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.

[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..

[Powerboy]

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?

I am so late to this party.

The problem I have is that none of the votes really fit what I want.

Nothing that involves a sequel to MoS or B v S.

I'm not sure what a recast movie loosely in the DCEU means.

Now that Wonder Woman and Aquaman have been so successful, I don't want them thrown out. A complete reboot of Superman might be good though. Maybe reboot his origin but in such a way that people are not groaning about another origin story. Maybe have him be Superboy first, something that clearly says this is a different version. That's just an idea. Have his first meeting with Batman be drastically different. Nothing can change the fact that B v S was the first live action meeting but something not quite so dark might go a long way to make up for it.

Then have Superman and Batman, after they meet each other, meet Aquaman since there's nothing in the Aquaman movie specifically that has to have MoS, B v S, JL or any other movie be in continuity. Likewise, have them then meet WW and clearly establish that this is their first meeting.

The continuity would then be the Wonder Woman movie (including upcoming sequels that take place in the past), Aquaman, Shazam and future Superman and Batman movies that throw out MoS, B v S, JL and everything else.

Of course, this is just daydreaming. They are not going to do that. They are not going to start rebooting already let alone partially rebooting even though DC is infamous for that in the comics. They know that would just make things even worse and more confusing. They are just going to forge ahead, mistakes and all and that is [probably their smartest move. Of course, it seems to mean "The first rule of Fight Club is we don't talk about Fight Club" or, in this case, "The first rule of new DCEU movies is "We don't talk about MoS or B v S or JL. We forge ahead, have Superman's chest insignia make a cameo in "Shazam" and otherwise ignore the first two movies".

I also don't think they will do a Superman movie that is outside of the DCEU as that would be more confusing and be an implied admission of how messed up the situation is.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Tone wise it would be Doctor Who meets the West Wing. Aaron Sorkin is good at writing complex/nuanced good guys and that's something we need for Supes.

Plotwise I'm focusing on showcasing variety. They have overused Lex and Zod so those are on the backburner for now. The human antagonists would be the b plot while the more scifi/supernatural would be the a plot. There might be an overarching plot between multiple films but its more like a c or d plot.

Actorwise I'm ok with keeping Cavill and Adams but i would have to keep continiuity with Snyder's films.

[Crabble]

It depends on what the focus of this hypothetical restart would be. There's so much potential you could write about and put into a Superman movie.

[Vordan]

Tone wise it would be Doctor Who meets the West Wing. Aaron Sorkin is good at writing complex/nuanced good guys and that's something we need for Supes.

Plotwise I'm focusing on showcasing variety. They have overused Lex and Zod so those are on the backburner for now. The human antagonists would be the b plot while the more scifi/supernatural would be the a plot. There might be an overarching plot between multiple films but its more like a c or d plot.

Actorwise I'm ok with keeping Cavill and Adams but i would have to keep continiuity with Snyder's films.

Cavill and Adams don’t have any chemistry together. Not really sure keeping them is a good idea.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Cavill and Adams don’t have any chemistry together. Not really sure keeping them is a good idea.

I thought they were fine but i haven't seen them in a while. I'd have to double check but I'm not attached to keeping them.

[DochaDocha]

I thought they were fine but i haven't seen them in a while. I'd have to double check but I'm not attached to keeping them.

I agree with Vordan. If you compare Cavill with Adams against Reeve and Kidder, Cain and Hatcher, and even Welling and Durance (I don't care for that show but won't crap on everything about it), I'd say Cavill and Adams come in dead last. It's like the other three pairs lapped them.