Kevin Smith Thinks Not Making More Superman Movies Is a Mistake

Earlier in September, DC Comics fans were stunned by reports that Henry Cavill had exited his role as Superman in the DC Extended Universe. The news was coupled with reports that Warner Bros. has no plans to make Superman movies for several years at least. Kevin Smith thinks that's a mistake.

Smith addressed Cavill's reported exit and Warner Bros.' plans, or lack thereof, for Superman on the first episode of his podcast Fatman Beyond (formerly known as Fatman on Batman).

"That's a mistake," Smith said. "I think you need to keep your big guy vital. This is the very first superhero ever created, the 'king of the superheroes' if you will, the one that paved the way for everybody else. While we're in this amazing era, this renaissance of comic book movies, don't leave your best guy on the bench."

Smith went on to suggest that Warner Bros. may be making Superman a more complicated puzzle to solve than he ought to be, comparing his ponderous, heavily metaphorical character arc in Zack Snyder's films to the simplicity of Richard Donner's take.

"Just f**king hand it to somebody who's going to make it what everybody knows that character to be," Smith suggested. "The character's a symbol of hope, man. Like, go back and watch 10 minutes of the Christopher Reeve Superman and use that as the DNA for what they do going forward. It's not about some Christ parable, or he's this f**king alien from another world, he's just a good f**king dude. It's that simple. You can make a movie about a good f**king dude.

"The Christopher Reeve and Dick Donner version of Superman is just so beautiful and so simple, and that character is beautiful and simple, but not simple like he's stupid, simple in that it can appeal to anybody, you know what I'm saying?"

Cavill discussed the issue in more detail, with further comparisons between Snyder's vision of Superman and Donner's version. He also said that it's fine for Warner Bros. to go forward with a Supergirl movie, or to cast Michael B. Jordan as the new Superman, but that there should always be a Superman movie in development just like there's always a Batman movie in development.

"If it's not Henry Cavill, there are a lot of other people that can wear that cape," Smith said.

What do you think of Kevin Smith's take on the Superman movie situation? Let us know in the comments!