2008 was a big year for comic-based films. Not only did we see the success of the Movie the Dark Knight, we’ve also seen the great offerings from Marvel in Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. Marvel definitely showed their rival a thing or two on how to make films out of their properties and it seems that Warner Bros. is learning from it and already started to rethink their film strategy. One of the outcomes of that meeting is the decision to reboot the Superman Film Franchise.
Following the direction of the Dark Knight, DC/Warner is planning to make the universe for the new Superman a bit darker. It seems that they weren’t happy with the response they got from Superman Returns and decided to start a clean slate. I personally think it’s a great idea to reboot it but that just leads us to more questions such as how do you make Superman appealing in this day and age.
STORY. Well, the first thing that they’ve to look for is a great material or story to start with. It’s a given that a lot of people will watched a Superman movie regardless of the story but a Superman movie with great story will definitely attract new audiences (that’s the power of a good word of mouth from a satisfied customer) and will ensure that the film franchise will have strong legs to last for 3-6 movies.
Great stories come from great writers and the best place to start when looking for a great writer for a comic-based film is no other than the comic industry itself. DC/Warner did a great job by getting a writer who understands both medium (film & comics) in David Goyer. And what would a great comic writer assigned to write the origin for a character in a film based on comics do, he would based the story of the film on the greatest story written in comics for that character which just happens to be the origin story of that character in Batman’s case. The Batman Begins writing team did a great job by loosely basing it on the Batman: Year One comic by Frank Miller. There are a ton of great stories in comics for DC characters just lying around, waiting to be used and it would be wise to use them. There’s definitely no need to re-invent the wheel in this case-use successful and great storylines from comics and adapt them into films and stop coming up with new stories which might not get a great reception from the audience.
The same thing can be done for the Superman franchise, the first thing to do is to select a great writer who knows his comic book stuff and knows his way around in film production. Fortunately, there are two comic book writers who fit the bill – Geoff Johns and Mark Millar.
Geoff Johns is the current writer of the long running Superman title Action Comics and he’s doing one heck of a job. To those of you not reading it, now would be the perfect time to start. Geoff’s storyline on Brainiac would be great if adapted to a movie (here’s a preview of part 1 of the Brainiac story) – I’m sure a lot of people share my opinion of not wanting to see another Superman movie with Lex Luthor as the villain. Just a side note, I can’t help but mention that the Superman drawn by Action Comics penciller, Gary Frank, is eerily similar to Christopher Reeves. Also, Geoff used to be the assistant of Richard Donner, director famous for the Superman Movies (what a coincidence) and had some experience writing in film/television as well (Blade series, Justice League Unlimited, Naughty or Nice and Smallville). Geoff’s stories show all the things we’ve come to love with the character and he’s great in crafting new storylines out of the old stories as well. If you want a writer who can effectively show you all the elements you loved from the character of Superman, then Geoff’s definitely your best bet.
If you want something unconventional or unique to start with your Superman Film Franchise, Enter Mark Millar. Mark Millar was the writer of the mega successful Marvel event Civil War and the recently produced into film short series, Wanted. Wanted 2 is already being planned and Kick-Ass, another comic series written by Millar, is already being produced into film right now. If there’s any writer who has shown the most passion in rebooting the Superman franchise (prior to the official reboot announcement) in the last few years, it is Mark Millar. Mark Millar has publicly proclaim his desire to do a Superman Movie and even went as far as to confess that doing a Superman Movie is probably his main mission in life. Millar even shares that he has an idea for a Superman Trilogy epic for 10 years now and was pitching it to Warner even prior to Superman Returns. So what’s stopping Warner from getting a writer who can breathe in new life to the Superman franchise and who is definitely passionate on doing it? Well, Mark Millar is currently on contract with Marvel, DC’s rival company. So unless Millar finishes his contract to Marvel or decide to sign with DC, Warner won’t even consider him.
So it looks like Geoff Johns is the best person for this job afterall. So to the executives of DC/Warner, please do yourself and the fans a favor and bring Geoff Johns in the Superman Films. I’m sure you won’t regret it. Well, that’s it for part 1, join me again for part 2 as we complete the cast of the Superman franchise including the director for the movie.
Comixster's storyboard 