New Superman is cast....and is British!!

That was my only problem with the Donner cut -- they blatantly did something they used in the first movie. I would have been okay with Lois knowing that Clark Kent was Superman. She's supposed to be a star journalist. She's smart. She should be able to figure these things out. But that's not the direction Donner went.

All in all, though, the Donner cut is a far superior movie than what the Salkinds and Richard Lester did to it.

Bale is a metabolic yo yo with demonic weight control powers. Have you seen his crackhead look from the Fighter? Weight is like clothing for him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(film)

Turns out they were filming the two Supermans at the same time and finished 75% of Superman 2 then refocused on Superman 1. Looks like Superman 1 was going to end with the missile he diverted into space blowing up the phantom zone and starting the events of #2, and that in #2 the three villains would devastate Earth and then Superman would do the time warp.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

I'm old enough to have seen Superman, The Movie in the theater when it first came out. I was a comic book reader growing up, with Supes as my favorite. I was so looking forward to the fulfilment of the ad slogan, "You will believe that a man can fly!" And the first film was everything it should have been until the end of the Helicopter scene.

We had seen George Reeves in "The Adventures of Superman" in re-runs for years. We knew that Superman could be played straight, with straight villains rather than comic ones. Sure, the show had an occasional comic villain, but had plenty of serious ones, too. The problem was the perception that a "comic book" character should be comic, and should be surrounded by comic characters and villains who were really nice guys underneath. And most of all, the perception of "Hey, it's science fiction/comic book . . . plots don't matter. We can do anything we want with no reasoning behind it."

When I saw Christopher Reeve playing a bumbling Clark Kent, that was, in fact, brilliant to show how people would never think of that bumbling, annoying klutz as Superman even though the only difference was the glasses. Frankly, Reeve's performance was awesome, especially in the context that he was asked to play. He did a great job both as Superman and Clark Kent. I know how seriously he took the responsibility of playing the iconic hero. The special effects were great for the day . . . after years of seeing George Reeves and the cheesy effects of the TV show. However, it was the other characters and the plot that ruined it.

After years of seeing Noel Neill as an attractive, professional and mostly smart Lois, we got the comic version (and not very attractive), Margot Kidder. She was a neurotic idiot. There was very little that made her appealing as the "love of his life." Heck, compare Kidder to the way that Annette O'Toole later played Lana Lang . . . Lana was a lot more attractive than Lois.

And worse of all was the comic Lex Luthor and his bumbling buffoon henchman, Otis. No possible way Lex was "the greatest criminal genius" of the day. If he was so smart, why would he put up with a moron to do his errands? And why would Miss Fass-what's-her-name put up with the guy? He wasn't her boyfriend or anything. I don't fault Gene Hackman . . . he played the character written. The plot was amazingly stupid. The guy is going to set off two Nuke missiles . . . as a way to manipulate real estate prices? Huh?

But to me, the worst part of Superman I was the warning in the beginning of the film that Kal-El could not tamper with time. And he does. With no consequences. And all it did was to keep Lois from dying, but nothing else? If you are going to turn the entire globe backwards, there need to be consequences. I remember sitting in the theater, thinking . . . "OK, what's gonna happen because he broke the rule . . . What's it gonna be?" And nothing. I remember walking out of the theater being disappointed with the story. I'm sorry . . . a lame "deus ex machina" gimmick is bad, bad writing. That was truely a "WTF" moment. While Chris Reeve was good, the writing and story were horrible.

(As much as people complain about Smallville, at least when Clark went back in time to save Lana and prevent her from dying, then his father died. See? Consequences.)


I haven't seen the Donner cut. I understand that there was a lot of drama behind the scenes, but the film should be judged on how it was released. I saw Superman II that was released in the theaters, and it had many of the same faults of treating a comic book movie like it had to be comic, and didn't have to worry about continuity or common sense in the plot. And the same poor choices of a bumbling Lex and somewhat comic villains in Zod and friends. Yes, it had all the other stupid "add-ins" like the telekinetic finger spray, "throwing the S" and the amnesia kiss, but the underlying core was faulty, too.

It had a few good things. I will never forget the moment that Clark decided to tell Lois who he was in that cheesy honeymoon hotel. You could see the great acting job done by Reeve, when he transformed from stoop-shouldered Clark to Superman for just a moment, and then retreated. That was great acting.

I liked Terrance Stamp and Sarah Douglas as Zod and what's-her-name. There were a few cute moments as the Kryptonians tried to make sense of Earth and tried out their new powers . . . but not enough. The fights were lame. Lex Luthor and his desire for Austrailia were really lame. I know it was the 70's, but Superman should not be going for a one-night-stand . . . that Kansas-raised farm boy would insist on getting married before you-know-what. And the plot, again, was capped with a key "WTF" plot device.

I recognized and appreciated the Action Comics #1 moment. I thought the set up for it was a bit cheesy, but I got what he was doing. One big problem was that Bryan Singer thought that the entire film was supposed to be an homage to Superman past and forgot to do anything else.


I agree that Chris Reeve was fantastic. I think he would have been just as fantastic in a well written movie. But breaking the 3rd wall won't work as well with today's audiences . . . it is cheesy. A modern Superman needs more of an edge . . . not necessarily dark, but there has to be some seriousness to it.

Cavill looks good, and appears to have the acting chops to pull off the role. The chemistry between him and the actress cast as Lois is important. And the writing is especially important. I have confidence in Nolan and Snyder. Dark Knight was so good because it had something to say. It had a great villain who was very disturbing. Snyder appears to have a great eye for action. Snyder is able to be reverant to the source material while still telling a great story. (I really liked "300" but never read the graphic novel. I DID read Watchmen, and thought is was an amazing achievement to put that complex story on film. However, Watchmen showed that total adhearance to the source material does not always make a great film. I loved it, but I can see where someone who did not love the source material might not.)

I almost don't even care who Wright casts in Ant-Man. I just want to see it happen. Of course, if Edgar Wright were directing a Twilight film, I'd go see it. That's how much faith I have in him. Personally though, as far as casting the Ant-Man film goes, I think it's really going to depend on which Ant-Man he'll be using. I'm really hoping for Eric O' Grady played by Simon Pegg, which I think is a distinct possibility considering how much Wright and Pegg enjoy working together.

And evidently it's getting harder to find that among American actors. Ryan Reynolds and Chris Evans had better pull through on Green Lantern and Captain America or else American superheroism will be defined for this generation by Kick-***'s Aaron Johnson and the upcoming Super's Riann Wilson.

I suppose he counts, technically, since he's from this side of the pond, but Ryan Reynolds is Canadian.

I stand corrected. Reynolds now goes in the same category as Nathan Fillion, and Chris Evans's burden to succeed has been doubled.

OMG no, no, no, please kill it with fire quickly. Another movie down the drain. Why do they not pick Tom Welling for Superman? He has done it longer than anyone else. Just make him a money offer so big he cant refuse it.

I forever blame Margot Kidder for my disdain for Lois Lane. She was my first impression of the character as a kid, and jaded me from ever liking her in anything else. I was always thinking why in the world would Superman want this woman...especially so many other hot super powered babes in his world like Wonder Woman or Maxima who can actually give him babies. Margot Kidder was so bleh. If there ever was a world to fly so fast you spin the world backwards to save...it wasn't her. One of the worst movie castings ever.

There has been nothing said in the comics that has ever said Lois couldn't give Clark a baby

Though you're right, Morgot Kidder's Lois Lane was a terrible Lois Lane. I won't put the blame on her though, I'll blame the director/writers for how Lois' personality came out in the movies.

Did he even want the roll?

I mean I could of easily went from Smallville mythos to a completely new movie mythos with Tom Welling laying the part again.

But I figured it was more of a, been playing Superman for 10 years on TV, if he plays him in the movies, he may really be type casted.

That's varies from the current continuity at a given date. Some stories they couldn't, other ones they could. During the 90s post crisis reboot they were incapable which was part of the reason Maxima (prior to dying at the hands of imperiex protecting superman from his blast by jumping in front of him.) actually had a very small shot at dethroning Lois for the storyline when she was trying win him affections around the time Doomsday showed up which she helped fight. Her race was close enough kryptonians that it would have worked.

This one of those times I wouldn't have picked who the character picked to pair off with if I was in their shoes I'd taken maxima over Lois and Black cat over MJ, but I seem to always be drawn to the slightly crazy/wild ones. It's the Batman/Cat woman deal. (or Silverbolt/Black arachnia if you re a transformers fan.)

In anycase Lois usually always came across as too be-witchy for my tastes and thought she was too good for Clark 90% of the time. They rarely seemed to have much chemistry, so I never got why the pairing. (Which in the Timverse they had Bruce Wayne date her , which showed just how superfical she really is. Like unless you're a billionaire or super power Lois Lane doesn't have time for you.) She's easily my least favorite like female love interest in comics. I just don't get the attraction unless you re just a masochist, given all punishment Superman is known for taking that just might be the case.

Oh, well it's not that I don't agree with you on the pairing being bad. Or really good.

I know I've hard my opinions on who should pair with who in comics, but isn't that part of being a fan of the comic.

Peter with Felcia is the only thing good imo, that could come out of OMD, if they even do it! To me they are the perfect couple

Same with other pairings. I prefere Cyclops with Emme Frost too! I hope he never goes back to Jean (who I don't hate, I just dont want her with Scott )

Maybe he will be cast as the son of Indy instead of Shia

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

It is quite simple: Cast Tom Welling and you have a movie version of Smallville. That's what the public will expect. And Smallville has used up so much of the DC universe that it would be restrictive to the kind of movie they want to make.

Don't get me wrong. In spite of the not-so-great writing and the wimping out on special effects to save money in Smallville, I like the show and like Welling. But casting him would be bringing a lot of baggage.

Same problem with casting Brandon Routh. You bring the baggage of the previous version. I don't blame Routh for the train wreck that was Superman Returns. But casting him would be a sequel to it, and and that would suck.

Nolan and Snyder want a mostly fresh start. We know the origin well enough to gloss over it, but throw out the stupid plot choices from previous movies and start fresh with a better, tougher villain, and some REAL action. Brainiac would be my choice because you can do almost anything with him.