It’s easy to forget, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice having destroyed what was left of Zack Snyder’s reputation earlier this year, that there were many excellent things about 2013’s Man of Steel. Those splendid early scenes on Krypton, reimagining Superman’s homeworld as a striking vision of fantasy-inspired futurism; Michael Shannon’s remarkable General Zod, a raging, monomaniacal volcano of spite; even, to a certain extent, the retooling of Kal-El for the post-911 age, as an object of fear and fall guy for narrow-minded xenophobia.
At least this felt like a version of Superman that did more than pay tribute to the Richard Donner/Richard Lester movies, unlike Bryan Singer’s insipid 2006 effort Superman Returns – even if the new, green and ultra-conflicted man of steel seemed to lose a little celestial magic for every extra layer of complexity he gained. But with reports surfacing that Supes might be getting a new solo outing once he’s helped take down the evil Darkseid in next year’s Justice League, here are some subtle (and not-so subtle) shifts we’d like to see when the last son of Krypton soars once again on the big screen.
A little starry-eyed optimism
Just as the makers of the James Bond films stripped away all 007’s ostentatious smarm on 2006’s Casino Royale to reinvigorate the suave secret agent for a new generation, but have since begun to slowly reinject tried and test elements of the Bond mythos, it’s about time Warner Bros started transforming Superman back into the “big blue boy scout” we all know and love. It made sense for mankind to treat Kal-El with initial suspicion, especially when the alien interloper appeared to have brought a gang of Kryptonian crazies down to Earth, not to mention accidentally destroying half of Metropolis, in Man of Steel. But given he’s just sacrificed himself to save the world from giant CGI monstrosity Doomsday, and will most likely be required to complete more feats of Herculean heroism in Justice League, Superman is surely ripe for transformation into the symbol of hope and optimism he usually embodies in the comics. The world’s best-known superhero is supposed to transcend cynicism and leave even the most furrow-browed non-believer reaching for the superlatives. Let him once again inspire genuine awe, not endless bitterness and distrust.
A non-CGI villain
Both Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice culminated in an almighty explosion of pixels and masonry, but all that spectacle still left critics and filmgoers roundly unimpressed. Why not learn from Marvel movies such as Iron Man 3, which intelligently dialled down the opposition to Robert Downey Jr’s power-suited hero, just when we might have been expecting the opposite? I am aware this probably means another run out for Jesse Eisenberg’s over-caffeinated Lex Luthor, but at least this means Superman will be confronted with a human enemy he can actually talk to, rather than a freakish alien zombie thing that just requires impaling on the nearest kryptonite spear. Speaking of which …
A retooled moral compass
Superman’s decision to kill off Zod at the end of Man of Steel is the biggest bugbear fans have with the Snyder version of Superman right now – up there with Warner’s decision to retool Batman as a murderous thug – because it undercuts everything we know about the character.
The best of the Donner/Lester films often gave us villains who only came close to success because the man of steel refused to use the full extent of his powers on moral grounds. And that ultimately made them more interesting. If Kal-El can simply snuff out his weaker enemies, these movies lose all their joy, because film-makers are forced to pitch tougher and tougher bad guys against our hero in a sort of supervillain arms race.
More depth to Lois and Clark
There is little of the brilliantly bumbling small-town doofus of the Donner/Lester films in Cavill’s portrayal of the Daily Planet newsman. And with Amy Adams’ Lane already aware of her lover’s secret identity, Kal-El has rarely been forced to choose between his superhero duties and his human paramour in the Snyder movies. Much of the duality of the character has therefore been lost: the contrast between the godlike Kryptonian and the Kansas farm boy; the decision whether to live his life as a normal human being (with all the attendant flaws) or to cut himself off from those he is charged with defending, for fear that personal attachments will always get in the way of making decisions for the greater good.
Without Clark as a clumsy oversized geek, Lane also loses a lot of her spark. We don’t get to see her attitude transform when the man of steel pulls on his suit, and it becomes even less believable that Superman would be able to maintain his secret identity. Man of Steel 2 needs to find new ways to flesh out its key relationship, because Adams deserves a little more to work with next time out. Where Margot Kidder’s street-smart, cynical Lane lit up the 70s and 80s movies, the new iteration has been reduced to little more than wide-eyed love interest, a glorified Kal-El groupie.
Some extra-terrestrial adventures
On the other hand, if Warner Bros is incapable of interesting audiences in an earthbound man of steel, why not allow him to venture where few of his fellow metahumans would be able to follow? The new film could see Kal-El journeying into space on a cosmic mission, neatly explaining why his fellow Justice Leaguers are no longer around. A big-screen riff on the famous story of Brainiac and Kandor might seem far-fetched, but would at least give us the Silver Age-inspired Superman movie that no film-maker has yet dared make. It would be something new, even if audiences in 2016 might think the idea of shrinking Kryptonian cities (along with their entire populations) a little hokey and far-fetched.
