Its a Bird, Its a Plane, Its... Production Delays!

I don't know what it is about Hollywood but for some reason they can't seem to grasp the concept of Superman. It seems that if a superhero isn't dark and brooding then they don't know what to do about him, and that seems to be the case with The Man of Steel. Hell back in the 90's Tim Burton had signed on to direct a Superman film and early scripts actually had Clark Kent meeting with a psychologist on several occasions.

Bryan Singer's attempt to revitalize the series, Superman Returns, was a respectable attempt to capture the spirit of the classic Christopher Reeve films. Which is all well and good but we don't need another Christopher Reeve Superman film, we need Superman for a new generation. For every awesome moment in Superman Returns there were ten boring moments like Supes creeping on Lois Lane's family and his border line retarded Super-Baby. We need a fresh approach to Superman, not an homage to classic films that can never be re-visited (and not a cardboard cut out of Christopher Reeve named Brandon Routh).

After Superman Returns ended up being a box office disappointment, Warner Brothers has been actively pursuing another Superman film, albeit with a fresh take on the character. Then the huge news was dropped not too long ago that Christopher Nolan, the man who resurrected Batman, would be "mentoring" a new Superman film. Just this past week, it was announced that David Goyer, co-writer of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and the Blade movies, has written a script for the new Superman film. Rumors are also persisting that Jonah Nolan, the other writer on the Batman films, has been working with Goyer on the script as well.

At first I was thrilled that the men who saved my favorite superhero from the ashes of bat-nipples and Joel Schumacher, but then I stopped to think about it. Now I have the utmost faith in Nolan who has become one of my favorite directors, and not just for the Batman films, but Nolan deals with thrillers that mostly deal with obsession and self destruction.

Yeah that totally screams Superman.

Superman has always been a hero that stands for hope, even in the darkest of circumstances. For an example of this, check out Superman Birthright. Not only is it a damn thrilling comic, but it successfully updates Superman for our time and delves deeper into what motivates him more than any comic I have previously read. At the end of it, you want to be Superman as well as realize why the character has endured since the 1930's. Now Goyer says his Superman script is "fun" which seems like a step in the right direction, but it seems to me Warner Brothers is hoping lightning will strike twice. Though I have no doubt the Nolan/Goyer Superman film will be interesting, Superman is not dark and angry. The point of Superman is that while other superheroes give into their darker sides, he doesn't.

Even though he's only supervising the new Supes film, Warner Brothers needs to get Nolan where he belongs: The Batman franchise. Nolan does dark, brooding, and obsessive well so keep him with Batman! Give someone else a chance to tackle Superman, there are plenty of other directors out there who would love to jump on that. I want to see the third Batman at least match The Dark Knight in quality, if not surpass it (a tough thing to do). With the entire creative team behind the Bat films now working on Superman movie as well gets me to wonder if something will get lost in translation with both films. Superman and Batman are the two most iconic superheroes of all time (with Spider-Man in a close third) and I think both need to be entirely separate so that each gets the film treatment they deserve.