“The Superman problem: Can he still fly in the 21st century?”

This bit of comic book angst courtesy of Geoff Boucher and his LAT “Hero Complex” blog. Speaking of the 1978 movie version of Superman, Boucher opines:

It was by nature a sunny film, sentimental and playful, never embarrassed while soaring with its John Williams score and (literally) with its special effects. But show it to a teenager today and he or she will snicker and roll their eyes. These are kids who have sat in dark theaters with Wolverine, Hellboy and Heath Ledger’s Joker. If they’re holding out for a hero, you can bet he’s not going to be plucking kittens out of trees, reciting patriotic mottos and chasing down bumbling bad guys named Otis.This brings us to the Superman problem. Warner Bros. just pulled in half a billion dollars in the U.S. alone with the relentless nihilism of “The Dark Knight” and the other hero films of the summer (“Hancock,” “Iron Man,” “Hellboy 2,” etc.) presented troubled protagonists who struggle as much with themselves as they do with bad guys. So, of course, Warner now wants Superman to tone down the Boy Scout stuff.

Interesting the ‘dark’ shadow the recent Batman movie and other films have cast over the studios’ development departments. But I think Boucher has got it right: major wrong decision to go dark with Superman:

To my mind, the best thing Warner Bros. could do with the next Superman film is to go cosmic, not gritty. Take Superman into space, have him fight off an alien invasion of earth or grapple with Darkseid or Mongul. The movie can be fun (a la “Iron Man”) without being corny or campy, and you can make his enemies as dark and dangerous as you want. But leave the pure heroic nature of Superman intact, or don’t bother putting that famous costume on him. Batman succeeded not simply because he was dark, but because director Christopher Nolan found the authentic heart of the character. The movie broke box-office records not by copying the approach of another film, but by daring to go its own way. Do the same soul-searching for Superman. Instead of bringing him down to street level, let him fly higher than ever.

That’s speaking like a true fan of the genre, not the knee-jerk reaction of a studio suit. Besides any writer would understand this: the story must arise out of the character. And Superman is a different character than Batman.

But we’ll just have to wait and see what Warner Bros. does with the Man of Steel. Anybody ready for an existential Superman?

And by the way, “Hero Complex” is a great site to bookmark.

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