Superman Returns There are influences in this film from the J.J. Abrams script

[Lightning54SC]

It's so sad, Smallville has had some good ideas and chances for groundbreaking stuff, but half the time there execution is so off people hate them for it.

I would love to get my hands on Smallville from a creative standpoint, it would rock everyone's world.

totally agree, you and me start writing for them.....

 

[retconned]

To anyone interested in the script, I don't have the actual copy anymore, but I could tell you anything you wanted to know as I read it front to back countless times.

Nobody has any real reason to believe me, since not only am I what would be called a noob, but in general just another guy on a message board. But I wouldn't have started this thread otherwise, and I give you my word that Ive read the script. Your now talking to the biggest Superman fan alive, and I have my means to finding what I want.

So on that note, if anyone has questions about the script, PM me, ask me in here, whatever you need to do and I will fill you in.

 

[retconned]

totally agree, you and me start writing for them.....

I concur

First order of business is to turn back time, hehe, and kill Lana. And I would even leave the time travel crystal in the episode, and then have her die a 2nd, final time, proving to Clark that not even he can stop fate. And plus it rids us of the storyline that has made the series dull for 3 seasons, Clark/Lana. And I say that because in the first 2 seasons I didn't mind it, but now it grates my nerves everytime. Lana-face ughhhh. Kills two birds with one stone by teaching Clark a tough life lesson and then stopping me from thoughts of suicide everytime there on screen together.

2nd order of business, give Braniac a meaningful role. For god sakes, Braniac is the second biggest villian in the Superman lore, but is reduced to being Zods puppet.

 

[Excel]

abrams air force one and krypton scenes are in super world somewhere

 

[retconned]

In the 3rd draft, the Air Force One scene was eliminated and replaced with the space shuttle.

To whoever said it wasn't very Superman like to walk past the President to check on Lois, that little problem was taken care of.

And most of the Krypton scenes were rewritten with Jor-El as the villian along with the half brother of Superman. And it was Lara and her father, the character Predius, who shipped baby Kal-El to Earth.

Many people fail to understand that this draft never got publically reviewed.

 

[Lightning54SC]

To anyone interested in the script, I don't have the actual copy anymore, but I could tell you anything you wanted to know as I read it front to back countless times.

Nobody has any real reason to believe me, since not only am I what would be called a noob, but in general just another guy on a message board. But I wouldn't have started this thread otherwise, and I give you my word that Ive read the script. Your now talking to the biggest Superman fan alive, and I have my means to finding what I want.

So on that note, if anyone has questions about the script, PM me, ask me in here, whatever you need to do and I will fill you in.

id like clark to go to the phantomzone alone and really learn with NO distractions.... you cant kill lana but kinda do the story like the movie and have him leave quietly and disappearingly..... but i want jor-el and him kneeling beside clark explaining.... everything like the famous quote...

"Even though youve been raised as a human being your not one of them"

and Explaining ZOD, and his powers... and History of Krypton and BRAINIAC the AI robot

 

[Lightning54SC]

also jor-el showing Kal-el how ot use his powers

 

[Sub-Zero]

wait so the whole kata-zor or ty-zor crap was taken out and jor-el became the main villian????!!! whoa that's really interesting. was the suit in the can thing still there?

 

[retconned]

wait so the whole kata-zor or ty-zor crap was taken out and jor-el became the main villian????!!! whoa that's really interesting. was the suit in the can thing still there?

The suit in the can thing is gone completely. There is actually a scene where Clark tries on all kinds of different suits, including the traditional colored suit which he ends up picking, a black suit, and red/white/blue suit. Clark loves the red/white/blue suit, but in a funny scene doesn't want to ripoff Captain America, his favorite superhero growing up. And yes they do feature young Clark reading Captain America. Also, Clark used the S shield because he was wrapped up in a blanket with the embelem on it, and it was the only known thing he had from the world he came from.

Yes, Kata-Zor and Ty-Zor were gone, with Jor-El taking the place of main villian. But Jor-El also had another son, although it wasn't with Lara, giving Superman a half brother who was loyal to Jor-El. Basically took the place of Ty-Zor.

 

[Sub-Zero]

wow. thanks for the info. that sounds like the smallville version of the movie. cause it makes jor-el look like a complete a-hole. and i really hate smallville. i wonder if that capt.america thing would've made it on screen?

 

[Showtime]

The Abrams Script was not even a good read at best. I love to see the good old suit in a can though.

 

[drknight]

Yes, Kata-Zor and Ty-Zor were gone, with Jor-El taking the place of main villian. But Jor-El also had another son, although it wasn't with Lara, giving Superman a half brother who was loyal to Jor-El. Basically took the place of Ty-Zor.

That's horrible.

 

[M.O.Steel]

There's one thing i really really liked from the 1 st draft, and it was an interaction between lana and clark in teh classroom. Clark isn't paying attention to the teacher and is looking at the wall.

(severe paraphrasing)
Lana: What are you looking at?
Clark: The clouds and the sky
Lana: But there's no windows
Clark: ...I make my own windows

I LOVE that scene. I really hope singer put it in SR.

 

[Excel]

it goes

"you look at the walls alot. in class"-lana
"yeah. i just like to look out the windows and stuff"-clark
"but its just a wall. there are no windows"-lana
(like hes sharing a secret)
"i make my own windows"-clark


and seeing as nobodys mentioned it

Spoiler

the whole martha kent arrives at superman death bed but cant get close to him cause they dont know who she is was created in abrams first draft too

 

[echostation]

again does anyone have the 3rd or any of the drafts Electronically that they could pretty pleae send out?

 

[M.O.Steel]

it goes

"you look at the walls alot. in class"-lana
"yeah. i just like to look out the windows and stuff"-clark
"but its just a wall. there are no windows"-lana
(like hes sharing a secret)
"i make my own windows"-clark


and seeing as nobodys mentioned it

Spoiler

the whole martha kent arrives at superman death bed but cant get close to him cause they dont know who she is was created in abrams first draft too

Thanks dude. I love that scene.

 

[buggs0268]

I have noticed after reading the novel and knowing alot of information about the movie, that this film borrows to some degree scenes and ideas for the thrid draft of the J.J. Abrams script, or you could almost call it the Josh Schwartz script. Schwartz was the creator of The O.C. and a huge comic book lover. I just thought that while the concepts for the movie are entirely different, you can see some of this scripts influences in Superman Returns. From what I have been told, this script was originally offered to Bryan Singer, but obviously he did his own thing story wise. Anyway, here we go....

- Lex Luthor obtaining Kryptonian technology was a major storyline in the script. Fresh out of college, Luthor was driving cross country for his first job in Metropolis working at some local industrial coroporation, and while stopped in Smallville, witnessed the crashing of Superman's ship. After the Kents scooped up baby Clark as in every other incarnation, Lex found the ship and stole it for himself before Johnathan could return to secure it. This plays into the Kents telling Clark to never use his powers no matter what, and to proceed living like a normal human being, as they know there is someone out there who would be able to identify him. They don't put the fear of god into about his powers like the first draft, but it's made clear they want Clark to live like a normal human being. But anyway, Lex takes the ship, figures out how to adapt the Kryptonian technology, and then buys out his boss and turns the Metropolis Corporation into the Billion dollar company known as Lexcorp, which specializes in military arms development, sonar tech, news forms of stealth flight, etc etc. Not to mention he basically buys the city of Metropolis, including the Daily Planet. There are some funny lines with Perry White and Lois Lane concerning that fact. Lex would then use the Kryptonian technology to call upon the surving Kryptonians to come to Earth and defeat Superman. On a side note, the Lex in this script was a damn creep. Very unnerving almost. Before witnessing the rocket ship crash in Smallville, lex is pulled off to the side of the road, basically writing down notes for his own Mein Kampf. I geuss Luthor has some grand, Hitler like plan that would have played out over the course of the franchise. I really liked how Lex was done here. More on that Later.

- The plane sequence in Superman Returns was basically taken right out of the script. As described in the novel and from all the images and previews Ive seen, it is honestly a shot for shot copy, which isn't a bad thing. The plane sequence in the script was the one of the most stunning visuals Ive ever had in my head, and it should be know different in Superman Returns.

- Superman flying above the world and listening to people's problems, then flying around doing Super deeds was in the script, and might I say one of the best parts about it. Might not be shot for shot, but the idea's came for the scene in Superman Returns came from this script it would seem.

- The heavy emphasis on the romance was there, although with obviously WAAYYYY different storylines. It was the traditional Superman/Clark/Lois triangle, which wasn't a bad thing, not that the Superman Returns love story is bad either.

- The idea of going back to Krypton, with the difference being that Superman leaves for Krypton at the end of the film.

With this being said, it looks like Singer took some of the best concepts from this script and then combined them with his idea of vague history. While this script was amazing when it was pure Superman, it also had it's fair share of groans. Alot was changed about Krypton, first and foremost bieng that JOR-EL was the main villian, and it was he who blew up Krypton and reduced it to a giant chunk, while Lara sent Kal-El to Earth for the sole purpose of living a free life. Very Darth Vader like with Jor-El. Also, and your going to love this, Supermans has a half brother that was born to Jor-El and another kryptonian women, who of course is evil. This character basically took the place of Ty-Zor if your remember him. The prophecy is still there, but it actually is not about Superman. The prophecy is about some form of Ultimate Evil in the universe, basically being played up to be an intergalactic Satan, and I believe that it is implied to be Jor-El, but would have turned out to be Lex Luthor. The whole reason Superman goes back to Krypton is because he believes this ultimate evil is Jor-El and he must stop him, free the kryptonians, and protect Earth from another attack. They were really going for Jesus vs. Satan here by the end of the franchise.

You can truly see Schwartz influence with the character of Clark Kent. Instead of making him the stumblin, bumblin, fumblin, mumblin fool of old, Clark is a modern day nerd. Geeky and Sarcastic, this Clark made alot of comments that made me think Seth Cohen from the O.C. I will honestly say though that the interaction with Clark and Lois was funny as hell, and the best source of humor in the script, with Lois being the bossy ***** that she is. There were some very Luke Skywalker-esque moments with Clark while he was on the farm, I could just hear the Star Wars theme in my head. Also, Superman didn't die in this script when the other Kryptonians arrived, they placed him in some sort of paralysis and stuffed him away with the rocket ship that lara had sent him to Earth. After being stuffed away, a computer programming of Lara, think Bruce Timm Animated Series, melded with Superman's mind and told him everything, who he was, where he was from, the prophecy, everything, and then the ship freed him from the paralysis just in time to save the day. It was then that Superman took it upon himself to stop the prophecy.

Well, I would just like to say I am in no way endorsing this script, Im only passing along what I read and the influences I see. This movie would have been directed by a hack in McG and cast horribly, i.e. Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane because McG is an idiot.

This is the first I have heard of a lot of this stuff, and I have been following this. This must be that infamouse second draft tht was supposedly better. God this would have sucked. Jor-El blows up Krypton. Damn. right there that is worse than the whole Jor-El doing harry kerry to talk to dead Kal-El in heaven. Sucks. Sucks I tell ya!

 

[Sub-Zero]

whoa easy there, turbo. it'll never get made into a movie so that should be some kind of relief to you.

 

[retconned]

The thing about the THIRD draft is that Superman is, well Superman. The uprbringing, the beliefs, the suit, the romance with Lois, all his powers are there in full force, the compassion for humanity. Superman the character is on display in amazing form, and the same with all the other regulars of the Superman mythos. Lois, Jimmy, Perry, and the Kents are great. Lex is ALOT darker and creepier than in Donner's film or any other incarnation, but it actually played out well.

The thing with this script was that the world, or should I say universe, that Superman lived in was very different, and the events in that universe played out very differently than ever before. It was like taking all the familiar characters as was, leaving them the same, and placing them in a different story.