{"id":15690,"date":"2012-01-13T07:51:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T12:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=15690"},"modified":"2012-09-10T22:13:09","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T02:13:09","slug":"history-of-the-comic-book-film-superman-finally-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2012\/01\/13\/history-of-the-comic-book-film-superman-finally-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"HISTORY OF THE COMIC BOOK FILM: Superman (Finally) Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a multi-part series, Comic Book Film Editor William Gatevackes will be tracing the history of comic book movies from the earliest days of the film serials to today\u2019s big blockbusters and beyond. Along with the history lesson, Bill will be covering some of the most prominent comic book films over the years and why they were so special. This time, we discuss how the journey to Superman Returns <\/strong>ended.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>J.J. Abrams almost lost me with his treatment of the next Superman film. I never watched Felicity <\/strong>or Alias<\/strong>. I never saw Lost<\/strong> (I know, I know. By the time everyone I knew told me I should be watching it, it was already two seasons into continuity and I didn\u2019t want to invest the time catching up. Sorry). I almost didn\u2019t go see his Star Trek <\/strong>reboot, which was great. And I think his Super 8 <\/strong>was spectacular.<\/p>\n

So why did his Superman <\/strong>go so wrong?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Before we get to his treatment, we should talk a little bit about the history behind it. Abrams\u2019 script came in after Paul Attanasio\u2019s and was able to sway director McG to direct it. McG dropped out to film Charlie\u2019s Angels: Full Throttle<\/strong> and was replaced by Wolfgang Peterson. However, before Peterson could start on Abrams script, Andrew Kevin Walker\u2019s Batman vs. Superman <\/strong>script caught Warner Brothers\u2019 eye. The studio shifted focus (and Peterson) over to that project while Abrams continued to tweak his script.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The poster for Batman vs. Superman as it appears in I AM LEGEND<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Batman vs. Superman <\/strong>dealt with the breakdown of the friendship between the heroes after the Joker kills Bruce Wayne\u2019s new bride and sends Batman into a murderous rampage (you can almost hear all the comic book fans\u2019 going apoplectic all at once while reading that statement, can\u2019t you?). Superman has to stop his old friend from killing the Joker, which leads to a knock-down brawl between the two. The film was even scheduled for summer of 2004 before Warners decided to go the solo film route with Batman Begins <\/strong>and Abrams\u2019 revamped script.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Concept art from J.J. Abrams' SUPERMAN script<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abrams\u2019 treatment moved away from the \u201cDeath of Superman\u201d adaptations that were proposed up to this point, although Superman does die in his script. But that\u2019s not the only thing he moves away from. In his script, Krypton doesn\u2019t explode. Martha Kent is almost raped by an evil landlord. Clark Kent\u2019s nebbishy neurotic nature isn\u2019t an act, it\u2019s really how he feels because he is a superpowered freak. Lex Luthor is a CIA agent hunting aliens who is secretly a deep cover Kryptonian himself. Lara dies after being tortured by the bad Kryptonians. Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack after Clark makes his debut as Superman. Superman dies trying to rescue Lois. Jor-El kills himself after psychically \u201cfeeling\u201d Kal-El\u2019s death so he can convince him to come back to life. And so on.<\/p>\n

There is something in Abrams script to piss off every Superman fan. Most fans will hate all of it. Lex Luthor as a Kryptonian? That doesn\u2019t bother me much. Krypton not exploding? That does. The fact that Superman is the last of his race, that his birth parents made the ultimate selfless sacrifice so their son could live was with the character from the first page of his first appearance. It adds depth, pathos and tragedy to the character. Keeping Krypton around just so you can have more Kryptonians for Superman to fight is an irritating reason to lose such a defining characteristic of the character.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019d like to think the bad parts of the script show the hands of Jon Peters and not Abrams. That could very well be the case. But the fact that the script made it so far into development, first with McG, then with Brett Ratner, then with McG again is simply sad.<\/p>\n

The Abrams script died when McG insisted on shooting the film on the North American continent rather than in the cheaper Australia the studio wanted. Bryan Singer, famous for doing the awesome X-Men films we\u2019ll talk about later, was brought on as director and brought a new script by X2 <\/strong>scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris with him. That script became Superman Returns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n