Should Superman be dark?

[Anubis]

It's something that could be explored in a sequel. I like the way Darksied did it in the Animated series, but that should be a ways off. Right now, you gotta focus on restarting the franchise.

 

[Webhead2006]

totally anubis it would be better for any "dark/evil" superman to be a think in 2nd or 3rd film. Once you build up the characters and their actions/behaviors and all that. So it could be a more shocking moment like how it was done in STAS like you sound above.

 

[BestGirl]

Smallville has created a dark Superman by choice, and alienated an audience.

Superman III already used the beyond his control dark Superman device.

Most of the GA has yet to see either one, and I'm sure most any competent director could do a better job of presenting these concepts than SV and SIII.

 

[Fresh Prince]

I say they should mix Superman being dark/evil from the comics, STAS and Superman 3....But please no lame scene like CLark fighting Superman and taking him out...Seeing that scene in Superman 3 when Clark was crushing Superman head looked like he was doing some sexual stuff with him...You guys know what I'm talking about if you saw that scene...But how would Superman regain form of being good?

 

[BestGirl]

I say they should mix Superman being dark/evil from the comics, STAS and Superman 3....But please no lame scene like CLark fighting Superman and taking him out...Seeing that scene in Superman 3 when Clark was crushing Superman head looked like he was doing some sexual stuff with him...You guys know what I'm talking about if you saw that scene...But how would Superman regain form of being good?

It's hard to say without knowing the circumstances under which he went bad.

 

[Anubis]

Same way he always snaps out of it. Lois in harms way.

 

[Mr. Earle]

How would Superman get darker and why? Red Kryptonite?
They ll try to reboot and give us the current version of Superman and before we even get it we re talking about Superman going darker? Why? Its been done to death in Smallville and it sucked. I'm worried about getting a good Superman reboot with a Superman that he's the way he's supposed to be, so lets not give them ideas and ways to **** things up.
Nolan's success with GRIMDARK will already have affected their judgement and there's talk that they re going darker. I mean, how stupid can DC get? Havent they seen Ironman? Dark doesnt work on Superman. Returns failed because it was based on a 30 year old franchise, Superman barely spoke in it, and the plot was stupid. And yeah, rage inducing Superchild and ******** Lois.

How hard can it be to do a good superman movie? His comics are the most successful of the bunch. Why not take a look at what makes them so successful?

 

[afan]

Most of the GA has yet to see either one, and I'm sure most any competent director could do a better job of presenting these concepts than SV and SIII.

Perhaps.....but we do have two concrete instances where the presentation of a dark Superman is somewhat less than overwhelmingly recieved.

 

[The Guard]

Some of you seem to think that "dark" means Superman has to be "evil". I don't know that this is the case.

 

[Anubis]

Actually it was whats his name that started down the dark=evil path. Most everybody else was just commenting on it. That said, Superman in no way lends himself to being dark. I mean, closest you get with a dark Superman would be Mr.Majestic. And while that may work for that particular character, it certainly doesn't work for Supes.

 

[Webhead2006]

for all we know those dark comments from last year which i still think they were more talking about the setting, threats, and villains then superman him self. Could likely not even be the dam case when we do ever get another film.

 

[Fresh Prince]

Smallville's dark Superman is awesome though.

 

[BestGirl]

How would Superman get darker and why? Red Kryptonite?
They ll try to reboot and give us the current version of Superman and before we even get it we re talking about Superman going darker? Why? Its been done to death in Smallville and it sucked. I'm worried about getting a good Superman reboot with a Superman that he's the way he's supposed to be, so lets not give them ideas and ways to **** things up.
Nolan's success with GRIMDARK will already have affected their judgement and there's talk that they re going darker. I mean, how stupid can DC get? Havent they seen Ironman? Dark doesnt work on Superman. Returns failed because it was based on a 30 year old franchise, Superman barely spoke in it, and the plot was stupid. And yeah, rage inducing Superchild and ******** Lois.

How hard can it be to do a good superman movie? His comics are the most successful of the bunch. Why not take a look at what makes them so successful?

I could see making Superman dark in a second or third movie of a trilogy as a way of increasing drama. Build up Superman in the first movie or two as being a nice guy and then yank the rug out from under the audience's feet by turning him into an angry god or allowing him to be brainwashed. I can see that being scary and dramatic.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Meh, there is so much in Superman that we havent seen yet that it would be a waste if he is just evil for the duration of a movie. There is so much character development and great moments of his in the comics and we'd be spending a movie on this? Superman is not Batman and he must never be. You'd have to deplete all the character development in the world to go there.

Besides, no matter what hits him, Superman never stays down or becomes dark. Its who he is. Superman is the Jesus of the DCU. Its the hero that every other hero looks up to. Its not the flying, its not the strength, its the fact that he is a beacon of benevolence, wisedom, kindness and hope.

 

[Anubis]

Well, I don't know about all that. His best character moments come when people think he's all those things, and he has trouble seeing it that way. In Kingdom Come, I believe it was said, "His greatest weakness is his inability to see how much of an inspiration he is to others", and all that.

 

[wattabrownsound]

they had a clone superman in the Superman: Doomsday animated feature that was dark. they had that alternate reality superman that lobotomized Doomsday in the Justice League cartoon. they also had an alternate reality superman in STAS. superman is not batman and will never be like the batman. we should not have superman movies where he goes around behaving like the batman. i agree. but there are ways around the idea if they ever wanted to go there. plus if they played the dark card in some shape or form and than have superman rise above it they would be making his ideals really resonate.

 

[Anubis]

Not really.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Well, I don't know about all that. His best character moments come when people think he's all those things, and he has trouble seeing it that way. In Kingdom Come, I believe it was said, "His greatest weakness is his inability to see how much of an inspiration he is to others", and all that.

But he is nonetheless.

I am no Superman expert but i ve read quite a few Superman books and watched every DC animated series there is. And what i've realised, is that just like Batman isnt just a dude in a black suit beating thugs up, but there is a lot more to him, the same goes with Superman. He isnt just a guy in a blue suit that flies around saving the world. Like Batman has to deal with all those issues that Nolan raised, and more that Nolan hasnt brought up yet but you can find in the comics, Superman has his own separate character development and place in DCU.

He is Jesus. He is THE ULTIMATE white knight. He is the last one to lose his temper, he is is the first one in combat, he is the man you'd sit down and listen to, he is the man that will save the world from Darkseid the one day and pull a cat from the tree the other. And he doesnt just do all that because of his effect on people, he does it because that's who he truly is.

Sometimes, he flies to stop a robbery and the robbers instantly surrender when they see him because they feel ashamed. Its like they re standing in front of Jesus and they re realising that what they re doing is wrong. And that's who Superman really is.

 

[Fresh Prince]

Can we stop with all the Jesus crap....He is not a GOD, which Jesus was...He is an alien...Not a GOD!...Also criminals stop not cause they feel ashamed, they stop cause they know they cannot kill Superman....Dude is a super human machine and their just humans....If they could kill them they would...Lol thats the reason they surrender not cause they feel ashamed.

 

[Webhead2006]

Yea we dont need to get into the whole jesus/bible/moses/god comparisons again. I think most fans dont want to touch that topic.

 

[BestGirl]

Meh, there is so much in Superman that we havent seen yet that it would be a waste if he is just evil for the duration of a movie. There is so much character development and great moments of his in the comics and we'd be spending a movie on this? Superman is not Batman and he must never be. You'd have to deplete all the character development in the world to go there.

Besides, no matter what hits him, Superman never stays down or becomes dark. Its who he is. Superman is the Jesus of the DCU. Its the hero that every other hero looks up to. Its not the flying, its not the strength, its the fact that he is a beacon of benevolence, wisedom, kindness and hope.

He wouldn't have to be evil for the entire movie. He just either fights a battle while dark or someone manipulates him for the first part of a film and he spends the rest of it trying to make things right. Besides, we'd have two more other movies to see him in light mode.

 

[Hectorminator]

The next Superman film doesn't need to be dark.

It just needs to be SERIOUS. There's a difference.

 

[kalelkilla]

The next Superman film doesn't need to be dark.

It just needs to be SERIOUS. There's a difference.

Agreed. You can take Superman into some very dark and serious situations and have some adult themes and a very threatening villain without making the character dark. To see how Superman reacts to the darkest times of his life would make a great movie. To see how he deals with his life's biggest tragedy/situation/dilemma would make the most intriguing movie and would help humanize him.
And you can't talk Superman without seeing the parallels among Superman/Jesus and Moses. If you can't bring these elements to Superman, you are missing out on the deepest level of the character.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Can we stop with all the Jesus crap....He is not a GOD, which Jesus was...He is an alien...Not a GOD!...Also criminals stop not cause they feel ashamed, they stop cause they know they cannot kill Superman....Dude is a super human machine and their just humans....If they could kill them they would...Lol thats the reason they surrender not cause they feel ashamed.

Wow, i see you took my post about Jesus quite... literally!

I feel so stupid that i have to explain this. I didnt mean he is a god or the son of a god. I meant that he is a saviour figure, Lady D/Ghandy/M.L.King with a cape and superpowers. If you think that Superman is merely an alien with a cape and superpowers saving the world, then you re doing it wrong. I suppose that aspect of him was never addressed in the movies (except only a bit in SR) and you can be forgiven for not knowing about that.

The next Superman film doesn't need to be dark.

It just needs to be SERIOUS. There's a difference.

Agreed.

Agreed. You can take Superman into some very dark and serious situations and have some adult themes and a very threatening villain without making the character dark. To see how Superman reacts to the darkest times of his life would make a great movie. To see how he deals with his life's biggest tragedy/situation/dilemma would make the most intriguing movie and would help humanize him.
And you can't talk Superman without seeing the parallels among Superman/Jesus and Moses. If you can't bring these elements to Superman, you are missing out on the deepest level of the character.

Agreed!

 

[Fresh Prince]

We do not need Jesus/Moses parallels....Just need to show how Superman is a great hero and person.