Dear Mr. Nolan

Dear Mr. Chris Nolan,

cc. David S. Goyer, Mr. Zack Snyder

I am a big big fan off all things Nolan-esque – your work with Batman, Inception, The Prestige and Memento has been, simply, breathtaking. But Mr. Nolan, I am worried. I am worried that the Superman franchise may be your Kryptonite. Where so many have failed, will you be the one to finally bring the Man of Steel to life on the big screen?

Nuclear Man, powered by the sun (lame)

Mr. Nolan, Superman is a huge part of the worlds collective childhood. Long before I developed a rudimentary ability to speak to girls I was chasing around the house in my birthday suit and a red towel. When Christopher Reeves reversed the rotation of the planet to turn back time I remember the playground debates that categorically confirmed time reversal was possible.  Even when the 1980’s franchise produced the solar powered Nuclear Man (I will refrain from discussing the merits of a carbon neutral arch nemesis) I remained a fan. Superman is a global hero.

I cannot discuss the challenges of the 1980’s franchise without mentioning Bryan Singers attempt in 2006. I still find it hard to imagine that Superman would have failed to use contraceptive on his ‘night with Louis Lane’. Let’s move on (although Brandon Routh’s Clark Kent was exceptional).

So, as you look to invigorate the franchise, I wanted to share my thoughts on how not to ruin it. 

Please Mr. Nolan, please don’t ruin Superman.

No origin story thank you

Enough said.

I’ll continue to post my thoughts over the next few weeks, perhaps I’ll receive some comments from others in the blogging community. All feedback gratefully received. But I restate my earlier point – we have to get this right. The Superman franchise deserves the best platform.

Please, don’t ruin Superman.

We need a real villain please

Zod, not a bad choice. No spandex please

Brainiac is a good idea, Zod could work too. But there needs to be build up. Superman has been fighting heros for a while, you are not going to turn up and win in a fight day one.  Remember the scene from DC Universe?

Perhaps Lex’s involvement could be explored here – helping the villain, controlling opportunities to create chaos would allow him to bet against the market making billions. 

No tacky Kryptonite rings to best our hero

I think we are done with the Kryptonite given the massive State shaped megalith used by Springer in the reboot. No more please. Let’s focus on a real villain.

Lois Lane, please no falling out of windows, helicopters or planes

Lois, let's limit the falling please

Enough said. Lois is a beautiful and highly intelligent woman. I cannot imagine her behaving as many of the films have depicted her – yes she’s headstrong and a risk taker, but she won’t put her life at risk needlessly.  Let’s limit the screaming-falling-catching please.

Lex, Clark Kent and Supermans relationship; a trilogy

In a world where Superman exists, I believe that a man like Lex would cut corners; he’d create a world where Superman is your corporate social responsibility plan.  Lex is the very embodiment of the terrible things that humans can do to each other.

Why does Superman need Clark Kent?

Need to increase your margin on the creation of a new power plant? Lex would put humans lives at risk to increase his bottom line. Oil spill, reactor failure? No problem. He’d know that Superman would fix the human impact every time.

The man of steel cannot stand against single governments or corporations alone. This is why Superman needs Clark Kent, as the human voice of what is right, to help humans help themselves to do the right thing and to tell himself that humans can make a difference (there’s an analogy to here to the concepts within Christianity where Jesus came to earth as a man, worth exploring). 

Move along Kevin Spacey, let’s cast Lex Luthor correctly

A bald headed man does not Lex Luthor make

Kevin Spacey is a great actor. I love his work and this is not an open criticism of a man I admire. 

But, I did like his portrayal of Superman’s arch nemesis.  We need realism, we need a man heading a corporation of evil. Not some odd, slightly unhinge individual please.

Please please please, can we get the suit right?

Okay a lighter note. The suits so far have been terrible. Firstly, thank goodness Tim Burton didn’t get his hands on the franchise,

How much do you need to smoke before
you think of this?

I have no idea how much hallucinogens I would need to imagine such a design, but clearly more than I can afford I have the system to tolerate.

Here’s what we need;

1) Be true to the comic book design please;
2) He needs to have a large ‘S’ across his chest please (and on the cape);

Yes, Thank you.

3) He needs to look like a god in the suit, that’s where the cape comes in. I always envisioned this as a royal cloak (think King Leonidas in 300), it needs to cover his shoulders please.

Superman is the loneliest man/alien on earth

Can you imagine wrestling with the ability to change every government decision, to impact the course of the war on terrorism, to fix every natural disaster? Imagine not being able to address every issue? Imagine knowing, that despite being the most powerful man on earth, you cannot help everyone?

Wouldn’t Superman significantly change today’s world of celebrity? How many people would look to him to be more than what he is a religious figure?

The man is lonely. There is no one he can talk to or comprehend his position. Where does he find solace? Where does he draw the line? What’s important to him as a man?

It would be great to explore these darker themes as part of this reboot.

He is the most powerful being on earth; can we please capture that?

Superman is the most powerful being on earth. He is a god. We have never really seen that, or the associated struggles, captured on film.

Oh yes we have seen him lift planes and boats but neither captured the truly awesome power of a god on earth. They were examples limited by the imaginations of human demonstrations of strength. We need to think bigger – on a scale of legendary awesomeness that has not been conceived before (btw, taking  a bullet in the eye, rescuing damsels in distress won’t really cut it).

Also, we need to demonstrate invincibility please. Remember watching the Terminator and being amazed that Arnie was still in pursuit? Remember that breath taking moment – just when you thought he was dead he appeared again? That’s the feeling we need to recreate for the audience – breath taking unearthly invincibility.

I was very excited when watching this promo for DC universe:

Do you see how he deals with Captain Marvel (see from 3.30)? He’s nothing. A nat. That’s a glimpse of the man we want to see on the big screen please. 

Superman is a man, not a boy, teenager or 20 something.

Superman is a man. Thank you

Sigh. Superman is a man. Period.  How can a 20 something actor depict the vastness of the Man of Steels responsibility? I hope you can cast a 35+ actor. 

The internet is alight with talk of John Hamm, add a touch of grey and some time in the gym and you could have it spot on.