Reboot: Character Portrayal

[Polux]

People saying they want a more human, emotionally conflicted or "dark" Superman....but that´s exactly what Superman Returns did ! Supes struggling to do the right thing despise his desires....I just don´t get how people don´t see it, that´s why that´s my favorite take on Supes on film (of course, with more action), but I still love the movie.



Polux

 

[Christmas]

I'd love it if Brainiac we're truly frightening to adults and kids alike. It'll be hard to pull off of course, but a great actor like John Malkovich or someone of his caliber could do it.

 

[boog_spin]

oops

 

[boog_spin]

Originally Posted by boog_spin
i think it'd be best if it was a dark world, crime ridden, wars...corrupt politicians...(think TODAY) and then have superman show up and inspire people...only to have someone like lex raise suspicions...about him being an alien...because hes not from here, not like us that he should be viewed with caution and some fear...hes the first wave of an invasion kind of thing...then maybe supes saves the day, but have that theme carried throughout, by having brainiac or darksied or something appear of be hinted at at the end to give lex some kind of creedence

i like how TDK showed a pretty bad city, but how batman was able to inspire someone like harvey dent, and work with gordon to help the city...i think if they went with a dark world but used supes as the beacon of light and truth, we'd definately have a winner

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frodo
I'm against the Dark and Brooding route. However I would prefer that the Superman persona starts out a bit of a swagger and over confidence in terms of his abilities and what he can achieve. He has a bit of a schoolboy cockiness about him until he's humbled and once that happens he grows more into the Superman we know. I'd like the idea of him thinking he can do almost anything despite Jor-El's warnings . Once he's brought down to earth he begins to learn and become the leader that we know. I'm for him being more human ,if that makes anysense, and less the one dimesional boy scout of the past. I think giving the character more humanity would work better then making him a Batman clone imo.

So far I like those ideas. They sound great.

Look, I understand where most everyone here is coming from. When I said "Dark and Brooding" I certainly didn't mean the Rorschach or Batman kind. I don't want Superman lurking in the shadows or wearing all black or stuff like that. I mearly want a more realistic take on the Man of Tomorrow. I see him being a flawed yet noble everyman who just so happens to have amazing powers far beyond that of mortal men. His character should be similar to that of Indiana Jones or Steve Reeves' Hercules. I don't want a Batman clone.

first of all thx!

2nd of all great point frodo.....

i just think keep supes the bright beacon, keep the world around him dark...think about how the world would react right now, if a guy in a blue suit, with red trunks, and a huge "S" with a CAPE on his chest just appeared one day saving the space shuttle...or a plane on CNN...seriously..how would the wporld react?

then throw in some super menacing villian...something ONLY SUPERMAN could possibly handle...and i think you have a great start to an amazing series of movies[/quote]

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

I'd love it if Brainiac we're truly frightening to adults and kids alike. It'll be hard to pull off of course, but a great actor like John Malkovich or someone of his caliber could do it.

What about Jeremy Irons for Brainiac?

 

[Christmas]

could be quite good. Any of those older thespian types could be good in the role.

 

[Reebee52]

I like most of what people are saying. Someone said he wanted people to fear Superman when he debuts, which I think is realistic and important. They wouldn't immediately embrace him.

I also like that people say he needs to be a badass. Superman is a badass, but general audiences have never seen it. Superman doesn't need to be dark and brooding, however he DOES have dark aspects about it. I think it wouldn't be terrible to see him lose control (like in STAS when Dan Turpin dies and Superman destroys a tank). Superman angry could show he has human emotions. I also don't mind a more intense Superman. He could fly a villain up to interrogate him. There was a scene in Birthright when Superman pointed a gun at a guy and pulled the trigger. He then zoomed behind him and caught it, and told him "now you know how she felt." Or something like that. It gives him a little edge without having him drop someone five floors up because "A fall from that high wouldn't kill me."
I wouldn't mind this.

 

[DA Dent]

Yeah, Superman is the shinning light, complete hell and total chaos could be happening around him, but he never gives up hope.

The villains are what makes his world dark. Brainiac would be great, the damage to the city could be like a Y2K gone really wrong, like those fears of planes falling from the sky and everything malfunctioning. If you’ve seen that Zod episode on Smallville a few seasons back, it could be something like that, but on a larger scale. And of course Darkseid would be excellent, but I doubt they’d use him in the first movie.


PS: Sorry if I’m beating a dead horse and using points already used.

 

[Frodo]

I'd prefer cocky to bad ass myself. I think that the first film should be about him growing into the Superman we know. I think he should start out as idealistic, over confident, and cocky. Throughout the film something would bring him down to earth and he would learn to be the humble,learning how to control his emotions and devolp his judgement to become guiding light of the city and eventually earn the city's trust. I do like the idea though of the public being weary of him at first including Lois.

I think like Batman Begins and Casino Royale the film needs to take the character from point A to point B in terms of character devolpment. I'd want Clark Kent/Superman to have a humanity to him and to see a real arch in his character from when the film starts to when it ends. Overall I think it should be a story about someone becoming a hero or a legend instead of lacking a character arch.

 

[BestGirl]

I'd prefer cocky to bad ass myself. I think that the first film should be about him growing into the Superman we know. I think he should start out as idealistic, over confident, and cocky. Throughout the film something would bring him down to earth and he would learn to be the humble,learning how to control his emotions and devolp his judgement to become guiding light of the city and eventually earn the city's trust. I do like the idea though of the public being weary of him at first including Lois.

I think like Batman Begins and Casino Royale the film needs to take the character from point A to point B in terms of character devolpment. I'd want Clark Kent/Superman to have a humanity to him and to see a real arch in his character from when the film starts to when it ends. Overall I think it should be a story about someone becoming a hero or a legend instead of lacking a character arch.

I agree completely. I know some Superman fans would rather see him never make a mistake and always do the right thing but I think it would be more interesting for the audience if Superman were to go through a learning process. I'd rather not see him start out too cocky just because that doesn't sound like Supes, but he could be too idealistic and confident in his abilities. A failure or mistake could then bring him back down to earthand he would eventually become the hero we all know and love.

 

[Nightwing1977]

What about Jeremy Irons for Brainiac?

He would be great. That guy can play a cold, evil villian with his voice & stare. Especially when he did the voice of Scar in "The Lion King". Irons rock my sock!!

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

He would be great. That guy can play a cold, evil villian with his voice & stare. Especially when he did the voice of Scar in "The Lion King". Irons rock my sock!!

Exactly what got me thinking about him being Brainiac


Man, Irons as Brainiac and DDL as Lex... that'd be incredible.

 

[Nightwing1977]

Man, Irons as Brainiac and DDL as Lex... that'd be incredible.

Would that mean all people from United Kingdoms are bad guys there?

 

[draculoid]

the op's point reminds me of kingdom come. that point of view is very reminiscent of the cynical world that influenced superman's decision to retire because it favored the way of the anti-hero. the more people say that superman is boring or outdated, the more i realize that he is needed.

or maybe the world would prefer a magog movie, instead?

read action comics #775 to see superman still being an optimistic hero, yet giving a group of anti-heroes (the type that so many comic book readers and movie goers today love) a much needed beat down and proving, despite popular belief, why he is a badass and not a person with whom to #%@$.

 

[Frodo]

I agree completely. I know some Superman fans would rather see him never make a mistake and always do the right thing but I think it would be more interesting for the audience if Superman were to go through a learning process. I'd rather not see him start out too cocky just because that doesn't sound like Supes, but he could be too idealistic and confident in his abilities. A failure or mistake could then bring him back down to earthand he would eventually become the hero we all know and love.

I agree with you. To me it's more interesting to see him go through the trials , makes the mistakes and learn from them to become a leader and legend. That's an interesting story that I think audiences could get behind.

 

[Sawyer]

The very title of this thread just reeks of failure.

 

[MadVillainy]

Great thread I stumbled upon

Clark Kent: A small town boy in a bi city that just got a jo in one of the most respectble newspapers in the country. Nice, sort of reserved, calm

Lois Lane: Despite her age a very successful writer. Writing stories for the Daily Planet almost straight out of high school. Cocky, witty, strong, hides her emotions

Lex Luthor: Business man he is about more then business. Quick to anger, smooth, outspoke

Jimmy Olsen: A young, eager, over talkative yet good intentioned photographer. Brand new to the Daily Planet, sees Lois as a mentor and Clark as his good friend

 

[xisaacx]

kill off pa or ma in the next film, then go to brooding.

 

[SuperFerret]

No brooding. Superman doesn't brood. Hell, Batman shouldn't brood as much as he does.

 

[Hellrider]

Ok it's annoying that people think Superman has to be dark and brooding, that's not his character. Just give him dark and brooding villians.

Goddamn the dark knight(which i love)...A couple of good dark Batman films and now every superhero has to be dark. Screw that, stay true to the character and make a good MOVIE. Which Superman returns was not. It was in some ways untrue to the character and a bad movie. Just becuase you make him dark doesn't equal good. A good story, with good acting, with good characters, with good action makes a good movie and that is all that superman needs. Make Superman what he stands for ... truth, justice and the true american way. Not dark and brooding goddamn it.

Give him dark good villians. Give him darkseid, or metallo, or brainiac, or doomsday... Not ****ing natural disasters and krpytonite, that's getting old and cliche.

 

[annie.j88]

i dunno, i guess i just always thought of it as like, all this crazy bad stuff happens to him, and the way he deals with it is what inspires humanity or something like that.

 

[Milu]

the op's point reminds me of kingdom come. that point of view is very reminiscent of the cynical world that influenced superman's decision to retire because it favored the way of the anti-hero. the more people say that superman is boring or outdated, the more i realize that he is needed.

or maybe the world would prefer a magog movie, instead?

read action comics #775 to see superman still being an optimistic hero, yet giving a group of anti-heroes (the type that so many comic book readers and movie goers today love) a much needed beat down and proving, despite popular belief, why he is a badass and not a person with whom to #%@$.

Excellent post.

Joy and optimism are not going to kill anybody!

 

[boog_spin]

i was thinking about something like this:

superman saves the day and goes all out to defeat brainiac or some other alien force...but its a little bittersweet for the public, especially beacuse its brainiac...superman saves the earth from destruction, but the reason that superman had to save the day was because brainiac came here for him...have luthor really twist the story of how and why superman had to save the day...adding some doubt and creating some kind of interesting conflict for the next movie or something...

go from distrust in the beginning (who is this man and why is he helping us whats his motives) to complete trust (he stands for truth and justice because they are RIGHT) to somewhat ambiguous (yeh he stands for truth and justice and helps people, but his mere existence here put the whole planet in trouble)

could be interesting i think

 

[bulletbillx]

Well he shouldn't be angry and enter berzerker mode or anything like that. Even if he has a big and dangerous threat he should still be calm and cool about it. You don't have to be angry and slicing people here and there to be "badass".

i'd like to see him get angry on a villain like darkseid and give a speech similar to the one he gave darksied in JLU. Then beat the villain be it zod, darkseid, etc. (someone that can take it) using his full or near full power because he has to to ensure the whole planets safety even if it means some callateral damage.

 

[Adenjo]

I think making the threat darker would work...

Superman trying to sort out the problem with a "soft" approach failing...

A doomsdaylike creature destroying a building/school/hospital.. Superman arriving and landing amongst the dead and dying and finally realising that there are times when even a hero has to go that extra mile to get the job done...