What would you want from an “Ultimate Superman”?

[Vordan]

There’s been rumors that Scott Snyder is returning to DC this year to head up an “Ultimate DC” line, and in the latest issue of his newsletter he says he’s returning to superheroes with announcements coming soon. I wanted therefore to make a thread and ask you guys what would you want to see if the Ultimate DC rumors turn out to be true.

1. Who would you want the writer to be?
2. Who would you want the artist to be?
3. What should be different from the current Earth 0 incarnation of Superman?
4. What should be the same?



1. I’d pick Dan Watters to write this. Watters has proven himself to be a resourceful up and comer writer. He’s dipped his toe in the Superman sandbox before - he wrote Jon & Yara in FS, Clark in R&B, and Kara & J’onn in the Doomsday Special - but never in a major ongoing capacity. That’s crucial for any “Ultimate” take. If you look at Ultimate Spidey, neither Bendis nor Hickman had done a Spider-Man book before they got the gig, and I think that approach would work well for Superman. His knack for horror and high concept scifi could give an Ultimate Superman book a very different tone from the mainline in the wake of PKJ departing Action.

2. For the artist I’d ask for Rafa Sandoval. He didn’t spend that long on Action and after the Brainiac crossover I don’t know if he’ll still be drawing Superman. Would be great to retain him since he has a keen eye for action.

3. Alright this one requires a bit of an explanation. Again returning to Ultimate Spider-Man, part of why it was a success under Bendis - and why I think Hickman will be a success too - is that USM offered something to fans turned off by the mainline books. When 616 Peter was a married man with decades of continuity surrounding him, USM offered a fresh entry point about a young high school age Spidey who was relatable for a new younger generation of readers. It captured the zeitgeist of the 00s. Now Hickman is doing the opposite, offering a married Spider-Man who gets into the hero game as an adult with two kids to raise, again a pointed contrast to the current Amazing Spider-Man ongoing.

Therefore I think we need an “Ultimate Superman” to serve as a contrast to the Earth 0 guy. What are the traits that define the Earth 0 Superman?

- He’s married to Lois and has a son, plus heads up an extended family
- He’s spent decades being a hero
- He’s best friends with Batman and on good relations with most other heroes
- He works at the Daily Planet as a reporter in his secret identity
- He leans towards “Clark” being his true self
- His Earth parents are alive and well
- He’s more powerful than he’s ever been thanks to PKJ boosting his power levels
- His base is the Arctic Fortress of Solitude
- Lex knows his identity

Looking at all of that I think the direction for an Ultimate Superman should be along the lines of:

- He’s a young bachelor just beginning his journey, not married to or even dating Lois. He should be dating someone else at first (not Wonder Woman), and other than maybe Steel there are no other Supers
- He’s not on good terms with Batman and maybe even butts heads with other Ultimate heroes. Morrison had the one incident where New 52 Superman wanted to be more proactive, but folded after everyone else disagreed, I think making that a more ongoing concern could be interesting.
- “Superman” is his true self and Clark serves as the mask this go around
- Ma and Pa are dead
- His power levels are much reduced. Probably can’t take away his ability to fly but how about nerfing his invulnerability? Bullets leave bruises this time around.

4. Now what should be similar?

- Keep Clark as a reporter but that could take any number of routes. Instead of working in “old media” maybe Clark writes scripts for podcasts, or hosts them.
- He and Lois definitely should have some sparks between the two even if I think they should start out as rivals and competitors.
- The crystalline Fortress of Solitude is too baked in at this point to change, but the design for it should get revamped
- His archnemesis is Lex and Lex knows who he is. I personally love that Lex knows but covers it up because Superman secretly having been raised as a human makes him relatable, and Lex does not WANT people relating to Superman. So he makes sure it stays secret while using his knowledge to his advantage. Unlike Earth 0 I’d prefer Lex and Clark be enemies here, maybe even have Lex be more of a mad scientist without Lexcorp.

That’s the basics of what I’d like. What about the rest of you?