The Joker stand alone movie and the future of DC movies.

[Ascended]

That would appeal to such a niche market though that the budget would have to be almost nothing to make a profit. Most people would look at something like that and say "What the hell is this?!?", and not even bother with.

Entirely possible. I dont know enough about movie metrics to really be able to guess how a Golden Age Superman movie would go over with people.

But we've seen that unconventional comic movies can work. Logan, Deadpool, Venom, etc. We also know that superhero films set in a particular era can work, as we've seen with Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel. And since people know Superman has been around forever they're probably not going to be confused by the choice of setting. It's a period piece Superman movie; not a hard concept to work around. The challenge would be getting people interested.

Plus, there's plenty of us who still remember the old Fleischer cartoons (I used to watch them in the 80's as a kid). And a lot more who are at least passingly aware of them.

I think audiences would be caught off guard by "Superman: The Golden Age" but that might be a good thing too. It might make them curious. And if the general audience looks at Superman and sees a hero who is old fashioned and/or out-dated (which seems a common complaint among the GA), this might even work to DC's advantage; Golden Age Superman can't be out-dated in his own time period.

The power levels being so low helps keep the budget down, meaning the film doesn't have to break a billion to be considered a success.

Personally, I think it'd be worth the gamble. But its not my money and I love the old Golden Age stories, so I have a pretty big bias.

I say look at Morrison's opening Action arc. That was Golden Age Superman done with a modern sensibility and it seems to have been pretty popular. Comic sales and reviews aren't a great barometer to judge by but I consider it a good sign. If the Golden Age inspired t-shirt Superman found success with comic fans (and he did, until DC burned that goodwill) then its possible that a Golden Age Superman movie could be successful too.

[Vordan]

If you specifically marketed a Golden Age/Morrison Superman as an Elseworld I think it would do fine also.

[Ascended]

If you specifically marketed a Golden Age/Morrison Superman as an Elseworld I think it would do fine also.

You know what might sell it for people?

Superman struggling.

Everyone complains about how Clark is too powerful and is never challenged. It's a totally idiotic opinion not supported in any real way by the actual material, but its what a lot of people think.

If a trailer really drove home Clark having to work for his wins, if it showed him bleeding? That would get some attention.

Looking at the Morrison stuff, since that's the baseline a lot of us have mentioned, you make a trailer and put in stuff like Clark getting hit by the train, being tortured by Lex, throwing his costume away...show him struggling and bleeding.....and then finish the trailer with the scene of Clark leaping into orbit (for that feel-good, inspirational ending) and the whole thing might just be different enough from people's expectations to actually get their interest, rather than making them think it's bad characterization.

Any time you present non-fans with a Superman who isn't 75% Reeves, they claim its not really Superman. Horrible, wrongheaded opinion but that's how the general audience seems to feel. But a 1940's Superman? That's so different it demands to be seen as a "new" interpretation, rather than simply a "wrong" one.

[Flash Gordon]

I think just making a good Superman flick would suffice.

Don't go crazy with the budget, so that it makes the studio money. Be creative.

[Vordan]

It’s not like the general public is clamoring for another Snyder-tier “The entire City of Metropolis was flattened” movie anyway. Shazam seems to be reviewing well. WW reviewed well. You really don’t need an over the top drawn out battle and in fact I’d argue against doing that. People don’t want Superman knocking down buildings.

[Slim Shady]

I'm still pissed we didn't get long haired Nicolas Cage Superman dies/lives/reborn whatever it was called.

[JAK]

Entirely possible. I dont know enough about movie metrics to really be able to guess how a Golden Age Superman movie would go over with people.

But we've seen that unconventional comic movies can work. Logan, Deadpool, Venom, etc. We also know that superhero films set in a particular era can work, as we've seen with Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel. And since people know Superman has been around forever they're probably not going to be confused by the choice of setting. It's a period piece Superman movie; not a hard concept to work around. The challenge would be getting people interested.

Plus, there's plenty of us who still remember the old Fleischer cartoons (I used to watch them in the 80's as a kid). And a lot more who are at least passingly aware of them.

I think audiences would be caught off guard by "Superman: The Golden Age" but that might be a good thing too. It might make them curious. And if the general audience looks at Superman and sees a hero who is old fashioned and/or out-dated (which seems a common complaint among the GA), this might even work to DC's advantage; Golden Age Superman can't be out-dated in his own time period.

The power levels being so low helps keep the budget down, meaning the film doesn't have to break a billion to be considered a success.

Personally, I think it'd be worth the gamble. But its not my money and I love the old Golden Age stories, so I have a pretty big bias.

I say look at Morrison's opening Action arc. That was Golden Age Superman done with a modern sensibility and it seems to have been pretty popular. Comic sales and reviews aren't a great barometer to judge by but I consider it a good sign. If the Golden Age inspired t-shirt Superman found success with comic fans (and he did, until DC burned that goodwill) then its possible that a Golden Age Superman movie could be successful too.

Agreed. You said just about word-for-word what my thoughts are.

Plus, if WB pushes it as "the first Superman" and "this is the original Superman as he was in the 30's" people would be at least interested enough to give it a shot.

Make it almost film-noire, and you'd really have something that would grab people's attention that would cost less to make than even Deadpool.

[seismic-2]

If audiences sent to see a Wonder Woman movies set in World War I, there's no reason they wouldn't go see a Superman movie set just before World War II. Even if he's more nearly a hero than a super-hero, so what? There are lots of popular movies featuring humans no more powerful than Clark Kent, who do heroic things.