I'm a film writer and want four things from Superman sequel
James Gunn's reboot of both the Man of Steel and the DC cinematic universe has begun on a largely positive note. A bumper weekend with more than $120 million in takings at the worldwide box office, paired with an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes should have fans excited for the future.
Naturally that should include sequels, spin-offs and significantly more crossovers, the likes of which was teased in the new film.
As a film writer, I made sure to go and see the release for myself at the earliest opportunity. Having been down on DC's more recent output, I was pleasantly surprised and already looking forward to what is next.
So here are X things that I would like to see from a Superman sequel. Note, these are wishes for a straight Superman follow up, Justice League style crossovers or spin-offs do not count.
James Gunn has spoken out about his decision to not include the tired origin story of Superman in the new film. He put forward, rightly so, that audiences have seen it too many times and don't need to retread those plot points again.
The same seems to be said for the role of his adoptive human parents. Ma and Pa Kent still play a crucial role in the film. However, neither of them needed to die for it to happen.
Like Batman's origin story, we usually have to suffer the death of Kent senior, perhaps with Superman's failure to save him (looking at you Man of Steel) to somehow propel him to be the hero he is.
Not so for Gunn's Superman. Their existence is enough for that. It would be a welcome change if Gunn continues this for at least another movie. Superman has already achieved a significant character moment without losing one of his parents. If it is to happen in the future, maybe make it off screen between movies.
Edi Gathegi's turn as Mr Terrific is a standout for the film. Despite some criticism of too many characters to keep tabs on, I didn't feel that was the case at all. This was no Suicide Squad.
Each of the extra characters - or Metahumans that were chosen to make an appearance brought something to the table. The perfect example of that was Mr Terrific. Perhaps one of the lesser known characters from the comics, which the film was cheekily aware of.
However, he played an essential role without taking away the spotlight. It would be great to see Gunn repeat this trick. Bring another lesser known character into the spotlight
Perhaps it could be a version of a character that starts as a potential ally but soon threatens to become a dangerous foe?
Speaking of Edi Gathegi, one of the best action sequences of the entire film sees his character take on a camp of soldiers to the tune of Noah and the Whale's 5 Years Time, while Lois Lane watches on from the safety of an energy shield. It is trademark James Gunn.
However, it was a shame we didn't get the same for Superman. Early on we find out that Lex Luthor has successfully analysed Superman's battles enough to know what moves to choose when, in order to beat him. As a result, we rarely see him really flex his moves or show off his style.
Perhaps it is something we could be treated to in an opening sequence for a sequel. Gunn did a similar thing for Guardians of the Galaxy 2. The team was assembled for the follow up, and fans got to see them play out their roles to the catchy soundtrack of Mr. Blue Sky.
The appearance of Milly Alcock's Supergirl ahead of her standalone film was a surprise. Although she doesn't stick around much, there's no need for such big cameos next time around.
While it was great to have the few members of the Justice Gang hanging about, Gunn and the new DC studios need to avoid repeating past mistakes. Previous movies that brought Batman and Superman together felt too rushed.
No one has any idea who will even be the Batman in this new DCU. It's almost certainly not Robert Pattinson, whose films are being treated as a separate universe referred to as Elseworlds.
Marvel took four years to bring the Avengers together but that was with a clear path. DC Studios don't seem to have a concrete plan for the new Justice League so there is no need to get ahead of ourselves. Especially not when we can enjoy Superman movies again.
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The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Superman: identity crises, fascist space holograms and a super furry animal
James Gunn's Superman is a curious film: so earnest, so heartfelt, and so defiantly weird it sometimes feels less like a reboot of the world's most iconic superhero and more like an elaborate fan project. Most of us will be relieved we've said goodbye to the heavy metal space Jesus of the Zack Snyder years, and that Gunn has avoided paying too much retro cosplay tribute to the Christopher Reeve era. This is undeniably a Superman we've never seen before on the big screen: a Kal-El who's deeply human, flawed, and more likable for it. The new Man of Steel, played with boyish charm and the right amount of golden retriever energy by David Corenswet, spends most of the movie juggling black holes, battling clone siblings, and dealing with the looming realisation that his space dad might have been one bad day away from full-blown genocide. And yet there's always the sneaking suspicion he would break off from all this in a second if you asked him to fix your router and play Enya until your existential dread subsides. Here's a deep dive into the new movie's themes and revelations, as we all try to work out whether Gunn has reinvented the superhero film – or just lovingly detonated it. We're used to Superman being first on to the scene. In Richard Donner's 1978 classic, Kal-El was greeted with wonder and open-mouthed awe by a terrestrial population who had never seen anything like him. But in the new DCU, we learn that superheroes have been around on this version of Earth for centuries. Superman isn't even the first of his kind in the modern era, and this completely recolours how people see him – presumably because, across those decades, the whole 'metahuman' thing must have had as many PR disasters as miracle saves. Which brings us to the Justice Gang: Nathan Fillion's Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Edi Gathegi's Mister Terrific, and Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl. We're never quite sure if they're supposed to be the good guys, or just government-licensed super-Narcs with branding. But their presence amplifies the sense that humanity has yet to get its collective head around these costumed anomalies. And who can blame them, when Gardner is a one-man HR complaint, Mister Terrific delivers every line like he's moderating his own Ted Talk, and Hawkgirl has all the enthusiasm of a substitute teacher on the last day of term? There's clearly a fair amount of suspicion around superheroes – a tension that's exploited by the villainous Luthor to portray Superman as a ticking alien timebomb in a cape. Did you buy the evil tech bro's raging hatred and distrust of the Man of Steel? This is one pillar of the Superman mythos that Gunn chose not to jettison, but I would have loved to know quite why Lex is so determined to take Kal-El down, especially when there are plenty of other metaheroes around to interrogate, sideline, or frame for an alien tech conspiracy of your own making. Is he just livid that Superman keeps saving people for free, completely devaluing the scalable, app-based rescue model Lex had soft-launched in beta? Does he secretly loathe the idea of a being who can fly, lift mountains and still doesn't own a single crypto wallet? Could it all boil down to the unbearable truth that Superman became Earth's most beloved figure without raising seed funding, writing a thought-leader thread, or launching a podcast? Much has been made of erstwhile TV Superman Dean Cain's horrified reaction to Gunn imagining the last son of Krypton as the ultimate immigrant hero (even though this has been part of the superhero's identity since at least 1938). But if this version of Luthor really is supposed to be a cipher for Maga views on alien invaders, isn't he a strange one? He's certainly too polished and corporate to convincingly stand in for a movement that would more likely have live-streamed that bit where they storm the Fortress of Solitude. It may still be year zero in the new DCU, but it's still a blessed relief that Gunn has avoided giving us portals to other dimensions, alternate timelines and cameos from moustachioed Supermen from Earth-47. This doesn't mean, however, that the comic-book weirdness hasn't been dialled up to 11, as we're still treated to a pocket universe, a dumb version of Supes who's controlled by Luthor with hi-tech drones and a manual for every single move ever seen in Mortal Kombat, and a guy (Metamorpho) who's capable of turning his own leg into Kryptonite in order to take down Kal-El. This is big, bonkers sci-fi, but it's refreshingly self-contained and also a rare thing: a superhero film more interested in identity than interdimensional travel. No collapsing timelines, no digital resurrections, and no mid-credits cameos from Nicolas Cage in a wireframe suit. Just one Superman, one moral crisis, and one very complicated crystal palace full of daddy issues. Which brings us to … Perhaps Gunn's bravest – and most controversial – move is to completely retcon the story of how Superman got to Earth in the first place. Rather than Jor-El and Lara lovingly placing the baby Kryptonian into a space capsule and sending him across the cosmos as a gift to humanity, it turns out they targeted our solar system so baby Supes could go full Zod the moment he grew up. Suddenly, this is the comic-book movie reimagined as a sci-fi identity crisis – built out of grief, clones, and orphan guilt, then dunked in a vat of Kryptonian tech and fired out of a narrative T-shirt cannon. Rather than a Superman who descends from the heavens in slow motion to save the world with a glinting kiss curl, he's more like a farm boy in the throes of an existential meltdown, awkwardly squeezing into his dad's super-suit while discovering that his entire origin story might be a lie. Worse still, he learns this in front of a watching world that's already crowned him as saviour, symbol, and all-purpose moral compass. In moments like these, it's as if Gunn has given us The Truman Show – if Truman could fly, shoot lasers, and was being emotionally micromanaged by a fascist space hologram. Is this the new DC big cheese making Superman's backstory more interesting? Or just seeing how many daddy issues he can cram into one cape? Superman's best friend is an absolute scene-stealer, a brilliant mix of emotional support animal and furry missile. If anyone's going to get a spin-off in this brave new DC world, it's surely the laser-eyed pooch who could probably take out Darkseid if you gave him a chew toy and pointed him in the right direction. Later on in the movie, we find out he actually belongs to Kal-El's cousin Kara Zor-El, played by Milly Alcock, after she turns up to engage in some sarky super-banter with Superman. Apparently Kara's not around a lot because she prefers partying on planets where she can actually get drunk. This is definitely not your dad's Supergirl. It's just one more element of Superman that made me think that, despite the tonal unevenness, the clone chaos and the occasional Kryptonian info-dump, I'm still genuinely intrigued to see where Gunn plans to take us next. Because even if it doesn't always fly straight, this is definitely a DC we've not seen before. What did you think? Is this the rebirth Superman needed – or just an interstellar therapy session with a cape and a dog?
Metro
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The Guardian
8 hours ago
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Indian film board criticised for cutting ‘overly sensual' Superman kisses
As Indian cinemagoers watched the latest Superman film, many noticed something was amiss. On two occasions as the superhero leaned in for a kiss with Lois Lane, the film suddenly jumped forward, cutting to the aftermath of an embrace. India's censor board had deemed the kissing scenes, including a 33-second smooch, to be 'overly sensual' for Indian audiences and demanded they be cut from the film before its cinematic release. The cuts have prompted an outcry from some viewers, who accused the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) of making arbitrary, overly moralistic demands and having double standards by allowing heavy violence and misogyny to be depicted in Indian films but cutting a kissing scene from a Hollywood film. 'CBFC would allow horrific scenes of violence and sexual assault in a U-certified film that kids are freely allowed to watch, but won't allow consensual kissing in a U/A comic book movie that kids should watch under adult supervision,' one viewer said on social media. Another said: 'So, Superman is NOT allowed to kiss Lois Lane on Indian screens. But all sleazy leading men of Indian films are allowed to pull, grope, assault, stalk, slap, and do whatever they want with their heroines. Are you serious, Indian censor board?' Another fan criticised the jarring interruption caused by the crude cuts. 'The Indian censor board has embarrassed itself with the abrupt cuts they've made to the film. The 'morality' of censorship aside, the way they've managed to mangle the flow is atrocious,' they said. Indian cinema has long had an uncomfortable relationship with on-screen kissing. With the exception of a four-minute kissing scene in the 1933 film Karma, up until the 1990s on-screen caressing was largely kept to hugs or symbolised through imagery such as flowers. While attitudes have relaxed in recent years, the country remains largely conservative and widely religious, particularly outside of urban areas, and more intimate kissing scenes are still subject to the censor's knife. The censor board has also faced accusations of being overly political. The Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice was blocked from cinematic release last year after its director, Ali Abbasi, refused to make cuts demanded by the CBFC. 'I ran away from Iranian censorship only to meet corporate censorship of the US. Now India. Really?' Abbasi said. 'Censorship seems to be an epidemic at the moment.' Similarly, earlier this year censors in effect banned the release of Santosh, an internationally acclaimed film addressing police violence and misogyny in India, after demanding a list of cuts. Sandhya Suri, the film's director, called the cut requests 'disappointing and heartbreaking'.
