Superman – What do we need for the film to be good?

A story broke yesterday in Latino Review stating that David Goyer would be penning the proposed new Superman film. Since then there has been conflicting reports from all directions; Goyer is involved, Goyer is not involved, Hell even Christopher Nolan is not involved! Until a spokesman clears the situation up we are left to speculate and we all know the internet loves to speculate, so for arguments sake let’s say Goyer is involved. Would he be the right man? Will he be writing alone? What story will he be using?

David Goyer has a chequered track record. On one hand, he successfully developed Marvel character Blade in the first two instalments before single-handedly destroying what he had built with Blade Trinity which he directed as well as writing. Other blemishes on his resume include the farcical Jumper as writer, The Invisible (not to be confused with Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles) as director and one of the worst horror films ever made, The Unborn, which he both wrote and directed. Along with television series Flash Forward, Goyer has his fair share of detractors. Arguably his greatest success along with Blade was his involvement in Christopher Nolan’s Batman double, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in which the later he shared a writing credit with Nolan’s brother Jonathan. With the monumental success of The Dark Knight and the news of Christopher Nolan being installed as ‘Godfather’ to the new Superman project it was inevitable Goyers name would be mooted.

Would he be the right man? Well as previously mentioned, Goyer does have some good and some bad but his writing credits are far greater than his directing efforts. Blade, Blade II, as well as Alex Proyas’ underrated sci-fi classic Dark City show that he does possess a deal of talent, but all of those projects pale in comparison to The Dark Knight.

With its dark undertones of crime and politics, The Dark Knight was more than just a superhero movie but is that what Superman needs? With two of The Dark Knight trio rumoured to be involved in Superman, it begs the question if Goyer is writing the script, will he be alone? Jonathan Nolan has worked with brother Christopher on The Prestige as well as The Dark Knight, but was not involved in Insomnia, Batman Begins or Inception so they are by no means inseparable and with Christopher’s role in the project still a little hazy it does not guarantee any involvement on Jonathan’s part. But until some confirmed facts about who exactly is working on the project surface and a director is named we can only speculate.

Stories for comic book adaptations are always a source of heated debate. Fans have their own favourite arcs and characters. Should it be an origins story? “Well that seems too commonplace these days and I suppose there’s Smallville for its sins”. “But it needs to be freshened up, it’s always the same with Lex and Lois and Clark!” What about a darker version? “Well that goes against Superman. Why does everything need to be dark these days?” These are arguments I hear all the time but what are the options? To be honest, we could spend all day discussing great Superman stories; Superman: Red Son, The Death of Superman, Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow? But the rumoured story says the new film is set to adapt is John Byrne’s 80’s series The Man of Steel (although John Byrne has said he has not been approached about it) which is essentially an origins story. How much of this will be used is again up for debate, but a meeting between Batman and Superman in issue three is a little odd. Of course Batman and Superman have met in numerous comics over the years but the news of Nolans involvement in a Superman film from a comic which features both characters seems a little strange or even convenient. A lot of fans are keen on an epic idea that comic book scribe Mark Millar had planned well over a year ago. In an interview with Empire in late 2008, Millar talked about creating an 8 hour story which would chart the life of Kal-El from his birth until he is the only man left on Earth. Read the full interview here.

Lex Luthor

So very little to go on as a rather confusing cloud surrounds the future of Superman, but what would you like to see? Villains? Story? Writer? Director? Star?

Now debate away…

Discuss in the Forum or the comments below.

By Richard Bodsworth