Supporting Cast Characterization Thread

[Daybreak_st]

I'm sorry if there's already a thread like this, but i couldn't find one. How do you want to see the suporting cast portrayed in the new Superman 3.0 reboot? I'm NOT talking about casting actors, but how would you describe the supporting characters like Jimmy, Perry, the Kents, Lana, Jor-el and Laura, Lex Luthor, and anyone else you can think of.

I'll start with Jimmy Olsen:

Jimmy Olsen:

Jimmy Olsen = awesome! Jimmy is the everyman, young, optimistic, enthusiastic, he’s just an all-around great guy. He’s like the little brother you wish you had. He’s smart but kind of geeky at the same time. He’s also adventurous. I can’t think of any actor who has totally nailed this portrayal of jimmy to date, but the all-star superman comic does a good job of showing this kind of jimmy in action (though its often over the top and he’s a bit older , prob mid-twenties). Ideally Jimmy is between 17-19 years old, probably an intern going to college to study photojournalism.

He’s quirky, collects star wars memorabilia. Jimmy should feel like a guy you know or would like to know. He’s definitely likeable and you can see why he and Clark hit it off so well. He’s outgoing while Clark appears to be reserved. He reminds Clark of himself when he was younger, with such an adventurous spirit. Jimmy doesn’t realize just how similar he is to Clark, b/c Clark’s metropolis persona is so dialed back compared to his “real” personality.

Jimmy has a slight crush on Lois but she sees him as a little brother. He also has a crush on Cat Grant though she’s older and much more experienced (not portrayed as over-the-top as she was in Lois and Clark). Jimmy will probably also figure out that superman and Clark are the same person eventually, but respects Clark enough to go along with the secret identity.

(Note: The general population assumes superman has no secret identity, without a mask, and appearing anywhere in an instant, most assume he’s superman 24-7). Everyone starts out with this assumption. However if the core daily planet staff has enough interaction with Superman after his initial debut and are regularly around Clark Kent it would be impossible for them to not see the connection. Superman would employ doubles, holograms and other devices so that jimmy, Lois, and Perry would see Superman and Clark in the same place at the same time, this would establish just enough doubt in their minds to dismiss the idea of Clark being superman.

Although the running gag would be a celebrity look-a-like contest jimmy thinks Clark should enter b/c of resemblance to superman . Jimmy also comes up with a very scifi-fanboy theory on why Clark and superman look so much alike: Superman copied Clark! He tells Clark his theory is based on the Sci-Fi film “Tracker” staring Adrian Paul (from Highlander). The character in the film was an alien of some sort with and inhuman appearance, when he arrives on earth he needs to blend in so adopts the appearance of the first person he sees, in this case a model on a billboard. Jimmy thinks superman may have done something similar to Clark, thus explaining the similar appearance and them both arriving in metropolis around the same time.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Here's my thoughts on Lana (note: she doesn't appear until a 2nd film):

Lana Lang:

Lana was Clark’s best friend growing up other than Pete Ross. Even though Clark was a star athlete in high school he never really got close to the other players, he was always deeper, and studious. Pete, Lana and Clark were always close, but especially as they got older, Lana and Clark grew closer. Even though they were close they never dated, each choosing to date other people rather than risk their friendship. It always bothered Lana, but she would just brush it off and keep going.

After graduation Clark leaves Smallville, only leaving a letter for Lana to read. It tells her how much she’s meant to him and that he’ll always care for her, he apologizes for being so distant but that her friendship has been really important to him. He encourages her to follow her dreams wherever they take her. She takes Clark’s advice and studies clothing design in college. After graduation she works for a few companies making a name for herself. Recently she’s moved to metropolis to further her career by starting her own business. It’s here when she discovers that Clark is also in metropolis.

Lana is also very attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way. This is not smallville’s lana, she isn’t angst ridden, or upset with clark for lying to her for years. This Lana, has a very quirky but fun personality, she loves life, has fun; she taught Clark to love and embrace life. She’s a poet and artist. I think Rachelle Lefevre or Isla Fisher would be my top choices.

A possible love triangle could involve Lana, Lois and Clark/Superman. Lana is in love with Clark and can’t believe she let him go without ever telling him how much he meant to her. She hasn’t seen him in 7 years, since he left smallville. Now she lives in metropolis and sees an article he wrote and tries to re-establish contact. (This may all function better in a second movie, it might get lost or bog down the story in the first film.) She has already figured out that he’s superman and is incredibly proud of him using his abilities to help people. She even suspects that back in Smallville he may have been using his power discreetly (it explains so many odd occurrences from their youth).

Her friendship has been very meaningful to Clark over the years and he hopes to continue it, however his focus is very different now. His new outlook is more about responsibility and he’s very professional, so Lois’ professional nature, strong personality that sometimes challenges his own viewpoint is more appealing than the free spirited artistic nature of Lana.


Lana is a successful woman but at her heart a country girl who wants to settle down with a good guy, and according to her, “they don’t come any better than Clark Kent”. As far as the love triangle goes it should actually make sense. It shouldn’t be obvious at first that Clark will choose Lois, their relationship should grow as the movies progress, maybe by the third movie their feelings come to fruition, similar to Lois and Clark (though Clark shouldn’t be too infatuated with Lois even if he does have feelings for her) and Smallville (they’ve done a good job showing a gradual progression to their relationship rather than a “love at first sight” situation.) These are not teenagers, they are not angst ridden, these are fully functioning, intelligent adults. They should come across that way

 

[Webhead2006]

good start i like what you have so far day.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Lex Luthor:

I prefer a tony stark type, his fortune was made from his intellect. He's a brilliant inventor who created lexcorp and has become the leader in cutting edge technology. Something like this was done in Birthright, but i wouldn't make him crazy as in that version. I like the way Lex luthor man of steel portrayed him, as a man who truly believes in human potential and that superman ruins it, bc humans start to look to him for hope rather than themselves. He should be someone whose goal is to attain perfection in mind and body. A batman meets ironman sort of thing. Lex would be written as a really deep and interesting character with complex motivations. He hates superman because he exists. He is arrogant and feels like metropolis looked to him as its favorite "son" and that he should be the one inspiring people not some alien disguised as a human.

Smallville did a good job with Lex on certain episodes and imho the actor is the best live action luthor so far. The episode in season 4 where lex is split into two versions of himself, one good one evil, was the best realization of Lex so far in live action. I believe the episode is called Gemini. Anyway I loved the way the luthors were scholars in the show, always quoting Shakespeare and the like. I also enjoyed the allusions to Alexander the Great. I would definitely borrow some from his portrayal on Smallville.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Perry White:

Lane Smith from Lois and Clark nailed it. Best version of Perry yet. Cast someone who can bring the same gruff but likable persona to Perry. He nurtures all of his reporters to bring out the best in them by pushing them to be the best. He’s an excellent journalist himself and often wishes he was out in the field as lois and clark are. He has plenty of war stories to tell about his younger days. He has a special fondness for jimmy olsen and his enthusiasm. Jimmy is the son perry wishes he had.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Jonathan and Martha Kent:

I’ve always liked the idea of his parents being a little bit younger when they found Clark. It gives more credibility to them actually being his parents rather than grandparents and it contrast with Peter Parker being raised by the older uncle ben and aunt may. The only issue that potentially arises is if Pa Kent dies while Clark is young (teenager) how do you justify it? He could potentially have a heart condition in his family that is alluded to in the beginning of the movie, so the audience can believe he has a heart attack. Another option is to imitate what the comic has done recently in having Jonathan die as a result of Brainiacs attack. Perhaps he lives through the first movie but dies in the secound or third. It would allow us to revisit Clark’s youth again via flashbacks while not re-telling the origin story again. Also it would allow for some real character exploration with Clark/Superman, Martha, maybe lana, and pete ross.

Martha’s portrayal would be a younger version of Kay Callahan (I think that’s her name) the woman who played martha on Lois and Clark. She nailed the character and crafted a truly unique look at the woman who raised superman. I think a younger version of that character would add a lot of heart and humor to the movie without looking like a copy of aunt may.

As for Jonathan, I like the dad from Lois and Clark as well. The wise, but quiet/nurturing father. We have to keep in mind what makes Clark eventually choose to become superman, and that really is his upbringing. His father needs to evoke the kind of inner strength that superman will later embody. I don’t think his dad in smallville ever reached that level or inner strength. It all depends on how long he sticks around in the movie but care should be taken so the portrayal is accurate

 

[Daybreak_st]

This is just in general a rule of thumb:

The Supporting Cast:

The supporting cast should be just as instantly recognizable as the cast of star trek was in the new movie; they each had spot-on characterizations. Between the actors and the writers each member of the crew stood out and was easy to identify, and none of the performances seemed like imitations or homage’s, just a new and honest interpretation of the character for a modern audience/setting. That is the same approach I would take with Superman’s supporting cast.

Similar to Lois and Clark, the heart of the show was the relationships between Clark, Jimmy, Perry and Lois. It drove the show, made us care, and kept us laughing. Additional supporting cast at the daily planet could potentially include, Steve Lumbar, Ron Troupe, and Cat Grant.

The cast should come across as real people, with personality and a certain charm. We should be able to recognize their personalities as these iconic individuals but without it coming across as heavy handed or re-treading what’s already been done.

 

[Daybreak_st]

You can suggest actors along with your descriptions but i just didn't want this to turn into a casting thread as those already exist.

Also i find it interesting how people come up with their casting choices, alot of times it's based more on looks than anything else.

Just like when casting notices come out they have a good idea of what they're looking for before they cast an actor. They know the character first. That being the case let's throw some ideas around on what you'd like to see from the character. Casting should be based on characterization not just looks.

 

[Webhead2006]

some good stuff you are thinking of day.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Thanks for supporting my one man thread Web!

 

[Webhead2006]

lol yea i dont know who i would go with or full ideas for characters but supporting players i want to see in this new reboot series are this:
Martha kent/jonahthan kent
general sam lane/lucy lane
maggie sawyer/dan turpin
emil hamilton
perry white
jimmy oslen
cat grant

 

[Daybreak_st]

lol yea i dont know who i would go with or full ideas for characters but supporting players i want to see in this new reboot series are this:
Martha kent/jonahthan kent
general sam lane/lucy lane
maggie sawyer/dan turpin
emil hamilton
perry white
jimmy oslen
cat grant

Great choices, Web! Yeah i'd love to see Dr. Hamilton brought in, that would be awesome! Also the military angle with General Lane. Also like you mentioned maggie sawyer and dan turpin would be nice to see on the big screen.

I'd also mention Ron Troupe and Steve Lumbar at the DP.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea they could be mentioned too, maybe not always seen but talked about.

 

[wattabrownsound]

I think Jimmy should be like Hurley from Lost. He should be the guy the audience loves and the voice of the audience.
Also when Jimmy first meets Superman I'd like him to be interested in the cool things Superman has done/ could do with his own powers and the limits of those powers.

 

[Daybreak_st]

I think Jimmy should be like Hurley from Lost. He should be the guy the audience loves and the voice of the audience.
Also when Jimmy first meets Superman I'd like him to be interested in the cool things Superman has done/ could do with his own powers and the limits of those powers.

Sounds good. Thanks for joining the conversation this thread was starting to get lonely with just me and webhead

 

[wattabrownsound]

no problem.
i think in the special features of STAS it was mentioned that Ma and Pa Kent were the sounding board to Clark when he wanted to talk about his super-powered problems. i agree that this is how Ma and Pa should be portrayed.

 

[Webhead2006]

i would like that for them. i would hate to see them dead there is no reason superman needs to have both his kryptonian and earth family gone.

 

[Daybreak_st]

no problem.
i think in the special features of STAS it was mentioned that Ma and Pa Kent were the sounding board to Clark when he wanted to talk about his super-powered problems. i agree that this is how Ma and Pa should be portrayed.

Yeah see that is the sort of thing you need in a meduim other than comics to allow the audience and interal glimpse at the character. Similar to Alread's function in the new batman movies, you get more of an in depth look at bruce when he's talking to alfred than you do at any other time. The same could work well for clark's parents.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea and we dont need to have him going to his parents for ever little thing like lois and clark show did. But to have them around for love and support would be nice to see.

 

[Daybreak_st]

Wow what a great thread! Come on people this is your one stop shopping for the Supporting cast characterizations! Post away!

 

[Webhead2006]

what u said in your original post for this thread is some good ideas for how supporting characters should be handled.

 

[Daybreak_st]

I see Cat Grant, as someone who's attractive but who's got a good strong personality as well. natasha hendridge i think would bring in both those aspects of the character and since she's a little older now, you could play with how she's characterized in the comic now, she's a gossip columnist who's kind of a cougar. While Natsha isn't old enough to be a cougar you could characterize her as someone a little past her physical prime but still thinks she's hot stuff (and she is still quite attractive). You could also play with her former characterization from the 90s as a potential love interests for clark aside from lois. Not that clark is interested but that she's a little into clark or at least flirts with him.

 

[Daybreak_st]

This thread is great, don't let it go to page 2.

 

[Jordacar]

I've been working on a video review of Superman Returns, and wow is that movie screwed up. The character that Frank Langella plays, I can't even call him Perry White. He's not the gruff but likeable old-time journalist boss that we've seen before. Apparently that guy's on vacation and has left this souless bureaucrat in charge who wants to turn the paper into a shrine to Superman, sexually harasses Lois, and refuses to do anything useful with his paper or his reporters.

 

[Webhead2006]

for me SR made many many mistakes.