DC's Metropolis

[Dr.]

It means they are rebooting the series even before it has started production. They hit a new level of absurdness.

Seems to me, a planned series undergoing “redevelopment” isn’t that unusual. The upcoming reboot of Charmed, for instance, is the second attempt.

 

[Willi Berg]

Seems to me, a planned series undergoing “redevelopment” isn’t that unusual. The upcoming reboot of Charmed, for instance, is the second attempt.

Yeah, sometimes shows get "retooled" or redeveloped before production. Sometimes it's just an actor, or the show goes in a different direction.

I think even "Krypton" was retooled before going into production, to add more of the Superman element with the time travel.

You have to wonder what it is though. What did they see not working? Did they listen to fan complaints? Are they trying to incorporate more Superman?

 

[Dr.]

You have to wonder what it is though. What did they see not working? Did they listen to fan complaints? Are they trying to incorporate more Superman?

Maybe. As I mentioned before… Metropolis has a “conceptual” challenge that doesn’t apply to other prequel series. With Smallville, Gotham and Krypton, it quickly becomes apparent (from the very premise) that the hero implied by the title(s) won’t be making an appearance anytime soon. Thus, there’s no teasing or deception and the audience settles in to the prequel mindset. But with Metropolis, an adult Lois Lane as a working DP reporter means that an adult Clark Kent exists somewhere. IOW, timing-wise, the appearance of CK and/or Superman in Metropolis would seem to be imminent. And if there are no plans to actually introduce this character, that would be distracting.

 

[Zant]

Seems to me, a planned series undergoing “redevelopment” isn’t that unusual. The upcoming reboot of Charmed, for instance, is the second attempt.

I bet those planned Wonder Woman prequel show and Flying Graysons series underwent redevelopment too...

The premise is terrible. They don't even need fan backlash to realise that.

 

[Zant]

Agreed. "Gotham" has pretty much proven that you can successfully present Batman's best villains on TV as well.

Really the only big expenses that any producers would have to worry about when making a Batman show is creating a worthy Bat-Suit and Batmobile.

Gotham show......

Thant show does not know what it wants to be. Its best they plan this thing out and not rush into anything.

 

[Herolee10]

Are they trying to incorporate more Superman?

I don't know how you can add more superman to the show when the original concept of the show dealt with Lois before she ever met him.lol

Honestly, I see no value in doing a show just about Lois and Lex. The only way that this show has a chance of getting an audience is if they include Superman as a main character.

 

[Willi Berg]

I don't know how you can add more superman to the show when the original concept of the show dealt with Lois before she ever met him.lol

Honestly, I see no value in doing a show just about Lois and Lex. The only way that this show has a chance of getting an audience is if they include Superman as a main character.

Well add more Superman as in add more elements that remind the audience of him. Like how "Krypton" added the Adam Strange time-travel aspect, showing Superman's existence in danger. Superman's not actually there, but they now there are more references to him. I don't know how Metropolis could do it, and maybe they can't without actually including him. Maybe they feel the need to connect it all more to Superman. Whether that means adding Clark Kent and Smallville or whatever. I wonder what Superman villains they were planning to use. I agree that it could feel aimless of pointless if we just have these sci-fi villains occupying Metropolis featured, with nothing really to tie it together.

 

[Teelie]

Seems to me, a planned series undergoing “redevelopment” isn’t that unusual. The upcoming reboot of Charmed, for instance, is the second attempt.

Yeah, sometimes shows get "retooled" or redeveloped before production. Sometimes it's just an actor, or the show goes in a different direction.

I think even "Krypton" was retooled before going into production, to add more of the Superman element with the time travel.

You have to wonder what it is though. What did they see not working? Did they listen to fan complaints? Are they trying to incorporate more Superman?

I realize that but when they have a series announced like this and supposedly they have a plan for it then throw it in the bin to rewrite it entirely, that's rebooting it from before it even started. It's more than their main actor dropped out or they had to rethink some of the story because of a real life event or someone pointed out a problem with the plot. They are scrapping everything and going back to scratch from the sound of it.

 

[Willi Berg]

I realize that but when they have a series announced like this and supposedly they have a plan for it then throw it in the bin to rewrite it entirely, that's rebooting it from before it even started. It's more than their main actor dropped out or they had to rethink some of the story because of a real life event or someone pointed out a problem with the plot. They are scrapping everything and going back to scratch from the sound of it.

It is strange.

 

[Dr.]

As far as I can tell, the sites reporting this news credit Deadline.com as their source. And all Deadline says is that Metropolis “will now be redeveloped” - with no information as to the extent of the revamp. It might just be a re-write of the original concept (Lois + Lex, but no Superman); or perhaps, the entire premise (as speculated) is being “scrapped.” If it’s the latter, then who knows? Maybe CK/Superman will be added. In which case, the show might be more along the lines of Adventures of Superman or Lois & Clark.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

I have a feeling that adding in Superman is probably what the redevelopment entails.

I still like the idea of a show were Lois & Lex are the main characters and we see the story unfold through their eyes but you need Superman (or you will eventually).

I hope this happens.

 

[godisawesome]

I have a feeling that adding in Superman is probably what the redevelopment entails.

I still like the idea of a show were Lois & Lex are the main characters and we see the story unfold through their eyes but you need Superman (or you will eventually).

I hope this happens.

Man, I wish I'd known about the "redevelopment" thing before me and my buddy started recording our podcast this week; I knew about and mentioned Metropolis, but didn't know they were (possibly) repackaging it along the lines me and my buddy were theorizing it *should be.* I honestly think that Superman's mythos is strong enough to hold a show or two without necessarily requiring him present; Krypton is succeeding right now, and technically, if they were to ever develop a Legion of Superheroes show, it would be one big spinoff of Superman.

But when you bring in Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, you do kind of *need* access to Superman. She's the love of his life and partner in reporting, while he's the archnemesis defined by his feud with the Man of Steel. Ideally, even if you remove personal relationships with Clark Kent, Superman should be the great mystery Lois is trying to solve and the greatest challenge of Lex's life. Any villain you out before them just isn't going to be even a ghost for a challenge before that.

I think the ideal way to do it, and still keep Superman in the background for most of the show, would be to have Lois and Lex both arrive in Metropolis and begin seemingly Superman-less adventures; perhaps Lois starts investigating Intergang while Lex starts competing with Intergang's leader Morgan Edge... And have the first episode end with a subplot where Clark does his first, quiet and street level good deed, like saving a tenement building from Intergang arson, but we don't see it, we just hear about it and see the after effects.

Like, have the first season feature a subplot of a Grant Morrison-style t-shirt and blue jeans Superman starting to make waves that slowly pick up steam and give the audience larger and larger glimpses of him, becoming a side investigation Lois is running and maybe having Lex seek to manipulate his attacks on Intergang to give LexCorp a leg up on Edge and Galaxy Communications. And if you want to get really creative, have Clark Kent show up in the background of some Daily Planet scenes long before he and Lois are introduced, and maybe try and see how well you can make his disguise (like, maybe Clark has dark normal eyes while Superman has alien glowing eyes, or have the actor shoot all his Clark scenes then work out for weeks afterwards before shooting the Superman scenes to make the physical appearance very different.) The have the finale feature a victorious Lex try to clean up Lois as a loose end, shoot her helicopter, and have Superman make his first real appearance saving her before confronting Lex.

My buddy and I had a bunch of little wish-list things in our Superman on Tv podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/franchisewars/id1286433288?mt=2#episodeGuid=Buzzsprout-770409) that we think would work in a new Superman show, and I think most of them would apply to Metropolis. Like, two things you can hear about if you give it a listen (and please do!) would be how you could make Clark, Lois and Jimmy have a kind of work-comedy chemistry and maybe even a bit of pseudo-sitcom humor of you had them all live in the same apartment, and one other thing that I think Metropolis really needs: a new reconstruction of Jimmy Olsen, complete with whacky adventures.

I mean, Jimmy is usually kind if just a bland supporting character in most stuff today. But imagine if he was exploring the sci-if world of Metropolis and his subplots were kind of like a weird little genre-shift into Doctor Who-esque shenanigans, where he does gain powers, mutate, and time travel in weird ways. Maybe even make his association with Lois and Superman be based off his tendency to always find weird, otherworldly trouble. I think that could really work!