Death and Return of Superman movie will be set in the New 52

[Clark_Kent]

To be fair: It’s NOT a standalone movie which are the ones that try to directly adapt the story. It basically is what you describe: A “New 52” version of how Reign went down. The biggest flaw was that I wish we had gotten more time with the Supermen but to truly do the story justice I think it would’ve had to have been split into three parts: Death, Reign, and Return and that just wasn’t happening.

I probably shouldn't have used the word "standalone"...I simply meant that it's an original story in their N52 inspired animated universe instead of the faithful adaptation they told us we were getting. So in that sense, it's a "standalone original film in that universe" instead of "faithful adaptation".

Don't get me wrong, I also loved this film. I think it's great! But I am hung up on what they announced it as...if they had called this "The Return of Superman", I would have gone in from the get-go with zero expectations. But they called it "The Reign of the Supermen", which comes with baggage and expectations. When they announced this at Comic Con, they made it sound like we were getting the Superman equivalent to The Dark Knight Returns; instead, we got the Superman equivalent to Throne of Atlantis or Batman vs Robin...those films had elements of the comics (Throne of Atlantis and The Court of Owls, respectively), but were done in a mostly original way. Death of/Reign was billed as a faithful adaptation & instead we got original stories with some elements of Death/Reign. Nothing wrong with that on the surface, and I dug the Hell out of them. They just weren't what I imagined when they were announced.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I was really disappointed in Reign of the Supermen, perhaps because the Death of Superman was so much better than I expected it to be, this one suffered in comparison. The irony being that the Death of Superman comics were largely terrible while the Reign of the Supermen comics were fantastic. It's too bad the animated movies kinda flipped that.

It wasn't terrible by any means, but it was on the same level of quality of most of New 52-verse animated movies, none of which have been very good.

[Minerboh]

If i didn't knew that the two other animated installments would be also placed in the New 52, i would call Reign as a finale of sorts of the story that begun in JL: War.

[Superham]

My non spoiler thoughts:

Got to see it tonight in the theater after months of anticipation. It was interesting seeing DOS and ROS back to back. The two halves definitely feel like different movies, written by different people. In my opinion, the second part does a pretty solid job picking up on a lot of the setup from the first. A lot of the emotional beats carry over well. The first 40 minutes were really fun, and I thought there was more humor in ROS. I would say if the film has a flaw, it struggles to come together for the third act, and match the epic nature of the first. It's still far from anti climatic. As a lover of the original story, I was both surprised at what they managed it fit, as well as what they didn't. I imagine some will be conflicted based on what they were looking for. Honestly though, to truly adapt this story, I agree that this could have been a three parter.

Contrasting them though, I'd consider DOS a "5 star" and ROS a "4 star." But I think that opinions are going to vary based on what you were looking for.

Overall though, I think this is by far, the best, definitive, adaptation of the death and return of Superman yet. Sure it's not hard to blow away past efforts, but this one manages to hit most of the original stories best beats, as well as actually improving on the original story quite a bit in some places. I think WB can be satisfied that it's finally been adapted properly, and give it a rest of awhile. Unless of course they launch a Superman TV Series, and dedicate an entire season to it

I also think that the shared universe that started with JL War is now in a great place. These past two movies went a long way toward addressing my gripes with the shared universe.

[Vordan]

Yeah spoilers:

that final sequence of Clark flying around in the Reborn outfit left me feeling a lot better about the direction the DCAMU is headed.

end of spoilers Might be selfish but now I want a Superman movie that’s not an origin, “turns evil” or death story with the DCAMU Superman. I want to see him fight Metallo or Parasite or Livewire now.

[rpmaluki]

Yeah spoilers:

that final sequence of Clark flying around in the Reborn outfit left me feeling a lot better about the direction the DCAMU is headed.

end of spoilers Might be selfish but now I want a Superman movie that’s not an origin, “turns evil” or death story with the DCAMU Superman. I want to see him fight Metallo or Parasite or Livewire now.

Absolutely on the last part.

[Superham]

Absolutely on the last part.

Agree. After a story like this, it would be nice to see a "meat and potatoes" Superman story to get things back to basics. Not only am I looking forward to seeing this version of Superman again, but I loved this take on Lois. Combine that with the fact that Superboy and steel now provide us with a "Superman family" supporting cast (could use some Supergirl though) and I'd love to see a theatrical take on the Superman revenge squad. Would also be a good excuse to bring Henshaw back and introduce a theatrical take on toy man.

[Clark_Kent]

I bought it digitally & just watched it again. I enjoyed it much more on my 2nd viewing...after my intial reaction of "this isn't the comic" wore off, my opinion of Reign is that this is a really fun movie, with some excellent action and fight choreography, and it hits all the right notes.

I've made peace with never seeing the original story done like Dark Knight Returns was, but I'm very happy to have this alternative. When taking this film as it is, and not as what I wanted it to be, it's pretty damn good. Also:

spoilers:

I agree with others that the post credit scene suggests Darkseid War coming at some point. But I think we will get an amalgamation of Darkseid War and Legends, actually...Reign opens with G. Gordon Godfrey on television spouting his "don't trust supers / be your own hero" rhetoric, similar to the Legends story. He plays no other role in Reign, even though the film is partially about Darkseid trying to return to Earth...I think it's setting up a Legends / Darkseid War film (probably just called Darkseid War), and I bet it will be a big film starring the Justice League, the Titans, and even the Suicide Squad from Hell to Pay.

end of spoilers

[Superlad93]

Reign was kind of just alright at best. The pacing felt kind of like it was stuttering. It was all round just kind of unfocused till the bad guy gets there. They probably should've elected to make this a straight up Lois Lane joint. It had the making of that, and she more or less had the keys to the forward momentum, but they got sidetracked wanting to play with the novelty of the 3 Supermen. Funny enough though, even then the 3 Supermen were bone dry. Steel and Superboy worked based on pure physicality, but John Henry is super not interesting in this film, and some of Conner's personality traits felt kind of amazingly inconsistent.

Cyborg Superman and Eradicator were actually pretty interesting on a conceptual level, but the movie doesn't really show off these versions' best sides. The twist on Eradicator and most things surrounding him it are maybe my favorite idea (not part, mind you) in the film.

That said, when the animation kicks up it's noticeable and enjoyable, and the idea behind the final fight is maybe the most creative and clear these films have ever gotten.

[Kon93]

This movie was good but man it really should have been twice along that is obvious with the pacing and how convenient everything was.

Anyways I loved seeing these characters animated finally,moving,facial expeessions,and attitudes.

Btw lex is just plain evil,he was mean as hell,which is in character,and it was like this the whole film,mostly in the car,grabbing SBs face.

Fight scenes were pretty dang cool.SB was actually a skilled fighter in this,mostly against eradicator,I always thought when they created him that fighting skill should be a skill programmed into him.

Eradicator was tough as **** for a light construct

Steels hammer with actual propulsion was cool

Hank was so cool,and totally went vat **** crazy at the end

Btw TTK in the next film SB is in or broke,and he looks like he is growing his sides out of his hair,so I'm expecting a lil change in his appearance next time we see him.

[Vordan]

This movie was good but man it really should have been twice along that is obvious with the pacing and how convenient everything was.

Anyways I loved seeing these characters animated finally,moving,facial expeessions,and attitudes.

Btw lex is just plain evil,he was mean as hell,which is in character,and it was like this the whole film,mostly in the car,grabbing SBs face.

Fight scenes were pretty dang cool.SB was actually a skilled fighter in this,mostly against eradicator,I always thought when they created him that fighting skill should be a skill programmed into him.

Eradicator was tough as **** for a light construct

Steels hammer with actual propulsion was cool

Hank was so cool,and totally went vat **** crazy at the end

Btw TTK in the next film SB is in or broke,and he looks like he is growing his sides out of his hair,so I'm expecting a lil change in his appearance next time we see him.

I hope he keeps the jacket at the very least. I liked the way he looked in this movie, I’d honestly just have him stay the same appearnece wise. The Kents raising 90s Superboy is a hilarious concept at the very least.

[Kon93]

I hope he keeps the jacket at the very least. I liked the way he looked in this movie, I’d honestly just have him stay the same appearnece wise. The Kents raising 90s Superboy is a hilarious concept at the very least.

Yeah SB here is $ imo,he just begs to be animated.keeping him the same,maybe they will make him "slightly" more mature,and maybe they will have his hair grow out(look at that phone pic lois and Clark was looking at),but he is close to perfect for animation.

TTK plz,no reason not to have it,he is a teen,he cant punch superman league guys out,and he hasn't shown any powers besides flying brick and heat vision,which are classic black zero or sins of youth powersets.

Oh and it was funny as hell seeing SB being so short,but he is a growing boy(atleast until they freeze his age lol) so he needs to grow some

[Superham]

This my favorite animated take on Superboy. Young Justice Conner is too brooding.

[Kon93]

This my favorite animated take on Superboy. Young Justice Conner is too brooding.

Same,but I love the YJ version,he really became the true hero of the show in season 2,and now he is even better.the YJ version needs 4 things to be perfect
1 TTK
2 cocky attitude(like spider man or Wally west,so young adult type)
3 new shirts and pants lol
4 black leather jacket baby

[rpmaluki]

Of the four Supermen, Eradicator is my favourite. He was definitely the more brutal of the bunch. I wish we saw more of him and the comics did more with him.

Cyborg gave me the creeps when he went on about being the real Superman.