JBElliott
10-06-2003, 07:32 PM
After rereading the review (http://www.superman-v.com/column.html) of the Abrams script for the upcoming Superman movie it dawned on me that the perfect comic to use for this movie is Action Comics #775 "What's so funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way?" (http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/99143008256605.htm)
It's got every ingredient for a great Superman movie, with the possible exception of his origin.
On the origin issue there are a couple of things to say: one is that the powers that be go ahead and use Tom Welling, or an actor who looks like Tom Welling plus ten years and 25 pounds of muscle, and go forward from the continuity of Smallville so that the origin question would be answered that way. Another way would be to skip it altogether since the basic origin is pretty well known to the general public (Superman comes from Krypton on a rocket and lands on Earth as a baby and raised by the Kents) while the specifics aren't well known (Krypton is cold and sterile or warm and fuzzy etc. etc.) they also aren't as important. A third option is for a brief flash back during Clark's trip home to talk to his folks before his final showdown with the Elite.
Other than that, everything is perfect. Superman gets to do a lot of super fighting of the Elite, plenty of great stunts and effects. The presence of the Elite gives the audience a bunch of "kewl" bad ass heros that are in fashion now. And there's a nice message in the movie showing that Superman is an icon for a reason.
There's even a little room for some social commentary: tweak the film a bit and have the Elite preemptively kill a supervillian in addition to their other actions. This brings up the questions about preemptive wars. It makes it possible for Superman to have some social relevance.
A few other tweaks would be necessary, Lois and Clark wouldn't be married, that sort of thing. But the basics for a great action/adventure movie are all there.
It's got every ingredient for a great Superman movie, with the possible exception of his origin.
On the origin issue there are a couple of things to say: one is that the powers that be go ahead and use Tom Welling, or an actor who looks like Tom Welling plus ten years and 25 pounds of muscle, and go forward from the continuity of Smallville so that the origin question would be answered that way. Another way would be to skip it altogether since the basic origin is pretty well known to the general public (Superman comes from Krypton on a rocket and lands on Earth as a baby and raised by the Kents) while the specifics aren't well known (Krypton is cold and sterile or warm and fuzzy etc. etc.) they also aren't as important. A third option is for a brief flash back during Clark's trip home to talk to his folks before his final showdown with the Elite.
Other than that, everything is perfect. Superman gets to do a lot of super fighting of the Elite, plenty of great stunts and effects. The presence of the Elite gives the audience a bunch of "kewl" bad ass heros that are in fashion now. And there's a nice message in the movie showing that Superman is an icon for a reason.
There's even a little room for some social commentary: tweak the film a bit and have the Elite preemptively kill a supervillian in addition to their other actions. This brings up the questions about preemptive wars. It makes it possible for Superman to have some social relevance.
A few other tweaks would be necessary, Lois and Clark wouldn't be married, that sort of thing. But the basics for a great action/adventure movie are all there.