ROTTEN TOMATOES: Mark Millar Prepping Superman Reinvention? Comments

Mark Millar Prepping Superman Reinvention?

by | July 02, 2008

Summary

Does Mark Millar have a "big name action director" lined up to help him pitch an idea for the next Superman movie? And where does Bryan Singer fit in? The Man of Steel's cinematic saga may be getting even more complicated. Back to Article

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xenogears writes:
on Jul 02 2008 08:06 AM

I'm all for a modernized Superman. It worked for Batman and Ironman. The last one was modern to a degree but really I just want to see him foght someone who can give hima run for his money like Doomsday or Darksied. An epic battle so big that they last waste to entire cities and eventually take the fight to another planet that gets destroyed during the battle. Do some of the Modern comics.

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Weicher writes:
on Jul 02 2008 08:29 AM

Come on!!! "Superman Returns" is, despite its flaws, the best comic-book movie shot in this century alongside "Batman Begins". So, please, just don't bring this ******* in. He's a talented writer, but it's full of ****... Bring Singer back with a better script, and just let him do his job.

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TombstoneLawDog writes:
on Jul 02 2008 08:30 AM

I think Singer has proven that he can bring the pain in sequels. YES I'm referring AGAIN to X2. GREAT movie, correcting the (few) mistakes in Xmen.

LET SINGER RUN WITH THIS.

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mightysourdough writes:
on Jul 02 2008 08:33 AM

Superman Returns was good not great but good. I wish they would have just followed suit with Batman Begins and reboot the story. I mean they could have even called it Superman Begins.

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Bruce Campbell writes:
on Jul 02 2008 09:14 AM

Am I the only one that loved Superman Returns?

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wunderkind joe writes:
on Jul 02 2008 09:17 AM

I wasn't fond of 'Superman Returns', basically because it amounted to a love letter from Bryan Singer to Christopher Reeve. Waaaayyyyy too much nostalgia for the original movies to consider it in any way 'a Superman for the 21st Century'. The original movies were great... in the 1970s. Brandon Routh was chosen for the same reason Hugh Jackman was chosen to play Wolverine; because he's pretty. I don't think people who never read comic books should be able to do remakes, unless they have A- read all the books as prep and B- are surrounded by people steeped in the original lore of the comics to make sure they are doing the characters justice. If Singer is allowed to make more comic adaptations, he's going to ruin the genre. Thank God for 'Batman Begins' (for rescuing us from Tim Burton's tragic reinvention) and 'Ironman' (for rescuing us from the dopey 'Spiderman' flicks-- "I hate my powers! I wanna be with MaryJane... who likes me because of my powers!)

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RottenRob writes:
on Jul 02 2008 09:19 AM

Does Superman really have to be an all-out smash'm-up action extravaganza to be successful? I'm sure a Singer/Routh sequel will be great. I liked Returns a lot. I wasn't too happy with Lois Lane, but otherwise I don't think Superman could've come back any better than that. I have no idea who this guy in the article is, but he sounds like an ego-maniac weiner in his quotes. Singer's a thoughtful guy who can do action with depth. People will see it if it looks good. Just do it. I have spoken.

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RottenRob writes:
on Jul 02 2008 09:22 AM

In reply to this comment (#1832690)
No Bruce. You are not alone. If ever you feel alone, sitting in the dark, know that I loved Superman Returns, too.

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jul 02 2008 09:42 AM

For the most part, an individual writer doesn't have much influence in Hollywood.

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Rockslide writes:
on Jul 02 2008 10:15 AM

I liked some parts of Superman Returns and didn't like others. It wasn't a terrible movie, but for me it was too nostalgic, too old school Superman. I grew up with the old Superman movies but have seen all the Smallville seasons in recent years. I've read Millar's Red Son too, I loved it. I would love for him to be given the reins to Superman. The theme and vibe from Red Son could be transferred into a normal Supes-mythology movie and it would be great.

Its too bad they can't do more true niche fanboy movies and actually make a full Red Son movie. That would be awesome.

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SlyDante writes:
on Jul 02 2008 10:29 AM

If Millar's looking for a way to revamp Supes for the 21st Century, then maybe he should adapt the Superman story "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, And The American Way?"

That was one of the best comics of 21st century (so far), & has everything that would make for a killer Superman movie, especially when it comes to the perfect villains for Supes to fight.

(btw, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, track down Action Comics #775. So worth it. And yeah, I'm probably coming off as geeky with this.)

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jul 02 2008 10:40 AM

SlyDante,

. . .The title "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, And The American Way?" is a riff on Elvis Costello's "What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?"

For that mere fact alone, I shall find and buy the story. Thanks for your post.

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renodc writes:
on Jul 02 2008 10:50 AM

After reading the supposed quote from Millar, I have to say this sounds really fishy. First off, nothing official has been released from Warner and DC about this. The last release I'm aware of was that this was still Singer's baby. Secondly, a 2011 release date is extremely ambitious for reinvinting a franchise that you haven't even been hired to work on. Thirdly, I believe that Warners and DC are still in dispute with the families of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, over royalty rights, which at last I read had put any Superman work on complete halt. This may have been resolved, but I haven't heard it. Fourthly, Millar supposedly said that Superman Returns "lost a huge chunk of change", which is incorrect. Superman Returns did make money after combining the domestic (200 million) and international (191 million) box office numbers. It wasn't near what they had expected, but it wasn't a bust.

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DarthRage writes:
on Jul 02 2008 10:51 AM

After watching this movie several times, it really is a disappointment. Where was the climactic battle(nonexistant)? The memorable villian (Spacey was subpar, deal with it)? It was just dull dull dull. No real feats of strength (the airplane scene at the beginning was about as unrealistic as it gets), and Lois Lane sucked. What a horrible casting job that was. The next one better be unbelievably better, or Superman will be dead.

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knowingtoast85 writes:
on Jul 02 2008 11:00 AM

Mark Millar's gonna try and write a Superman sequel?! Boy, I really hope there's graphic rape in it!

I hate this guy.

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vaodsi writes:
on Jul 02 2008 11:15 AM

i wonder what director he's talking about. I'd be TOTALLLLLYYYY up for this. Even the ACTION in superman returns bored the heck out of me. There was NO suspense cause superman would save the day. So it just felt snoooooozy. It was well done... just a dud (for me... just my opinion...i'm not saying it's a universal fact)
Singer had his chance..... put me to sleep.
Let Millar do his thing. bring superman to SCOTLAND!!! YEAH!!!!

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Jul 02 2008 11:15 AM

Ehhh I would rather see Millar just write the sequal to Superman Returns which was a B movie kind of like X Men, but remember X2. I bet if Singer does another Superman it will be way better.

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Mr. Happy writes:
on Jul 02 2008 11:28 AM

Nah Bruce, I didn't mind it. I thought there were things that could've been a little better in it, but overall it's entertaining for me. I think the tricky thing about some superhero flicks is the need to establish characters and backstory, without sacrificing too much action.

Superman is even trickier, I think, because it's hard to put him into a situation where you actual fear for him, or feel that there is oppurtunity for failure.

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wunderkind joe writes:
on Jul 02 2008 12:00 PM

Superman is a tough character to write for because he essentially a lousy character... period. It's too much like writing a movie where God is the hero. He's stronger than anything in the world. Nothing can hurt him. He's fast as light. He hears everything. He sees through everything. The villain is always going to have Kryptonite.

Gardner Dozois (longtime science fiction writer and editor) pointed that by all rights, the Green Lantern should be more powerful than Superman. Superman is the most powerful being in the universe because he found the planet with the right sun? Why would that make him more powerful than a being charged with keeping the races of the galaxy in line... Kryptonians included?

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arendr writes:
on Jul 02 2008 12:05 PM

%u201CSince I was a kid I%u2019ve always wanted to reinvent Superman for the 21st century,%u201D said Millar.

What is he, 8 years old?

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