Does DC/WB have what it takes to make amends?
I write this to you all in regards to my previous article “SUPERMAN: To reboot or not to reboot… that is the question!” which became a “top story” in no time having the very fans of the character battling over the issue of a possible reboot. As we are all aware of the outcome of such a decision, it leaves us wondering “what if they continued with what was made of Superman’s continuity?” Does DC/WB have the tools to repair the damages, to make the wrong things right again without having to reboot it?
Due to the recent “halt” in development of possible upcoming comic book related projects, us world wide fans are pretty much left in the dark, frozen in awe of what is to become of our favorite childhood heroes’ future on the big screen. We know what the reason behind the halt is but we don’t know what the outcome will be. In regards to Superman’s franchise, change is drastically needed as half the fan base is demanding almost begging for a reboot. The other half can’t dispute the fact that the storyline took a turn so ugly no one in their right mind could’ve predicted. What could have pushed an individual to willingly commit such an atrocious tragedy of what was his very own favorite superhero of all time? And why didn’t the executives stop him? It makes us wonder if they actually read the script at all. And judging from the legal dispute they have with Fox, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. It would actually explain a lot and it would pretty much confirm the need they have to halt everything and have a sit down to check every single detail. Captain Marvel was shut down completely, could it be because yet another mistake was just about to happen and they were quick enough to stop it this time? All we’re sure of is that either way, Superman’s franchise needs radical restructuring! Do we need to go as deep as to explore DC’s complex multi-verse to do it? Maybe not…
I firmly believe that Superman’s foundations are rock solid yet the faulty tower that was built on it was dangerously unstable and requires to be put down. In short, for something that colossal to be destroyed and rebuilt, I think the best option would be for Death itself to rear his ugly head and come on a knockin’. It has been said for ages that Superman’s own death was not only the best selling storyline of his existence but also what most fans wish to see live on the silver screen. It, like many other projects, at one time was to be produced however it was cancelled because they feared the technology wasn’t advanced enough to make it appealing to the masses. Kerry Gammill (which also happens to be one of my favorite artists of the Superman comic books) was to be responsible for the conceptual art of the movie. In his book “Drawing monsters and heroes for film and comics”, he shows us sketches of what was supposed to be Doomsday and explains the reason why the movie didn’t happen. Well, if Incredible Hulk’s success didn’t prove us that Doomsday can be done brilliantly by using CGI for their main villain Abomination, then nothing ever will. I believe the time has finally come.
If we examine the problems at hand that the latest movie “Superman Returns” brought, we’ll see that his death could very well change the opinion we have of this bound to be rebooted franchise. The first issue at hand is of course the fact that after coming back from a 7 year trip to the graveyard that is now Krypton, he discovered much to his surprise that he is now a father. Granted this is not at all the accurate origins of the character we know and love named Superboy however, it just might be the perfect way to bring him into play so to speak. Also, we seem to notice a lack of originality when it comes to challenges he encounters. Except for “Superman 2” which was the most popular of the five, every challenge he has met at the box office was earth based and the concept seems a bit overly exploited and illogical considering that the best villains and challenges he has encountered in the comic books came from space. Lex Luther is vital to Superman’s continuity, not as a main villain but as the brilliant business man we know to always plot in the background to finally be rid of the only thorn in his side. And the last detail was to be the cast of the movie. Brandon Routh did pick up nicely where Christopher Reeves had left off and Kevin Spacey was more than enough talented to fill in Gene Hackman’s shoes but for the rest of the cast, the characters weren’t portrayed rightfully as they should have. And this idea I have thought of, could be the answer to the problems we perceive of Superman’s new storyline.
Ten years have passed since the events of Superman Returns and Lex Luther wasn’t arrested since the incriminating evidence of his last plot had been thrown in the Sun. Superman did what he had to do even though he wasn’t pleased of the outcome, it was the lesser of two evils. After this last attempt, acknowledging that Superman has come back to stay this time around, Lex turned over a new leaf. His brilliant mind still led him to the corrupt occasional activity however he was determined to find better ways of getting the power he richly desired. In the ten years, he became a real “shark” on Wall Street, acquiring stocks of various international companies and becoming one of America’s most powerful businessmen in history. His upcoming goal as publically announced will be to run for presidency. Lex being the new owner of an important oil company has had teams digging in Antarctica for the last few years. They came upon a discovery that seemed to be alien artifacts, a space ship to be precise. Before his archaeologists could get there, the warmth that was generated to sustain life in the crevice for the workers, thawed the ships mechanisms as well as what was left dormant inside. The earth shook and the ships hull exploded creating a back draft that destroyed everything in the crevice. Outside workers were appalled to see this event as a creature immerged from the hole. In a blind Fury it destroyed everything on sight leaving nothing behind except for silence and death.
In Metropolis, Lois and Clark’s son has grown up a bit. He is a teenager going regularly to high school for fear of getting scolded by his adoptive father Richard White. One fine day at school, as he is sitting in his math class, an impact was heard not to far from school grounds near the football field. As every student crouched under their desks, Jason was curious as to what had created that impact and left his class room to investigate. As he neared the Gym, the wall next to him collapsed and a gruesome silhouette emerged from the rubble. It appeared that Doomsday had a built in tracking system that could locate beings with Kryptonian blood flowing in their veins. Jason being the closest one, he directed himself to Jason’s location. He started to attack Jason in frenzy and even with Jason’s developing super powers; he was no match for Doomsday. Lois being one of the first to hear the news at her office, she rushed over to her son’s high school to find him lying in a puddle of his own blood… with no pulse. The police noticed the culprit’s trail which seemed to lead towards the city. Doomsday leaving nothing but mass destruction behind him was tracking down the next closest being to have kryptonian blood… Superman. After dealing with a massive landslide on the outskirt of Metropolis that would have been responsible for the death of thousands of people, he left in super speed towards his son’s high school to deal with the situation. Doomsday feeling that his prey had fled away from him, started to wreck havoc in the heart of Metropolis. Upon arriving too late on the scene, the chief of police explained the situation that Jason had perished at the hands of this ravaging monster that headed towards town. The ambulance took Jason and her inconsolable mother to the hospital. In a fit of absolute rage he flew in the killer’s path to destroy him.
At the hospital, Lex Luther himself came to see Lois which was sitting in a river of her own tears, to offer her something a loving mother couldn’t refuse. It had appeared that Mr. Luther had secretly started a research facility at Lex Corp which had a single purpose… human cloning. He offered it at no cost since it would be their first test subject. When Lois saw that he wasn’t kidding, she put aside the risks and their horrid past and accepted. All Lex needed was a lock of hair from Jason. Upon examining Jason’s DNA, his researchers let him know of the anomaly being that he was half Kryptonian. Lex was ecstatic to learn that his suspicions he had in their last encounter, had been accurate. That he was indeed Superman’s son! So he spliced Jason’s DNA with his own in hopes that he might be able to control him somehow. Unfortunately, Jason was reborn with no memory what so ever and his father had already passed away in the climactic battle that almost destroyed the city. When Lex found out that Jason had no memory, he eagerly took Kal-El’s place as Jason’s father. He then went to Lois’s home to announce that his experiment failed and left their family to morn… heading towards his limo with a smirk on his face. After Superman’s world wide broadcasted funeral, sightings of him appeared on the news with very little detail and no pictures to confirm the allegations. Everyone was glued daily in front of their television in hopes that the reports were right. Enter “The Reign of The Supermen”!!!
Since time has passed, and since the cast was pretty much god awful aside from the two main actors, I will recast every role for this plot. Starting with Superman, his character hasn’t aged much in ten years since a Kryptonian doesn’t age as fast as a human but since I am recasting the whole cast, it would be nice to have an actor that has a more “experienced” look than what Brandon Routh had and maybe slightly older. My good friend LastSon1027 had this pick for a younger Jor-el in the previous article but since this story calls for an actor that can pull off the intensity needed as well as the look of the character. TheSoulEater had previously mentioned him in a post in 2008. I give you… James Caviezel as Superman, Cyborg and Eradicator!
I was a very big fan of Kevin Spacey’s portrayal of Lex Luther however, in the years past his character grew and became a harder, colder and less of a comical person to survive the harsh business world. Now even though I know that Kevin is talented enough to prove that he can pull of a different take of the same character, for some reason I feel it would be better to recast the role so that we can experience someone else’s take on him. This pick was given to us from wadewilson1 in my previous article. I felt shocked from the realisation that even though in 1989 he gave us one of the best portrayals of the caped crusader, today he is more than perfect for this darker role as he has proven to have the range to be a psychotic murderer in Pacific Heights and in Desperate Measures as well as brilliantly playing a mature father figure in the thriller White Noise. And his screen presence is strikingly similar to the ever so popular version of Lex in the animated series of Superman. I give you… Michael Keaton as Lex Luther!
As for Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth left the role a stale and uninteresting void of a character. This was not the Lois we knew of and offered nothing to the people who weren’t familiar with her character. Now Erica Durance on the other hand is everything us fan boys dreamed of as the best portrayal of Lois however, in this storyline, she would be in her late 30’s. Since there are a few very talented actresses of that generation, it made it quite difficult for me to cast this role. However one does stand out from the crowd as her beauty seems to be unaffected by time and her talent more than perfectly suits Lois’s personality. Most of us remember her from her popular role in Unfaithful but the roles I remember her for was her highly investigative and passionate part in Judge Dredd as Judge Hershey as well as the agent Nina Chance that she played along side Wesley Snipes in Murder at 1600. I give you… Diane Lane as Lois Lane!
For the role of Jason White better known as Superboy, this one proves to be even more difficult. Young teen actors rarely have much experience to back them for such an important role. This pick came from another good friend JosLezio85 for a different role however I find he fits this one perfectly. The best example of his talent will be showed in what is anticipated as the next epic adaptation failure known as DragonBall: Evolution, the main problem being the changes from the source material. He has enough experience to back my choice but in this movie he plays the role of a teen, chosen to defend earth from an alien menace and more than adequately proves that he has what it takes to play Superboy. I give you… Justin Chatwin as Superboy!
This character unfortunately was terribly portrayed by a basket ball player known as Shaq. He really shouldn’t have quit his day job. This is why we need someone with the talent to undo the evil that was imposed on John Henry Irons. I believe the actor I’ve picked has what it takes even though he might not be known for similar roles. I give you… Dennis Haysbert as Steel!
As for Jimmy Olsen’s role, we would also need an older actor but he would still have to be able to fit Jimmy’s profile. I think we might need someone that can pull a dramatic role all while being the funny bone to lighten things up. This has always been one of my favourite actors for a comedic role as he has made my squirt milk through my nostrils more than once on the sit-com Men Behaving Badly along side Rob Schneider but his best role I find was in Mystery Alaska where he played with Russell Crowe. I give you… Ron Eldard as Jimmy Olsen!
James Marsden is a brilliant actor but to us he will always be that douche of a boy scout known as Cyclops. His portrayal probably felt wrong for that single reason but he still delivered a great one. This next pick is a long shot since it is only a small part but a very dramatic one. I would only dream of this actor playing the role of Superboy’s adoptive father and as the new editor in chief of the Daily Planet(since in this story line Perry has pased away)but who knows, it just might happen. I give you Greg Kinnear as Richard White!
And last but not least, everybody’s favourite pick for this role would have been Michael Clark Duncan however I do believe he is best suited for Darkseid. This character will probably mostly be made by CGI and a computer alterated voice however, if they did decide to save a buck or two on FX, one actor does have the original voice, the build and the talent to play this role as he has proven it in Underworld as Raze. I give you… Kevin Grevioux as Doomsday!
The “Shaman” has spoken!
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Shaman
1/13/2009