Geoff Johns To Retell Superman's Origin

In the 2006 film Superman Returns, Bryan Singer chose not to retell Superman's origin story. I mean, heck, we've all seen the original Richard Donner classic, right? Newsarama reports that DC Comics will be releasing a six-issue stand-alone series called Superman: Secret Origin, which will retell the Man of Steel's origin story. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have been hired.

DC Universe Executive Editor Dan Didio compares Geoff's new take on the origin story to that of John Byrne made in the 1980's, stating that it will make the "same imprint now, for 2009 and past that." The new take will take readers from Clark's teenage years, through his first adventure with the Legion of Super-Heroes and into his arrival and introduction to Metropolis as Superman.

"We haven't seen a modern day retelling of Clark's first adventure as Superboy with the Legion of Super-Heroes, or the day Superman met Jimmy Olsen or the origins of Superman's long time enemies like the Parasite and Metallo. More importantly, Clark Kent himself will be explored in his earlier years in a way I don't think he's ever been explored before. And freaking Gary Frank, one of the greatest Superman artists in history already, is illustrating it. Every cover, every panel, ever line," Johns told Newsarama. "Unlike previous Superman origin stories, this will be told almost entirely from Clark's eyes. We won't be spending an issue on Krypton. We'll be opening on one of Clark's earliest memories as a kid and moving forward from there. This is his story of self-discovery and the world's story of meeting Superman."

I'm not sure what to make of the new origin story. Sounds like they are just trying to reflect some of the recent continuity changes with Infinite Crisis. I honestly don't follow the Superman comics enough to know what I'm talking about in this arena, but it does seem a bit odd that DC would release a retelling when it appears, that Warner Bros is looking to completely relaunch the entire film franchise (speculation, not confirmed) complete with origin. As /Film commentor DDD points out, Geoff Johns made a pitch to WB for a Superman reboot and Richard Donner has been publicly saying that Johns should write the next Superman movie.