The Daily Planet - Superman News and Speculation Thread

[Dr.]

I vaguely recall Parasite from my comic book days (back in the Cenozoic Era). But I draw a blank on how Supes (eventually) defeats Parasite. Given the very nature of this villain, a true mano-a-mano confrontation seems out of the question. So is it more like a deus ex machina situation? I.e., Parasite makes a crucial error and/or somehow runs out of “gas,” and Supes prevails. And is that a dramatically (“cinematically”) satisfying victory? I’m just asking. As I said, I remember the villain; I don’t remember how he gets his comeuppance.

 

[Lily Adler]

I vaguely recall Parasite from my comic book days (back in the Cenozoic Era). But I draw a blank on how Supes (eventually) defeats Parasite. Given the very nature of this villain, a true mano-a-mano confrontation seems out of the question. So is it more like a deus ex machina situation? I.e., Parasite makes a crucial error and/or somehow runs out of “gas,” and Supes prevails. And is that a dramatically (“cinematically”) satisfying victory? I’m just asking. As I said, I remember the villain; I don’t remember how he gets his comeuppance.

Doesn't he defeat him by overloading him with electricity or something?

 

[Frodo]

I always dug a Parasite and Livewire team up from STAS

 

[Deck Rickard]

Parasite could be very cool for a first film villain. As others have said, he would be visually interesting and wouldn’t just be another case of the villain just being an evil version of the hero. He’s also small scale enough that he couldn’t be topped by Brainiac or whoever they might use in a sequel.

I would still hope though that the movie at least alludes to Brainiac, either in a cameo or some type of reference to let fans know that he’s coming.

 

[GreenKToo]

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Jacob Elordi as superman.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Jacob Elordi as superman.

He just looks and feels too much like a Bruce Wayne type.

 

[Deck Rickard]

While I agree that Elordi feels more Bruce than Clark, I’m really only basing that on a performance (Euphoria) where he played a dark character who is sort of leading a double life. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t play a lovable do-gooder like Superman. It’s possible that he can’t, I don’t know, but I don’t want to pigeonhole him into “darker” characters just because he played one so effectively in that show.

 

[Andrew92]

I think he's overrated.

 

[BobJM]

Parasite could be very cool for a first film villain. As others have said, he would be visually interesting and wouldn’t just be another case of the villain just being an evil version of the hero. He’s also small scale enough that he couldn’t be topped by Brainiac or whoever they might use in a sequel.

I would still hope though that the movie at least alludes to Brainiac, either in a cameo or some type of reference to let fans know that he’s coming.

Parasite would be fun, definitely. And you can easily partner him with Luthor and/or another supervillain. The appeal is the power set—Rudy Jones has had so many different origins every time he’s adapted on page or screen; I really think Gunn has carte blanche, frankly, for a lot of Superman’s rogues.

Having just read Grant Morrison’s first Action Comics story arc, I think Superman and the Metal Men could be an interesting story to tackle for a young Superman film. It’s Superman in a protosuit facing against the likes of organized crime, Lex Luthor, Metallo, and Brainiac (though he’s more of an Act III reveal).

Essentially, the story takes place 6 months after the first appearance of Superman—Lois has already written her expose (“faster than a speeding bullet, etc.”) and the world is trying to figure out to live in a world with a Superman.

At this point, Superman is operating as a vigilante of sorts, protecting the downtrodden that he writes about in his pieces for the Daily Star. The story opens with him targeting corrupt businessman Glen Glenmorgan (though I think I’d replace him in a film adaptation with Bruno Mannheim or Morgan Edge).

General Sam Lane turns to Luthor to capture Superman. Luthor has access to Superman’s original rocket ship, and is secretly communicating with an unknown source that is providing him information about Superman’s Kryptonian origin.

Meanwhile, the army is developing a project headed by Dr. John Irons to create super mech soldiers, Project Metallo. Sgt. John Corben has trained for the last 5 years to pilot the exo-suit.

After preventing a a high-speed monorail crash (orchestrated by Luthor), Superman is in US Military custody and studied. He eventually breaks out and reclaims his rocket ship.

Seeing Superman square off against the military, Corben decides to jumpstart Project Metallo. As he integrates with the Metallo suit, his mind is corrupted by Luthor’s unknown benefactor—Brainiac.

Superman and Steel square off against a mind-controlled Metallo and an army of sentient Metal Men to stave off Brainiac’s invasion of Earth.

 

[Nemeres]

Brainiac + Metallo, please.

I like Brainiac as the main threat and Metallo as a Superman "rival" in the anti-Brainiac fight, initially designed to be a hero easier to control than Supes, but who ends up going rogue.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I think it would be more fitting to have Brainiac be the main villain in the first movie, and Metallo be the villain in the sequel, and Brainiac's corpse and tech from the first movie be used by Lex Luthor to make the body/skeleton for John Corbin. The first movie has a fallout that spills over into the sequel.

 

[Frodo]

I like your guys ideas.
I've always thought that Brainiac and Metallo compliment each other and could be somehow connected in a film or a one villain in a film followed by the other in the next film.

 

[GreenKToo]

I would like to see Brainiac definitely have a presence.
Maybe he hires Lobo to capture superman in the first film. I don't know.

Or, maybe he even hires Lobo to capture Lex, because maybe Lex has tampered with something he shouldn't have.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Parasite would be fun, definitely. And you can easily partner him with Luthor and/or another supervillain. The appeal is the power set—Rudy Jones has had so many different origins every time he’s adapted on page or screen; I really think Gunn has carte blanche, frankly, for a lot of Superman’s rogues.

Having just read Grant Morrison’s first Action Comics story arc, I think Superman and the Metal Men could be an interesting story to tackle for a young Superman film. It’s Superman in a protosuit facing against the likes of organized crime, Lex Luthor, Metallo, and Brainiac (though he’s more of an Act III reveal).

Essentially, the story takes place 6 months after the first appearance of Superman—Lois has already written her expose (“faster than a speeding bullet, etc.”) and the world is trying to figure out to live in a world with a Superman.

At this point, Superman is operating as a vigilante of sorts, protecting the downtrodden that he writes about in his pieces for the Daily Star. The story opens with him targeting corrupt businessman Glen Glenmorgan (though I think I’d replace him in a film adaptation with Bruno Mannheim or Morgan Edge).

General Sam Lane turns to Luthor to capture Superman. Luthor has access to Superman’s original rocket ship, and is secretly communicating with an unknown source that is providing him information about Superman’s Kryptonian origin.

Meanwhile, the army is developing a project headed by Dr. John Irons to create super mech soldiers, Project Metallo. Sgt. John Corben has trained for the last 5 years to pilot the exo-suit.

After preventing a a high-speed monorail crash (orchestrated by Luthor), Superman is in US Military custody and studied. He eventually breaks out and reclaims his rocket ship.

Seeing Superman square off against the military, Corben decides to jumpstart Project Metallo. As he integrates with the Metallo suit, his mind is corrupted by Luthor’s unknown benefactor—Brainiac.

Superman and Steel square off against a mind-controlled Metallo and an army of sentient Metal Men to stave off Brainiac’s invasion of Earth.

Damn, yeah that sounds perfect for the first film.

 

[flickchick85]

Parasite would be fun, definitely. And you can easily partner him with Luthor and/or another supervillain. The appeal is the power set—Rudy Jones has had so many different origins every time he’s adapted on page or screen; I really think Gunn has carte blanche, frankly, for a lot of Superman’s rogues.

Having just read Grant Morrison’s first Action Comics story arc, I think Superman and the Metal Men could be an interesting story to tackle for a young Superman film. It’s Superman in a protosuit facing against the likes of organized crime, Lex Luthor, Metallo, and Brainiac (though he’s more of an Act III reveal).

Essentially, the story takes place 6 months after the first appearance of Superman—Lois has already written her expose (“faster than a speeding bullet, etc.”) and the world is trying to figure out to live in a world with a Superman.

At this point, Superman is operating as a vigilante of sorts, protecting the downtrodden that he writes about in his pieces for the Daily Star. The story opens with him targeting corrupt businessman Glen Glenmorgan (though I think I’d replace him in a film adaptation with Bruno Mannheim or Morgan Edge).

General Sam Lane turns to Luthor to capture Superman. Luthor has access to Superman’s original rocket ship, and is secretly communicating with an unknown source that is providing him information about Superman’s Kryptonian origin.

Meanwhile, the army is developing a project headed by Dr. John Irons to create super mech soldiers, Project Metallo. Sgt. John Corben has trained for the last 5 years to pilot the exo-suit.

After preventing a a high-speed monorail crash (orchestrated by Luthor), Superman is in US Military custody and studied. He eventually breaks out and reclaims his rocket ship.

Seeing Superman square off against the military, Corben decides to jumpstart Project Metallo. As he integrates with the Metallo suit, his mind is corrupted by Luthor’s unknown benefactor—Brainiac.

Superman and Steel square off against a mind-controlled Metallo and an army of sentient Metal Men to stave off Brainiac’s invasion of Earth.

I just have to say, this is SO close to my ideal Supes "origin" movie, it's actually freaky. Just toss some Birthright scenes in - the Krypton bookends that always get me choked up at the end, some flashbacks or dialogue referencing his world travels in Birthright before coming to Metropolis, the scene with the gun shop owner...oh, and the bookend scenes with the old lady from Secret Origin as well because that was cute as hell - and that's pretty much the exact movie in my head, lol. Minus Brainiac's actual invasion, that is. I'd save that (or rather, Brainiac himself coming to Earth and "disappearing" the city of Metropolis) for the sequel because I want Supergirl involved in that story too, as in the Johns Brainiac arc. The big action climax for my first movie would be Supes and Steel versus the government's big Brainiac-possessed Metal Men (+ Metallo), while heavily focusing on the two of them trying to protect the civilians in harm's way. Played out a lot like the "fake invasion" climax from Birthright.

Oh, and for Glenmorgan, I'd keep him as himself, the head of Lex's biggest rival company Galaxy Com, and Clark will take Glenmorgan down with a good piece of journalism (that's what will finally get him recruited by the Planet at the end)...inadvertently helped by Lex who set up the not-remotely-innocent Glenmorgan up as the false "saboteur" of his military project. Then I'd have Glenmorgan go to jail and get REPLACED by Morgan Edge at the end, as the head of Galaxy Communications....who may or may not have helped Luthor set up his predecessor. But Clark knows that Lex was far more involved than he let on, even though he couldn't put it in his story for lack of evidence, and that's how he first sees Lex as the true danger that he is.

 

[Frodo]

I've always liked the idea of Clark traveling the world before ending up in Metropolis.

It shows that he's not ignorant to the world outside of Smallville, and that he's met people from around the planet of different races, cultures, ethnicities .

It adds more flavor to the character and shows his life experience goes beyond just Kansas and The Fortress.

I also like Lex being untouchable as he was in the first season of Lois and Clark, Smallville and STAS.

My hope is that he doesn't get busted in the first film and locked away as in previous films.

That's fine for a villain like Riddler or Joker who gets caught and/or put away in one film .

For Lex, I'd want it to be difficult for Superman to bring him down or to make anything stick to him.

Lex has gotta to be teflon , at the very least, in the first film.

I don't want him to be captured and defeated so easily ,as has been the case in past films.

 

[Aurakles]

Something I like about parasite is that he presents a unique challenge.
He's a villain who becomes much more of a threat because Superman exists, especially if you use the power stealing version. On his own Parasite is a menace, but with Superman as a battery he becomes world threatening.
It turns Clarks desire to help into a liability, because there's a chance he'd just make things worse. It forces him to think more creatively.
It shows the dark side of Superman setting himself as a beacon of hope for the world, because he's also putting a target on himself.
Imagine he has an encounter with Parasite and he barely gets away, but Parasite vows he'll find Clark again. Now everytime he rips his shirt open, he worries that Parasite will find him. Everytime he helps someone he's looking over his shoulder, scanning the cheering crowds incase Parasite is lurking among them.
I think Parasite has the potential to be a very creepy, very threatening villain. The stalker from hell, lurking like a shadow over Clarks life. Allows for a lot of focus on his personal day to day life and smaller scale rescues, while retaining a potentially world destroying threat.

 

[Aurakles]

I've always liked the idea of Clark traveling the world before ending up in Metropolis.

It shows that he's not ignorant to the world outside of Smallville, and that he's met people from around the planet of different races, cultures, ethnicities .

It adds more flavor to the character and shows his life experience goes beyond just Kansas and The Fortress.

I also like Lex being untouchable as he was in the first season of Lois and Clark, Smallville and STAS.

My hope is that he doesn't get busted in the first film and locked away as in previous films.

That's fine for a villain like Riddler or Joker who gets caught and/or put away in one film .

For Lex, I'd want it to be difficult for Superman to bring him down or to make anything stick to him.

Lex has gotta to be teflon , at the very least, in the first film.

I don't want him to be captured and defeated so easily ,as has been the case in past films.

Personally I've never been a fan of Luthor constantly getting away with his crimes, makes Superman seem a bit incompetent. I love when Lois and Clark investigate and manage to prove his crimes. Even if he can't get proof, at a certain point surely Superman has to say "I don't care what the law says, I'm not going to just stand by and keep letting him build giant death robots."

But I'm also biased by the fact that I prefer criminal scientist Luthor to businessman Luthor.

 

[Dark Raven]

Personally I've never been a fan of Luthor constantly getting away with his crimes, makes Superman seem a bit incompetent. I love when Lois and Clark investigate and manage to prove his crimes. Even if he can't get proof, at a certain point surely Superman has to say "I don't care what the law says, I'm not going to just stand by and keep letting him build giant death robots."

But I'm also biased by the fact that I prefer criminal scientist Luthor to businessman Luthor.

Does it really make Superman seem incompetent or does it simply reflect that the system is flawed and people can get away with any kind of crime if enough people will facilitate them? Superman only brings criminals in but isn't the one who tries or convicts them. He's not a judge and he's not a jury either.

If Superman brought Trump in for all his crimes, would that make any difference? He'd still be free and planning to run again for president. Is that anything to do with Superman's lack of competence?

 

[Deck Rickard]

Yeah, that’s why I think businessman Luthor works better than mad scientist Luthor, especially if you’re going to make him a constant threat. Because as the CEO of a major conglomerate, Luthor benefits from a society that constantly and consistently protects wealthy white men who have crafted a media narrative about themselves as “geniuses.” There are myriad ways he can escape prosecution, whereas if he is just some evil lunatic terrorist then Superman catches him and he goes to jail and for him to return, you have to find a (usually stupid) way for him to escape.

 

[Frodo]

Personally I've never been a fan of Luthor constantly getting away with his crimes, makes Superman seem a bit incompetent. I love when Lois and Clark investigate and manage to prove his crimes. Even if he can't get proof, at a certain point surely Superman has to say "I don't care what the law says, I'm not going to just stand by and keep letting him build giant death robots."

But I'm also biased by the fact that I prefer criminal scientist Luthor to businessman Luthor.

To be clear, I'm not saying Lex should ultimately get away with his crimes.
I don't think anyone wants that .

I'm saying, I don't want him to be a one and done villain stopped after the first film.
That's just not appealing to me.

I agree with you about L&C and Superman attitude in terms of not standing by and letting giant robots destroy metropolis.

I just don't want that to Lex ,in his first appearance, to be brought down easily, especially if it's a corporate Lex .

Again, that doesn't appeal to me at all and that's been done enough before in the films.

I also very much disagree with you that Lex getting away with certain things makes Superman look incompetent.

I don't see that at all, and I never have .

As far as the mad scientist stuff, again , we part ways.

I like Lex to have that same genius for science, but I prefer the post crisis stuff over the previous Lex.

But I appreciate that's a preference .

 

[Aurakles]

I'm ok with Luthor getting away with his plots once or twice without going to jail, it's just a pet peeve of mine when he seems to be doing it constantly.

If not incompetence, it eventually looks like negligence on Supermans part.
I prefer for him to be willing to work outside the law of the law is shown not to be working. How many times can he allow Lexcorp to fund Kryptonite lasers and Bizarro clones before he decides he needs to take Luthors toys away, regardless of whether it's strictly legal to do so?

 

[Deck Rickard]

I'm ok with Luthor getting away with his plots once or twice without going to jail, it's just a pet peeve of mine when he seems to be doing it constantly.

If not incompetence, it eventually looks like negligence on Supermans part.
I prefer for him to be willing to work outside the law of the law is shown not to be working. How many times can he allow Lexcorp to fund Kryptonite lasers and Bizarro clones before he decides he needs to take Luthors toys away, regardless of whether it's strictly legal to do so?

That’s why we need Snyder’s Superman to come along and snap his neck.

 

[BobJM]

I just have to say, this is SO close to my ideal Supes "origin" movie, it's actually freaky. Just toss some Birthright scenes in - the Krypton bookends that always get me choked up at the end, some flashbacks or dialogue referencing his world travels in Birthright before coming to Metropolis, the scene with the gun shop owner...oh, and the bookend scenes with the old lady from Secret Origin as well because that was cute as hell - and that's pretty much the exact movie in my head, lol. Minus Brainiac's actual invasion, that is. I'd save that (or rather, Brainiac himself coming to Earth and "disappearing" the city of Metropolis) for the sequel because I want Supergirl involved in that story too, as in the Johns Brainiac arc. The big action climax for my first movie would be Supes and Steel versus the government's big Brainiac-possessed Metal Men (+ Metallo), while heavily focusing on the two of them trying to protect the civilians in harm's way. Played out a lot like the "fake invasion" climax from Birthright.

Oh, and for Glenmorgan, I'd keep him as himself, the head of Lex's biggest rival company Galaxy Com, and Clark will take Glenmorgan down with a good piece of journalism (that's what will finally get him recruited by the Planet at the end)...inadvertently helped by Lex who set up the not-remotely-innocent Glenmorgan up as the false "saboteur" of his military project. Then I'd have Glenmorgan go to jail and get REPLACED by Morgan Edge at the end, as the head of Galaxy Communications....who may or may not have helped Luthor set up his predecessor. But Clark knows that Lex was far more involved than he let on, even though he couldn't put it in his story for lack of evidence, and that's how he first sees Lex as the true danger that he is.

Love the idea of incorporating the Birthright/ “hope rewarded.” And you’re right, I think there’s enough parallels where you could blend the Metal Men with the fake alien invasion. It’s a nice way to carry through the anti-alien sentiment and have Clark try to deal with that, ultimately learning that he needs to be more than just a vigilant if he wants to do some real good in the world.

 

[Frodo]

I'm ok with Luthor getting away with his plots once or twice without going to jail, it's just a pet peeve of mine when he seems to be doing it constantly.

If not incompetence, it eventually looks like negligence on Supermans part.
I prefer for him to be willing to work outside the law of the law is shown not to be working. How many times can he allow Lexcorp to fund Kryptonite lasers and Bizarro clones before he decides he needs to take Luthors toys away, regardless of whether it's strictly legal to do so?

I would prefer Lex not be behind every evil thing that happens in Metropolis and that he not be behind Bizarro clones .

If anything, I'd prefer that a villains like Parasite, Livewire, or Brainiac take center stage without Lex being behind funding them.

One thing i'd like the new series of films to establish, is that, Lex isn't the only bad guy in Metropolis, and that this Superman has a gallery of rogues with their own motivations and plans.

I don't want them all funded by Lex .

In terms of Superman " being willing to work outside the law" , that starts to get shaky, especially if it's open ended an undefined.

I don't want him to be a vigilante, or even the scores if Superman can't prove Lex was behind X, Y, or Z.
That's not Superman.

Now , he's not a cop or law enforcement of course, but he does have a strict code and ethics.

I want his code and his ethics to be what separates him from vigilantes who might think the ends justify the means.

So , you'll have to give me an example of what you mean by " working outside the law".