Design a Superman TV show

[stargazer01]

Something based on Grant Morrison's idea of a grounded, topical, Golden Age based Superman who slowly evolves into a great cosmic hero reminiscent of the Bronze Age, while never losing his street level view on the world. Er, but instead of doing what Morrison did and rushing through the transition, I'd want my show to really take its time. Emphasize the cast's growth slowly over the course of several seasons, but make each season stand enough on its own that you never hear people say "this show starts getting really good in season 3" or whatever, which is of course very silly. Certain characters with multiple, glaringly different iterations might well be split up into multiple characters. Start with Superman in the t-shirt and cape, Clark working at the Daily Star instead of the Planet, doing stories mostly based on the Golden Age, that sort of thing.

Agreed on everything you said. Have Clark slowly develop his powers similar to Man of Steel movie, with flight last. And develop the characters slower but consistently. Just don't stay in Smallville with teen Clark for more than a season please, we already had a whole show about that lol.

And avoid the super villain of the day; have a main villain for the whole season that it's developed slowly. Season arcs.

And sure romance is fine, but don't overdo it. Show needs proper drama and suspense that uses all the characters well not just Lois and Clark. Use and develop Jimmy well like a real character, and Lex Luthor's personal and public life.

[Sacred Knight]

Basically I'd want something unabashedly Superman and superheroic based this time around. I'm not saying ignore the other stuff I'm just saying that's the main draw again, the superheroics. Not Lois and Clark (as in the tv show concept), not high school stuff, not focusing on a setting or characters other than Superman, etc. etc. Enough of that. I just want Superman doing Superman things first and foremost. All that other stuff? Of course its around but its supplemental again. Pretty much like it was always supposed to be. The aim to focus on different things had merit in the beginning, they were different take on an old mythology, but its been done now. I'd argue done to death. I think its high time to get back to that old mythology just as it was intended as opposed to more alternative takes.

[Adekis]

Basically I'd want something unabashedly Superman and superheroic based this time around. I'm not saying ignore the other stuff I'm just saying that's the main draw again, the superheroics. Not Lois and Clark (as in the tv show concept), not high school stuff, not focusing on a setting or characters other than Superman, etc. etc. Enough of that. I just want Superman doing Superman things first and foremost. All that other stuff? Of course its around but its supplemental again. Pretty much like it was always supposed to be. The aim to focus on different things had merit in the beginning, they were different take on an old mythology, but its been done now. I'd argue done to death. I think its high time to get back to that old mythology just as it was intended as opposed to more alternative takes.

I mean... the old mythology is just so contradictory at this point.

In my ideal show, Lois would be modeled on STAS with a little L&C tossed in, Kal/Clark would be based on a mix of Greg Pak, Grant Morrison, Cary Bates, Elliot Maggin and Zack Snyder, Metropolis would be very post-Crisis, Cat Grant would be very Marv Wolfman, etc. In some ways I feel like you need to draw on diverse sources of characters just because there are so very many things to draw on that if you don't draw on them deliberately, you'll do it by accident.

Not that I disagree with the basic premise of putting Superman and his daring exploits at the front and center, because I definitely don't.

Here's something I'd really like: Super-Competence porn. Watching CW shows, there's a lot of emphasis early on on the character not being that good at being a super-hero yet. Maybe CK doesn't have to be the greatest ever in the first episode, but certainly by the end of season 1, I'd want him to be really, ridiculously good at crisis management. I just find that fun to watch. He's not the best because he has the strongest powers, but because he knows exactly what to do with them.

[DochaDocha]

Pretty much Adekis' idea. Start with the Morrison Young Clark model. Have him grow to be the Superman we all know and love. Early on, he can get his butt kicked here and there, but by the end, he's the one who's handing out nuggets of wisdom and beatdowns.

Oh yeah, animated. Live action Supes on a low budget leaves a lot to be desired.

[stargazer01]

I also want a Superman show that focuses on him and his development more than other characters, but we live in a more sophisticated time, and I think it's important to develop all the main and supporting characters well because it makes the whole show better. Take the CW shows, for instance, they focus on a few characters, but they often had Winn and Iris looking like props with little development or agency of their own and the show suffers, IMO. Yes, Clark Kent and Superman and the main draw, but it only enriches the show when other supporting characters are well written.

[stargazer01]

Pretty much Adekis' idea. Start with the Morrison Young Clark model. Have him grow to be the Superman we all know and love. Early on, he can get his butt kicked here and there, but by the end, he's the one who's handing out nuggets of wisdom and beatdowns.

Oh yeah, animated. Live action Supes on a low budget leaves a lot to be desired.

I prefer live action, but I'll take animated too if that's the only option. But we need really good writers, otherwise we are doomed from the start...

[Sacred Knight]

I mean... the old mythology is just so contradictory at this point.

Oh in the comic book realm it is, absolutely. But a show can pretty much craft whatever history they want, that I'm not so much going to be a stickler on. When I say old mythology I'm certainly not meaning take everything that's happened in Superman's 80 year history and try and reference all over the place in a new show. That would be a fool's errand. All I'm saying is I'd like something not at all what the current trend has been, and that's shining the light on other aspects of that mythology as a main draw. Again I get why it was done before and though it was interesting at the time. But I'm tired of that approach now. That's not to say don't develop what's around him of course, that's a given.

[Kuwagaton]

Yeah, live action or not I'd say we haven't been getting what he was intended to be. Sure movies and animated videos have a good share of that, but they also ignore the serial nature of the character. It's the flipside of say, making a serial adaptation of the Lion King where you're inherently compromising the original vision.

A Superman who isn't a supporting character, a story that isn't. "sort of" Superman, a story that's action comedy instead of a romcom with a little action... I'm sure you get it.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Yeah I think the first season should serve as the origin/year one, though I wouldn't have him in the t-shirt proto costume for more than an episode or two. We got more than enough of that from Smallville. Superman is the one who made costumed heroics popular, we don't need to wait to see him in a super suit. Frankly the Netflix marvel shows soured me on superheroes fighting crime in street clothes.
Avoid nerfing Superman, this makes him harder to write but it's worked in the comics for years.
NO SUPPORT CREW or "team superman" like in the CW shows. Supporting cast is the daily planet folk. Clark has x-ray vision and superhearing, he doesn't need a hacker friend or someone to give him pep talks.
Lois is Clark's main love interest and fellow reporter. None of that CW Iris West weirdness. Have her find out Clark's secret by around seasons 2 or 3. Long enough to have fun with her not knowing, but not before it outstays it's welcome.
Getting Lex Luthor right is important, as important as getting Superman and Lois right. Maybe more so, since we rarely get good live action Luthors. I wouldn't mind if he starts out evil but later sort of adapts his new 52 redemption in later seasons.
Not sure about the other villains though. I know the OP said no, but I'd really love to see Krypton's versions of Brainiac and Zod fight Superman. Maybe even Darkseid and the 4th world but only if it's done in an ambitious big budget way.
Tone should be somewhere in the middle between the large gap of the extremes of the super dark and edgy Titans and the light cheesyness of Legends of Tomorrow. I can go for a more lighthearted Superman show or one that's a little more serious. Basically I don't want outright camp like Legends but I also don't want blood, gore or f-bombs from a superman show. As much as I enjoy both Titans and Legends.

[Vakanai]

Wow, considering how often people on this forum say they're sick of rehashing the origin story, a lot of people sure are suggesting we start in Clark's early days as Superman. Kind of weird, although I do happen to agree (but then I love rehashing the origin again). I think the original, old man Ultra-humanite would make a good season long story arc villain for blue jeans and t-shirt Superman. Maybe throw in Parasite as one of UH's experiments, some of Lex Luthor also doing his own illegal things behind the scenes, and maybe even add Lobo like in American Alien. Then in season two I'd love to see Lex's plan in Birthright adapted as the main threat of the season, followed perhaps by Morrison's Brainiac story from Action or something. And I definitely want some team up episodes, a few not many, organically sprinkled out featuring future JL members like Batman (preferably a lot less antagonistic and a lot more friendly towards Clark, like their pre-Crisis versions), Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.

[Superfly Frankenstein]

After much thinking, I decided to play along:

So, you want world building, but to do it properly, you do t want to overdo it in the first season. For the first season, Clark starts working at Daily Planet. The first episode should have a “space plane” moment (Byrne MOS) that introduces a non suited Superman before debuting the suit by the end of the pilot. We have Lois as the rival. We have a kid Jimmy. We have billionaire Lex, we have Perry, Cat Grant, and Ma as a guest star from time to time. We start with Clark being about 24. He is a college grad, a small time world traveler and, yes, he gets the big Superman story. Lois is about the same age. We got a Lex in his 40s and a Perry in his 50s. We don’t want much Smallville ties because this is our First season. Metropolis is post crisis. There is no Fortress of solitude. Jimmy is a copy boy, about 16. Low level villains like Toyman, Prankster, Live Wire, Rampage, Barrage. The season finale gives us our first heavy hitter in Bizzaro having been created by Luthor.
Season Two gives us Metallo, Parasite, Mxy.
By season three, Lois and Clark are dating with the finale being the reveal. We finally get Brainiac and other heroes like Gangbuster, Guardian and Agent Liberty.

Season four ends with Doomsday

Season five adapts the Reign and a loose Fall of Metropolis.

Season Six gives us the rebuilding of Metropolis, the marriage and Conduit.


Season Seven is President Luthor, Lois Preggers. The birth of Jon.

There is my basic backbone for seven seasons.

[DochaDocha]

Wow, considering how often people on this forum say they're sick of rehashing the origin story, a lot of people sure are suggesting we start in Clark's early days as Superman. Kind of weird, although I do happen to agree (but then I love rehashing the origin again). I think the original, old man Ultra-humanite would make a good season long story arc villain for blue jeans and t-shirt Superman. Maybe throw in Parasite as one of UH's experiments, some of Lex Luthor also doing his own illegal things behind the scenes, and maybe even add Lobo like in American Alien. Then in season two I'd love to see Lex's plan in Birthright adapted as the main threat of the season, followed perhaps by Morrison's Brainiac story from Action or something. And I definitely want some team up episodes, a few not many, organically sprinkled out featuring future JL members like Batman (preferably a lot less antagonistic and a lot more friendly towards Clark, like their pre-Crisis versions), Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.

Well, since I'm one of the guilty complainers...

I picked Morrison Superman for various reasons:

1) A lot of fans have issues with a powerful Superman, and a lot of otherwise-good creators who write Superman struggle with the power level. I remember reading a Rags Morales interview in which he stated he didn't find Superman interesting, but he thought Morrison's take on Superman's early years was interesting. So, if I wanted to increase the likelihood of success of a Superman story, both from the perspective of an average fan or the writer who was involved with the show, Morrison's Superman's early years would be a good place to start.

2) For a movie franchise, an origin story is pretty tedious because you're likely going to get three movies, tops (or in the case of Superman, lose your sequel to Batman...). So that's about 8 or so hours of narrative, of which roughly 25-30% will be dedicated to origin. For a TV series that may run between 10-30 hours long, dedicating a few episodes to the origin is not going to feel like it would create a scarcity of opportunities to tell a lot of great Superman stories.

3) I just felt like Morrison's run was too short. Honestly, 18 issues for a reboot? It felt like nothing. I'd like to see this version of the character revisited in some form.

[Vakanai]

Well, since I'm one of the guilty complainers...

I picked Morrison Superman for various reasons:

1) A lot of fans have issues with a powerful Superman, and a lot of otherwise-good creators who write Superman struggle with the power level. I remember reading a Rags Morales interview in which he stated he didn't find Superman interesting, but he thought Morrison's take on Superman's early years was interesting. So, if I wanted to increase the likelihood of success of a Superman story, both from the perspective of an average fan or the writer who was involved with the show, Morrison's Superman's early years would be a good place to start.

2) For a movie franchise, an origin story is pretty tedious because you're likely going to get three movies, tops (or in the case of Superman, lose your sequel to Batman...). So that's about 8 or so hours of narrative, of which roughly 25-30% will be dedicated to origin. For a TV series that may run between 10-30 hours long, dedicating a few episodes to the origin is not going to feel like it would create a scarcity of opportunities to tell a lot of great Superman stories.

3) I just felt like Morrison's run was too short. Honestly, 18 issues for a reboot? It felt like nothing. I'd like to see this version of the character revisited in some form.

Gonna be honest, when I was nabbing up my first Superman trades a couple years back I was focusing on the origin stories, and I bought the first volume of Morrison's run - and it largely kind of felt a bit over-hyped/underwhelming, and honestly a bit confusing. I liked the t-shirt look as a great origin costume and felt they got to the more traditional costume way too quick in that story, but the story itself felt kind of, meh. I liked both Earth One and Birthright better (the other comics I got at that time).

Edit - I did like that Lex effectively tried to shoot Superman with a bullet train early on. Got a kick out of that.

[Soubhagya]

Something based on Grant Morrison's idea of a grounded, topical, Golden Age based Superman who slowly evolves into a great cosmic hero reminiscent of the Bronze Age, while never losing his street level view on the world. Er, but instead of doing what Morrison did and rushing through the transition, I'd want my show to really take its time. Emphasize the cast's growth slowly over the course of several seasons, but make each season stand enough on its own that you never hear people say "this show starts getting really good in season 3" or whatever, which is of course very silly. Certain characters with multiple, glaringly different iterations might well be split up into multiple characters. Start with Superman in the t-shirt and cape, Clark working at the Daily Star instead of the Planet, doing stories mostly based on the Golden Age, that sort of thing.

Who are you and what have you done with my idea. Lol!

I love your idea. I was content with simply keeping it in the grounded level. Superman fighting corrupt politicians, mobsters, etc. Clark Kent as reporter who writes to change lives. That sort of thing with some bit of investigative reporting along the way. Maybe add just the right amount of detective work too. And just keep it like that. A Bronze age Superman can be quite costly. (Maybe doing fewer episodes will work). But Superman of early Morrison Action is almost like Adventures of Superman updated. They managed to make that 50 years ago.

Even in costume, we can have Fleischer style of action. But overall i agree. That growth would be the best show for Superman.

[Soubhagya]

Well, since I'm one of the guilty complainers...

I picked Morrison Superman for various reasons:

1) A lot of fans have issues with a powerful Superman, and a lot of otherwise-good creators who write Superman struggle with the power level. I remember reading a Rags Morales interview in which he stated he didn't find Superman interesting, but he thought Morrison's take on Superman's early years was interesting. So, if I wanted to increase the likelihood of success of a Superman story, both from the perspective of an average fan or the writer who was involved with the show, Morrison's Superman's early years would be a good place to start.

2) For a movie franchise, an origin story is pretty tedious because you're likely going to get three movies, tops (or in the case of Superman, lose your sequel to Batman...). So that's about 8 or so hours of narrative, of which roughly 25-30% will be dedicated to origin. For a TV series that may run between 10-30 hours long, dedicating a few episodes to the origin is not going to feel like it would create a scarcity of opportunities to tell a lot of great Superman stories.

3) I just felt like Morrison's run was too short. Honestly, 18 issues for a reboot? It felt like nothing. I'd like to see this version of the character revisited in some form.

I agree. In all movie ideas i bring up Morrison. But it could be even better in a tv series.