How would you restart the Superman movie franchise?

[EsotericFailures]

Superman is now in limbo at the movies. Despite superhero movies being the most popular genre right now, DC finally making well-received and financially successful movies and Batman moving on from the early DCEU debacle, the Superman franchise seems to be resting now. We don't even though if Cavill will ever return. So how would you restart it?

[superduperman]

Hard reboot. No connection to the DCEU. Just let it die. Unfortunately this would mean a new origin but that's a small price to pay for a fresh start. I would keep it short. Only about ten or twenty minutes. The villain is Brainiac. Had a hand in Krypton's destruction and has come to Earth to finish the job. Tries to steal Metropolis. Big fight sequence. Superman saves the city from being stolen. Send Brainiac into the farthest reaches of space. Happy ending. Luthor is there but not main villain. Maybe hint at existence of Batman with reference to Gotham City or something. New franchise in the works. Sequel in two years.

[DrNewGod]

Hard reboot. No connection to the DCEU. Just let it die. Unfortunately this would mean a new origin but that's a small price to pay for a fresh start. I would keep it short. Only about ten or twenty minutes. The villain is Brainiac. Had a hand in Krypton's destruction and has come to Earth to finish the job. Tries to steal Metropolis. Big fight sequence. Superman saves the city from being stolen. Send Brainiac into the farthest reaches of space. Happy ending. Luthor is there but not main villain. Maybe hint at existence of Batman with reference to Gotham City or something. New franchise in the works. Sequel in two years.

Actually, I think you could get away with little to no origin. Superman's backstory is widely enough known that you could start it with his first day on the job at The Daily Planet, or even later.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'd keep it vaguely in the same continuity as the others but its a new cast, new story.

Superlad had a pitch for a Superman vs Parasite movie that could work as a soft reboot.

[Restingvoice]

I haven't watched the Snyder movies. What I don't like or made me not interested was the overall dark or drab aesthetic and Krypton aesthetic. I prefer the crystal and toga Krypton to the Alien's nest Krypton. The dark, chitinous armor and space ship work on Zod and his crew but feels weird on Jor-El.
What I like, again, from the trailers, is the illegal immigrant angle.

My ideal aesthetic for a Superman movie is pretty classic. A bright and sunny visual, futuristic utopia Krypton, and bald Luthor, but I don't have an idea for the story.

I know I don't want an origin story, and I don't think they need it. People already know. We already know he'll end up with Lois, so there's also no conflict or suspense there. At least for me.

So I think I want a married Superman to start. Pregnant with Jon is optional. Brainiac as the enemy, maybe, since we haven't got him. That's it for now.

Oh and Olsen's alive. No killing of characters you can use in the next movies.

[Jon Clark]

I say just do a very loose sequel like they did with Batman in the 1990's. No new origin. Keep Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne if they are willing to return. Recast Lois and Superman with cheaper, younger actors with an eye to having them in sequels and such. Approach it as the last three films happened but the exact details aren't necessarily set in stone (Jimmy Olsen isn't that dead CIA guy, a more serious Lex was part of BvS).

Basically keep what you want, don't make too many specific references to the events of prior films and move forward.

[Sacred Knight]

At this point full reboot. I wish it wasn't necessary, because I still hate losing Cavill, but to me it is. They screwed up too much. That doesn't mean it has to be a full origin. There are myriad creative ways to start over but avoid an outright dedicated origin story. You gloss over the bullet points, then get right into it year 1. He's new, but not day one new.

If its successful maybe at some point you can drop multiverse hints for a very loose connection to the few successful existing properties like WW.

As a for instance, what I'd do with the origin is start the film showing a bunch of newspaper clippings laid out on a table. The camera moves over each one, from the Smallville paper about the storm, to miraculous aversions of tragedy, up until Lois's Planet article about Superman's debut. It seems innocuous, but at the end of the film do a surprise reveal that this is a bit of a flashforward, and what we're seeing is Clark showing this stuff to a blonde girl, whom he at the end namedrops as Kara.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I would not want a hard reboot. It's completely unnecessary and would only confuse fans of other DCEU movies where Superman or events he participated in have been referenced like Aquaman and Shazam.

Just bring the Man of Steel cast back intact and move forward with a warmer tone. Don't bother to reference the past DCEU films or storylines, but don't contradict the past, either.

Then, do an action-packed flick with Superman battling Brainiac. Maybe they could introduce Kandor in the film in order to start worldbuilding Superman's mythos in film.

Man of Steel was generally liked by those who saw it (it has an Audience RT score of 75% -- in line with Aquaman's 76%), so there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just move forward.

[Sacred Knight]

At this point in the game, no one would be confused. Marvel properties have done reboots and other continuity changes enough times that the larger movie-going public are immune. The general moviegoing public falls into two categories now: they either get different continuities (Spider-Man is already bringing Multiverse into the general lexicon), or just flat out don't care as long as the movie is good.

We're no longer in a time where we have to avoid the weirder comic book tropes that only comic book fans understand. Marvel Studios (and Sony, though not by design) have already opened that door, so DC should walk through it.

[stargazer01]

Voted for a direct sequel with Henry Cavill and rest of the cast and a new director. I think Henry deserves the chance to prove himself. Keep Zack Snyder far away as possible please. Guy is poison to Superman.

But a loose sequel with a new Superman actor could work with a great story, lighter tone, and plenty of spectacle and also a solid and charismatic actor in the main role. If you don't get the main guy and the story right, it's not going to work. Get a solid director who likes Superman and who can do mainstream blockbuster films. Someone with a good track record please...

I would also be ok with a full reboot, however, a new origin so soon makes no sense. Would have to wait a least 5-7 years, and I don't wanna..

[stargazer01]

I would not want a hard reboot. It's completely unnecessary and would only confuse fans of other DCEU movies where Superman or events he participated in have been referenced like Aquaman and Shazam.

Just bring the Man of Steel cast back intact and move forward with a warmer tone. Don't bother to reference the past DCEU films or storylines, but don't contradict the past, either.

Then, do an action-packed flick with Superman battling Brainiac. Maybe they could introduce Kandor in the film in order to start worldbuilding Superman's mythos in film.

Man of Steel was generally liked by those who saw it (it has an Audience RT score of 75% -- in line with Aquaman's 76%), so there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just move forward.

Agreed. Man of Steel was liked by many, it sold very well in home media (over $116 mill). Superman just needs a great film with more heart and lighter moments.

[Godzilla2099]

Easily a Man of Steel Sequel

- Cavill was awesome as Superman
- The rest of the cast did a good job
- The First Flight Scene in Man of Steel ties for my favorite Superman moment of all time.

Man of Steel was underrated. It deserves another movie.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Option C for me. It's clear at this point that inter-film continuity is going to be loose as hell - it's very clear tonally that while events *akin* to BvS happened prior to Justice League and Shazam!, it's certainly not those versions of the characters - and they're recasting Batman anyway, but with Aquaman and Wonder Woman and if the Miller/Morrison script goes through Flash sticking around (and sharing a world - Aquaman easily could have cut the line referencing Steppenwolf if they really wanted to divest themselves), and Superman's little cameo with a slightly redesigned suit, it seems they're adhering to a baseline of sorts. So new cast, new setup, clearly a new background, but with just enough in common that when they do Justice League 2 at some point we can understand this is, if not the same guy from the first one, close enough to that model that you don't feel like he needs to be reintroduced to everybody.

[Flash Gordon]

Honestly just do a Superman film with Henry Cavil and Amy Adams. Change the lens. Get a new writer and director. Let it be it's own thing and dont reference anything from the BvS/JL disaster.

[EsotericFailures]

They aren't ditching the DCEU (even the supposed Suicide Squad reboot is not a reboot, they're not even recasting Deadshot and several actors are returning) so having a full reboot would be a disaster for Superman imo. He'd be kept out of the Justice League and all the big event movies (which I'm sure DC will start doing again once they've successfully reestablished Batman and get a good streak going). But having Cavill return reminds audiences of the toxic Snyder movies.

So a soft reboot in the DCEU. Recast Superman, Lois Lane and Perry White and focus on Superman characters we haven't seen before, starting with Brainiac. Allow Superman to be a key part of this DC universe.