Also, in its entirety for those who want to read it without page and post jumping:
MATT PRESENTS:
SUPERMAN
Act One:
The movie would open with a futuristic battle sequence. Think Terminator 2 Judgement Day meets the opening sequence of the Firefly episode Serenity. You have soldiers in trenches shooting at one another with laser guns, futuristic planes bombing these trenches. The camera slowly pans away from the battlefield and off in the distance you can see a large sci-fi esque city. Kandor, the capitol of Krypton Think a much more grand, much more beautiful version of LA from Blade Runner. The camera slowly travels through the city, before entering a large temple type building. This is the capitol building. In here we meet Jor-El. He is a respected scientist. Here he is urging the ruling council of Krypton to enter a truce with the rebel General Zod. He informs them that the bombs being used in the war are radiating the planet which is seeping to its core. The planet will be destroyed if they do not stop. The council rejects Jor-El's findings, claiming that Brainiac's (just a slight reference) findings negate them. I loved in TAS the way Brainiac convinced the council Jor-El was wrong. I think it would be a nice nod and a set up for possible sequels.
From there we see Jor-El's family estate. We meet his wife Lara. He vents that he is unable to convince them. Jor-El, knowing that he cannot save himself, dedicates himself to his work. A brief montage of Jor-El slaving over a machine. Neglecting his health, hygeine etc. He is obsessing over it. The only thing he makes time for outside of his machine, is his wife Lara and his baby son, Kal-El. It is clear Jor-El loves his family very much.
At the end of the montage, we see Kandor is in celebration. Parties in the streets, the citizens in uproars of joy. The reason is revealed to be because The war with Zod has ended and Zod has been inprisoned in the Phantom Zone.
However, the celebration is interrupted by a sudden Earthquake. It is quick, so most people simply shrug it off. Jor-El, secluded with his family in the estate, however, recognized it for what it really is. The end. He reveals his machine to Lara. It is a small rocket ship. The best he could make in such a small ammount of time, but it is able to give Lara and Kal-El a chance at surviving. There is no gaurantee that either will get safe passage to anywhere, but it will give them a chance and for Jor-El, that is enough. But not for Lara, she refuses to leave Jor-El. So, they tearfully say goodbye to their son after recording a brief message. Lara covers baby Kal-El with a blanket bearing the El family coat of arms.
The tremors then start again. They send Kal-El off in his ship and embrace to await their doom as the tremors worsen. We then see Kal-El, speeding away from the planet as it explodes. As we watch Kal-El and the bits of Krypton float off into space...the title comes across the screen..."Superman".
During the opening credits we watch young Kal-El zoom through the solar systems...perhaps to show Jor-El's genius, each planet he comes upon the computer of his ship scans to see if it is suitable for him, before he finally arrives on Earth...as his ship descends we cut to Smallville Kansas.
Here we see Jonathan and Martha Kent driving. They are discussing the trip they just took. They are on their way back from a doctor. They are unable to concieve children and the doctor confirmed they cannot. It is a very somber, sad time for them. Jonathan tries to reassure Martha, unsuccessfully. However, despite the sadness they are feeling, everything seems very calm...key word, seems. Suddenly something crashes into the ground from the sky, Jonathan swerves to avoid it and runs off the road. He looks at the tire on his truck. The truck is relatively undamaged but stuck in a ditch. Jonathan tries to push it out, while Martha investigates what crashed. All she finds is the shuttle, empty, with Kal-El's blanket. Jonathan continues to struggle with the truck, only to suddenly find it lifted out of the ditch. The camera pans to toddler Kal-El, holding the truck in the air, giggling. I think that is such a wonderful scene in the Donner movies and should carry over. Little homages are never a bad thing, after all. Martha rushes over and lifts the baby as he sets the truck back on the ground. There are no words in this scene...an awe-struck Jonathan looks to Martha. The audience can infer by her face and actions towards the baby that she has made up her mind. Jonathan seems like he wants to protest, but also seems to understand the futility of it. Reluctantly, he loads Clark's ship onto the truck and the Kent family sets off towards their farm which could be seen in the distance as they drive away.
We then cut to a montage of the Kents on their farm adjusting to raising a super powered son as he grows up. Just a light hearted little montage. Things like Martha trying to feed baby Clark. She blows on it to cool it off, baby Clark in his high chair imitates, and his super breath freezes the spoon and food. Playing catch with Pa only to launch the ball into the next county. But also normal things, to emphasize that while Clark is different, he was raised and loved like a normal child by the Kents. Show him at church with his parents, playing with his dogs, helping on the farm, etc. We watch him grow during this time.
After the montage, we meet a teenaged Clark Kent, now a senior at Smallville High. From here my plot would loosely follow what I consider the definitive Superman story. Jeph Loeb's A Superman For All Seasons.
The Smallville sequence would last about a half hour. During this time, we learn about Clark's life. His relationship with childhood sweetheart Lana Lang, his friendship with Pete who sees himself as bigger and better than being stuck in Smallville (and often teases Clark about being condemned to a life of a farmer). We see his relationship with his parents and their difficulty to guide Clark through this phase in his life, trying to find who he is and what to do. The Smaillville sequence climaxes with two very poignant sequences. First a Tornado that rips through the town. Anyone who has read FAS should be familiar with this. During the tornado Clark first learns he can fly as he pulls a gas station attendant out of the way of the tornado and the explosion of the gas station it causes. Afterwards, he returns to the farm to see the damage. He flies into the air with his new found ability and looks over the town, seeing the damage he lands, looks to his parents and tells them "I could've done more." For me, this is one of the most important Superman scenes ever. The way Loeb wrote it combined with Pa's narration, perfectly describes Superman's motivations and who he is. He doesn't have a tragic event that shapes him...he is simply a good person who wants to help. Pa tries to comfort him, but with little success. It is at this point, he realizes his son is becoming a man, and has to leave the nest.
But first he has to say goodbye to Lana, again, anyone familiar with FAS is familiar with this. He takes her out to the Kent fields, and shows her he can fly. Another very important scene. It shows how important Lana is to Clark. He shares a very important secret with her. As they fly however, she realizes that he is leaving as well.
We then cut to the next day...he says goodbye to his parents, and sets off.
End act one.
Act Two:
Act two opens 12 or 13 years after the Smallville scenes with Clark about 30 (different actor from the Smallville scenes, which used a younger, teenage Clark). He is arriving Metropolis at the Daily Planet building for the first time. During this scene, we get a full look at adult Clark, clean cut, hair combed to the side, suit, tie, and glasses. The camera should specifically focus on the fact, that like in Birthright while Clark's eyes are naturally blue, the glasses somehow manipulate the light to make them appear brown. He goes in, here we meet Perry White whom Clark has an interview with. During this interview it is revealed how Clark has spent the past 13 years. He spent the first 7 years earning his masters degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas. From there he went to travel the world, writing free lance pieces for various newspapers and magazines.
However during the interview he is very distant as he is using his x-ray vision to watch a woman through the walls of Perry's office. It is his first encounter with Lois Lane. She is fiercely yelling at Jimmy over a story. In her we can see the spark and attitude that Singer's Lois lacked. She is a dog-eat-dog type person, and yet there is something charming about her to Clark.
Due to his distracted nature, Perry turns him down for the job. Clark leaves, disappointed. On the way out he sees a truck, out of control on its way towards civilians. Clark steps infront of it and single handedly halts it. As the shocked crowd looks on, Clark hurries off before being identified.
The next scene he has returned to Smallville for comfort. He expresses to his parents a desire to help and a confusion. He doesn't understand how or why he has his powers but he wants to use them for good. Pa Kent discourages this as he fears his son would be locked up in a lab. He tells him it is one thing to do small little goods here and there as he did when he traveled, but living in a city like Metropolis, he can't publically flaunt his powers.
However, Martha tells Jonathan that Clark has to be Clark and Clark cannot allow people to be hurt. Clark considers visiting Lana, but his parents inform him that she left town around the same time as him. Even more frustrated by this turn of events, his parents realize what they must do. Tell Clark who he is and where he came from.
They take him to an old, locked up shed and show him the shuttle he was found in. He removes his glasses and the shuttle instantly reacts to his eyes performing a retinal scan. From there an image of Jor-El and Lara appears. Unlike Donner's Superman, this Jor-El would not come off as so prophetic. His message would simply be one of love towards his son that also explains his heritage. There would be no talk of sending Kal-El like a messiah as Donner's Jor-El did, because I personally dislike that interpretation. Jor-El was not a prophet, he was simply a man who wanted to save his son. However, the bravery and sacrifice Clark's birth parents made for him inspires him. He knows what he must do. He asks Martha to make him a disguise, while holding the blanket the Kents found him in, which was in the shuttle.
The next scene Clark has returned to Metropolis, with a new found determination. He returns to the Planet, intending to ask Perry for the job again, however the Planet is in an uproar as Star Labs is launching an experimental space plane that could revolutionize space travel (and in turn as Jimmy mentions, cost Lex Luthor billions in government contracts). Clark finds Perry and asks him for a second interview. Clark suggests giving him a freelance job to cover this launch to prove himself, but Perry states that his best reporter is already there.
We then cut to the launch (which is being watched on a TV monitor in the Planet). Lois is trying to get clearance to get closer to the shuttle, which is denied. She goes up to the guard (an army soldier) however and drops the name Sam Lane. The soldier quickly stands down and lets her pass. From here, Lois is able to sneak onto the shuttle.
Meanwhile, we cut to a large building. The biggest in Metropolis. An L shaped tower. The camera zooms to the top floor where we meet Lex Luthor. He is sitting at the desk in his office, smoking a cigar and watching the launch preparations. Luthor's attention however is not on the shuttle, but a woman dressed as a launch technician that is on the launch site where the news camera is. Luthor (and the audience's) attention is briefly diverted to her (Mercy). Luthor than takes a puff of his cigar, smiles, presses the intercom on his phone and informs his secretary Hope to print up a press release saying that LexCorp offers its condolences for this who died on Star Lab's experimental launch but to rest assured, that LexCorp will see to it that the space program continues unscathed by this incident.
We return to the planet..Clark is still pestering Perry. Perry, annoyed by Clark's persistance grants him a second interview but tells him to come back tomorrow after this story is over. Clark agrees.
Cut back to the shuttle launch (which Perry is watching during his convo with Clark). The shuttle launch is successful but as it goes to leave Earth's atmospere the engines suddenly give out. The pilots try to restore it with no avail. They are falling back to the Earth.
Jimmy then runs into Perry's office and informs him that the shuttle is plummeting towards Metropolis. Perry runs out of his office and begins to scream. He wants to know, how, why, where it will land and he wants to know NOW!...then he hesitates from his rant, looks to Jimmy and asks "Where the hell did Kent go?"
Cut to the street, absolute paniac as the shuttle is now visibly plummeting. This scene should reflect the paniac on Krypton as the tremors intensified and the planet began to explode. However, we see Clark run through the crowd and do the classic removal of the glasses coupled with
. He runs into a secluded alley and launches into the air. Of course, here comes the classic, Superman rescues the space plane and introduces himself to Lois, Luthor, and the rest of the world. He guides it safely back to the STAR labs landing pad. Flirtation with Lois ensues. She asks for an interview, but Superman smiles and reveals he already gave away the exclusive before flying off. Lois mutters the famous line..."What a super man." Then the idea clicks in her head and she eagerly begins to scratch notes onto her notepad.
Cut to the next day, The Planet. The world is in shock over what happened and everyone at the Planet is searching for answers. Jimmy informs Perry that Clark is in his office for the second interview Perry promises him. Exasperated, Perry walks into his office, only to come face to face with a picture of Superman, complete with interview. He looks up at Clark, extends his hand and tells him "Welcome to the Daily Planet". I know Lois normally gets the first interview, but I felt it was a nice way to ignite some of the rivalry between Lois and Clark as well as a believable, realistic way for a nobody out of Kansas to walk onto a job at the world's largest newspaper.
After Clark gets his job at the planet we spend some time meeting the rest of the cast. Perry assigns Lois to work with Clark and show him the ropes for awhile. He teams them on finding out what went wrong with the STAR labs shuttle.
Meanwhile, we also meet Luthor. I would actually do this in a way similar to Lois and Clark. Some sort of party that Luthor is holding at his towers that Lois brings Clark to. We learn how Lex is pretty much royalty in Metropolis. Luthor pretty much sweeps Lois off her feet (although Lois is simply playing him to get an interview) Clark on the other hand uses the opportunity to snoop around LexCorp Towers. He quickly learns who Luthor REALLY is. Pretty much the crime lord of Metropolis. He also finds the press release of and other evidence linking Luthor to the sabatoage of the space plane. Long story short, Superman, feeling cocky by his win arranges for Luthor to get arrested for it. All of it is circumstantial, Luthor is out in minutes, but he has been shamed and he wants revenge.
After that we see a brief montage of Superman's heroics. During the montage we see Superman do several things all the around the world, ranging from averting disasters like construction accidents to stopping a terrorist attack on a train (the classic hole in the tracks so he lays across the hole while the train drives safely over him) The city of Metropolis is falling in love with him, Hell the world is. Meanwhile Luthor resents this and that is made clear during the montage. It is clear that Luthor is behind a lot of the accidents Superman is averting. Almost as tests to see what he is capable of.
The next scene involves Luthor being informed of a discovery made. He is told that the tip to mine in Kansas was right and they found an unknown green rock. Initial anaylzation has revealed it to be alien in nature. Luthor considers this for a moment then tells his bodyguard Mercy (who we previously saw sabotaging the space plane) that it is time for one more test.
The next scene is a bank robbery. The robbers are nothing more than your average thugs, one of whom is John Corben. Superman shows up, stops them with ease...when suddenly Mercy can be seen in the shadows of the bank. She opens a box containing a piece of the Kryptonite. Suddenly Superman feels dizzy. He stumbles a bit. And falls to his knees. Satisfied by this Mercy closes the box and slips back into the shadows.
Corben however, stunned by Superman's brief weakness, picks up his gun and fires point blank then turns to run. However, with the Kryptonite gone, the bullet bounces right off him, and richocettes into Corben's spine.
Afterwards, the police are cleaning up the scene, Lois trying to get an interview with Superman, etc. Only one thing...Mercy is now the paramedic loading Corben's corpse into an ambulence.
Cut to LexCorp labs. Luthor is standing over Corben...who is somehow alive. Luthor tells him that his spine was permenantly damages, costing him the use of most of his body, but he has given him a second chance, and he must use it to take revenge on the man who nearly killed him. Superman. During this, we only see Luthor from Metallo's perspective. Zoom out and it is revealed that his limbs, spine, chest, and parts of his head are now replaced with metal. At the center is its energy source. Kryptonite.
Cut to Clark at the Planet. He is on the phone with his parents explaining the weakness he felt at the bank when suddenly Perry bursts in and reveals that a robot is on a rampage in down town Metropolis. Clark quickly disappears.
Downtown Metropolis, right infront of LexCorp Towers first battle between Metallo and Superman. However, Lois and Jimmy who arrived on the scene before Clark to get the story are caught in the middle, keeping Superman on the defensive. He holds his own at first, until Metallo's chest opens up revealing the Kryptonite. Then Metallo pretty much kicks his ass. Lois tries to hit him with little success, so he turns his attention to her being as Superman is pretty much out cold. Luthor, who is watching from the balcony of LexCorp Tower, deciding that Metallo's rampage has gone on long enough, presses a button which sends electrical jolts through Corben, disabling him. Corben, shocked by this, runs off. As Superman begins to regain his composure, Lex presses another button. Suddenly an apartment building down the street explodes right before Superman's eyes. As the police arrive, Lex emerges from LexCorp. Fawning concern for Lois at first, then Superman, he kneels over him and while helping him up and then whispers to him "No matter how hard you try, you can't be two places at once. Go back to where ever you came from, before you fail us all."
End Act Two
(see next post for act three)
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