Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:30PM22 comments ›
Sat Feb 13, 2010 — by Marc Alan Fishman
Chris Nolan to Assist Superman Reboot
Said also to be able to leap tall remakes in a single film.
According to sources at Deadline Hollywood, Chris Nolan, director of Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight, has been tapped by Warner Brothers to "Godfather" the reboot of the Superman franchise. While it's known now that Nolan, his brother Jonah, and David Goyer are presently working on the script for their next Batman film... Warner Brothers appears to want Nolan to help guide the next Superman film for the studio, to help bring back the fans that exited after Bryan Singer's Donner-esque Superman Returns. Nolan is thought to be able to help give birth to a darker ("more mature") version to DC's flagship character for the big screen.
Warner Brothers wants a fresh take on the Kryptonian super star, hopefully shedding the production nightmares attached like a yoke on the neck of the franchise as a whole. Lest us nerds forget Kevin Smith's penned draft featuring giant spiders, and a Jay and Silent Bob cameo... to the countless other scripts that turned up on the internet prior to Singer's Returns, which ranged from the insanely bad to completely ludicrous. It's hoped that Nolan, who brought the Bat-franchise out of the land of nipples and neon, can lend his hand to crafting a Superman movie that draws from the comics in the same way his Batman did from books like Frank Miller's Year One, and Alan Moore's Killing Joke.
But, is all this movement for nothing? According to attorney Marc Toberoff (representing the families of Superman's creators Siegel and Schuster) the rights to Big Blue will come back to the families in 2013. This puts a stigma on DC and the WB to get production moving by 2011, or they may be forced to come crawling to the families to get the license back. And with Nolan currently putting the finishing touches on his newest non-comic flick, Inception, and the aforementioned third Batman film to be directed...it seems like his dance card is filling up fast.
So, let's turn it out towards you Comicmix fans. What do you want to see in a Superman movie reboot? What books should Nolan be using for inspiration? Is it time for a new franchise villain to debut? Let us know what you think below!
Jump to comments (22) 
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Comments (22)
Delmo Walters Jr. (5:25 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
No origin sequence and no Smallville sequence. If, after 9 years of Smallville you don't know the backstory by now, go rent the first film. No involvement by Mark Millar. No new search...re-sign Brandon Routh. Villains? How about finally putting Brainiac on the big screen?
Marc Alan Fishman (6:10 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
Good points all Delmo. While they should "touch" on the origin, like they did in the Hulk film, that aside, a new direction would be nice. Brainiac, Metallo, heck... even Bizarro would be a welcome change. Fingers crossed.
Pete Furman (8:00 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
Another lame blogger that cant even keep the facts straight. Kevins Smith version did not have a giant spider. Jon Peters wanted one, Kevin Smith declined and the giant spider showed up in the next big Peters flop Wild Wild West. The internet has replaced actual journalism and fact checking with smugness and revisonist history in an attempt for people that could never get a real job in journalism to pretend they are one of the cool kids.
Paul (9:27 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
I read Kevin Smith's script (it's available online). It did have a giant-assed spider in it. He didn't want it in the story, but was forced to add it.
Tommy Raiko (11:27 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
And after Superman Returns came out, Kevin Smith apparently was heard to joke, "Well, maybe a giant spider wouldn't have been that bad after all."
In any case, maybe they should go back to the idea of doing a movie that includes BOTH Superman and Batman. If I recall correctly, the notion of doing a "World's Finest" movie had a certain amount of heat at one time...
Marc Alan Fishman (11:53 AM on Sun Feb 14, 2010)
Thanks for helping me clear that up guys.
@Pete ... I hope you see that I've tried to keep the facts straight. I'm sorry you feel that I'm lame. I've never pretended to be a cool kid... I just try to keep ya'll entertained.
Anonymous (9:29 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
That's showing 'em. Put that lame blogger's shoddy journalism in it's place by, uh, referring to your own research that consists of seeing a YouTube of Smith talking at a convention?
Christopher Mills (2:20 AM on Sun Feb 14, 2010)
"...Superman's creator, Simon and Schuster..."
Seriously? You got this wrong on a comics site? For shame.
Jerry SIEGEL and Joe SHUSTER created Superman, of course.
Marc Alan Fishman (11:51 AM on Sun Feb 14, 2010)
Mea Culpa, Chris. And thanks for the catch. I was tappin' a little hard on the keys thee, and made a silly mistake. I've made the correction though... and I throw myself on the mercy of the court.
Miles Vorkosigan (10:58 AM on Sun Feb 14, 2010)
I've got three words for ya bastiches, okay? THE MAIN MAN.
Seriously, Giffen's Superman/Lobo script is still floating around someplace; why not do it? We don't need another recap of the origin, no more Smallville. And while Routh creeped me out by channeling Reeve, he's not hopeless. Bring back the cast of the last movie, and let Routh off the chain. Let him play the role the way he should, not as an understudy for Chris.
And for the love of God, keep Jon Peters as far away from it as possible.
Lance (12:13 PM on Mon Feb 15, 2010)
Marc,
Nice article -- certainly not "lame"! However, I would like to take exception to your describing "Superman Returns" as "Donner-esque". I think Singer was trying hard for it to be such, but in the attempt he forgot the one thing that made Donner's "Superman" so great -- a sense of FUN and excitement. Singer tried to make the entire movie have the same tone as the opening of Donner's, and we witnessed why Donner didn't try that in the first place. Also, Singer's casting of Louis Lane, who provided so much energy in Donner's version, was a disaster.
What I would like to see, instead of a "darker" version of Superman, is a FUN version -- more like the recent "Iron Man". Batman is supposed to be dark, and Nolan was right to make him so, but Superman should not be -- at least not relentlessly so.
Marc Alan Fishman (12:54 PM on Mon Feb 15, 2010)
Thanks Lance! I think you make some great points here. Yes, Ms. Bosworth did little to nothing for me as Lois. Routh, in my opinion, channeled the late Christopher Reeves at times, but much of the movie for me (Returns that is) was hampered by Singer's desire to leap from Donner's movies.
I'm hoping that with Nolan's guidance, and some real development taken from some of the better comics will make Superman what it should be: Optimistic, fun, and in a sense... an antithesis to the Batman franchise.
mike weber (2:13 AM on Tue Feb 16, 2010)
Christopher Reeve - George Reeves.
Christopher Mills (5:45 PM on Tue Feb 16, 2010)
Marc's been really having trouble with names here.
Marc Alan Fishman (7:46 PM on Tue Feb 16, 2010)
Again, sorry. At least it was just a comment and not in the article this time. :) Suffice to say I hope you got the point I was trying to make, despite my amazing inability to type a name right.
orr971 (7:28 AM on Mon Feb 15, 2010)
GREAT!
Christopher Nolan is the best!
he will make this movie very special.
Adam (10:39 AM on Sun Feb 14, 2010)
What's the name of the dude that did that movie with Angelina Jolie and Mr. Tumnis? That guy who said he wanted to do a 3 film Superman story arc that ended with him alone at the end of the world. He wanted it to be a grittier take on Superman. I don't know. I remember reading about. It sounded kind of cool.
Marc Alan Fishman (12:58 PM on Mon Feb 15, 2010)
You might be thinking of "Wanted" which was directed by Timur Bekmambetov... but based off the comic written by Mark Millar. Supposedly Millar had a Superman trilogy in mind, like you said... that was "grittier" in some aspects. Given Millar's take on Big Blue (see Red Son)... I don't doubt he'd have the talent to turn in a great script... but if it were me... I'd look towards Geoff Johns, James Robinson, or Paul Dini/Bruce Timm for some inspiration. For me personally, I don't think there's been a better alternative media depiction of Superman than the Animated Series version.
Anonymous (4:12 PM on Sat Feb 13, 2010)
I really like the idea of Chris Nolan Watching over this maybe new series, I just dont get why people are really flipping a nut over this and plus he could like Produce the film while some top tallent Directs it.
Anonymous (1:56 PM on Mon Feb 15, 2010)
Although you corrected Simon to "Siegel," you've still got Shuster spelled wrong.
Christopher Back (10:02 AM on Wed Feb 17, 2010)
My 2 cents:
1) Don't retell or at least limit the origin story. At this point I think it's safe to say that only unborn babies are the only people who don't know Superman's origin story. If you have to tell it then it quickly move on because quite frankly unless the whole movie takes place on Kryton, I won't bother with it.
2) NO Lex Luther at least in the first one. Take a page out of "Batman Begins" and lets use a different villain like the Scarecrow and only mention the Joker at the end which then makes the second one more excitiing. Superman has other villains Brainaic, Metallo, Livewire, or Doomsday. Hell use Toyman, The Prankster, Bizzaro (if Bizzaro is the main villain than WB better make him great or can forget about getting my money since I'm not a big fan of Bizzaro) even use a character like Darksied. Just don't use Luthor save him for a sequal.
3) A sense of fun. This is hard to explain while I love grim and gritty heroes more than the Golden and Silver Age stuff (being a child of the 80s and 90s I have a deep love of those kind of heroes) but Superman as an edgey, dark, grim and gritty hero just doesn't fly with me (if you pardon the pun) I mean it's fun to explore in a limited series or a 12 issue arc, but as a movie I don't think I could stomach to see Superman acting like Batman. If I come out of thinking the world is going to hell and there is nothing that I can do stop it, then that is a NOT Superman movie that I want to see. I want to see a fun Superman movie not a pyhco-crime drama like "The Dark Knight".
Christopher Back (10:04 AM on Wed Feb 17, 2010)
This site needs an edit button.