Man of Steel Writer "Adores" Donner Films But Wanted More Real Approach

Since the launch of the New 52, DC Comics has gotten quite a bit of mileage out of the idea that Superman would be a scary thing to come face to face to for the first time--and the revelation that Superman is an alien? Well, that would just be off the charts for many people. It appears that Man of Steel is playing with a numebr of the same ideas, as screenwriter David Goyer told Empire Magazine this week (via CBM). "We're approaching Superman as if it weren't a comic book movie, as if it were real," said Goyer, who worked with producer Christopher Nolan on Man of Steel after the pair finished their work on the Dark Knight Trilogy. "I adore the Donner films. Absolutely adore them. It just struck me that there was an idealist quality to them that may or may not work with today's audience. It just struck me that if Superman really existed in the world, first of all this story would be a story about first contact." The writer added, "He's an alien. You can easily imagine a scenario in which we'd be doing a film like E.T., as opposed to him running around in tights. If the world found out he existed, it would be the biggest thing that ever happened in human history. It falls into that idea of trying to humanize the inhuman. He's made out of steel, he's not made out of flesh, metaphorically speaking. We are portraying him as a man, yet he's not a man." That's a pretty clear perspective on the character, although one that some readers might not agree with. That said, developing that approach was more difficult than figuring out how they wanted to approach Batman years ago. "It is obviously a much longer process with a character like Superman. It is much easier to do a realistic take on Batman. You know nothing can hurt Superman, presumably other than Kryptonite," Goyer said. "The challenge was simply: can we figure out a way to make those elements work, quote unquote, in the real world? It's very much a story of a man with two fathers."