Superman is easily my favorite superhero. Most people now a days claim Batman to be their favorite superhero (mostly because of the awesome Nolan movies) or Green Lantern (mostly because of the Blackest Night run and the upcoming movie). There is nothing wrong with any of these super heroes, but there is something special and unique about Superman. Unfortunately for Green Lantern, he's not unique. In fact there are several just on Earth. While -ignoring a recent Grant Morrison run- Batman is unique and Nolan did a great job with mainstreaming Batman, the problem with Batman for me though is that he is still just a man. He has probably one of the most iconic origin story, but he is still just a man. Kill Bill put it best when the best part about Superman wasn't necessarily the stories, but the mythology.
This is the foundation of my Superman Reboot idea. In my mind, I envision four movies. The first two movies would be original story ideas of mine whereas the following two movies would be an adaptation of Final Crisis and All-Star Superman. So without further delay, let's get into this.
Superman: Man of Steel
This seems to be the working title of the upcoming Superman Reboot which is fine because it allows me to have several references of the plot be tied into the title. The scene from Kill Bill above is what inspired my idea of what the modern Superman movie should be like. Before I get into what the actual plot of the movie is going to be, there are some key elements that really should be in the Superman movie regardless of the plot.
Tone: Being dark works for Batman, but not Superman. Even in the darkest moments of the story (especially with my Final Crisis idea), Superman should always be inspiration and a source of hope. This way, whenever Superman detracts from that (which should only happen in All-Star Superman) it feels tragic and sad. We have to remember that Superman is the most powerful being on Earth. Probably my favorite aspect of the character is that despite his incredible power, he never gets corrupt and instead always uses all of his powers to solve a problem. He should be someone that kids can always look up to as the ideal, but not because of his super powers but because of his heart.
I never want to see Superman be dark, but that doesn't mean his villains can't be. Now I love Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor from the Donner movies, but I am very skeptical about that working well in a modern movie, plus I really want the Machiavellian Luthor. He can still have a sense of humor, but I don't want him being goofy. I thought Superman Returns had the perfect Luthor except I really want Luthor to have greater ambitions than just a very sci-fi real estate scam. Bruce Timm's Justice League Unlimited had the most ambitious Luthor, but the problem is that that Luthor needed to be big enough to take on the entire Justice League whereas we only need to take on Superman. Somewhere in between would work best.
Powers: Superman has a lot of super powers. In fact this is one of the reasons why people don't like him. It needs to be established fairly early in the story what super powers he has that way people know the rules. Trying to create a believable science fiction reason behind all of his powers is important, but at the end of the day what matters most is knowing what powers he has all along. There is an exception however. Superman is very recognizable and everyone knows he has at least these basic powers: super-strength, super-speed, heat-vision, invulnerability to bullets, and of course flight. He of course has other powers (x-ray vision, ice breath, super breath), but the former are the most iconic. One could introduce all of those powers except maybe flight or bullet invulnerability, and not disappoint the audience. Bottom line, it is absolutely vital to establish what Superman can and cannot do or else it will be impossible to create tension or even conflict. I would've loved Superman Returns if it weren't for the fact that Superman lifted an entire island composed of kryptonite (Superman's famous weakness) into outer space.
Characters: This will be my final point before I divulge into my plot idea. Superman has a wide array of characters which disappoints me that only a few have been used. If you think about it only Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor have really been explored. Sure Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, the Kents, and Lana Lang have made cameos at best (especially Lana). I understand that there is little time in a movie to include all of the characters, but give me more. Granted that Perry White probably got as much screen time as he was supposed to during Superman Returns, but I want more Jimmy! He is Superman's pal for goodness sake! I think most of these problems would be solved if (as many fans have pointed out over the years) Luthor wasn't the only villain. There is a reason why many people think Superman II is the best Superman movie made. Lex Luthor was still in it, but he played a role that I think would be best. Luthor was a supporting villain to the big bad villain that could actually fight Superman. I don't want Zod again (I don't even want to possibly tarnish the awesomeness of Superman II), but that doesn't mean that other super villains are off the table.
And now to the plot: I don't want to waste my time and yours with an entire screenplay, but I will at least give a basic (albeit extended) plot synopsis and some key themes and ideas that I think would be really awesome especially given my three key elements listed above.
I would actually start the movie with Clark in Smallville as a teenager just about to graduate high school. He will already be aware that he is naturally stronger and faster than everyone in Smallville, but it won't be super yet. He tells his friend Pete Ross that he has finally worked up the courage to ask Lana Lang (the head high school cheerleader who happens to wear a green crystal necklace) out to prom, but before Clark gets a chance, a football player (currently "dating" Lana) knocks Clark down. Clark tries to fight back, but he can't. Clark runs away as fast as he can and then realizes he is running faster than a train. He then hears a car accident fairly far away and helps. He is able to break open the car and rescue the people inside. The people are afraid at first, but the mother in the car tries to thank him. Clark runs away, back to his parents. There they explain the whole Superman origin story (being found in a space ship during a meteor shower and so forth). They show him the space ship and Clark thinks this is a huge joke. He looks inside and finds a device that projects his Kryptonian father and mother explaining a little more of Superman's Kryptonian history. It is important to point out that Jor-El is wearing the Superman suit and Lara is wearing a female version of the suit. Clark is naturally overwhelmed by this information, and runs away to the Smallville water tower. Lana finds him in the tower and explains that she saw what he did at the car accident. She basically gives him inspiration, and Clark realizes that he's not a freak and in fact he sees all the good he can do. Lana kisses him on the cheek, and Clark tries to ask her out. She explains that she is going with the bully from earlier, but not to worry (as they look out to see the metropolis skyline way out into the horizon) as there is someone out there for him. Clark is crushed but decides to go back home.
Fast forward a few weeks and now it is high school graduation. Pa Kent tells Clark how proud he has been and how useful he has been around the farm (especially with his super-strength and speed). Ma Kent asks Clark what he is going to do now. Clark explains that he has always liked working on the high school newspaper, and he plans on moving to Metropolis to try and get a job at the Daily Planet. Pete catches up to Clark and says that Mr. Luthor of Luthor Corp. was so impressed by his science fair project that Luthor is paying for his college education while also co-oping at Luther Corp. as a computer engineer. Clark explains to Pete that he is going to work at the Daily Planet. Pete ponders how he is going to do this without a college education, but then the editor of the school newspaper Chloe Sullivan overhears the conversation. She explains that her cousin works at the Daily Planet and that given Clark's portfolio, there's a chance he may be able to start working without a college degree. Pa Kent still thinks his son should go to college, but Ma Kent says to follow his heart. Clark sees Lana and runs toward her. Lana's boyfriend trips Clark, and Lana just playfully scolds him for being mean. The football player just laughs saying he was just joking. Pa Kent runs over to help Clark up curious as to how he was so weak just then. He blames it on girls and they head back home.
After the weekend, Clark meets Pete at the bus stop. The board the bus to Metropolis and explain some of the things they did over the weekend. Pete explains that he kissed Chloe, but Clark doesn't believe him. Clark explains to Pete that his Ma thought that wearing his old glasses with phony lenses make him look more intelligent. Clark doses off, but then Pete wakes him up as they reach the Daily Planet. They say their goodbyes and in the Daily Planet, Clark meets Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy explains that he has been working freelance for a few years and is hoping to be an actual photographer. There he also sees Lois Lane. Jimmy explains that she's the youngest big-time reporter the Daily Planet's ever had. Jimmy reminds him of the big Intergang story and says that she actually exposed Bruno "The Boss" Mannheim of being behind the gang. Perry was so impressed by her persistence that he gave her a spot as lead reporter. Clark thinks his odds have improved. Clark goes to see Perry. Perry explains that the reason the Daily Planet is so successful is because he picks everyone who works there. He doesn't need a human resource director. He asks Clark for his resume and begins to interview him. He notices that he doesn't have a college education. He explains that he has some regret for hiring Lois Lane because now he has a bunch of untalented hacks who try to do the same thing, but it's over mundane stuff like parades and high school sports. He then tells Clark to leave, but then Lois barges in asking why her story about Luthor was pulled. Perry explains that she didn't have enough evidence and he didn't want to risk another libel suit. Clark can't stop staring at Lois. Lois asks what he's looking at and Clark gets shy. Perry explains that Clark is the guy from Smallville that her cousin recommended. A distance away, a robbery at Star Labs is in progress. Clark asks if anyone hears that alarm and then rushes out the door. Perry's police scanner then picks up the robbery and then asks Lois to cover it.
Clark takes off his glasses and uses his super-speed to get to Star Labs. Intergang thugs are using heavy weapons to keep the police at bay, and they are also holding hostages. Clark sneaks in around the back using his super jumping abilities. He takes off his suit jacket, and Clark knocks out one of the guards and unties the hostages. As Clark leads the hostages to safety, another guard spots him and starts shooting at him. Clark makes sure the hostages escape, but in doing so, he gets shot repeatedly. The bullets knock him down, but then he gets up and realizes that he barely felt a pinch. Noticing no bullet holes, the guard in panic throws a grenade at Clark. The grenade burns up most of Clark's shirt, but he is unscathed. Clark quickly knocks the other guard out and escapes back behind the police line, but not before putting on his suit jacket to cover his burnt shirt. The Metropolis police get the hostages behind the police line and begin their assault. Lois asks one of the hostages how they escaped, and one of them recognizes Clark. Lois calls over for "Smallville". The hostage then apologizes because the vigilante didn't wear glasses.
Clark goes back to Smallville. He tells his parents all about what happened and apologizes to Pa for ruining his good shirt. Ma is worried and jokingly points out that he could try wearing that suit in the space ship if he wants to go saving more people. She explains that his baby blanket was also from the ship. She liked it because despite all of baby Clark's messes, she never had to clean that blanket. Modeling himself after the projection of his Kryptonian father, he shows off to his Ma. She is amazed at how different he looks without his glasses. Pa jokes that he is like a super man now. Ma then says that super or not, Clark still needs to clean up and go to bed. Clark can't sleep, so he sneaks out donning the Superman suit. Pa catches him and asks where's he going. Clark explains that he can't sleep and wants to go out and help people. Pa explains that Clark is a grown man now and can make his own choices. He simply tells him to remember how they raised him. Clark thanks him and runs out to explore Metropolis.
Clark doesn't have to travel around too far to find trouble. He helps a little girl recover her cat from a tree and then he finds the same thugs from Star Labs robbing a museum. Wearing his new suit he decides to make sure they can't escape. Now knowing that he is invulnerable to bullets, he charges toward the thugs and quickly disarms them. All of the thugs run out except for one who runs into the other room. There happens to be a green meteorite called Kryptonite in the room. The thug notices that Superman is weakened for some reason and deduces that the radiation is hurting him. He tells him that his boss wanted it because the radiation could be used as some revolutionary new battery. Superman asks why his boss doesn't just ask for them. He explains that Star Labs has all the rights to the meteorites recovered from Smallville two decades ago. He explains that Superman may have disarmed him, but he is just as deadly unarmed. The thug punches him a few time and kicks him into space satellite. Superman retreats behind it and notices that his strength has almost miraculously returned. The thug tries to hit him again, but Superman catches his fist and throws him across the room knocking him out. Superman reads the description of the satellite and notices that the satellite was lined with lead.
Clark wakes up in the early afternoon. His Ma wakes him up and tells him to turn on the news. He sees news reports of the little girl from last night talking about a blue angel. The police last night also report that some Intergang thugs were claiming a blue angel stopped them last night. The thug from last night John Corben was sent to the hospital. Pa hugs Clark telling him he couldn't be more proud right now, but he tells him that maybe he should be a little more gentle next time. He explains that good or bad, they are still people and should be treated as such. Ma points out that she bets the Daily Planet would like a story about this. Clark realizes she's right and types up a story in record time. He runs to the bus, but just misses it. Instead he decides to use his super speed and jumping to get to Metropolis in no time. He rushes in to the Daily Planet but is stop by Perry's secretary. She won't let him in without an appointment, but Jimmy notices Clark and says that he's with him. Perry asks Jimmy why Clark's with him, and then Clark interrupts saying that he's got a report concerning the "blue angel" sightings. Perry tells Jimmy to get him pictures of this blue angel, and he quickly glances over Clark's stories. He is incredibly impressed claiming that it was like Clark was actually there. He calls Lois in and asks her to take Clark with her on her next assignment to cover the Luthor press event. She complains about having to take Smallville with her, but Perry says that Clark is almost just like her. He thinks that she would be Clark's best teacher. She says fine, but tells Clark that he should keep his distance or else he's not going to get any good stories.
At Luthor Corp., Clark tries to compliment on how Lois looks, but she readily ignores him. Disappointed, he notices Pete Ross in the crowd and asks him what's going on. He says that he can't believe Clark actually got a job at the Planet and that he says he thinks it has something to do with a new alternative energy. He doesn't know that much since he is mostly working with deep space and seeing if any of the radio signals they receive might actually have a message in them. Clark asks if he really believes there are aliens. Pete says that it's really just something to keep him occupied while Luthor finds the best place for him. Luthor arrives at the podium and announces that he has solved the energy crisis. He has developed a new device that harnesses the radiation from the Kryptonite meteorites and converts it into electricity. Lois asks him how he acquired the Kryptonite since all of the meteors were supposedly recovered by the government and sent to Star Labs for study. He explained that someone from Smallville held onto one and sold it to Luthor. Clark then asks if Intergang was the seller. Lex notices Lois next to Clark and tells her to keep these tabloid fantasies to herself. Everyone laughs. Lois is impressed with the connection. She didn't make the connection that Star Labs and the museum being robbed by Intergang may be connected by the Kryptonite. More importantly, she was intrigued that Intergang may be related to Luthor. But suddenly Intergang swarms in to steal the generator. One of Intergang people grabs Lois Lane and takes her with them along with the generator in their helicopter. Clark retreats to change into his Superman outfit. The helicopter speeds off as Superman jumps on to the helicopter. The guards try to shoot him off with no luck, and then Superman tells them to let Lois go and the device. One of the guards pushes her off in an effort to escape. Superman let's go of the helicopter to rescue Lois. As the helicopter escapes, Superman holds on to Lois very tightly and tries to brace himself for landing. Lois then yells, "You can fly?" Superman realizes that he's floating and drops down slowly. As he tries to regain composure, he notices that Lois is very fond of him. Lois asks who he is and why he's here. Superman gives her a quick interview and then flies off with his new power of flight.
A few days later, John Corben is brought before Luthor by his bodyguard Mercy Graves. Luthor demands to know what actually happened. Corben explains that his men were telling the truth. A being with incredible power stopped all of them. He explains all of the powers of Superman to Luthor as well as that Superman got weakened when exposed to Kryptonite. The problem is that Corben's last fight with Superman made his right leg incapable of anything but walking. Luthor wonders what he is paying Intergang for but shows him that he and his scientists have been working on a way to make Luthor and other very wealthy people immortal. Luthor explains that everything is ready since now they have the Kryptonite except they never had a person to test it on. Luthor suggests that these new enhancements he has added to the mechanical body will make Corben as strong as he claims Superman to be. He explains that the new alloy will make him impervious to just about anything on Earth. He warns that he is not sure whether the brain to machine transfer will work since they only tested it with animals. Corben takes the risk and begins the transfer. The next day he awakens in this new robot suit. Corben demonstrates that his consciousness did in fact succeed in transferring. Luthor wants him to test the new body by killing Superman. Corben asks why, and Luthor explains that he has spent his whole life building Metropolis even if his means weren't exactly legal, he is responsible for Metropolis being the thriving city that it is. In just a few short days, the public has already forgotten about him and is instead worshiping this superman. As Corben leaves the office, Mercy asks if this means that Lex will transfer his mind soon. Lex explains that he wants to see how organic to machine transfer will affect the mind. He jokes that he may have disproven the existence of the soul. Saying that it is just brain wave patterns.
Corben reads an old issue of the Daily Planet with Lois's article and decides that she may be the perfect bait. Corben goes into the Daily Planet to kidnap her. Jimmy is busy taking pictures and Clark pretends to run away. Lois asks who he is, and he calls himself Metallo. Superman arrives to save the day, but Metallo's kryptonite heart weakens him. Metallo begins to beat on Superman mercilessly reminding him of their last encounter. Lois tries to distract Metallo by seducing him, but when she kisses him, he realizes that he can't feel anything. Metallo stops beating on Superman and begins to run towards Luthor. On top of Luther Corp tower, Luthor is trying to enjoy the sun, but then is attacked by Metallo. Lex tells Mercy to stay back and he asks Metallo why he is attacking him. Metallo tries to order Luthor to restore him back into his old body. Lex informs him that his body died several minutes after the transfer, so that the process is irreversible. Metallo isn't satisfied, he demands that Lex allow him to feel again. Lex agrees, but then orders Mercy to fire on Metallo. Lex makes a break for it knowing that Mercy is simply providing a diversion. Lex escapes, but then Metallo goes after Mercy. Metallo pushes her off the top of the skyscraper but is saved by Superman. On top of Luthor Corp. tower, they fight. Metallo quickly gets the upper hand when he exposes his Kryptonite heart. Metallo reveals to Superman that once he kills him, he will then kill everyone until he can feel an ounce of emotion. He makes a special note that he'll kill Lois slowly just to watch her suffer. Superman powerless but angry then unleashes his heat vision at Metallo heart. Metallo is surprised, but explains to him that it doesn't matter. He still has plenty of reserve power to find another piece of Kryptonite. They fight some more until Metallo begins choking Superman and then loses power. Superman expresses relief believing he thought he was going to have to rip him apart. And despite the terrible things he was going to do, it wasn't right to destroy him.
Superman then visits Luthor in his office staring at him. Lex explains that no matter what he thinks, he can't prove any of it. Superman simply flies off and says that he'll be watching Lex. Mercy walks in shortly with the Metallo head. She asks what to do with it. Lex tells her to dispose of it. He asks if there is anything else, and she explains that Ross is making a breakthrough in their deep space department. Luthor looks pleased and says that I may not have disproven the human soul, but at least I can claim one big discovery today.
Lois is at her apartment scared. Superman visits her. She confides with him, and he responds saying that as long as he is around she has nothing to be afraid of. The movie ends with Clark reading the headline of the Daily Planet saying "Superman Saves the Day!" with a smaller headline reading "Philanthropist Lex Luthor Under Investigation for Metallo Incident". A cat climbs into his arms and he hands the cat back to the little girl from earlier. He then flies off with people saying "look in the sky", "it's a bird!", "it's a plane", and then the little girl says, "No it's Superman!". Last scene is Superman flying off into the sunset.
And that's the plot. Sorry if that was a bit longer than you had anticipated. This is basically my idea for the next Superman reboot. With any luck, Zach Snyder or Chris Nolan will see this and maybe that will inspire them for the reboot. There's more dialogue between Lex and Mercy that I would like to add that reveals Lex's true motivations, but I think that my extended synopsis was long enough. On the off chance that someone close to the reboot wants more info, I would be more than happy to indulge.
Regardless of what the movie ends up being, I think the main things I really want to see are the elements listed before the plot. I personally think this plot of mine is the most "realistic" version of Superman that will appeal to most audiences and should be the easiest to shoot. As I'm sure the minds behind Smallville figured out, it's hard to do a lot of Superman villains without creating a CGI monster for him to fight. That's my suspicion on why the villain has always been Luthor or a Kryptonian. I'll be a little disappointed if the reboot is just a sequel to Superman Returns, but we'll see. I am disappointed that Brandon Routh isn't coming back, but hopefully the new guy is just as good. Well I hope you enjoyed my two cents about what the Superman reboot should be like.
But wait what about your other three movies? Well I won't go into too much detail, but the second movie will involve Brainiac. I've already mentioned that the latter two will essentially be movie adaptions of Final Crisis and All-Star Superman, so let that brew in your imaginations a little bit. Hmm, I didn't realize how much I like Grant Morrison until I wrote that last sentence.
Oh and if you already haven't seen All-Star Superman adapted by the late, great Dwayne McDuffie, then I suggest you watch this trailer, so you realize how foolish you are for not seeing this movie yet.
So go now and buy this movie! And look for the Superman reboot hopefully sometime in 2012.
