5 Great Superman Comic Book Stories for the Man of Steel Sequel
, Warner Bros. has already got the next Superman solo film in development -- something that the [...]
While it's no surprise to anybody that Superman won't stay dead following the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (spoilers), Warner Bros. has already got the next Superman solo film in development -- something that the rumor mill had essentially said was not going to happen anytime soon.
So looking forward to a world with a Superman, we have to wonder: What comics stories might inform the tale?
Obviously the comics inform comic book movies to different extends depending on the needs of the story and the filmmakers. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice took a lot of material straight from the pages of their respective source material, while movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad were more big-picture adaptations. So it's entirely possible that there won't be any one story that is closely adapted in the next Superman film. Still, it's fun to speculate about which ones they might choose.
Narrowing the list down to five, we considered a few things:
- The story had to be sufficiently epic to follow up on Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League. While not every movie has to be end-of-the-world kind of stuff, you can't go back to Superman fighting super-hackers unless the story is tight after you've seen him fight Batman and freaking Doomsday.
- It needs to be iconic. Following the bleakness of Zack Snyder's Superman outings, even Snyder and his wife and fellow executive producer Deborah Snyder have said that those tales were a necessary means to putting the Justice Leaguers where they needed to be, in order to become their most iconic selves. Superman, then, should be more recognizably Superman than he has been up to this point.
- It has to address the post-Batman v Superman reality that Clark Kent is dead, and ideally allow for enough time to deal with Superman's return in a meaningful way.
- No Kryptonians. This one was the hardest, and I'm kind of cheating it with my "honorable mention" in the next pane, but we'll get into why there.
So...which Superman tales would we like to see adapted? Read on...!
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INVASION!
INVASION!
While not technically a Superman story, this one would work as well as Civil War worked for a Captain America movie.
And, like Civil War, it really does hinge on Superman in a big way.
The concept is that Earth has become a danger to other worlds for the first time. The emergence of metahumans and the seemingly constant attacks on Earth from other dimensions, New Gods, and the like, have an alliance of powerful, mostly-evil aliens convinced that we have to be subjugated before we get any more dangerous.
The heroes of the DC Universe have to repel the invasion, but not before a group of aliens called the Dominators can set off a Gene Bomb that allows people with dormant metagenes to suddenly find those genes "active." It was a shorthand way to introduce a lot more new superheroes in a short period of time without having to spend a ton of time on origin stories -- something that could be handy in the movies.
prevnextPANIC IN THE SKY
PANIC IN THE SKY
Yes, another alien invasion movie. And that, really, is the biggest downside to a lot of these.
That said, the character stuff that Superman goes through here is worth it.
After Brainiac brings Warworld to Earth, Superman, Supergirl, and the Justice League (at this point the also-rans of the Giffen/DeMatteis era) have to unite to turn back a potentially apocalyptic attack.
Earth's superheroes manage repel the invasion -- and along the way, Superman finally gets comfortable in his role as the "leader" of the metahuman community.
With the love thrown his way at the end of Batman v Superman, it could be interesting to see him adjusting to not having to live his whole life wondering whether Superman is "real" or whether he's doing the right thing. It would be a different -- and welcome -- shade to Henry Cavill's portrayal of Superman.
prevnextSAVIOR
SAVIOR
While the world celebrated Superman's return from the dead, not everybody trusted him -- or believed him.
There was a character called Savior who appeared in the years following the Death of Superman who simply didn't believe Superman had ever come back from the dead. Believing Superman to be an impostor who was disgracing the memory of the Last Son of Krypton, Savior developed a not-insignificant power set which included the ability to summon objects and even beings to do his will, the ability to grow at will, super strength, and invulerability.
The comics that surrounded Savior weren't the best Superman stories of the '90s, but in a world that's paranoid and where not everyone trusted Superman to begin with, this would be an interesting character explore. There's also the element of him that plays to that certain percentage of Americans who believe the Moon Landing was faked, 9/11 was an inside job, and every mass shooting is a false flag: the lone voice, convinced that he's doing God's work and lashing out against conventional wisdom, is a timelier theme now than it was when Savior was created.
prevnextLOIS AND CLARK
LOIS AND CLARK
Superman: Lois and Clark, a recent miniseries written by Dan Jurgens (one of the main players behind Superman's death in the comics), would be a great opportunity to re-establish Superman and Clark Kent.
Giving him a new Fortress of Solitude, a new sense of purpose and a chance to have a little time alone with Lois, Lois & Clark took Superman briefly off the board, only for the character to come out of retirement after a crisis when he was needed.
Seriously: who wouldn't like to see a bearded, black-suit-and-silver-S-wearing Superman for, like, ten minutes in the movie, doing super-feats that make people's lives actively better instead of just punching bad guys? And establishing Clark White or Smith or whatever his name would be as a separate identity for Superman outside of Metropolis, so that he could have a personal life and a supporting cast without having to explain the whole "Clark Kent isn't realy dead" mess, would be a pretty clever.
And holy crap, Blanque could be an awesome villain for the big screen.
prevnextBRAINIAC
BRAINIAC
You know what? Heck with it -- I'll put two Brainiac stories on the list.
Geoff Johns's 2008 reinvention of Brainiac is a great example of taking the best elements of a classic character and turning them on their head just enough to tell a great, modern story. The idea of "bottling" cities has great cinematic potential and is a really cool high concept -- plus it would allow for the introduction of some other Kryptonians who AREN'T immediately evil, if that's something they wanted to do.
Warner Bros. has been itching to make Brainiac the villain of a Superman movie for years, and this might be the best opportunity they have to do it. While it's still technically an alien invasion film, it doesn't carry with it the massive collateral damage that something like Panic in the Sky might, so it would be tonally different from the existing alien-invasion superhero movies like Man of Steel and The Avengers.
prevnextHONORABLE MENTION: Reign of the Supermen
HONORABLE MENTION: Reign of the Supermen
This one needed to be mentioned, because it's kind of the obvious next step to go following the events of Batman v Superman, but honestly? I don't think it can work without some major retooling.
Following the death of Superman in the comics, there were four different writers, who then had four different takes on what they would do to misdirect the fans and bide time to bring back the "real" Superman. Rather than compromise anybody's story ideas, the four books each did their own thing, building into a larger story that eventually saw the real Superman come and take his rightful place.
Along the way, though? The Eradicator -- a Kryptonian super-weapon -- and the Cyborg Superman -- who destroyed a city to lay the blame at the Man of Steel's feet -- played major roles, and I'm just not sure that's a wise idea for the movie universe.
Why? Partially because I can't imagine the conniption fit that people would have if Coast City was destroyed after they'd just got finished spending the better part of four years complaining about the destruction in Man of Steel. And partially because it seems like a bad idea to have yet another movie where the villain's motivation is to simply target Superman personally. At some point people have to ask whether he's attracting all this negative attention.
So while it's narratively perfect as a follow-up to Superman's death, it's hard to argue on behalf of it since it kind of revels in some elements of the existing DC Extended Universe that people are already upset about.
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