The newest AG Lite is about Warner Bros. wanting to do a darker revamp of Superman a la the new Batman. This is the first time I’ve tried some “fake” continuity (He-man was touched on in AG Lite 344), but I felt like the subject matter warranted the comic, and really, this one would work on it’s own if it came to that. Luckily, most of you are return readers. ;)
Anyway, yeah, highly skeptical. This trend of making characters “dark” because it worked for Batman is ignorant at best and lazy at worst. Try to do something original - Iron Man worked out really well, and Tony Stark was a fresh new character on the big screen. As much as I liked The Dark Knight, I’m still unbelievably impressed with what Downey did with Iron Man - there’s a character that surprised us with his charm.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 12:59 am and is filed under Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I believe they did an excellent job with Superman Returns by making it follow the original movie series and the Superman from Justice League and Justice League Unlimited was just plain awesome in the extreme sense!
Yet now WB wants to make Superman more like Neo from the Matrix. Not cool dudes! Your ruining what makes him Superman! The idea itself sounds just as bad as the Smallville series turned out to be (making Superman an angsty teenager growing up near Lex Luthor was just idiotic)!
What is with all this darkness and grittiness pervading our heroes as of late? Where are our shinning beacons of hope and light that we looked to and hailed as “Super Heroes”? Batman fills the role for a gloomy hero! Keep it that way WB! Don’t turn Superman in Emoman!
I dunno, dark is probably just a buzz word. What they should look for is dramatic. I mean you need an environment where a hero is needed for a good hero movie; and those environments are usually dark.
They never said the hero would be dark, just that the movie will take on a dark tone.
So as long as they cast the right guy and don’t screw it up like Batman and Robin or Daredevil this will make it a memorable movie.
This is a good argument! If they made Superman the ray of light in an otherwise dark setting, I’d buy that.
Indeed, “gift from above” FTW
You know, at first I had the same impression, but then I re-read and it says, specifically, “Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.’ DC properties.”
There is no “evil” side to either Superman or Clark Kent, it’s a relatively clear-cut character (unless they repeat Superman 3 I think, where he grows a 5 o’clock shadow and gets drunk…). Also, the phrase “unlocking some of WB’s properties” sends a chill down my spine, since from what I gather it’s basically the euphemism they’re using for “turning a bigger buck”. Granted this is in the Wall Street Journal, but it goes without saying that what really made Dark Knight and Iron Man, wasn’t one thing, it was so many things, that get no mention at all in what he states as their formulae for success. If they just try to emulate Dark Knight without adding the extremely kick-ass cast, the bold, surprising and most of all, uncompromising storyline, both the studio AND the viewers are going to get just another superhero flick that promises and doesn’t deliver. IMO :p
I’m still holding out for “World’s Finest” with Brandon Routh and Christian Bale.
The point (As the early comics in the recent Batman/Superman clearly demonstrated) is the contrast. Because Supes has all those powers, he can afford to think in nice black/white contrasts and set himself up as the White Knight. Batman doesn’t have the luxury of millions of rules and stark contrasts, so he’s the Dark Knight.
I think people don’t get that. They see how nuanced and interesting Batman is (Because he’s the G**d*** Batman), and think that’s the way it always works. That’s just lazy writers talking. The trick is not confronting the White Knight with the greys of reality (Superman isn’t stupid, he knows about that) but with Lex Luthor as President.
Unfortunately, if you glance at the article I linked to, Warner Bros. has decided they don’t want Batman + Superman as much as they want the Superman revamp. It’s been postponed indefinitely, from the sound of it.
I know… still holding out for it in true fanboy fashion.
On the other hand, a more dramatic Superman film would be a huge improvement. Problem is, Superman’s perfectness is a bit contrary to real drama.
edit: and hey as long as they don’t go emo superman like spidey went..
Supa[serious]man. I still cannot believe it. Let’s hope that this isn’t going to become a trend of some sorts. Stupid people would flock around saying that rubbish is dark and dark is rubbish. Not that they don’t do this now *coughnarutophase2cough* but if this becomes the trend they’d do it even MORE. One of the best story elements out there is going to be drastically taken lightly. And completly misunderstood.
I can’t wait for this decade to end. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning, but now its plain horrbifuckus (C).
Agreed on both points … theSchlauf up above made a good point about this too.
Yeah. Superman isn’t supposed to be dark. He’s supposed to inspire, not strike fear into the hearts of men. He’s supposed to be the guy that raises the bar. Idiotic men. Bryan Singer got it right. It may not have been the movie we wanted, but he got the inspirational part right.
Batman and Tony Stark were portrayed very well. Batman is supposed to be dark and brooding. Tony is supposed to be witty and self absorbed. Superman is supposed to be the pennacle of hope and unfazed by the continued degradation of this world. Sure he may not like it, but he makes sure that the people watching him save the world still have something to believe in. Leave getting darker to Aquaman… he needs it terribly bad. I’d be pissed too if no one cared about me.
Lol indeed. Aquaman needs to be dark cause no one can relate to being King of Atlantis
Don’t forget me!! The King of Atlantis!!
I never liked Superman because he didn’t have much character to me - he was an unstoppable boy scout. Making him darker goes against his character. I think Warner Bros’ idea of dark is similar to the Spiderman 3 conundrum; give him emo black hair and make him do annoying dance montages in Model Central.
Superman’s not the dark guy. He’s the cheery boyscout guy who fights for truth, justice, and apple pie! Not an emo cell in his kryptonian body. Superman Returns failed because it was boring, not because it wasn’t dark. Write a good Superman movie and you’ll see HUGE box office numbers. Write a Superman story where he has to defeat some wacky real estate deal in the middle of the Antarctic and, well, you lose.
Yeah, I saw you make this point on your site and I totally agree … the movie was just boring. Put Superman in a situation where his powers don’t matter (and no, kryptonite doesn’t count), and then maybe we can get some proper drama. Kryptonite is a cop out.
If I wanted angst, I’d call Spiderman or the X-Men. I want the boyscout. I want a megalomaniac Lex Luthor who thinks he’s the hero protecting earth from that “alien” and turning a buck from it. I want big bad supervillians like Brainiac, Metallo and Darkseid. I want Bizarro. I want the Phantom Zone. I want a Lois that has brains and attitude. I’ll even stomach a freakin’ watch that goes “ZEE…ZEE…ZEE..” But Supes needs no dark reimaging. Just let him be Supes and throw big trouble at him.
hee, every time I think of Braniac I think of the outtake from Cartoon Network with the Legion of Doom from ‘Challenge of the Superfriends.’
Luthor: Brainiac, what is it?!
Brainiac: Look, I just want some pants! A decent pair of pants!!
/off topic
Solomon Grundy want pants too!
My issue with trying to use Superman in movie franchises now is that he really just doesnt seem all that applicable to todays standards and viewers. He is a perfect being (not person as he isnt human) that comes here and since he has powers gains a god complex and believes he has the right to decide right and wrong. There is nothing in his persona that can relate to what we as viewers really wish to see today. We dont need a booster shot of hope because the commies or nazis are attacking…yes there is terrorism, but who seriously wants to see superman go after Osama Bin Laden? Stark in middle east was applicable because he was originally captured in foreign soil, and middle east is applicable to selling weapons. Batman was applicable because he can relate to a darker side which all of us would like to believe we possess to some extent. But come one…guys parents are killed infront of him is a child, hes sickeningly rich, and does steroids (in original comics not DK versions). Bottom line, Superman is less applicable to society today than other super heroes, and thus is a less profitable and entertaining idea.
/end rant
Superman desparately needs some quality writing to give him a new dimension. No, not dark, sorry, that’s not a new dimension, that’s just a contradiction.
I agree that he needs to be put in a situation where his powers don’t matter. Perhaps a situation where he can do almost anything, but first he has to figure out what the right thing to do is? Superman isn’t omnipotent or perfect, and if he was put in a conflicting situation, even the Man of Steel might have trouble figuraring out what was best for “Truth, Justice and the American Way” (and please don’t leave out the last part, it just sounds weak without it)
Dark Knight I saw twice — once on a regular screen and once in IMAX. Iron Man I saw four times, and am rather sad that I missed my chance to go see it a fifth time. What does it say about Downey as Stark that my favorite part of the movie was watching him build stuff in his lab?