Up in the sky

Like many other fans of DC Comics’ Superman, I am eagerly waiting for the Man of Steel’s return to the big screen. Especially since the last time that Superman graced the movie theaters was way back 1987, with "Superman 4, The Quest for Peace”.

However, I think there are currently two things that are keeping the filmmakers at a standstill with regards to the film’s development: casting problems, and storyline selection.

It is really going to be tough to choose who gets to follow in Christopher Reeve’s mighty giant footsteps and be the next to don the red cape. Reeve was very effective as he was able to convincingly portray both Clark Kent and Superman. He was able to convey both characters with great distinction that some people actually thought two different actors were playing Clark and Superman. As Clark, he was this mild-mannered, bumbling reporter who appears to be a weakling, While as Superman, he was a constant display of great strength, power, and confidence. Adding to Reeve’s points is his strong physical resemblance to the public’s image of Superman. It was almost as if he stepped right out of the comic book.

Personally, I’d prefer it if the filmmakers pick an actor who is still unknown. This way, when the fans go to watch the movie, they will see Superman, instead of “this or that actor who is playing Superman”. A good example in this case would be the 2003 movie “Daredevil”. In this movie, fans were seeing Ben Affleck play Daredevil, and not Daredevil himself.

Of course aside from the role of Superman/Clark, the filmmakers would still have to fill up many other colorful roles, depending on the storyline, they may include Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Jor-El, etc.

And speaking of storylines, I saw in several websites that the filmmakers have yet to finalize the storyline for the new film. I think they are choosing whether to continue the story from the four previous Superman films, or to start the story from scratch.

Another choice the filmmakers have to make is which among the two generations of Superman to pick. You see, in 1986, after DC released the comic book titled “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, they instructed their writers to re-write the entire Superman story from scratch, with lots of changes (mostly revolving around Clark’s and Superman’s Powers and the images they project). In the future, if I get the chance, I will write more extensively about these changes, but for now, I’ll just leave this at that.

Here’s hoping this movie gets up, up, and onto the big screen soon.