Today on The Short Report, we examine some of the news that came from the casting of the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Namely, Michael Shannon cast as General Zod. The title may be a bit telling as to what I thought of it, but check my thoughts behind the cut!
A couple weeks ago, we reported more details that showed the new Superman project, Man of Steel, was starting to coalesce. First we had Christopher Nolan, the director of the wildly successful Dark Knight series of films, come on as producer, who in turn hired Zack Snyder, the popular geek director of such films as 300, Watchmen, and even Sucker Punch. Then Henry Cavill, the unassuming Brit, came out of nowhere and actually seemed to be the very embodiment of the American Icon that started the superhero genre. Amy Adams was chosen to play his love interest, the spunky and vivacious Lois Lane, and again this was a seemingly perfect choice for an iconic role (albeit paired with some hair dye). After that, the supporting roles we announced, with Ma and Pa Kent’s roles going to Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, respectively. These roles were all to my liking, and as a die-hard Superman fan, I was legitimately excited.
I was excited to see an action packed film starring my favorite 4 color character. Perhaps we could get the bad taste out of our collective mouths from the previous film, which looked as far back as the 70’s to give us some sort of inspiration for someone who has also been described as “The Man of Tomorrow.” I enjoyed parts of the movie, such as Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington as Clark Kent/Superman and Jimmy Olsen; even Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey as the villainous Lex Luthor and Kitty Kowalski, respectively. It was a well meaning film that just missed the mark. Superman should not necessarily be something that’s familiar, but cutting edge, new, and sci-fi. I mean, he is an alien after all.
Cut to last week, and I felt that all-too familiar feeling of sameness and staleness in the Superman movie franchise. Michael Shannon, who is undoubtedly a talented actor, was cast in the role of General Zod, a character we had seen in film over 3 decades ago. But on top of that, we find out that this was going to be an origin story, which we had also seen in film before. I was gutted. I was pissed. I was getting more of the same.
Cue the internet. The internet is nothing if not a sounding board for any opinion, as loud or as quiet as they may be. But while I along with many other fans were upset, we were given snide remarks essentially telling us that we should be happy there’s a movie being made at all. I mean, The Joker had been prominently featured in more than one movie, and so had Harvey Dent/Two-Face. And at least we’d see him punch something, right? Well, we would, but did we need another origin story on top of that? Once again, we’re getting more of what we have seen before.
And that’s the essence of the problem many have with this new/old direction. Instead of using one of the dozens of iconic villains that would be a legitimate physical challenge to The Last Son of Krypton, we got the same one that we got 32 years ago! Once again, The Man of Tomorrow is mired in the past, and that’s exactly the problem with the franchise. Hollywood is hesitant to try new things, instead focusing on things that are tried and true. And this is even more worrying that unlike Superman Returns, which was a reboot/sequel, this starts exactly at square one in reboot/remake territory. This was supposedly not only OK because it was familiar; it was ok because the Warner Bros. wunderkind Christopher Nolan was the creative force behind the movie, writing the story with David S. Goyer who in turn drafted a script.
Continued belowWhy do we HAVE to be familiar? Like I alluded to earlier, there are so many villains in the Superman Rogue’s Gallery whose potential just waits, untapped. The most popular choice among comic fans is Brainiac, and with good reason. Behind Lex Luthor, he’s arguably Superman’s most famous foe, and special effects technology have finally caught up to the character. Hell, day to day technology have caught up with the character, with the internet and social networking being constants in our lives. Imagine a story where Superman has to contend with not only the big green alien conqueror from the planet Colu and possibly (or rather, hopefully) a heap of alien robots for some spectacular battle scenes, but also the idea of something on the Earth being faster than even himself. The age of Facebook and Twitter can make Brainiac an even more frightening villain than when he was first created.
Even if you decided not to go that route, there are still many characters that have never been seen on the big screen, like Darkseid or Mongul. Even a thug like Parasite (who would admittedly likely be a pawn of perennial Superman adversary Lex Luthor) would be something new. But all of this is for naught – the script is already decided on, the players are set, and the movie will be made, regardless of any complaints made. The internet may be a powerful tool for Brainiac, but it’s no match for the might of big Hollywood. But until we get some new characters that can inject some life and variety into a stale film franchise, we can always look to Smallville to give us new and different villains, as hokey and cheap looking as they may be. At least there’s more onscreen than Zod, Luthor, and Richard Pryor.
Ultimately, I may still enjoy it. In fact, I probably will. But I think in the back of my mind, and many others, we’ll pine for something more. Hopefully in the inevitable sequel, we’ll finally get something new.
