Hey, only five years passed between Hulk (which apparently only I liked) and The Incredible Hulk. So it’s not unreasonable.
I’ll prime the pump with three thoughts:
Actual adult actors playing the roles.
Lois needs to look like the star reporter of the New York Times, not the Oakville High School Courant. I’d like Lauren Graham. For Clark/Superman I’d choose someone who probably wouldn’t take the job, as he’s already associated with comic book movies: Hugh Jackman. You can keep Langella as Perry White, and frankly no one cares about Jimmy Olsen, so give it to Shia LeBoef.
Actual supervillain battles.
The obvious choice is Doomsday, but I don’t like him as an opponent because, frankly, his lack of flying ability makes Superman look stupid for not taking him out at long range. I’d rather either either Darkseid (who won’t fight Supes hand to hand till the very end, but rather will leave it to Parademons, Kalibak, and the like), evil Daxamites, or Brainiac.
Don’t make Superman be a jerk or the Planet staff idiots.
In the previous movie, there was no reason to root for Supes to get Lois and every reason to say “Don’t be an idiot, Lois! Stay with the guy who’ll actually put you first and actually be a good father!” Which is interesting in its own way, but it’s not Superman. So make the relationship conflict Kal-El’s fear of commitment, which can ultimately be traced to his long-standing grief over Krypton. Lois should know that Clark is Superman; Jimmy and Perry should not, because they rarely if ever meet the big guy. Jimmy & Perry know CLARK, not Superman.
That was my biggest beef with “Superman Returns” - Lois was so badly mis-cast. She was supposed to be older and more worldly than Clark, as well as an extremely aggressive yet somehow charming career woman, not the lost little girl that Kate Bosworth played (with no charm whatsoever). Someone sassy like Graham might be a better choice. Lois is supposed to be in your face.
My problem with Superman movies is that he’s just too invulnerable. The danger keeps on being kryptonite, which is getting very old very fast. Can’t there be some other danger?
Plus, if there ever was a superhero whom I’m not really afraid for, it’s Supes. Everything I’ve ever heard is about how he never loses. Yes, I heard he died. That seemed like a fairly minor blip overall, though.
If I was going to reboot it, I would take it as much as possible back to its original comic book origins. I would set it in the 30’s and try to do something conceptually faithful to those orignal comics.
I would cast Parker Posey as Lois Lane, and somebody like Justin Long as Jimmy Olsen. For Supes, I have no diea, offhand, but I would want a real actor and they need to get rid of that stiff they cast in the last movie.
ETA the more I think about it, the more I think those first two Christopher Reeve movies in the 70’s were about as good an adaptation as you could hope for from this franchise. They were actually pretty well done, they hold up and Reeve was quite good in the role.
First off, they need to find somebody who looks good bald to play Luthor. And he needs to be a real threat, not comical. Definitely find a good actor to play Clark. It doesn’t have to be an unknown. In fact, a known actor might be able to pull it off without ending up permanently typecast.
As much as I loved the first two movies starring Chris Reeve, it’s time to move on. They don’t have to be tied to a current series. They were great for the '70s, but we’re into the '00s now.
The danger issue is solved by including opponents on his level. Have him fight Apokaliptans, or Brainiac, or evil Daxamites.
Or even a GOOD Daxamite. If you could figure out some believable misunderstanding that ended with Mon-El to fight Superman and ending up in the Phantom Zone, you’d be golden.
One problem with Superman is that since he’s invincible, it’s hard to identify with him. I think it’d be interesting to have a Superman movie that focuses on everyone besides Superman. Have the main character be Lois or someone else, and just show Superman as a faceless force of nature that everyone has to deal with. Kind of like a monster movie, but in reverse, as the “monster” doesn’t kill everyone but saves everyone. What are the social repercussions of this?
This is probably too high-concept for a super hero movie and doesn’t really fit the comic book storyline, but if done well it could be a fresh take on the genre.
For one thing, no more illegitimate children. Is it realistic? Sure, but it’s also a movie cliche. Besides, it just doesn’t seem like a concept that befits Superman’s iconic status.
Also, please cast someone who looks like a strong, square-jawed hero as Superman. Dean Cain was passable and Christopher Reeve was perfect. The latest guy was physically fit, but he looked way too feminine to play the Man of Steel.
Jason Statham IS Lex Luthor? Shaquille O’Neill IS Lex Luthor?
I agree on the illegitimate child aspect. Seemed weird somehow.
Supperman - is Tom Welling really not working? He’s already made his career on it. How about Josh Brolin? Had Patrick Warburton not gained so much weight, he would have been pretty good, especially since he was The Tick!
I always liked the clearly shown lonliness and need for secrecy motif of the earlier Smallville episodes. And like the original Spiderman comic, you can always have Soop accidently kill off his girl friend (what a way to get rid of Smallville’s Lana!).
I didn’t like the last guy to play Superman. He was way to lean. Superman should at least look a little like a man of steal. I love Tom Welling as Superman. Even he should do a short course of steroids before taking up the role, but he’s pretty muscular as is.
Also, I really didn’t get how Superman was able to lift an entire island made of kryptonite. What is the point of having a vulnerablility to kryptonite when essentially, he can just push it out of the way anytime he likes.
I also thing Rosenbaum is the best Lex Luthor ever, but maybe my love for Smallville is showing.
To me, it isn’t that he’s invulnerable; it’s that he’s hardly ever challenged. My main beef with the Superman movies is that they have barely touched on his Rogues’ Gallery.
I mean, c’mon. We’ve seen Lex Luthor done already. General Zod, OK, I can dig it.
But so far, there’s been no sign of Braniac. No Mr Mxyzptlk (sp?). No Cyborg Superman, or Bizarro, or Metallo. No Darkseid–although that would seem to demand dragging along at least some of the other Apokolyptians, like perhaps Kalibak. No Doomsday. No Lobo.
Although some of those would probably up the special effects budget, at least there’d be some real danger.
Brainiac would work. Luthor is done. He’s a joke now. IMVHO Returns sucked on ice. You need a total revamp. No Superman as Jesus, no little “s” on the boots. Superman just fighting hundreds of robots would be cool. Then, second movie: President Luthor, Birthright, and all that.
Superman-as-Jesus bugs me, for one of the reasons Christianity in general bugs me - grabbing other people’s traditions and claiming them as their own. Superman isn’t a Jesus figure, he’s a Moses figure, smiting injustice rather than wussily engaging in cheek-turning and all that crap.
