Why is making a good Superman movie so hard?

[Tra-El]

We won't see Superman on the big screen again atleast until 2024-2026. WB makes me absolutely sick to my stomach to not pursue greatness and TLC for Superman in this comic book boom period. He should he flying high in today's CBM culture and he's being treated like nothing but dirt. I hope m1ll3r is right that one day a modern Superman film could be a masterpiece. Only then will I ever forgive WB.

 

[Jekecy]

Again... your blaming the character of Superman for being unable to attract filmmakers, when the truth is that the likes of Snyder have made him a poison chalice that nobody wants go near... just like Batman was for seven years after Schumacher got done with him. But somebody will come along with the right vision and the right take, just like Nolan did. I just hope it doesn’t take as long. Whether WB have the sense to hire that right person or not is doubtful though. They certainly haven’t hired the right man for Superman since 1977.

I actually think this is why we're in such a predicament. Superman hasn't sparked the imaginations of young minds in a mainstream scale for decades now. Perhaps it's unreasonable to expect the same amount of talent pool (as say for Batman) to come and salvage this property when the candidates who would be most suited for this job now weren't exposed to him in the years which were most important to shape their creativity. Maybe the youths who could have been huge Superman fans, didn't get hooked by anything in the comics, tv, or film...and they went on to become fanboys of a different IP entirely. The longer this character fails to hit on a big scale, the likelier it is for him to fade into obscurity much like Tarzan.

I think of the massive reach Star Wars had, and how its effects are being felt to this day in nearly every form of storytelling, precisely because there's an entire generation of kids who's minds were blown away and those inspirations carried them to their careers today.

 

[RomanticPenguin]

Pattyington

 

[FunkMiller]

I actually think this is why we're in such a predicament. Superman hasn't sparked the imaginations of young minds in a mainstream scale for decades now. Perhaps it's unreasonable to expect the same amount of talent pool (as say for Batman) to come and salvage this property when the candidates who would be most suited for this job now weren't exposed to him in the years which were most important to shape their creativity. Maybe the youths who could have been huge Superman fans, didn't get hooked by anything in the comics, tv, or film...and they went on to become fanboys of a different IP entirely. The longer this character fails to hit on a big scale, the likelier it is for him to fade into obscurity much like Tarzan.

I think of the massive reach Star Wars had, and how its effects are being felt to this day in nearly every form of storytelling, precisely because there's an entire generation of kids who's minds were blown away and those inspirations carried them to their careers today.

Yeah, I get what you’re saying to a certain extent. If a character is mishandled as badly as Superman has been, it’s bound to have an effect on how popular he is with young people and young creatives. But, he’s still Superman. The first of his kind, and a character so soaked into the general conscious that even without successful movies he’s still very much at the forefront of popular culture. I still maintain the major problem is with WB not having a clue, and hiring all the wrong people... partly because the right people get turned off from working with them because of their awful reputation for handling comic book characters in the movies.

 

[STARMAN]

Superman has been strong enough to survive bad movies. People were ready and willing for MOS as it set the June box office record. They're are plenty of non-Batman comic characters having success. It can be done.

 

[Herofan]

Said this before but we keep talking about how hard Superman movies are to make as if good film-makers gave it a go and failed. Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder are not very good film-makers, and they made not very good Superman movies. This should surprise no one.

I'm definitely over-simplifying things but I'm not wrong. Give Spielberg or Vaughn or Abrams or any proven film-maker the chance to make a Superman movie and all of this nonsense talk of blaming the fans or the material will go away in an instant.

I think the first two X-Men films were tremendously better than First Class and Abrams would probably make a film very similar to and only as good as if not worse than MoS. Abrams's second Star Trek film was nearly just one action set piece after another and both of them had at best pretty basic characterizations.

 

[Herofan]

When Abrams got the chance to write a Superman film he very much did use, emphasized more, the concept of a Kryptonian Civil War, seems like he also was more interested in and wanted to use a more angsty Superman character and story.

 

[Herofan]

fictional character can be handled well or poorly. It’s down to the quality and talent of the writers and filmmakers. And Superman has had bad writers and filmmakers. End of story.

Goyer isn't a bad writer though he is a highly uneven one.

 

[All-Father]

EXCLUSIVE: WB Developing 'Superman' TV Series

Any plans for a new Superman feature film, Man of Steel 2 or otherwise, stalled after the disappointing box office of Justice League. Sources claim that the studio lost confidence in Superman’s ability to draw audiences to the cinema.

Honestly WB/DC don't have much faith in the character anymore, and they have some good reasons for that.

 

[jmc]

It use to be Superman who was the first name most would think of when you say the word superhero or comic book. Not anymore. Superman is now yesterday's hero, and what a ****ing sad state that is.

 

[2kt09]

It use to be Superman who was the first name most would think of when you say the word superhero or comic book. Not anymore. Superman is now yesterday's hero, and what a ****ing sad state that is.

A consequence of too many caveats and not enough flexibility. That includes his supporting cast.
Plus, the literal usage of "yesterday's hero" like in the case of Supergirl where he's super experienced
or in the case of 20th century iterations being the standard to meet.

 

[All-Father]

It use to be Superman who was the first name most would think of when you say the word superhero or comic book. Not anymore. Superman is now yesterday's hero, and what a ****ing sad state that is.

Indeed, that was true once. The problem is that he has not exactly been relevant, specially in the movies, since the 80s. Batman became the top property from DC/Wb by far. Spider-Man, already very popular and famous, surpassed him too, by far.

After Marvel entered in the game things changed even more. We're in the end of the 2010s, and the whole notion of who's really popular and A-Lister has completely changed. The background is way different than the one of almost 40 years ago.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Apparently they’re developing a tv show with Hoechlin. Bring it on! Cavill never grabbed my attention in the three movies he was in, while Hoechlin hooked me in within the first 5 minutes of his first appearance on Supergirl. He deserves it. Make that dude hit the gym hard and give him a better quality suit and he’ll unquestionably be THE modern Superman.

 

[All-Father]

Apparently they’re developing a tv show with Hoechlin. Bring it on! Cavill never grabbed my attention in the three movies he was in, while Hoechlin hooked me in within the first 5 minutes of his first appearance on Supergirl. He deserves it. Make that dude hit the gym hard and give him a better quality suit and he’ll unquestionably be THE modern Superman.

It could definitely work!

 

[Flash525]

Apparently they’re developing a tv show with Hoechlin. Bring it on! Cavill never grabbed my attention in the three movies he was in, while Hoechlin hooked me in within the first 5 minutes of his first appearance on Supergirl. He deserves it. Make that dude hit the gym hard and give him a better quality suit and he’ll unquestionably be THE modern Superman.

I'm really not too sure about this; can the CW shows really work with two shows about Kryptonians that do exactly the same thing? I fear it'll become too ... samey, unless they rename Supergirl and have it as a duo act, but... ehh, I don't know. I feel like Melissa and the SP crew will be at a loss here.

 

[SiegePerilous]

EXCLUSIVE: WB Developing 'Superman' TV Series

Any plans for a new Superman feature film, Man of Steel 2 or otherwise, stalled after the disappointing box office of Justice League. Sources claim that the studio lost confidence in Superman’s ability to draw audiences to the cinema.

Honestly WB/DC don't have much faith in the character anymore, and they have some good reasons for that.

They would have good reasons and be easier to sympathise with if it wasn't mostly their own fault.

 

[Herofan]

It use to be Superman who was the first name most would think of when you say the word superhero or comic book. Not anymore. Superman is now yesterday's hero

I think already in the '90s there was a lot of feeling that he was maybe OK but also the oldest and squarest.

Television probably does make sense for the character in that the studio can have more modest financial expectations and from the budget and structure the show can't go overboard on action, has to focus more on story, characters and ongoing developments with them. It actually makes more sense for many superheroes aside from probably being less profitable than movies (and requiring fewer and more modest special effects).

 

[Flint Marko]

EXCLUSIVE: WB Developing 'Superman' TV Series

Any plans for a new Superman feature film, Man of Steel 2 or otherwise, stalled after the disappointing box office of Justice League. Sources claim that the studio lost confidence in Superman’s ability to draw audiences to the cinema.

Honestly WB/DC don't have much faith in the character anymore, and they have some good reasons for that.

But I thought it was those nasty film-makers fault for not wanting to make a Superman movie

Yeah, WB is clueless. Every time they take two steps forward they take another two backward.

 

[Zarex]

It looks like DC/WB is planning on swapping Kryptonians - replacing Kara with Clark on TV and doing the opposite on the big screen.

 

[Boy Scout]

To be fair, the source for the rumor isn’t one many of us have heard of, which makes me question its legitimacy. I for one would be shocked if they’re seriously considering giving TH his own show (outside of an animated series on CW Seed).

 

[Vader's Fist]

Raimi, Nolan, and Jenkins, all brought up Donner's Superman as a heavy inspiration in their approach to their respective origin films. Undoubtedly they're all great superhero debuts.

There's clearly something with that approach which still has resonance several decades later. Naysayers who can only focus on the camp have missed the point entirely.

You can add Favreau to that list as well. Supposedly, while shooting Iron Man, he put Donner's motto of "Verisimiltude" above his doorway.

 

[FunkMiller]

You can add Favreau to that list as well. Supposedly, while shooting Iron Man, he put Donner's motto of "Verisimiltude" above his doorway.

And Kevin Feige’s first job was under Donner, and he’s cited him as an influence in the way he’s gone about the MCU. He also gave WB the very good advice of looking to Donner’s style of film making to turn the DCEU around.

There’s a very strong argument that Superman The Movie is the most important comic book movie ever made.

 

[Vader's Fist]

And Kevin Feige’s first job was under Donner, and he’s cited him as an influence in the way he’s gone about the MCU. He also gave WB the very good advice of looking to Donner’s style of film making to turn the DCEU around.

Unfortunately, Jenkins was the only one to listen.

Something I wouldn't mind getting a general opinion on: If the next cinematic take on Superman had the the trunks would that be a positive or a negative for most people? I'm only asking because I get the vibe that bringing them back in the comics didn't go down as well as DC probably hoped.

 

[FunkMiller]

Something I wouldn't mind getting a general opinion on: If the next cinematic take on Superman had the the trunks would that be a positive or a negative for most people? I'm only asking because I get the vibe that bringing them back in the comics didn't go down as well as DC probably hoped.

Fine with either, tbh. Not an issue.

 

[Jochimus]

Something I wouldn't mind getting a general opinion on: If the next cinematic take on Superman had the the trunks would that be a positive or a negative for most people? I'm only asking because I get the vibe that bringing them back in the comics didn't go down as well as DC probably hoped.

Classic suit or Reborn suit, either one as a basis would work for me.