Anyone who knows me reasonably well knows I have something of a small obsession with Superman. In truth, it’s actually more than that…I genuinely believe in Superman. Not in the sense that I think if I fall out a window, he’s going to swoop in and catch me, of course, but I believe in Superman as an Icon, and I think that carries with it a great deal of meaning. Superman is the closest we have to an Odyseus. He is The Hero of a Thousand Faces, and the prototypical superhero. Everyone else, from Batman to Captain America, are merely tweaks on the same general idea. Which is why Superman has managed to be reimagined successfully with each generation (Smallville being merely the latest in a very long line of such transformations).
Why do I mention all of this? Because every bit of news I read about the upcoming Superman movie simply fills me with disgust. While supposedly the current script is better than this abysmal early draft, this latest bit of casting news hasn’t done a whole lot to inspire any confidence in me. I like Alias as much as the next guy, but frankly I’d be perfectly happy if J.J. Abrams would just stay the hell away from Superman.
The fact that it’s being planned as a trilogy suggests the kind of epic hubris that brought us Batman & Robin, and I would really rather not see Superman’s triumphant return to the big screen be rushed so Warner Bros. can cash in on the current superhero frenzy caused by the decent adaptations of Marvel’s major characters.
I saw Daredevil last weekend, and while it wasn’t exactly high art by any means, it was entertaining, and unlike any recent attempts at adapting DC heroes into movies, was clearly done with respect and admiration for the source material. I don’t want the new Superman movie to fail…I think there should be at least one new movie every ten years…but I’d rather not see one than have something that’s going to milk the franchise or something potentially disastrous like the Superman vs. Batman movie that was proposed.