Jul
10
The Incredible Superman?
Filed Under Blockbusters, Comics, Movies
Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” was not the movie that fans had been waiting 19 years for. After Cannon Films — the studio that brought you the bulk of Chuck Norris’ oeuvre — released “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” in 1987 and encheapened the franchise, the Man of Steel was banished to the Hollywood equivalent of the Phantom Zone, a little place I call Development Hell.
In 1993, Supes got a bit of a shot in the arm in other media when he was killed off in the comics, and that same year, played by a miscast Dean Cain on the television series “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” Around this time, mega-producer Jon Peters, coming off the success of the first two “Batman” films, decided it was time to cash in on another popular comic book character he didn’t — or refused to — understand. So he spent the better part of the ’90s, and a lot of Warner Bros.’s money, trying to bring a darker, flightless Superman to the screen. Writer-director Kevin Smith has spoken at length on the college circuit about his experiences working with troublesome Peters. Jake Rossen also recently wrote a book, “Superman vs. Hollywood,” with a robust section devoted to Peters and his odd choices for director and lead actor, those being Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage, respectively.
The long-in-development film remained grounded for the remainder of the decade. Tim Burton finally departed from the project to derail another dormant franchise (”Planet of the Apes”), and Nicolas Cage ultimately brought his bag of quirks to a different comic book character, the jelly bean-popping Ghost Rider. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. continued throwing good money after bad, courting craptacular directors like Brett Ratner and McG, until “X-Men” director and “Usual Suspects” wunderkind Bryan Singer offered up his pitch to the studio. It sounded like such a good idea at the time. Of course, at the time, the current script being developed was J.J. Abrams’ draft — the one that pitted a kung-fu fighting Superman against Kryptonian CIA agent Lex Luthor.
Singer, however, wanted the franchise to go back to basics and pick up where “Superman II” had left off; movies three and four would be apocryphal. This sort of made sense at the time. The first two Superman films are almost universally adored by fans. Even the silliness at the climax of the second film, when Supes shows off an ass-load of new powers we’ve never seen before (my favorite is his ability to create an “S”-shield cellophane net), doesn’t remain anywhere near as controversial as the final reels of “Batman Begins.” And who wouldn’t want to hear John Williams’ fantabulous score again as the opening credits hurl themselves at viewers against the backdrop of outer space?
Still, “Superman Returns” didn’t do it for me when it was released in ‘06, nor was it the hit Warner Bros. had been anticipating. It broke even at the box office, making back its official production budget, but it’s a fairly open secret in Hollywood that the movie cost significantly more. As a sequel, it’s wildly inconsistent with the continuity of the first two films; Superman didn’t sleep with Lois until after he’d lost his powers in part 2, but he nevertheless managed to sire a moppet with superhuman strength. And as a standalone film, it’s too complicated to kick off a new franchise. Singer tried to split the difference between making a sequel and a reboot but he was working at cross-purposes. The end result is a watchable movie. But I wouldn’t want to watch another one made just like it.
Two years have passed since “Superman Returns” dropped, and there’s been little to no movement on a sequel, at least in Singer’s camp. He’s talked about doing a second film but is currently weathering the bad buzz surrounding the very, very doomed Tom Cruise-as-a-Nazi-good-guy movie, “Valkyrie.” His relationship with Warner Bros. has obviously cooled, and they’ve decided to start seeing other people, people like “Incredible Hulk” director, Louis Leterrier. Ain’t It Cool is reporting that a cagey Leterrier may have been approached by the studio to direct a Superman follow-up.
What’s interesting about Leterrier as a potential director is that he’s just come off a sequel that more or less retcons the previous installment. Is that the approach Warner Bros. is looking for? I definitely wouldn’t mind if they jettisoned Superman’s illegitimate son, recast Lois Lane with an actress who isn’t a shrinking violet and threw in a villain or two that could knock Supes for a loop. Trouble is, Leterrier’s take on the Hulk doesn’t have much going for it beyond not being as heady and dull as Ang Lee’s version. Simply removing the pain points from Bryan Singer’s overly complicated take on Superman won’t automatically make the finished product better. They’re going to have to try a little harder to make Superman smash.
-Brad Lohan
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[…] sequel to 2006’s “Superman Returns.” I blogged about the rumor awhile back that Louis Leterrier was rumored to be developing a Superman reboot, a la “The Incredible Hulk.” But the Hulk redo didn’t outdo the original film at […]