326 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

Hmmm, perhaps a moderator could change the title of this thread to "Superman 3.0" or something like that?

In the second paragraph excerpted below, it sounds to me like Finke may be lending a little too much credence to a lawyer's spin, but it dovetails to at least some degree with what I have heard elsewhere. Siegel and/or Shuster now own the copyright on Krypton and Lois Lane, for example, because they invented these things ... but they do NOT own the copyright on Jimmy Olsen or kryptonite or the fact that Superman can fly, because these things were added to the franchise by other writers later on. (And sometimes they weren't even original to the comics: kryptonite, if memory serves, was invented for the radio show to account for the fact that the actor who played Superman wasn't in the studio that day, and then it filtered back into the comic books.)

As for making the movie "more comic-accurate" so that Superman battles aliens more often... well, at the moment, the only DC movie in production is Green Lantern, and from the sound of it, THAT movie will have a lot more action in space... so there would be a precedent there, AND there would be a basis for bringing the characters together in a Justice League-style movie down the road...

But would anyone want the Batman of Chris Nolan's movies to co-exist with aliens like these?

- - -

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Chris Nolan! He'll Mentor Superman 3.0 And Prep 3rd Batman
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros is trying to ready its DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a "godfather" role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus. Nolan's leadership of the project can set it in the right direction with the critics and the fans, not to mention at the box office. Besides, Nolan is considered something of a god at Warner Bros and has a strong relationship with the studio after the success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Though he wasn’t obligated to do so, he gave the studio first crack at his spec script Inception, and Warner Bros was able to buy it before other studios even got a sniff. While Nolan completes that Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer for a July 16th release, he's also hatched an idea for Warner Bros' third Batman installment. Now his brother and frequent collaborator Jonah Nolan, and David Goyer who co-wrote Batman Begins and penned the story for The Dark Knight, are off scripting it. . . .
Attorney Marc Toberoff, who keeps suing Warner Bros on behalf of creative rightsholders, warns that, in 2013, the Jerome Siegel heirs along with the estate of co-creator Joe Shuster will own the entire original copyright to Superman -- "and neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros will be able to exploit any new Superman works without a license from the Siegels and Shusters". He's also pointed out that, if Warner Bros does not start production on a new Superman sequel or reboot by 2011, the Siegels could sue to recover their damages on the grounds that the deal should have contained a clause in which the rights returned to the owners after a given time if no film was in development. The heirs of Siegel have already been awarded half the copyright for Superman. And in 2013 the heirs of co-creator Joe Shuster get the remaining half. After that, neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros will be able to use Superman without a financial agreement with the heirs. There are also stipulations on what parts of the origins story can be used in future Superman movies and which require re-negotiations with the creators' heirs or estates. . . .
But Batman has always been The Dark Knight. But there's a big difference between Superman's cinematic incarnation and comic-book version. Warner Brothers and DC Comics for a long time weren’t sure which version they liked better. The cinematic version has been squeaky clean, occasionally campy, and has more-or-less unlimited power except when confronted with Kryptonite. The comic book version has some limits on his powers, can be darker, and fights aliens a lot more. Shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the “dark” side as well. That's because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that "we have to look at how to make these movies edgier". One of our insiders interpreted this to say: "He meant more sophisticated."
A more comic-accurate Superman seems like the way to go. No need to worry: Chris Nolan knows what he's doing.
Nikki Finke and Mike Fleming, Deadline.com, February 9

[Persona]

I liked the Wachowskis better for this. Nolan working with DC = traitor.

Peter T Chattaway, on 09 February 2010 - 11:36 AM, said:

But would anyone want the Batman of Chris Nolan's movies to co-exist with aliens like these?

Again, this is the kind of junk us Marvel guys have been putting up with for years. So it's been nice as an adult to see Marvel always having the edge in better filmmaking.

Of course, now that my daughter, seven and my son, almost five, love the whole Supermam thing (I bought Returns for her birthday), I guess I don't mind a non-dark more-wimpy black and white tights-wearing cute caped crasader who seeks liberty and justice for all. (Except for the "bad" guys, and the notion of "fully bad" or "fully good" gets talked about quite a bit when we watch movies like this.)

[Thom Wade]

Man...that Lawyer for the families seems to be going out of his way to to make his clients seem like whiny bad guys ready to take the ball home. It's in the best interest of all parties to cooperate, but the way the lawyer was talking sounds like they are wacky movie villains going, "Time is running out! Mwu-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

[NBooth]

If they're going back to the comics, why not go waaay back to the original (pre-crisis and even pre-DC) strips. I think these days everyone would appreciate a scene where Superman hoists a safe over his head and observes to a banker "Nice office you have here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it!"

[SDG]

NBooth, on 09 February 2010 - 02:00 PM, said:

If they're going back to the comics, why not go waaay back to the original (pre-crisis and even pre-DC) strips. I think these days everyone would appreciate a scene where Superman hoists a safe over his head and observes to a banker "Nice office you have here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it!"

You see, that's why they call him the Man of Tomorrow.

[Anders]

Persona, on 09 February 2010 - 11:48 AM, said:

I liked the Wachowskis better for this. Nolan working with DC = traitor.

Can you explain your thinking here? I mean, Nolan's only worked with DC so far.

[Persona]

The thinking in this is that I just got out of bed and my brain was totally messed up.

I don't know why, but I often think of Batman as Marvel. I know it's not, but I've done it this way for years.

[Anders]

Persona, on 09 February 2010 - 10:22 PM, said:

The thinking in this is that I just got out of bed and my brain was totally messed up.

I don't know why, but I often think of Batman as Marvel. I know it's not, but I've done it this way for years.

I know why. It's because you have good feelings about Marvel, but you must admit that Batman is by far the best.

[Persona]

Anders, on 09 February 2010 - 10:41 PM, said:

Persona, on 09 February 2010 - 10:22 PM, said:

The thinking in this is that I just got out of bed and my brain was totally messed up.

I don't know why, but I often think of Batman as Marvel. I know it's not, but I've done it this way for years.

I know why. It's because you have good feelings about Marvel, but you must admit that Batman is by far the best.

You wink, but that may very well be it. It might also be exacerbated by two things: 1.) I am getting old, and 2.) Nolan's reboot, which seriously shreds all other comic-book films to date.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Exclusive: David Goyer Hired To Write Superman: The Man of Steel
Thomas Tull, the head of Legendary, got tired of all the discussion and decided chingate, let's do it. So he went to Goyer and Goyer had an idea that actually takes the movies back to the John Byrne incarnation. Modern. Believable. FUN! So Tull got Goyer hired. . . .
I can tell you that Goyer's story involves Luthor and Brainiac. It is NOT an origin and assumes audiences already know about Lois, Clark, Jimmy and Perry. I know the Daily Planet is struggling due to the internet. And I know it sets up a huge Kryptonian mythology. . . .
Latino Review, February 24

[NBooth]

It's disappointing that Routh won't be returning, since he was one of the (five or six) really strong elements in the most recent movie. Still, this looks like the kind of news we've needed re: a new Superman. I like the idea of Braniac being involved, and I really like that they're not going back to the origin-story. Hopefully they won't use Luthor too much--I would prefer he be set up as a future villain, but not actually do anything until a hypothetical second or third movie.

Oh--and having the Planet struggling because of the internet is a nice touch. It's an aspect that Returns, IIRC, completely avoided. I wonder if they'll factor in the current recession as well. I actually think that, Superman being a depression-era hero and all, there's a lot of potential for someone to re-emphasize that aspect of his fight for the common citizen. We'll see, I guess.

Edited by NBooth, 24 February 2010 - 03:59 PM.

[Persona]

Anders, on 09 February 2010 - 10:41 PM, said:

Persona, on 09 February 2010 - 10:22 PM, said:

The thinking in this is that I just got out of bed and my brain was totally messed up.

I don't know why, but I often think of Batman as Marvel. I know it's not, but I've done it this way for years.

I know why. It's because you have good feelings about Marvel, but you must admit that Batman is by far the best.

I've been thinking about this and realize where I'm tripping up. When I think of Batman, the real and true Batman, THE greatest of the comics of Batman, I am thinking of Frank Miller's Batman. And in my mind, Frank Miller is Marvel. He's the guy that penned my favorite Marvel comics as a kid -- Daredevil, issues somewhere between 160 and 190, IIRC.

[Ryan H.]

Persona, on 24 February 2010 - 07:31 PM, said:

I've been thinking about this and realize where I'm tripping up. When I think of Batman, the real and true Batman, THE greatest of the comics of Batman, I am thinking of Frank Miller's Batman. And in my mind, Frank Miller is Marvel. He's the guy that penned my favorite Marvel comics as a kid -- Daredevil, issues somewhere between 160 and 190, IIRC.

In the past, I've been a fairly avid reader of Batman comics, but I have to say Miller's Batman has done little for me. Sure, YEAR ONE is great, but it's great not because of how he renders Batman, but because of how he renders Jim Gordon. But the supposed "all time great" Batman comic, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, is an intermittently brilliant mess. Give me Jeph Loeb's THE LONG HALLOWEEN over any of Miller's Batman work.

[NBooth]

IGN weighs in on the Goyer news.

Quote

Goyer is in fact on the project, but not only that -- his The Dark Knight co-writer Jonah Nolan will also be scripting Superman: The Man of Steel along with him. Nolan's brother Christopher is expected to only executive-produce, and not direct, the film.

[Thom Wade]

I've long felt this is what they needed to do. And I take hope that when they talk about going back to the Byrne reboot, this involves Luthor being the rich businessment who despises Superman for a complex myriad of reasons including he believes the alien is dangerous, Superman undermines rugged indiviualism and he cannot buy Superman off. This allows Lex to spend some time as more of a background annoyance, rather than the main problem Superman faces.

[NBooth]

Christopher Nolan talks Superman and Batman.

Quote

"He basically told me, 'I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I've never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.

On the possibility of crossing the two over:

Quote

It's suggested that like his two Batman movies, the Superman story will take place in a world where Superman is the only superhero, so one probably can't expect this Superman to meet Christian Bale's Batman or either character to be involved with a future Justice League movie.

"Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other," Nolan told them.

Which is, of course, perfectly sensible and has been said on this board more than once. Good to see Nolan's on the same page.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Link to the original Los Angeles Times post.

[Thom Wade]

In a twist, Warner Bros. is suing the Seigel family's laywer.

http://www.comicsall...-siegel-lawyer/

[Peter T Chattaway]

Link to the original Nikki Finke post, which has been updated once or twice (including a response from the lawyer who is now being sued by Warner).

[Peter T Chattaway]

Warner CEO Barry Meyer says there could be a new Superman film by "holiday" season (i.e. Christmas) 2012.