Superman Sequel: Superman as an “Angry God”?

Posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm by: Peter Sciretta

Angry Superman Thomas Tull, founder, chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures (the company behind Batman Begins, Superman Returns and 300), told Hamilton students on April 17 that the Superman Returns sequel, Superman: Man of Steel, will present Superman as more of “an angry god”.

I wonder what that possibly could mean? Obviously they aren’t going to completely reinvent the character like Mark Millar did in Red Son, a mini series which showed what would have happened if Superman’s rocket ship landed on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas. You can probably guess the result. Superman Returns presented a more EMO Superman. Maybe Man of Steel will have a Superman who begins to make irrational emotion-based decisions, throwing cars around out of anger, which will paint him as an Angry God in The Daily Planet?

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Malandra Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Maybe that’s for Braniac fault!

He attacks or kills little faggot-kid from Returns, and Superman enters into a total non-stop rampage mode. Â¡Kick ass Angry God action from the boy-scout!

Or Maybe…I hope that Superman’s son it’s a Mister Mxyzptlk fake from the fifth dimension! ooh yeah, that would be great! Emo-Superman goes crazy cause Fake son!!

JFK Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm

I think thats a great idea. Its about time we send the Jock douche bags who somehow consider themselves fans of supes (shirts, stickers, superman crap everywhere - but no comics) a message and let them know that their irritating, self centered, self serving childish attitudes and greedy actions are stupid and wrong. I wonder who will be teaching superman (and the meat head idiots) the lesson? Lane? Probably.

madgds Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 pm

I’m not buying anything till I hear it come out of Bryan’s mouth.

Captain Awesome Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:23 pm

I’m down for an angry Supes. The one in Kingdom Come was awesome.

M&Co Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:23 pm

Superman: The Franchise That Wouldn’t Die.

I find it amazing that after 3 fairly craptacular sequels to the original Donner film, the awful, fetishistic and pointless Superman Returns, and in the face of a dozen or so better, more relevant superhero films there’s still a desire to forge ahead with yet another Big S movie.

Wont somebody think of the children?

StoicRomance Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:36 pm

No real comment here, but if anyone has not read Red Son and likes Superman even slightly should read it.

Better than Kingdom Come and Birthright, IMO.

Bryan Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 pm

IF they fire Bryan Singer and fix the crap that he did with Superman Returns, I might see it. Also, they would have to throw in some super villains. Returns version of Lex just sucked. IF he were like the cartoon version, he would have been a good enough villain for the movie, but he wasn’t.

orange cinema Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 6:58 pm

can’t begin to describe how excited i am that they are keeping singer and routh. i know they are gonna restore supes to the top of the superhero food chain, and if this story is true, it sounds pretty cool.

joshmayhood Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm

I thought Superman Returns was good.

This idea definitely sounds cooler, though. And I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that this movie needs a villain besides Lex Luthor…or at least make Luthor more badass somehow.

Seth Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm

Red Son is one of the best Superman storys ever…but i still have a spot in my heart for Kingdom Come. I doubt this means anything…
And M&Co is right. They need to take this back to square one or just let it go…i love Superman, but these movies just make me sad…

joshmayhood Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 9:34 pm

I’ve frequented this blog, as well as AICN for about 5 years now. I tend not to read comments or talkbacks, mostly because they get so off topic and/or ridiculous. But lately, reading comments and talkbacks, I have TWO GLARING QUESTIONS about you internet film dudes:

1. Superman Returns…this was a good movie. Why the hate?

2. Off topic, but apparently fans hate IJ and the Last Crusade. This was one of my favorite movies growing up(I was about 9 years old when it was released) and I still love it, to tell the truth. Why the hate for this one?

madgds Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm

@Josh
I think it has to do with the fact that people wanted a popcorn movie and got a serious drama. I liked it too but I think the sequel sounds much more promising. By the way, ignore what this producer is saying. He’s not a creative, he’s a wallet. Translation: he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Steven Spielberg Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 pm

joshmayhood

have you ever heard of..the bandwaggon?

Lisa Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm

After the craptacular disappointment of broody Superman Returns with bitch face Lois and bastard child, the same studio is going to piss off everyone by turning Superman into broody Angry God!Batman. Those geniuses hire Nolan and suddenly think all the Bats success is their doing.

This Thomas Tull desk jockey douche gets a swelled head out of the success of Angry God!Leonidas and and Angry God!Batman and he decides to completely pervert our charming Boy Scout into Angry God!Superman. These pencil pushing financial parasites latch onto the true creatives like Nolan and suddenly think their own “inspirational changes” to beloved icons are pure gold, instead of runny shit. So, they’ll apply the exact same template of 300 and Batman to Superman, and won’t everybody love that????

SUPERMAN ISN’T BATMAN!

But all these fat ass CEOs want to make Superman “cooler” and isn’t Batman the coolest thing ever? “So of course all we need to do is completely rape Superman’s personality until he’s identical to Batman and we’ll be raking in the coin!”

StoicRomance Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 10:27 pm

@Josh

For the same reason why we trumpet the awesome that is stories like Birthright, Kingdom Come and Red Son.

See, for anyone who has read these (and don’t tell me that is not Superman, because its the films that have it wrong) knows that Superman has depth and layers.

What we got with Superman Returns was shoddily written, poorly acted CGI clusterfuck.

Seriously, the way Routh was directed (notice how I give him the benefit of the doubt as an actor) was decidedly flat. Why does Superman have to be like that? In the books, the guy has emotions and inner conflicts. In the movies, he seems incredibly boring. How in the hell does a guy with a personality like it was portrayed in Returns get a date with Lois Lane, much less knock her up?

Having said that, its a problem inhernent in most superhero movies. The characters are boiled down to their hyperbolizing, expository Silver Age versions that are boring to watch and impossible to invest in.

Superman Returns was not a bad movie on a lot of levels, but on important ones (for example, the CHARACTER IN THE TITLE) it falls flat.

Read Kingdom Come. Read Birthright. Read Red Son. Shit, read the various Crisis books, and the Death of Superman if you have not. These are the reasons why we “Internet film nerd types” disliked Superman Returns. Because the drama we know Supes for is not the drama we got. And its sad, because it will probably be 30 years before someone else gets a shot.

JFK Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 pm

@lisa

Yep you got it. I think you’re Jonathan Rosenbaum in disguise.

x-man Says:

April 22nd, 2008 at 10:45 pm

ya right, superman shouldn’t be angry
most of us would have prefered a wise-cracking humorous happy-go-lucky chap like peter parker

pat Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 am

If they do that then I refuse to see the movie. That kind of story arc is fine for the comics where people already know what Superman is really about but not for a movie where kids uninitiated with the character will be seeing him for the first time and having that image of him imprinted in their minds. The character is far too iconic for that.

Seth Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 am

I would rather some kid think Superman is a “Bad-ass” (as silly as that is) and buy a few comics than watch Superman Returns and be confused. Why does Superman have a kid? Why doesnâ€™t kryptonite actually kill Superman? Why does Cyclops not have his glasses on? Why is Superman takeing a break from trying to save the world to sneak a peek at his old girl friend?
I still think they should “Superman Begins” the whole thing…its so far off base these days…if you are going to be that far from the source you might as well do a Red Son or Death of….

wow Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 am

NEW GOD DARKSEID Omega effects superman son and makes him dissappear, darkseid also changes brandon routh into tom welling…superman gets angry of his new look but finds out that he can act better than before……….its going to be a great movie

Danny Bell Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 12:02 pm

OOOKKKKAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!

(lisa, they would’nt dare make superman like a new batman movie; singer would not let that happen)

(wow, SERIOUSLY!!! this is the same continuity as supermans 1 and 2; tom welling is built for superboy, but cant handle the super suit as well as routh does.)

(seth, that tiny little speck of kryptonite does not take supermans powers away, but hugely decreases them; he also flew into the upper atmosphere to get a super charge, and yes, superman has before survived kryptonite poisoning in the comics.)

now that im finished downing people (but there is more if you prompt me) i can defend this.

picture: Lex luthor discovers a Kryptonian AI machine, AI machine wakes up and starts to try to recreate life on new krypton (in jupiter’s orbit) new life is sparked, and rapidly evolves into some badass beasty: lexy sees oppertunity and convinces the AI to use the monster to eradicate the lone survivor of “old” krypton. AI sends beasty into the heart on metropolis to fight our guy. supes get his butt kicked. lots, and i mean LOTS of civilians are lost as collateral damage in the fight. lil jason is targeted by big nasty creature (duh, kryptonian child) and is seemingly killed: superman is completely ticked off now (”KKHHHHAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!!”)
big fight.
HUGE fight.
more damage.
superman really ticked.
both parties are killed.
lil jason get a big ol’ speach on how to responsibly use his abilities.

“Superman: the man of steel”
(who did not see that one?)

wow Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm

i said that out of sarcasm, SUPERMAN RETURNS was not good, not awful but not good, Times have changed since superman 1 and 2, luther is a strong villan in the comic world one of the most feared minds umongst superheroes, in all 5 movies hes a bumbling idiot criminal…..they cant 180 his character, so just do the movie without him….bring in BRAINIAC, BIZARRO, GOG (WHO IS AN ANGRY NEW GOD) MR. M, or better yet call BRUCE WAYNE to take down SUPERMAN, then we finally have that BATMAN VS SUPERMAN MOVIE…

Reboot Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Bryan Singer doesn’t know crap about Superman and cares less. He does however love his old mentor Dick Donner and Lauren Shuler Donner. Which is why Superman Returns was an awful remake attempt instead of a real new Superman movie. As long as the director finds his main character, Superman, in his words “Boring!” then we expect the sequel to be another epic fail.

Seth Says:

April 23rd, 2008 at 7:35 pm

Methinks they are making the same mistakes they made with Superman Returns. It was a decent movie, but they misunderstood the franchise.

It doesn’t need high concept or such thoughtful premises. Superman I and II were Superman stopping bad guys and saving Lois.

That’s it! We don’t need “a darker superman.” We don’t need a son of Superman or Lex Luthor’s anger at being imprisoned.

It’s Superman! Not X-Men, not Spiderman.

It shouldn’t be subtle. Superman = good. Bad guys = bad and/or funny and bad.

That’s it!!

orange cinema Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 12:06 am

superman could be pushed in this direction by the death of a certain young one. and after the fright of an angry god, one man alone could fight and reason with him at the same time, even if it’s just a scene or two. hulk & iron man are crossing over, wouldnt this be an excellent opportunity for bats & supes to share the screen?

IF AND ONLY IF - nolan, bale, routh, singer are on the same page.

holy shit thats an idea.

the Berg! Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 2:13 am

Peter Berg needs to direct the Superman reboot. Have you seen the new Hancock trailer? Damn, why couldn’t SR have looked like that?

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Superman Sequel: Superman as an “Angry God”?