Well, it is 100% confirmed: the rumors that Nolan will be working on the next Superman flick are true. Not that we didn’t believe the rumor, but like with LOST – it’s nice to have confirmation.
So here’s some notes on it! First of all, Superman will be the only superhero in the flick. This will not connect to his Batman film, nor will it connect to the Green Lantern film with Ryan Reynolds. It also will not be a follow up to Superman Returns, and will not connect to any previous Superman film whatsoever. It’s 100% new. David S Goyer is writing the script, and Nolan will shadow-write with him as well as produce the final product.
On top of that, Goyer and Nolan have collaborated on the story for the third Batman film, which is now locked down and in the process of being written by Christopher’s brother, Jonathan (who also penned the Dark Knight). Key characters will be back (i.e. Alfred and Fox and Gordon), and it will “end his Batman story.” So don’t plan on a fourth film from him (although there might just be another film anyway). He also confirmed that the villain won’t be Mr. Freeze, but I don’t know who even thought that was a possibility (seeing as most people think it’ll be either The Penguin, the Riddler, or (for some reason) Black Mask).
So there you have it, fanboys and girls. Christopher Nolan is officially DC’s go-to guy for succesfull superhero movies. Of course, we still have the rumored Shazam and Flash movies that Geoff Johns has been reported to work on, as well as a Hawkman movie. There is still circulation of a rumor that, somewhere out there, a Wonder Woman movie is going to be made (though there is nothing even remotely official on that). There will also still be several Vertigo adaptations, with a rumored Y: The Last Man film by DJ Caruso (and don’t forget the Losers, out next month!)
If you’d like to hear my personal take on the news, just click behind the cut!
Three words: not for it. I’m sorry fans, but I don’t think I really want a Superman film from Nolan. Why? Well, Nolan’s whole career has circulated around these dark and heavy films, with a touch of realism brought into the mix. As fantastical as elements of The Prestige and Memento were, he made a point to set it within a very realistic setting. His most futuristic movie will obviously be his next one, which apparently involves dream worlds and Matrix-esque exploits, but the reason people loved his Batman movies is he boiled the character down to the very gritty and dark place the books now revolve around today. I’m willing to stand down from the ivory tower of “Batman started out as a ridiculous book with silly villains!” for a minute to acknowledge that Batman Begins and Dark Knight are both good movies, but I don’t want to see that type of movie with Superman.
Let’s face it: Superman is a 100% fantastical character, and if we are to have a good Superman movie, it should have lots of fantastical elements. On top of that, I’m ok with Batman being moody and growling for two and a half hours, but Superman? No way. Superman is the biggest boyscout of comics. Remember that old phrase? “Truth, justice, and the American way?” A lot of people were upset when Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns made fun of that line, and then look at how crappy that movie turned out. Superman was pushed to a place that was abnormal for him, as a hero who abandoned all of us and was a deadbeat dad. Overlooking him lifting an island of Kryptonite, is this really the Superman we want to see on film again? I like Brandon Routh, but no thank you. If we’re to get a new Superman film, I’d prefer to take a cue from Christopher Reeve’s Superman and have him be a truly great and inspirational hero, not a tragic icon.
My fear is that Nolan, who loves his tragedies, will try and morph the Superman film into that kind of a movie. I’d really rather not have that. The only way I’d accept a tragic Superman film is if they made Mark Millar’s Superman trilogy, which sounded truly epic. If we are to get a brand new reboot of the Superman films, I want it to play up the elements of the character that really matter, i.e. Truth, Justice, and the American way. We may live in an age of oddity where religious extremists fly planes into buildings in the real world and villains blow up cities and stadiums just to either prove a point or start a war, but one thing you can always count on is Superman.
So if Nolan and Goyer want to make a good film, they need to just look at all the past examples (as well as actually open a comic this time) and not just do what they enjoy. We don’t need a dark Superman film.
And, as a side note (and I’m sure Gil will be happy I pointed this out), they could always use a copy of that Action Comics issue with the “Whatever happened to truth, justice, and the American way?” story in which a group of characters (who were basically the Authority) bring a radical and violent new way of thinking to the superhero front. It really is a great story and shows how, despite all the new directions writers are attempting to push comics in, Superman will always be the real hero you can get behind at the end of the day.
