Superman Returns Bryan Singer's Comic Inspirations

[Nightwing1977]

^So people cant have a different opinion? I'm a big Superman fan myself and i loved the movie and thought it was great, sure it was different from the comics in some areas, but i liked it, and that doesnt make me a fool.

Sad, isn't it? I love how whining fanboys think they know who are fans & who aren't. But hey, Superman2008 is a newb. & only has 3 posts. Let just ignore him.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Some of you are truly misguided fools. Singer did no such thing.
He admitted it himself, he never read any Superman comics, and his writers were a bunch of hacks (as one other member on this board so eloquently put it). As a movie, as a Superman movie, singer's SR was a major failure. I've been a Superman fan longer than most members of this board have been alive, and from all the books, novels, movies, and Superman stories I've read, watched, listened to, singer's SR is the worst.
I haven't been on this board very long, so check one of my other posts, where I drop some facts on the failure of singer's dumb movie.

Please excuse me when i tell you to grow a brain and learn that not everyone in this world shares your opinion, plenty of people, Superman fans or not, loved SR, get over it. And these pages show that Bryan Singer did open up a comic book during production.

Sad, isn't it? I love how whining fanboys think they know who are fans & who aren't. But hey, Superman2008 is a newb. & only has 3 posts. Let just ignore him.

It just astonishes me that I get probation for defending myself, yet this guy openly insults anyone with a different opinion than him and what happens to him? NOTHING, this web-site is a joke.

 

[C. Lee]

Some of you are truly misguided fools. Singer did no such thing.
He admitted it himself, he never read any Superman comics, and his writers were a bunch of hacks (as one other member on this board so eloquently put it). As a movie, as a Superman movie, singer's SR was a major failure. I've been a Superman fan longer than most members of this board have been alive, and from all the books, novels, movies, and Superman stories I've read, watched, listened to, singer's SR is the worst.
I haven't been on this board very long, so check one of my other posts, where I drop some facts on the failure of singer's dumb movie.

Calling people "misguided fools" because they have a different opinion than you is uncalled for. Do not continue this type of posting.

 

[C. Lee]

Sad, isn't it? I love how whining fanboys think they know who are fans & who aren't. But hey, Superman2008 is a newb. & only has 3 posts. Let just ignore him.

If you really wanted to ignore him....you would have, instead of calling him a "whiney fanboy".....if you don't like what someone says, ignore them or debate them civily.

 

[C. Lee]

Please excuse me when i tell you to grow a brain and learn that not everyone in this world shares your opinion, plenty of people, Superman fans or not, loved SR, get over it. And these pages show that Bryan Singer did open up a comic book during production.

Just as I told him not to make rude remarks to people with differing opinions....I am also telling you this.

It just astonishes me that I get probation for defending myself, yet this guy openly insults anyone with a different opinion than him and what happens to him? NOTHING, this web-site is a joke.

As you were told many times....You were not given probation for defending yourself....you were given probation for continuing an argument after being told by a mod to stop it.

And....if you think this place is so much of a joke....why are you here?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Just as I told him not to make rude remarks to people with differing opinions....I am also telling you this.


As you were told many times....You were not given probation for defending yourself....you were given probation for continuing an argument after being told by a mod to stop it.

And....if you think this place is so much of a joke....why are you here?

An argument that wasnt started by me, someone attacked me and I defended myself, so i get probation for it, brilliant.

And I'm still here because as i told you, I am giving serious consideration to leaving this place, i wont make that decision quickly when I have a 1000 more important decisions to make at the moment.

Anyway, lets get this thread back on topic.

 

[Norm3]

I always felt Singer was a little afraid of the CB source material. I think thats the reason we never got a Superpowered villain in SR. Even his changing of X-men costumes when possible made me feel that way.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^How people forget. At the time X-Men was made comic book's, and their movies, were still heavily looked down upon and considered a very poor and corny genre. Seeing someone like Wolverine running around in a bright yellow suit at that point would have been ridiculous and people simply would not have embraced the movie like they did.

The X-Men are my favourite characters ever, but giving them uniforms made sense in the movie universe, especially at the time.

Besides, he didnt change the Superman suit that much did he? This thread alone shows that he, or someone else, did look to the comics for inspiration at some points.

 

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

Besides, he didnt change the Superman suit that much did he? This thread alone shows that he, or someone else, did look to the comics for inspiration at some points.

There's not a person in the world who doesn't know Superman's suit, and Singer's reverence for the Donner film would be a factor in him not changing it.

There are several points that make me wonder if Bryan Singer has read a Superman comic:

-Magneto leaving Xavier to die at the end of X2: In the audio commentary, he said he preferred this over the Magneto who oftentimes led the X-Men. This shows he had to have read MANy X-Men comics to be familiar with that period and to have read other periods where Magneto was the arch enemy to differentiate the two versions of the story.

- Showing an awareness of eras and story arcs works against him in his portrayal of Lex Luthor, who has largely been a deadly serious character for decades. Researching the source material would show that his comical(albeit with a dark edge... some of the time)Lex is not the lex many readers 30 and under have known their entire lives. The Lex Luthor of the comics, whatever version, was smart enough to not have to marry to get money, even if he worked within the law to get it. The Magneto reference above shows his awareness of different versions of a character; his Luthor was largely the Donner Luthor.

-His saying in several interviews that Superman can only be hurt by kryptonite, so you have to hurt him emotionally for drama. Ummmm... Brainiac, Metallo, Mongul, Darkseid, Doomsday, Parasite, Cyborg, the Eradicator. I guess those didn't ring any bells for the director of Superman Returns. I certainly can't find any direct quotes from him referencing Brainiac in any context.

-The X-Men movies had numerous Easter Eggs that referenced comic characters not in the movie and the such. The only Easter Eggs were former Superman actors in this. A reference to Cat Grant or Bibbo, Intergang, Morgan Edge, etc would give me a little more confidence in Singer.

Superman has lifted huge rocks many times before. When I say Singer obviously hasn't read many Superman comics, I say this largely because of what he did with the X-Men movies and the telling quotes from him.

You can make the argument that X-Men had no movies to draw on before Singer made his while Superman has a very influential one, but Singer should have realized that the 78 movie was not the be all and end all of Superman.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

There's not a person in the world who doesn't know Superman's suit, and Singer's reverence for the Donner film would be a factor in him not changing it.

There are several points that make me wonder if Bryan Singer has read a Superman comic:

-Magneto leaving Xavier to die at the end of X2: In the audio commentary, he said he preferred this over the Magneto who oftentimes led the X-Men. This shows he had to have read MANy X-Men comics to be familiar with that period and to have read other periods where Magneto was the arch enemy to differentiate the two versions of the story.

- Showing an awareness of eras and story arcs works against him in his portrayal of Lex Luthor, who has largely been a deadly serious character for decades. Researching the source material would show that his comical(albeit with a dark edge... some of the time)Lex is not the lex many readers 30 and under have known their entire lives. The Lex Luthor of the comics, whatever version, was smart enough to not have to marry to get money, even if he worked within the law to get it. The Magneto reference above shows his awareness of different versions of a character; his Luthor was largely the Donner Luthor.

-His saying in several interviews that Superman can only be hurt by kryptonite, so you have to hurt him emotionally for drama. Ummmm... Brainiac, Metallo, Mongul, Darkseid, Doomsday, Parasite, Cyborg, the Eradicator. I guess those didn't ring any bells for the director of Superman Returns. I certainly can't find any direct quotes from him referencing Brainiac in any context.

-The X-Men movies had numerous Easter Eggs that referenced comic characters not in the movie and the such. The only Easter Eggs were former Superman actors in this. A reference to Cat Grant or Bibbo, Intergang, Morgan Edge, etc would give me a little more confidence in Singer.

Superman has lifted huge rocks many times before. When I say Singer obviously hasn't read many Superman comics, I say this largely because of what he did with the X-Men movies and the telling quotes from him.

You can make the argument that X-Men had no movies to draw on before Singer made his while Superman has a very influential one, but Singer should have realized that the 78 movie was not the be all and end all of Superman.

Some of this i'll agree with, but you have to remember, SR was a goodbye to the Donnerverse while at the same starting a new Superman universe for a modern age, so the movie did have to have some Donner elements in, though it could have done with a few less as it turns.

This thread shows that at least someone involved in making the movie did look at some comics, but i'll agree they should have included more from the modern day comics, a few mentions of some of the characters you mentioned, or even an allusion to a future villain.

Though i do feel in the 3rd we got the Superman and Lex that Singer wanted for the franchise and I found both characters in the 3rd act to be superb.

 

[SymbioteKal-El]

^To be honest, I very much doubt the general audience noticed all of the Donner "ass-kissing" that some people like to call it as much as we do, in fact i'd be surprised if they noticed it at all, so to me it is a non-issue.

The movie doing well in polls even 2 years down the line shows that it did connect with SOME of the GA, just not enough for WB evidently.

Anyway, back on topic, Singer did obviously include SOME stuff from the comics, as evidenced by this thread, but do people honestly think the GA would have been bothered or even noticed if he did include more stuff from the comics?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^To be honest, I very much doubt the general audience noticed all of the Donner "ass-kissing" that some people like to call it as much as we do, in fact i'd be surprised if they noticed it at all, so to me it is a non-issue.

Agreed, they dont watch these movies religiously like we do, they watch it 2/3 times at most.

^The movie doing well in polls even 2 years down the line shows that it did connect with SOME of the GA, just not enough for WB evidently.

Exactly, though WB have never been the best decision makers when it comes to CB movies have they?

Anyway, back on topic, Singer did obviously include SOME stuff from the comics, as evidenced by this thread, but do people honestly think the GA would have been bothered or even noticed if he did include more stuff from the comics?

They wouldnt have, because they dont read them or even go near them in most cases, yet people seem to think including more of the mythology, that most of the GA has no clue exists would have made the movie $100 million more at the BO, this just isnt true.

I have to say though, the thing Singer did use from the comics were used superbly IMO.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Looks like this is another thing Singer used from the comics:

http://www.bluetights.net/theplanet/showpost.php?p=1681532&postcount=1

.

 

[Retroman]

There's not a person in the world who doesn't know Superman's suit, and Singer's reverence for the Donner film would be a factor in him not changing it.

There are several points that make me wonder if Bryan Singer has read a Superman comic:

-Magneto leaving Xavier to die at the end of X2: In the audio commentary, he said he preferred this over the Magneto who oftentimes led the X-Men. This shows he had to have read MANy X-Men comics to be familiar with that period and to have read other periods where Magneto was the arch enemy to differentiate the two versions of the story.

- Showing an awareness of eras and story arcs works against him in his portrayal of Lex Luthor, who has largely been a deadly serious character for decades. Researching the source material would show that his comical(albeit with a dark edge... some of the time)Lex is not the lex many readers 30 and under have known their entire lives. The Lex Luthor of the comics, whatever version, was smart enough to not have to marry to get money, even if he worked within the law to get it. The Magneto reference above shows his awareness of different versions of a character; his Luthor was largely the Donner Luthor.

-His saying in several interviews that Superman can only be hurt by kryptonite, so you have to hurt him emotionally for drama. Ummmm... Brainiac, Metallo, Mongul, Darkseid, Doomsday, Parasite, Cyborg, the Eradicator. I guess those didn't ring any bells for the director of Superman Returns. I certainly can't find any direct quotes from him referencing Brainiac in any context.

-The X-Men movies had numerous Easter Eggs that referenced comic characters not in the movie and the such. The only Easter Eggs were former Superman actors in this. A reference to Cat Grant or Bibbo, Intergang, Morgan Edge, etc would give me a little more confidence in Singer.

Superman has lifted huge rocks many times before. When I say Singer obviously hasn't read many Superman comics, I say this largely because of what he did with the X-Men movies and the telling quotes from him.

You can make the argument that X-Men had no movies to draw on before Singer made his while Superman has a very influential one, but Singer should have realized that the 78 movie was not the be all and end all of Superman.

Actually, Jack Larson plays Bibbo the bartender and he works in the Ace Of Clubs. Not the exact same as the comic versions but both were taken directly from the Superman comics.

I understand the point you're making though.

Looks like this is another thing Singer used from the comics:

http://www.bluetights.net/theplanet/showpost.php?p=1681532&postcount=1

.

Nice one to bring up! Supes has also done this in other live incarnations such as Lois & Clark.

I didn't see anyone burning effigies of the writers when they came up with that.

Speaking of comics...

Chris Lee
Executive producer
Los Angeles, California
Lee, 49, rose through the Hollywood ranks from script reader to president of production at Columbia TriStar Pictures before becoming an independent producer in 1998.

"After Bryan called me, I went out and bought $400 of archived comic books. The guy behind the counter asked me if I was doing a thesis. Some producers are nuts-and-bolts line and budget guys. I'm a creative producer, someone who's involved with the story, casting, everything. With casting, some people felt the first film got too campy. Lex Luthor and Otis, his henchman, had this theme music, 'The March of the Villains.' We avoided that completely. The challenge was to surprise people. Sure, we picked veteran actors, but we were very selective until we got to the unexpected choices, like Parker Posey [as Kitty Kowalski].

Source:http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/107/open_fast-talk.html

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Actually, Jack Larson plays Bibbo the bartender and he works in the Ace Of Clubs. Not the exact same as the comic versions but both were taken directly from the Superman comics.

I understand the point you're making though.

Nice observation, interesting.

Nice one to bring up! Supes has also done this in other live incarnations such as Lois & Clark.

I didn't see anyone burning effigies of the writers when they came up with that.

Oh of course, other people are allowed to present Superman that way but when Bryan Singer does it, its not allowed, as I have said from day one, the over-analysis and criticism of that scene is ridiculous, especially when Superman has done similar things in the comics.

Speaking of comics...

Source:http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/107/open_fast-talk.html

Just as I have said throughout this thread, if Singer didnt pick up a comic whe making SR, then plenty of other people did who were involved in making it. This is simply more proof, thanks Retro.

 

[SymbioteKal-El]

^Its obvious that the comics were looked at during the production of the movie, there is too much evidence from the movie itself to deny this. But for some reason SR didnt have enough for some people, and wasnt able to get away with not having enough like plenty of other CB movies have. I wonder why that is?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^Thats what tends to frustrate me about the likes of SR and Ang Lee's Hulk. People say they are not faithful, when nothing could be further from the truth IMO. Now I wont discuss Hulk on here but SR has MORE than enough elements from the comics to satisfy the fans, it actually has just as much if not more than some other CB movies that are considered the cream of the crop. BB and TDK being prime examples. It just baffles me.

Dont get me wrong, I consider both of those movies better than SR, but to say they are a lot more faithful is simply NOT accurate IMO.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Reading Birthright, I actually think Brandon channelled some of the differences between Superman and Clark from that story, in SR he raises his voice as Clark, is a quiet person, and is barely noticed by most of his workmates, which is the case in Birthright also. Obviousy some of the Reeve Clark was thrown in there as well, but you can see the similarities.