Good point. I only liked Superman as a character after the first Richard Donner movie. I started reading the comics to continue my interest, and read such collections like "The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told" and John Byrne's reboot from the eighties.

But with a few exceptions, none of the stories were that compelling. Not eve the infamous "Death Of Superman" excited me because I thought that neither story nor art were unique.

On the other hand, the Dick Giordano/Neal Adams and Frank Miller Batman comics were great fun and superior entertainment. Only Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS and parts of Burton's first BATMAN movie captured the spirit of the comics.

I still believe that none of the Superman comics are as interesting as Donner and Tom Mankiewicz's original work. If someone can point me out to a few issues or story arcs which might compare favorably, I'd love to read 'em.

I'll be honest here, I'm a sucker for the Supes. One of the very few movies that pulled me into the theater to watch it but even my appreciation has diminished a little for it. Do I still like it? Of course I do, it's Supes for god sakes I kinda have to but even watching it in the theater I remember saying to myself "man, this flick feels a little too long".

I have nothing against Routh - thought he was great. The movie is so rushed in what it's trying to convey that somehow manages it to turn into a bit of a bore-fest.

I don't agree with the problem being that he's "too powerful" if anything it should be easier to make him look more vulnerable.

Am I a die hard comic book fan? Hell no, keep that stuff away from me!! Do I collect toys? No, I don't go that far either. I just grew up with these flicks and they just left a big impression on me - that's all. I love the music, the religious (few religious) tie in's, the isolation of the character (being different than everyone else - something I'm glad returns hit on a little), the look, etc....

I have high hopes for the sequel - I'm really thinking they may do something completely different - we'll see.

I really enjoyed the novelization of the Death of Superman story. Maybe it's b/c I was just a kid when I read it, but I always hoped to see something like that at least make it to video (either animated or live action).

With that said, I don't know much at all about the Superman universe. Luthor is pretty tired, and I'd love to see something intense along the scale of Batman/Joker to really light up the screen.

while it's true that what has been seen on screen has tried to be as "realistic" as a Superman movie could be expected to be, Brando's own words in the original indicate that are other inhabitted worlds
I'll try to find the exact wording

It's when he's talking to Kal-El while he's being educated as a child on his way to Earth right?

yeah, I think he was explaining why they picked earth out of all the known planets, something about human's capacity for good if shown the way

I'm all for a reboot (mainly to get rid of the kid), but do NOT want another origin story. The origin of Superman has; A) been completely covered in both the original movie and the Smallville TV series; and B) is completely ingrained into American pop culture already. There's simply no reason to go over it all again.

I'd like to see a reboot in order to move the character into the Batman Begins universe for an eventual Justice League movie.

They already are planning a Justice League movie.

http://movies.ign.com/objects/887/887771.html

And later, on board the spacecraft...

thanks.
I wasn't finding it online and was afraid I'd have to watch with subtitles on and keep pausing and typing

While that's true, so is my point. I'm talking about the storylines being kept to only Earth and Krypton folks. Bringing in crazy aliens and multidimensional beings opens the door for wacky sci-fi gadgets, vehicles, etc. It's not the kind of thing that Superman has been about, at least not in the movies.

I'd say that applies to the first two movies only. 3&4 are pretty terrible and Returns is mixed. I personally loved the film, except for the kid subplot.

Evil Superman in Superman 3 was a take on Bizarro, and the mega-computer was a take on Braniac. I'd love to know if those characters were intended to be in the film during the pre-production stages.

WB is aware the general public is played out with Superman stopping natural disastors and fighting Lex Luthor's land schemes.

Ian Holm,baby

I'm new here, and I thought I'd chime in. I grew up watching the Reeves movies, and Superman II is still a movie I remember watching with my dad and brothers on the big screen. That being said, I had no problem with Superman Returns, it was a nice piece that paid homeage to the originals, gave a fresh new face to the character, and showed everyone what a Superman movie can look like with today's movie making tech. I feel for everyone that wants to get rid of Luthor, and I agree, he should be a cameo or small character in the rest of 'em. But, I think today's audience wants to see something new, something different, and bringing in some new found "galaxy" of a villain from the "28 known galaxies" would be right up my alley. I don't have a problem with a movie based on a comic book not staying completely true to the comic. I just want to see a kick ass movie. It could still have that realistic touch to it, just give us something new.

Oh, and as far as "super boy," I had no problem with him. I mean, it was fairly obvious that this was bound to happen, and I think it would be harsh to kill off Superman's son. I think the next movie could be placed far enough in the future that "superboy" is a young superman like 18-22, maybe even steer him in with the bad crowd where he then goes up against his father, and then somehow reunites with him to kick butt. Who says Superman can't have someone to carry on the family tradition. And if I remember correctly, kryptonite was not lethal to him (wasn't he near the stuff on the boat?). There has got to be something new and great they can do with this storyline.

I'll bump this up because there is a report claiming the writer of the sequel is stating their will in fact be two villains in it. I'm still staying with Brainiac and Metallo, with Corporate/Presidential Luther in the background staying out of trouble.

Luthor in the movies is based more on pre-Crisis Luthor rather than the billionaire corporate Luthor of post-Crisis.

Personally, I would like to see Darkseid in the movie.

There have been indications out of Singer's camp over the last year that we would possibly see a change in the character towards Luthercorp/running for government Lex.

if the kid is helping out daddy i will see to it personally that the movie bombs some how...... kidding but seriously... the kid better not be in the movie

I think the kid will become a mostly null factor, at least on the superpowers level. In Returns, you'll note that he only displayed superpowers once, and that was shortly after being exposed to Kryptonite. I think that as a result of being a Kryptonian-Human hybrid, he actually GETS his powers from Kryptonite, rather than losing them. And with that in mind, his mama will want him to grow up "normally" so that his exposure will be kept limited and he'll essentially be just another human character. He may get a shot in here and there, but nothing like a flying-around, caped super kid.

here is another vote for the kid not to be in the movie!

Should this thread title be changed? Doesn't seem like the sequel is a "GO" at the current time.

Singer doesn't have a handle on what makes either Kal-el or Clark tick. If Warner was smart they would just shelve any further Superman movies and just use the character in Justice League.
And if they were really smart they would bring in Dini and some of the others from the animated shows as Executive Producers and Creative Consultants.

And why would Luthor suddenly become a corporate CEO in the Returns universe? He's responsible for millions ("Billions!") of dollars in damage related to his ...ahem...second failed land grab scheme. How would he ever be able to keep another dime that he ever made legally? I still don't think this film is anywhere near being realized- and I won't be surprised one bit if it's shelved. Valkyrie is probably going to end up being the barometer that indicates whether a second Superman movie is produced anytime soon.

Is it too early for a Superman Begins reboot? >_>

Because he is going to play the "Superman is at fault key with the public." No one ever proved either land scheme to him via evidence.

How is that supposed to work? Luthor was found guilty and went to prison after the first movie. He breaks out of prison in the second movie and teams up with Zod. The world in the movie is aware what kind of person Luthor truly is. The scheming billonaire Luthor who gets away with everything is not going to work in the movie after all that.