Reboot: Character Portrayal

[The Englishman]

Its like how would that bunbling Idiot have gotten a job for the Daily Planet....

 

[Crook]

Its like how would that bunbling Idiot have gotten a job for the Daily Planet....

Last I checked sociability and personality ratings in the employee lounge don't amount to anything when you're working for a newspaper.

With that said, I don't want a retread of Reeve, and in some way, Routh. We need something new that deviates from preconceived notions on the character. I'd go for a mix of mild-mannered and laid back demeanor. A slightly less confident version of Dean Cain's Clark, if you will.

 

[sdc10]

I actually want to see a performance where you clearly see a difference between Clark and Superman. Thats one thing about All-Star Superman I really liked. Quitley did a great job of visually showing the difference between the two.

 

[LL2K2]

My vote would be "something in the middle." I'd want my Clark to be confident, friendly, and personable, yet unassuming and humble at the same time.

 

[mjbull23]

I'd like to see some new twists thrown into the character. Perhaps make him a little less clean cut. Have him show up for work every once in a while unshaven. Maybe have him throw around some cuss words every once in a while when he gets upset.

Maybe have him light up a cigarrette every now and then. I like the whole head down to the bar and have a beer with Jimmy angle they played upon in Returns, that was good.

Just basic little mannerisms and habits that would really throw people off his trail from ever suspecting that this same person could ever be Superman.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

I wonder how Clark would fare working under James Jonah Jameson.

 

[BestGirl]

He should be shy around Lois and maybe his other coworkers, but more confident and clearly intelligent when he's working on a story.

 

[Crook]

I'd like to see some new twists thrown into the character. Perhaps make him a little less clean cut. Have him show up for work every once in a while unshaven. Maybe have him throw around some cuss words every once in a while when he gets upset.

Maybe have him light up a cigarrette every now and then. I like the whole head down to the bar and have a beer with Jimmy angle they played upon in Returns, that was good.

Just basic little mannerisms and habits that would really throw people off his trail from ever suspecting that this same person could ever be Superman.

WTF? That might be ok for Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne, but that's a definite no-no for Clark.

 

[storyteller]

Well the first thing to discuss is who is Superman? is he Clark Kent who dons a costume or is he Superman who dons the costume of Clark Kent? I like the first one. I think Clark should be goofy and clumsy but only because he is goofy and clumsy. He is an imperfect person naturally but when he dons the S he becomes a superman. We actually saw some of that in Reeve Clark. He used old 60's terms because he's been living away from the world. Clark didnt intentionally do that , it was simply him. There should still be a bit of acting going on like wearing bigger clothes and what not. But personality wise, Clarks a boyscout because he simply is.

 

[stargazer]

How would you like Clark Kent portrayed in a future Superman movie? Ive never liked how Clark has beem portrayed in the movies before, As the Bumbling Idiot. I first got into Superman with the Doomsday story and then i went back and got the John Bryne Man Of Steel sories so i grew up on these stories and also the Lois & Clark TV show and Superman the Animated series and in all of these Clark is a confident, intelligent man. I dont agree with the concept of Clark being Supermans critiqe of the human race and that being his diguise but rather Kent being the real man and Superman is the way he can use his powers for good. "Clark is who i am and Superman is what i do".
In the movies i always felt that Clark was shown as not important to anyone and did not have any respect and certainly would not have got Lois to fall in love with him. The only time Clark felt important was the Bad Superman/ Clark Kent fight in Superman 3.
Anyway what are other peoples opinions on the way Clark Kent should be portrayed??

Where is the third option? Your options are too extreme.

I want to see a mildmannered, shy Clark, like he was supposed to be from the beginning; a disguise for Superman to blend in with earthlings.

I loved Brandon Routh's characterization as Clark. It was perfectly balanced. He was shy, a little goofy, but he was never as over-the-top clumsy as Reeve's Clark.

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

I don't even have to look at the poll results. We know how this vote will go. In the post Byrnes era most prefer we get rid of the bumbling Clark.

Even for those that don't like Dean Cain as Superman, most see his Clark Kent as a great interpretation of how a modern Clark should be.

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

It needs to be done in the most believable way. Singer did it the closest to right.

Routh's Daily Planet Clark was quiet, withdrawn and faded into the background. It was the opposite of Superman and worked well.

While his Smallville Clark was the real person (this aspect needs more focus).


Clark should always be divided into the real person and the Daily Planet disguise.



That's the only way to do it right in live action.

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

It needs to be done in the most believable way. Singer did it the closest to right.

Routh's Daily Planet Clark was quiet, withdrawn and faded into the background. It was the opposite of Superman and worked well.

While his Smallville Clark was the real person (this aspect needs more focus).


Clark should always be divided into the real person and the Daily Planet disguise.



That's the only way to do it right in live action.

So you disagree with L&C's "Superman is what I do, Clark is who I am." approach?

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

So you disagree with L&C's "Superman is what I do, Clark is who I am." approach?

Yes, because it failed on L+C.

Daily Planet Clark and Superman were barely indistinguishable and it wasn't believable in the slightest.

It was campy. It would for the Tv show but it would be insulting to the intelligence of movie goers and critics.



You can still have Clark as the real person in Kansas (or when he's by himself)..

But in the Daily Planet, he needs the reporter disguise and the mannerisms that go along with it. He needs to fade into the background with Superman very much in the foreground.

 

[SuperAl]

Please make him normal, i hate the whole goofy, im a clumsy idiot clark. I mean in SR Lois basically didn't give a crap about Clark, i wouldnt even consider them friends in that movie.

He should be a intelligent person and a hard worker who always seems to be leaving the office to work on a big story, which would give him the excuse to always leave the office to save people. Lois should be asking him to go get a coffee/dinner but Clark always has to relunctunately refuse because he realizes he can't get involved with her in order to protect her.

And Man of Tomorrow, nothing is believeable when it comes to superman's disguise. I mean his disguise is a pair of glasses!!!!!!! Its pretty friggin obviously that Clark is Superman. If his personalty is suppose to break his two identities apart than that is just plain dumb. Thats mainly why i dont think there has to be this fake personalty that Clark in the daily planet has to have. Just let him be normal

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

Yes, because it failed on L+C.

Daily Planet Clark and Superman were barely indistinguishable and it wasn't believable in the slightest.

It was campy. It would for the Tv show but it would be insulting to the intelligence of movie goers and critics.



You can still have Clark as the real person in Kansas (or when he's by himself)..

But in the Daily Planet, he needs the reporter disguise and the mannerisms that go along with it. He needs to fade into the background with Superman very much in the foreground.

It didn't fail. Otherwise interpretations since then wouldn't have followed suit.

TAS has him balanced out well. Clark is the person, he is competitive and doesn't come off as an idiot reporter. Different enough persona from Superman.

Whether you have him acting like a bumbling fool or not, movie wise it is always going to be obvious Clark and Superman are the same.

This may be too sci fi to some, but I think it could possibly work for a movie:
There was an idea before of Superman having an actual ability (hypnotic) that prevents people from figuring out his identity. I think if they were to do that, it shouldn't be an ability of his. Maybe Jor-el leaves him his Kryptonian suit (Superman costume) because he forsees his son being the protector of Earth, but still needing to live amongst the humans as he is not intended to be their God. So he instructs Kal-el that only the humans that he allows closest to him, will know his true being. It would be kind of fun with Lois, cause she could only find out if she fell in love with Clark over Superman. Also he would have to control himself, only allowing himself to "show" who he is when he forms the proper trust.

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

It didn't fail. Otherwise interpretations since then wouldn't have followed suit.

What interpretations?

The only Superman live action representation after L+C was Singer's film.

When Cain plays Clark and Superman in such an identical manner; I consider it a major fail. It was beyond silly. It felt like that SNL Superman sketch with The Rock.

TAS has him balanced out well. Clark is the person, he is competitive and doesn't come off as an idiot reporter. Different enough persona from Superman.

TAS is a cartoon. Different animal. They can get anyway with anything in a cartoon.

A live action interpretation set in some level of versimilitude requires more.

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

And Man of Tomorrow, nothing is believeable when it comes to superman's disguise. I mean his disguise is a pair of glasses!!!!!!! Its pretty friggin obviously that Clark is Superman. If his personalty is suppose to break his two identities apart than that is just plain dumb. Thats mainly why i dont think there has to be this fake personalty that Clark in the daily planet has to have. Just let him be normal

It's more than just the glasses for the CK disguise.

It's also the voice, the hair, the mannerisms; he carries himself completely different as DP Clark.

He's lanky and fades into the background.


The DP disguise certainly has the possibility of being believable if done right. Singer did it in the most realistic way.

If Routh had played a more confident and bold Superman, his DP Clark would have seemed realistically like a completely different person.


The next director just needs to take the way Singer presented it and push it to the next level of believability.


Reeve was clumsy and bumbling as Clark. He did slapstick and drew attention to himself; playing Clark as an idiot.


Routh was just a withdrawn, shy, quiet Clark in the DP. No slapstick. That's one MAJOR improvement Singer made from the Donner stuff.

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

I mean in SR Lois basically didn't give a crap about Clark, i wouldnt even consider them friends in that movie.

That's more of a flaw with the portrayal of Lois in the film.


She can easily be written as less of a b%tch to Clark if need be.


Though Lois has been treating Clark badly since the early days. It's mainly because she's in love with Superman first.

 

[mjbull23]

WTF? That might be ok for Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne, but that's a definite no-no for Clark.

Yeah, tradtionally speaking, Clark has always been the conservative, subdued alter ego personified. But in the spirit of trying new things with a new movie, I think making the Clark character a little more "normal" in terms of how most people act in the workplace, might not be a bad thing.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I see him as a regular dude, he's got friends and a bit of a sense of humor in Smallville. Why not play him like Jim from the Office, funny, gregarious, but make him slightly accident prone too.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

Normal but very professional. An ace reporter. To the point that Lois considers him a threat

 

[The Englishman]

How do i revise the poll and put a 3rd option???

 

[Nathan]

I want Clark as he was in TAS and Lois & Clark. The bumbling idiot act needs to stop.

 

[afan]

Plain and simple, George Reeves' portrayal.