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

[Superlad93]

I mean, I really wouldn't know for sure. Given the way the industry is swinging with Fresh Start and Rebirth, there's a more than likely chance that we'll get quite a bit of how they used to be back. That said, I doubt it'll be a 1:1 return of EVERYTHING. Like I said, they have to pick their battles. They have to decide what aspects of the old way the IP used to be that may clash with whatever new bits they want to add on. It's a case by case bases, so the level of changes they may wanna put the Legion through might not be indicative to the changes that they want to YJ through. Their also thinking of what worked in other forms of media, and what IPs are either getting movies or are being eyed for possible movie ideas.

[Nite-Wing]

They should just abandon the continuity and go back to making original adaptations that loosely tie together

[stephens2177]

I mean, I really wouldn't know for sure. Given the way the industry is swinging with Fresh Start and Rebirth, there's a more than likely chance that we'll get quite a bit of how they used to be back. That said, I doubt it'll be a 1:1 return of EVERYTHING. Like I said, they have to pick their battles. They have to decide what aspects of the old way the IP used to be that may clash with whatever new bits they want to add on. It's a case by case bases, so the level of changes they may wanna put the Legion through might not be indicative to the changes that they want to YJ through. Their also thinking of what worked in other forms of media, and what IPs are either getting movies or are being eyed for possible movie ideas.

Well take a guess on how they would bring kon-el back ?

[Frontier]

But, ya know, speculation is speculation, and all we have to go off is a screen shot. Telling as said screen shot is, nothing is quite set in stone. As I've said before though, Super Sons is a hard check not to cash, ya know?

I don't disagree, but I think a Super Sons movie would also be a little out-of-place in the more adult oriented DC Animated Feature Line.

I feel like it's also worth noting that no other members of the YJ4 are part of the DC animated film universe. Has anyone noticed this? The Robins seem to go from Dick to Damian with maybe Jason in there. The Titans have made Donna Troy the new current day Wonder Girl with no mention of Casandra. Wally was KF back when Dick was Robin, but no mention of Bart at any point.

They might be leaving those characters to the Young Justice show? The show has Conner, Bart, Casandra, and Tim all set as main characters. Feels like not putting Jon in rather than Conner would be par for the course in this animated universe, no?

I can see where you're coming from but I think the character choices and omissions had more to do with other reasons then just deliberately avoiding the Young Justice cast.

The reason they left off Jason and Tim was probably to just condense the Robin legacy to Dick and Damian as they carried that relationship across multiple movies. Though I know at panels they've talked about including both at some point, if not in their traditional roles.

Donna seemed to be included because she's both the original Wonder Girl and because they can potentially adapt a "Who is Donna Troy" or some variant of that storyline at some point.

Kid Flash in the Judas Contract flashback was probably meant to be Wally but he had Bart's hair and was basically a test run for Bart's Young Justice Outsiders costume. Heck, that whole flashback felt like a small Young Justice tribute because they brought back KF, Speedy, and Bumblebee's VA's from the show.

[JAK]

Whenever someone goes "well, the story is too long to adapt" or "no adaptation was faithful" or whatever, I always point to that BBC radio play. They condensed it and made it 100% more faithful than "Superman: Doomsday". Even the video game was more faithful than "Superman: Doomsday".

Exactly. That BBC show was amazing. Took me awhile to get used to the guy voicing Superman, but he still did a damn good job.

Despite its weirdness, I liked Superman: Doomsday. Also, despite my current disdain for these DoS stories, I saw the logic in using that story to kick off the DTV line. I think it's inexcusably bad to go back to it 11 years later, though.

Superman: Doomsday itself isn't the problem. The problem is that we were told from Didio and others things like: "we're going to finally put your favorite comic book stories in animated form". Superman: Doomsday was ok for what it was... but was rightly burned at the stake for what we were promised it would be. Finally, they say they're going to fix that mistake... and then this.

Oh and shoehorning the Death and Reign stories into this new 52ish DCAU is just dumb,mostly when they haven't done it for Batman's last couple movies.

Exactly. It's always Superman and his fans who have to put up with this crap.

Preach it. It seems like for as much as DC loves mining from this era of Superman, there's still an inherent lack of respect. One of the reasons the story had so much impact was because of the very particular conditions of the Superman mythos and the DCU at the time. A Superman who had been active for roughly a decade. A relationship with Lois that had progressed to engagement, ergo loving and open but still before they had begun their life together. Jonathan and Martha Kent still alive. A more fragmented DCU, with the "Trinity" less close and a less-than-powerful Justice League at the tail end of the Bwa-ha-ha/Maxwell Lord era. I'd even make the case that Lex Luthor II, not traditional bald Luthor, is an important part of the story, as Superman dying while Luthor was passing himself off as his own benevolent son informed a lot of the character's decisions during the entire event. It even fed into his own (ultimately correct, if misinformed) paranoia that Superman was "faking" his death, because that's exactly what he had done.

Reading CBR's editorial earlier this week that we don't need anymore Death of Superman adaptations misses the mark. What we don't need any watered down or "streamlined" adaptations. Give us one original faithful behemoth with all of its grandeur and power, one that understands that the Doomsday fight is the least important part. The storyline isn't about Superman dying. It's about Superman's impact on the world and why he matters.

Yes on all counts. "We don't need anymore Death of Superman adaptations"? We haven't had THAT many. I want a good one, and a faithful one. Like we were promised back when the DCA was started.

Is there some reason mental,legal,or opinion oriented reason DC never gives it's fans EXACLTY what they scream for? They will give you back the character you want,but tweak something that throws him all out of whack and not what the fans wanted.same for these movies,tv,and animated shows,is it impossible for them to just give the fans what they want,instead of feeding into dumb **** to make a skewed version?

Yeah, there's a good reason: WB has had it's head up it's own @$$ for so long, they've gotten used to the smell. They only respect it if it has a Batman lead, and even then not always. it's not even just Superman or comics-related stuff... I have a number of other examples, as well.

It's a shame, really. It takes more work to do some of what they do than it would if they just did it right. But... yeah. If it does turn out to be anywhere near authentic, I'll be shocked.

[Guy_McNichts]

Has there been any word on whether Wonder Woman will be in this? As I recall, she wasn't present in the original comic story...not for the Doomsday fight anyway.

Or should I expect to see her jobbed out like a chump? I'd rather get angry about it now than later.

[kevinism]

Is there some reason mental,legal,or opinion oriented reason DC never gives it's fans EXACLTY what they scream for? They will give you back the character you want,but tweak something that throws him all out of whack and not what the fans wanted.same for these movies,tv,and animated shows,is it impossible for them to just give the fans what they want,instead of feeding into dumb **** to make a skewed version?

They give me what I want

[bat39]

Well, I must admit I'm surprised its part of the 'New 52' animated universe. Not that its a deal-breaker for me - but it does raise doubts about how much more (or less) faithful this adaptation will be to Superman Doomsday.

To a larger extent, I really feel that they need to do a 'Rebirth' of this loose animated universe. The DCAOU (DC Animated Original Universe) has always played fast and loose with continuity and eras anyway. A lot of 'New 52' stuff is basically adaptations of pre-Flashpoint material tweaked to a new context (Son of Batman, Batman Bad Blood, Teen Titans Judas Contract). Maybe they can keep the continuity but evolve it a little further into a more 'classic' status quo.

If I were DC, this 'Death/Return' movie would be the first step. I'd have Lois and Clark in a relationship, or moving towards one - with the whole Wonder Woman thing resolved. (In-universe, its probably been years since the events of Justice League War and Throne of Atlantis - so it makes sense). New 52 designs notwithstanding, try to be as faithful as possible to the original story. Cyborg-Superman is a must. The Eradicator and Steel are also easily do-able. Superboy is a bit of a wild card in terms of whether they'll do it or not.

It'll be interesting if they use Supergirl. She's not been introduced in the New 52 film continuity yet, though she had been in the previous continuity. Maybe they can use this as her introduction in this continuity - go with the 'secret weapon' angle from the Silver Age.

The movie should end with Clark and Lois firmly getting together (maybe even the marriage!). Also, in the end, Superman should be seen donning the classic suit, trunks and all!

The next film in the line should be an adaptation of Morrison's 'New World Order'. Use it to introduce Martian Manhunter, and put together a new League with the 'Big Seven' from that story. (Well, with Barry as the Flash instead of Wally, and maybe John instead of Kyle).

As far as Jon goes - I think by far the best way to get him into play is some kind of story involving timey-wimey shenanigans - Clark and Lois stuck in a pocket universe or another dimension or one of Brainiac's bottled cities - and have Jon. When they return to the DCU, no time has passed, but ten years have passed for them.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Has there been any word on whether Wonder Woman will be in this? As I recall, she wasn't present in the original comic story...not for the Doomsday fight anyway.

Or should I expect to see her jobbed out like a chump? I'd rather get angry about it now than later.

No word yet, but I'm speculating that she'll be there instead of Maxima.

[Miles To Go]

As far as Jon goes - I think by far the best way to get him into play is some kind of story involving timey-wimey shenanigans - Clark and Lois stuck in a pocket universe or another dimension or one of Brainiac's bottled cities - and have Jon. When they return to the DCU, no time has passed, but ten years have passed for them.

Heh, I recall wanting to make that the ideal series finale of JL Action!

[bat39]

Heh, I recall wanting to make that the ideal series finale of JL Action!

I actually thought that's how Superman Reborn would fix the timeline. Of course, I was proven wrong...

[Frontier]

Y'know, in practice I don't think this is going to work that differently from how they would have handled it had this been an Elseworlds title.

They'll still have to establish and get people invested in Superman and his world before the fight with Doomsday, along with setting up the other Supermen for the next movie.

About the only things that they will have to deal with on-top of that, because of the continuity, is the Wonder Woman relationship and the League as presented in past films showing up.

[Lake Nowhere]

I'm late to the party with this news, but I am so incredibly disappointed by this.

This adaptation should have been treated as a 90's period piece, outside of the godawful new52 designs and continuity that they are still trying to shoehorn into the animated films for some reason. DC should have taken as much care to replicate the iconic Jurgens imagery as they did with Miller when they adapted Dark Knight Returns, or Bolland's Killing Joke desings. I was so excited to see a proper 90's Superboy animated on-screen. I can't imagine what he'll look like now.

This is baffling, especially since DC seems to be doing everything they can to distance themselves from the mess of the new52 in their current rebirth comics.

[stephens2177]

Pure ignorance

[DochaDocha]

DC should have taken as much care to replicate the iconic Jurgens imagery as they did with Miller when they adapted Dark Knight Returns, or Bolland's Killing Joke desings.

Credit (or blame) should be given to Bruce Timm, I think, for making sure the animation and designs were consistent with source material. I always thought it was weird that so much effort was made to make sure the Miller stuff (and later, Killing Joke stuff) was faithfully re-created, whereas the other adaptations were loosely followed.

Figuratively speaking, I'm simultaneously covering my eyes and peeking at this upcoming project, because I think there's about equal probability that it'll be good or freakin' terrible.