Hot on the heels of
this in-depth article from that bastion of journalistic responsibility known as MTV.com, we here at the Bug-Eyed Blog ponder the same question. Is the world ready for a dark Superman on film? And I'm not talking about ethnicity here. I'm talking about a bad Superman. A Superman who needs a timeout. Maybe a Superman who spends a little too much time at the local playground trying to get a glimpse of some schoolgirl's panties.
I know there are tons of Superman fans around (
hello, Avitable!), but I just don't see a really great Superman film out there waiting to be made. Especially a stand-alone Superman film. Maybe something with the entire Justice League would be interesting, but the idea of a solo film featuring the Big Blue Boy Scout just bores the crapola outta me.
As a character, he just doesn't interest me. His powers are too incredible, his weakness (
green kryptonite) is too easily exploited. In the
Superman film from 1978, Supes battles his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor who uses, gasp, kryptonite to weaken/kill him while his nefarious plot unfolds. In the highly anticipated
Superman Returns from 2006 they decided to have, ahem, Lex Luthor use kryptonite to weaken/kill him while his nefarious plot unfolds.
My. God.
Could there be a more boring plot than that?
Unfortunately that is what you are going to get with Superman on film. There isn't anyone who can "fight" him because he has no match in that arena. So they have to use a criminal mastermind and some green rocks. Who else are they going to get? Darkseid, Doomsday, Mongul and Metallo would all look ridiculous on the big screen...too much CGI. Bizarro, Composite Superman and Cyborg Superman would just be Superman fighting himself...a circle jerk. And there aren't enough drugs on Earth to make a film with Mister Mxyzptlk works. Brainiac? Maybe. I've always rooted for Braniac to win in their meetings. And they already used General Zod in the sequel to the first film.* So he is out.
*And just when did Superman gain the power to erase memories with kiss as he did toward the end of Superman II? That's another big problem I have with Superman. His powers come and go basically at the whim of whomever is writing the story. He wasn't even supposed to fucking fly in the original Siegel & Shuster version of the character. Ugh! Don't even get me started on his ability to fly! - Earl The only Superman I want to see on film is the one who gets his ass kicked by a super pissed-off Batman wearing a power suit using synthetic kryptonite. THAT would make my day! Yeah, I know that makes me a bit of hypocrite since I can't stand kryptonite as a plot device*. I just like seeing Batman kick his pompous ass!
*A plot device that was introduced in 1943 (the same year he "learned" how to fly) as a part of the Superman radio program that was used, basically, to give Bud Collyer (the actor who voiced Supes) some time off. Did I mention previously how his powers seem to come at the whim of whomever was writing the story? Oh yeah, I did. Well it seems his weaknesses came that way too! - Earl
Not So Random Wiki: In deference to those who actually like Superman (hello again, Adam), this sounds like it would actually make a decent film. But it is more of an ensemble thing, even though Supes is at the heart of the story.
I've already noticed that some words or phrases don't give you any suggestions. The article in question suggests that you test this out by first trying "puppy" and then "bitch". You'll see the difference in the results. 
