batman. Superman is meant to be the epitome of small town values, an alien powerful enough to take the entire world by force if he ever felt the need to do so, who happened to be raised by loving, supportive parents who taught him that he needed to do what he could to make the world a better place by helping each person, no matter how insignificant they seem to be. Superman believes that every person has dignity and deserves respect. He is the best part of all of us. He dons the cape and costume because they give hope to the weak and the powerless. This is ALSO the reason he is a reporter. He gives the weak the voice they don't have, and does as much damage to industrialist villains like Lex Luthor as Clark Kent at the Daily Planet as he does when he puts on the costume.

Also, unlike Batman, Superman's job is to save the world... You can't just put him up against somebody who is vaguely stronger than him and have them wail on each other for a few hours, until Superman inevitably wins. It is Batman's job to fight the individual criminals and monsters who might kill a person. It is Superman's job to fight the giant battles, the ones where everything he stands for is at stake... This can be achieved on either a metaphorical or a literal level... The more common approach to one of these sorts of stories is pitting him against Lex Luthor, who has risen in the past twenty-five years from a simple evil genius, to the the man who is the antithesis of everything Superman stands for. Luthor believes in personal glory, and that his own intelligence means he is better than the little man, he uses his wealth to control Metropolis, giving out his fortune in piecemeal to the poor as a means of subjugation, something that will instill obedience, not anything indicative of real sympathy to their plight. He believes that Superman's existence is a great sin against humanity, because he is a being who Luthor cannot be better than by his very nature. That is the crux of their rivalry, Luthor cannot think beyond his own need to be the savior of humanity, a role he believes comes from actively being the best. Superman would never for a moment think that he is somehow better than another person. Luckier, maybe, able to do more, certainly, but he doesn't suffer from Luthor's inflated ego. He becomes the symbol for hope without ever seeking that label.

This is one way they could approach a Superman film. Put Luthor and LexCorp as the dominant force in Metropolis, and have his grasp on the city falter as Superman saves the city. The logical thing to do would be to have Luthor build some sort of machine that would convince the citizens that Superman is the first step of an alien invasion, attacking and destroying parts of the city. Superman would be able to show off his superpowers in some awesome fight scenes (keep in mind this IS a superhero blockbuster, and there would need to be some good old fashioned fisticuffs), and then as Clark Kent, he and Lois Lane could reveal Luthor's involvement from the reporting side. Victory for the people, and victory for Superman. Parts of this could be taken from Superman: Birthright, an excellent starting point for any person interested in reading some Superman comics.

The other more literal world-saving that they could do in a Superman movie, more likely a sequel to the film I just described above than a starting point for a new franchise, would be to bring in Brainiac... Whether they go for the purely robotic, or the more common cybernetic organism, this would be a good moment to touch back on the destruction of Krypton. Some of the best Superman adaptations have tied Brainiac to the planet's destruction, and it would really raise the stakes. Here is an alien being who absorbs the information of a planet to understand it, then destroys the planet so that information never becomes outdated. Superman then becomes a natural enemy, a Kryptonian who escaped, and it becomes clear that for Superman to lose, Earth would be destroyed. High stakes, High drama, a lot of good action. It's the most logical approach to a big-budget Superman movie, but it has never been done. Still... I think the first movie is necessary to help us understand why he deserves our respect, then we can get him kicking green alien butt. Also: They should absolutely draw from the current Geoff Johns take on Brainiac, and approach the character design from a Giger-esque direction. Something wholly alien to both earth and to Superman. Something the great empathizer cannot empathize or reason with. Something that would make Superman afraid.

Come on, YOU KNOW that would be awesome to see on the big screen.

There is so much that could be done with Superman, but none of it can be approached from the same direction as a Batman film. The internal logic is completely different, the morality present is completely different, and the purpose of the film in our culture is completely different. Batman tells us that we have the ability within to fight the problems we face in our life. Superman tells us to be the best that we can be. Superman is all about hope in times where hope seems foolish and strange. He believes in everyone in the way that perhaps we all should. And whoever ends up taking the reins of this film NEEDS to understand that about the character.

All this said, I would like to think Christopher Nolan didn't do Batman Begins and The Dark Knight the way he did them simply because he is programed to do each of his films that way... He is an incredibly intelligent man, who knows how to make the material resonate with the audience, and how to make a sophisticated superhero film in a way that no other director has yet to prove themselves capable of making. I trust him to make the right decisions, choose the right people, and give us the Superman movie we all deserve. If that doesn't happen... It really is too bad. There IS a big-g Great Superman movie to be made. Something that could be bigger than The Dark Knight. There is a reason that this is the most emblematic superhero ever made, and to think that he's boring or goody-goody is to completely miss the point of the character. He is a symbol of the best part of each of us. He deserves to be a role model for every kid. The world needs a Superman.

Please, Mr. Nolan. Don't let us down.