The Daily Planet - Superman News and Speculation Thread (🚨TAG SPOILERS🚨)

[AndrewGilkison]

Burton was a decade late on this casting because I can see it in an out of the box way.

Burton is the guy who cast Michael Keaton as Batman. Cage as Superman is very much in line with that. Their Batman and Superman could easily exist in the same universe. I actually buy the Cage Superman being in the Batman 89/Returns universe far more than I could buy Christopher Reeve Superman being in the same universe as Keaton's Batman.

 

[Mysteryman]

View attachment 114540

Not a surprise.

 

[Frodo]

Burton is the guy who cast Michael Keaton as Batman. Cage as Superman is very much in line with that. Their Batman and Superman could easily exist in the same universe. I actually buy the Cage Superman being in the Batman 89/Returns universe far more than I could buy Christopher Reeve Superman being in the same universe as Keaton's Batman.

Though , I didn't want to see Burton's take on Superman, I agree that I could see Cage as Superman in Burton's version of the DC Universe .

As much as I'm an old School Reeve and Keaton fan, and as much as I would have been off the walls seeing a Reeve/ Keaton Superman crossover film back in the day,
If we're talking about Burton sensibilities, Cage and Keaton make more sense as a Batman and Superman, in the Burtonverse imo.

I feel like a Batman in the Donner-verse would still be different than Reeve's Superman , but wouldn't be like Keaton's version of Batman.

He would probably be closer to Denny O'Neil's version of the character in the 1970s.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Though , I didn't want to see Burton's take on Superman, I agree that I could see Cage as Superman in Burton's version of the DC Universe .

As much as I'm an old School Reeve and Keaton fan, and as much as I would have been off the walls seeing a Reeve/ Keaton Superman crossover film back in the day,
If we're talking about Burton sensibilities, Cage and Keaton make more sense as a Batman and Superman, in the Burtonverse imo.

I feel like a Batman in the Donner-verse would still be different than Reeve's Superman , but wouldn't be like Keaton's version of Batman.

He would probably be closer to Denny O'Neil's version of the character in the 1970s.

Superman script writer Tom Mankiewicz actually wrote a script for a Batman movie, which adapts some of the Steve Eagleheart and Marshal Rogers stuff (Silver St. Cloud is the love interest). So I imagine that Batman in the Chris Reeve Superman world would be similar to that one (as they are written by the same guy).

 

[Gu3ree]

Yeah this is the problem I am having with this possible plot, maybe it will be dealt with sooner than we think and Supes spends more time earning the peoples trust back by showing how great he is.

I would be concerned if that was the plot of the entire movie which I hope it wouldn't be. In the third act, if not too long, then maybe it could work.

 

[Gu3ree]

...I don't understand the concept of "Nicholas Cage".

 

[dhandler01]

Yeah, physically if the Superman Look is super important to you I totally get why it'd be an unacceptable choice. But for me there's such a profound authenticity and sincerity to Cage that makes it obvious he could nail Superman's soul and compassion as well as his more... Particular Cage-isms being a really fun match for a quirkier Clark Kent. Especially if you were to do a middle ground between the comedic Donner Clark and post-crisis Clark (which, as an aside, feels ideal to me and I really get the sense that is what Gunn is doing - Clark being totally a joke feels outdated but standard post-crisis Clark can be really boring sometimes, imo).

Cage does not strike me as a farmboy from Kansas...sorry that dog wont hunt.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

 

[jetage]

Cage and Burton doing a Superman movie, please put the crack pipe down. Enough damage has been done to the character in live action over the last 30 years, enough is enough

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Burton didn't cast Cage. Jon Peters did. His casting predated Burton's hiring.

 

[Kane52630]

...trailer? news? anything?

 

[hopefuldreamer]

...trailer? news? anything?

Does this count?

 

[Nemeres]

Even Burton's weird movie would have been better than the whole lot of nothing the 90s offered in terms of movie Superman. I think most people would prefer the Schumacher flicks over the possibility of having gotten no more Batfilms post Keaton.

But for my money, Kevin Smith's script would've made for an okay film. And I remember reading that he suggested Robert Rodriguez as director. That combo (plus Nic Cage, whom I like) is, imo, the closest Superman Lives ever got to being a fun "fondly remembered film by 90s kids" kinda film.

 

[Babillygunn]

Even Burton's weird movie would have been better than the whole lot of nothing the 90s offered in terms of movie Superman. I think most people would prefer the Schumacher flicks over the possibility of having gotten no more Batfilms post Keaton.

But for my money, Kevin Smith's script would've made for an okay film. And I remember reading that he suggested Robert Rodriguez as director. That combo (plus Nic Cage, whom I like) is, imo, the closest Superman Lives ever got to being a fun "fondly remembered film by 90s kids" kinda film.

If we’d have gotten the Burton film, I’d be concerned that we wouldn’t have gotten Lois and Clark, or the version of STAS that we got.

So I’m good with it.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Superman Lives went into pre-production in 1997 those wouldn’t have been affected as they were already out there.

Maybe no Smallville, but I bet we’d still be talking about Lives over Superman Returns for sure. It’s still an incredible what if to this day.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

I would take Superman Lives over MOS, SR, BVS, JL, and this new movie. Why? Because Brainiac and Lex were the main villains. I’ve wanted to see those two villains together in a Superman movie for 25 years.

Instead we get:
Superman: Lex
Superman II: Lex and Zod
Superman III: Evil Superman
Superman IV: Lex and Kryptonian clone
SR: Lex
MOS: Zod
BvS: Lex and Kryptonian clone
Superman: Lex and apparently

Spoiler

Kryptonian clone

 

[dhandler01]

Burton didn't cast Cage. Jon Peters did. His casting predated Burton's hiring.

Explains the hair

 

[dhandler01]

I would take Superman Lives over MOS, SR, BVS, JL, and this new movie. Why? Because Brainiac and Lex were the main villains. I’ve wanted to see those two villains together in a Superman movie for 25 years.

Instead we get:
Superman: Lex
Superman II: Lex and Zod
Superman III: Evil Superman
Superman IV: Lex and Kryptonian clone
SR: Lex
MOS: Zod
BvS: Lex and Kryptonian clone
Superman: Lex and apparently

Spoiler

Kryptonian clone

So you want a bad script with the wrong director and way wrong actor to be made so you can see what likely would have been a very bad version of Brainiac? You would have gotten that if SR had been a bigger hit...

I like Brainiac too, but Superman Lives was going to be trash. The only reason people look back fondly on it is because it was never made and there is cool stories about how ridiculous it was trying to get it going. Its the same reason ZSJL was "liked" by critics. It has zero to do with the quality of the film and everything to do with the drama and the backstory.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

I’ve read two different drafts of the script for Lives and wouldn’t call either of them bad and everything I’ve seen about the movie doesn’t look like trash. I enjoyed literally all the casting and think Cage would’ve been amazing.

So yeah I enjoy the choice for lead actor and the director. I think both were really great ideas. Offbeat and unique but great.

Again, I’d totally take that movie over any of what we’ve gotten or are getting. I know enough about it to know I’d probably really enjoy it. Lex, Brainiac, Doomsday directed by Burton would’ve been mind blowing. I think it would’ve been one of my favorite CBMs. The two Burton Batfilms are still two of my absolute favorites and I strongly suspect this would have been a favorite of mine too.

 

[GreenKToo]

Possibly. I really liked the Abrams script also, although several here hate it.

 

[J.Drangal]

Being born in the late '80s, I think Superman Lives could have been the Superman event movie of my childhood, just like Batman Forever was for Batman.

Although I largely prefer Burton's Batman films (I wore out those vhs tape as soon as the films were available), I was slightly too young to catch them in theaters.
And so, I have fond memories of Batman Forever, especially because this time I was there to really experience the whole thing. It was one of my first “highly anticipated films”.
And that flashy, energetic and family-frendly thing sure delivered for a 90s kid... I guess Superman Lives could have been the same.

The other thing is that, even though I'd seen the first two films starring Christopher Reeve and enjoyed Superman TAS, I was still relatively new to the character, his lore and so on.
So I'd probably have been way more forgiving than others of the liberties taken by the project (In fact, I continue to root for creators to really do their thing with all these licences).

And to be honest... I just like what I saw in the documentary dedicated to the film. When I imagine how these concept-arts of Brainiac, etc. could have been finalized on screen, perhaps with this retro-SF patina that Burton used in Mars Attacks!... It hypes me 10X more than anything currently made or planned in the genre.

 

[BobJM]

Kevin Smith's Lives would have been totally fine; it was only when Burton got involved and commissioned a complete rewrite that the project began to go off the rails. Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Deadshot, Batman cameo, etc. The scripts a fun read, even if it feels very 90s.

JJ Abrams' Flyby would have been a bit more divisive, I'm sure. Even the lesser-talked about Oct 2003 revision still had Krypton sticking through the end of the script but at least it reworked Luthor into the more recognizable evil CEO (rather than a CIA agent / sleeper Kryptonian).

 

[Tra-El]

You guys can take this with a grain of salt, but I trust my source 100% and they saw the trailer and said David is the best Superman ever.

Carry on.

 

[emielaen]

Hmmmm. That trailer gonna hit like them yellow tops in The Wire.

 

[Tra-El]

Hmmmm. That trailer gonna hit like them yellow tops in The Wire.

I tried to press for details but they wouldn't budge lol. My same source that told me Cavill was on the set of Flash when he was on the WB Lot. This person liked Cavill as well for reference.