A lot of people seem surprised that Warner Bros. is apparently turning to Christopher Nolan to “godfather” the “Superman” series (as reported in this Deadline Hollywood story). However, it really shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.
When the company looked to return the Man of Steel to the screen post-Christopher Reeve, they first looked to Tim Burton, who had successfully brought Batman to life with the 1989 movie. When that move didn’t pan out, they went to Bryan Singer, who successfully transitioned the X-Men into live action. And recent rumors even had Sam Raimi (of the the successful “Spider-Man” series) taking on Superman.
As a writer, I hate using the same word repeatedly, but the word “successful” is important here and the trend is obvious. Warner Bros. wants a proven successful commodity to guide Superman’s flight path. And who is the most successful current helmer of superhero fare? It just so happens to be Warner Bros.’s current golden boy Christopher Nolan, who made the critically-acclaimed box office smash “Batman Begins” and the even better and far more lucrative “The Dark Knight.”
Now, I’m not going to rehash the Deadline Hollywood story here. Read it if you haven’t gotten a chance yet.
However, I do want to point out one part of the story worth mentioning. In the story, Deadline Hollywood reports: We were told that “Bryan [Singer] or Brandon [Routh] are not completely out of it yet. But Warner Bros doesn’t have a handle yet on it, either. [Producer] Jon Peters is trying to make something happen since he stands to benefit financially. But they [the studio] need to hear a great story that makes sense.”
I think we can all agree that Singer is very unlikely to play any meaningful part in the further adventures of Superman, but it it nice to hear that Routh is still involved. Anyone who has seen Routh lately (especially in his excellent turn as Shaw on NBC’s brilliant show “Chuck”), knows how much more he looks like Superman now than he did just four years ago. Routh is the one element truly worth bringing forward into the next chapter of the Superman saga.
More Superman stories are sure to follow, and as soon as we hear more we will pass it along.
Superman art by Sebastian Colombo
. . .
Follow Kathleen Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Super_Kathleen.
On the face of it, it seems like good news. Hopefully it is true. And bringing Routh back would absolutely be the right move.
I’m in the same place. The Superman reference on Chuck last night was great. 🙂
I hope Routh is in for the next one!
I have no problem with Routh. I would rather have Welling. But I am much more concerned about the treatment of the character. Whoever makes this movie needs to understand the total goodness of Superman as opposed to any other superhero.
We don’t need a Superman brought down to earth. We need a Superman who brings the people of earth up to him and inspires.
Oh, and get the costume right! For reference, there are these things called comic books that have been around for a few decades now that have excellent drawings of just what it’s supposed to look like. For that matter, there are some excellent storylines in them too.
A new Superman movie series sounds great…
I know alot of you guys here loved SR, but i want new everything this go around.
Well this is a very interesting development. I hope nolan will help wb find the right script, director, and casting along. I am glad they are going to do this. Now all i want is a clean slate and start things all anew. Dont want to see singer/routh and anything assoicated to donner’s movies again this time. Besides little nods. We need a break from it and bring in the elements from the comics and other things we havent seen in film versions of the characters. We need to see corp lex, more villains like metallo, brainiac, darkseid, doomsday and so on. Then have different characterizations to everyone. Also i do think we need to show a new origin. Cause with a new film series we need to see why things are different then say the donner movie, or the many takes on the character has been since the 70s. Then also show us why these characters are doing what they are doing this time.
Sounds great to me. Count me among those who’d like to see Brandon Routh return.
i still doubt they would bring routh back. Sure i read some wb execs still like the guy. But from what i know he has stated he no longer has a contract for superman movies with WB. Plus if this reboot is to break away from donner’s superman unlike singer going donner superman again. It should be a full clean slate, new story, look, cast, crew, etc…..
Routh is still very much in the mix.
“Anyone who has seen Routh lately (especially in his excellent turn as Shaw on NBC’s brilliant show “Chuck”), knows how much more he looks like Superman now than he did just four years ago. Routh is the one element truly worth bringing forward into the next chapter of the Superman saga.”
I agree 100%. Brandon Routh IS Superman.
BRING ROUTH BACK, WB!