Make ONE tweak to each Superman movie.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

So, here's the challenge, make one, and only one, change to each of the live action Superman films in order to make them better in your eyes. NO REPEATS.

Superman The Movie

I would snip out the infamous "Can you read my mind?" spoken word inner monologue from the first date scene. The scene works perfectly without it.

Superman II

Have Richard Donner finish the movie he'd already shot 75%, obviously.

Superman III
I'd love to say, have Donner direct this one, too, but I've already used that one, so I'd go full tilt alien Brainiac as the villain, manipulating the knock-off Lex, Tessmacher, and Pryor to give the film a greater sense of danger to balance out the weak comedy. It probably still wouldn't be a great film, but it might end up making it good.

Superman IV

This one's easy. Give the film a real budget, rather than cutting it in half right before filming. I don't know if this would have made for a good film, but it might at least be watchable.

Superman Returns

Another easy one. Don't build the entire film on the premise that Superman knocked up Lois and then left to find Krypton without even bothering to say goodbye, prompting Lois to shack up with the very next guy she meets to raise their kid. Have Superman bid her a proper farewell, but his ship is severely damaged by kryptonite during his journey through Krypton's remains and he is lost in space for those 5 years and returns to find Lois with their 5 year old son, with no mystery as to his parentage or giving Lois a superfluous new boyfriend.

Man of Steel

I'd have them stick with the original idea of all the Kryptonians, including Zod, being sucked into the Phantom Zone as the climax of the Zod/Superman one on one fight. OR Include the scene with young Clark and Pa Kent hunting that was meant to show his strong aversion to taking a life, so that Superman killing Zod at the end has more thematic weight.

Batman vs. Superman

Have Lex's labyrinthine plot to pit Batman against Superman predicated upon his possession of a mysterious alien technology that increases aggression and rage, thereby allowing the two heroes to fight each other without anyone seeming out of character, but without the fight being the product of mere mind control. These two guys would still have serious issues with each other, but their resentment and anger is being goosed by Luthor's tech, which would be revealed as being from Apokalips at the end of the film.

Justice League

This is another easy one. Either let Snyder do the movie he wants to do, or delay the film and start over from scratch with a new director, like Whedon, who can deliver what the studio was looking for. Either one would have resulted in a better film than what we got.

Alright, those are my changes. What about you guys? What would you do to change them.

[Riv86672]

Superman The Movie
Add a scene where Superman takes on some minor superpowered villain after he gets to Metropolis, just to have an actual fight scene in there. The movie didn’t suffer for lack of of one, but it would still be cool to see.

Superman II
The whole Superman renounces his power angle. That was just stupid. That and the cellophane S Shield, but if I can tweak only one thing, it’s gotta be giving up the powers.


Superman III
I like Bored at 3:00AM’s idea of Brainiac being the big boss villain.

Superman IV
There was so much wrong w. this movie I don’t think one tweak would do much, tbh. Get rid of Richard Pryor I guess, and have that role played straight. It couldn’t hurt.

Superman Returns
Superman never becomes an absentee father.
You can take that to mean Lois never gets pregnant, or Superman never leaves earth, or (my favorite option) both. Either way it gets rid of the Lois marries Cyclops angle which was just unneeded.

Man of Steel
Pa Kent actually behaves in character and raises Superman to see the good in ppl, instead of being a pessimistic dumbass who would rather die than let Clark be a hero.

Batman vs. Superman
Make Jesse Eisenberg The Toyman, which would be a way better fit for his performance in this movie.

Justice League
Agree w. Bored at 3:00AM on this one.

[manwhohaseverything]

Blah! I haven't seen a superman movie that actually managed to blow me away. So, if i started changing things it would be quite a lot.
I would say i liked certain aspects of superman movies like
the intro and curtain racer, him racing trains, death of pa kent, always remember bit from superman the movie
superman catching the aeroplane, superman racing a bullet, superman running and jumping around in Smallville from superman returns
superman first flight, fights and power depiction in general, superman being an urban myth by his own choice, superman being a controversial figure, superman's general attitude towards the government and authority figures

Now, if i could get all these into a single movie with someone with a larger than life personality playing him. It would be golden. I like the extended version of john Williams theme and han zimmer theme as well.Essentially, i want a kickass champion of the oppressed who is jumping around.Also, i would get rid of superman being el family royalty nonsense. Superman is a working class dude. His s is an s. Maybe i will even go for the first superman insignia . He wears the suit because either he is a circus strongman(period piece) or his adopted grandfather or a old man mentor figure was one. Clark has strong sense of chivalry due to instinct and morality he develops through experience and choices he makes. Superman doesn't mind breaking rules in order to do the right thing.He would be scary for the corrupt and kind towards the weak(not the complacent) .

[Riv86672]

You lost me at never blown away by a Superman movie.

You got me back at period piece.
An adaptation of ITS SUPERMAN by Tom De Haven would be pretty cool. If you’ve never read it you should.

[manwhohaseverything]

You lost me at never blown away by a Superman movie.

You got me back at period piece.
An adaptation of ITS SUPERMAN by Tom De Haven would be pretty cool. If you’ve never read it you should.

Yeah! Superman the movie is nice and all. Its just, superman feels more savior-y. I don't want a savior in my Superman.That's not the general personality i want in superman. Essentially, i would want someone who can pull of zorro's personality in this day and age. Superman is the only character modelled after zorro that managed to nail the personality.Even batman does'nt have the general personality . I want a champion who fights for those who can't fight for themselves. The champion of the depression era kinda thing.My ideal superman movie would be like a samurai movie or old western.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

You lost me at never blown away by a Superman movie.

You got me back at period piece.
An adaptation of ITS SUPERMAN by Tom De Haven would be pretty cool. If you’ve never read it you should.

I love this book. Lent my copy out years ago. Don't know where it is now. Gotta reread it.

I would love to see a Superman film set in the 1930s

[Riv86672]

I love this book. Lent my copy out years ago. Don't know where it is now. Gotta reread it.

I...really should return that to you.

I would love to see a Superman film set in the 1930s

Me too. The setting would really add to the story imo.

[Jim Kelly]

SUPERMAN (1978). Hard to improve on a perfect movie. Maybe add some exposition to indicate what Superman's Cher move ("If I could turn back time") was all about. But just to satisfy the whiners--I'm fine with it.

SUPERMAN II. Allowing Donner to complete the whole movie seems like a lot more than one tweak. Short of that, a tweak would be taking out the revenge scene at the diner.

SUPERMAN III. I'm not even sure I've ever watched this movie the whole way through. I did get the comic book adaptation. As I recall, Clark goes back to Smallville and reconnects with Lana Lang, played by Annette O'Toole. My tweak, more O'Toole. Make a meal out of the Smallville scenes between Reeve and O'Toole--have that be the main plot of the movie, like a Preston Sturges film.

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE. Increasing the budget also seems like more than a tweak. Perhaps they could take half of SUPERGIRL and half of QUEST FOR PEACE and make one good film rather than two weak ones--SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR SUPERGIRL.

SUPERMAN RETURNS. I was pretty happy with this movie. The one thing that bothered me was Superman goes all that way to where Krypton used to be, finds nothing, and comes all the way back. That's underwhelming. They shot more of that, but didn't use it. I would make it the first twenty minutes of the movie and I would have him find something there--such as Brainiac.

MAN OF STEEL. If I have only one tweak, I must use it wisely. I have two major complaints--one is that Jonathan Kent is a piece of crap and the death scene with the dog is especially egregious; the other is that I don't like the actor who plays Zod and what really bothers me is the videogame battle over the city (more than the actual killing of Zod). What to do with my tweak? I guess I have to opt for removing Jonathan Kent's death with the dog, as that really undermines the character development.

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. I would tweak away the DAWN OF JUSTICE part, including the dream sequence. Keep Wonder Woman, but not the others. And end the movie before the death scene. Take DAWN OF JUSTICE and use that in another movie--THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN.

JUSTICE LEAGUE. Just let Snyder complete the movie. Is that more than a tweak, like with Donner? Seems to me that Snyder had done the whole movie but for the post-production effects and some reshoots, while Donner had some major scenes still to film and didn't have an ending for his movie (having used it for the first movie).

[Powerboy]

Superman The Movie
Add a scene where Superman takes on some minor superpowered villain after he gets to Metropolis, just to have an actual fight scene in there. The movie didn’t suffer for lack of of one, but it would still be cool to see.

Superman II
The whole Superman renounces his power angle. That was just stupid. That and the cellophane S Shield, but if I can tweak only one thing, it’s gotta be giving up the powers.


Superman III
I like Bored at 3:00AM’s idea of Brainiac being the big boss villain.

Superman IV
There was so much wrong w. this movie I don’t think one tweak would do much, tbh. Get rid of Richard Pryor I guess, and have that role played straight. It couldn’t hurt.

Superman Returns
Superman never becomes an absentee father.
You can take that to mean Lois never gets pregnant, or Superman never leaves earth, or (my favorite option) both. Either way it gets rid of the Lois marries Cyclops angle which was just unneeded.

Man of Steel
Pa Kent actually behaves in character and raises Superman to see the good in ppl, instead of being a pessimistic dumbass who would rather die than let Clark be a hero.

Batman vs. Superman
Make Jesse Eisenberg The Toyman, which would be a way better fit for his performance in this movie.

Justice League
Agree w. Bored at 3:00AM on this one.

Hey it worked. Richard Pryor wasn't in Superman IV. I think you mixed up III and IV.

[Riv86672]

Hey it worked. Richard Pryor wasn't in Superman IV. I think you mixed up III and IV.

After a while they all just started to mash together into a miasma of mediocrity, sadly.

[Jon Clark]

Superman: My tweak kind of butterflies a lot including the later movies, but play Lex seriously. No bumbling sidekick Otis. No wacky plan involving real estate.

Superman II: Kind of torn here. Really tempted to remove either the amnesia kiss or make the fact the Zoners survived clearer. But have to go with Clark being more subtle in dealing with the bully after he get his powers back.

Superman III: Reworking the "evil" Superman. Either have him actually go full evil (not my choice) and Richard Pryor after a change of heart having to undo the artificial-K effect. Or remove all the straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa stuff in favor of Superman and Clark subtly becoming less heroic. Have Clark be the one coming on to Lana. Have Superman asking for monetary incentives.

Superman IV: Short of tweaking the whole thing out of existence, I'll use my one tweak to make Nuclear Man's defeat the result of Superman and Lex working together. Basically Lex realizes he can't control his creation and that given a choice between Superman and Nuclear man, Lex realizes Superman is the lesser threat to his schemes.

Time for work. May add the post-Reeve films later

[JAK]

Here we go!!

Superman The Movie - keep the bullets/frozen scene ala Special Edition.

Superman II - NEVER fire Donner (so this will have an effect on III and IV, and it's one change).

Superman III - agreed on Brainiac being the main villain, as that was Ilya Salkind's original plan before budget got in the way (he told me this himself)

Superman IV - Bigger budget that includes money earmarked to bring the original writers back and some comics writers too.

Superman Returns - fire Bryan Singer. (replace him with Donner?) That, or make the movie in 1993 with the original cast/crew (one change that changes everything)

Man of Steel - Hire/be a co-director/producer to straighten out Snyder/Goyer's more off-putting instincts (fixing the Pa Kent scene, Zod's "recruitment" scene, Clark killing Zod, and the ending in general), contracted to work on the full series (again, one decision affecting the full series).

Batman vs. Superman - Delete Batman. Film is now "V. Superman," as in the world is against him and he needs to build trust: dealing with the fallout of the MoS fight, and Clark finding/making/earning his place in the world one good deed at a time.

Justice League - Put this movie off about 4-6 movies, giving time for Batman/WW/Aquaman/Flash/Cyborg/etc movies.

[witchboy]

StM is so perfect there's not much I can think of to change. It's superficial, but have Jimmy be a redhead.
Superman II is also close to perfection. I'd have Zod and company returned to the Phantom Zone, that would be a more fitting end for them.
Superman III - is getting rid of Richard Pryor too big of a tweak? How about instead have Eve Teschmacher in his place, trying to go straight and getting sucked into the plans of another evil genius? You could combine Pryor's role with the "nutritionist" mistress for Teschmacher. I like Pryor in other roles, but his scenes in SIII feel like he's in a different movie from Reeve.
Superman IV - so much needs fixing here. Replacing it with a whole new movie is too much to ask for. It's too flawed to be fixed with just a tweak, so just for fun include Lana and eliminate the whole Lacey character instead.
Superman Returns - while not as bad as IV, this one could have used a whole rewrite. Eliminating the whole story with James Marson and the superkid would've helped. I'd also have recast Lois, as Bosworth was terrible in the role.
Man of Steel - Giving Jonathan back his inspirational role instead of him being someone who holds Clark back would be a plus. Also, giving the film some color and not the desaturated look they went for. And Lois having dark hair. It's a small thing, but it's a pet peeve of mine that Lois is a redhead there.
Batman vs Superman - Not introduce and kill off Jimmy (who's a CIA agent?) in one scene. Although recasting Lex would also have helped.
Justice League - I don't hate it as much as most seem to. It was rushed, they should've let the spin off movies come first to develop the cast. I am really looking forward to the Snyder Cut. If I had to change one thing, I'd have given Flash Barry's actual personality and let his humor come from being overly earnest and not be so awkward. Also, it's a side point, but I'm really happy that the Snyder Cut includes some scenes with Iris West, she's a pretty essential element to Barry's history.

[Kuwagaton]

StM
Give Luthor an actual comic style plot. It doesn't have to make him the comic book character, but have more faith in the source material. Luthor's business in that movie bores me.

SII
Just don't say that the powers have been removed permanently, it's cheap drama that undoes itself.

SIII
Make the synthetic Kryptonite red. The last two Reeve films needed a bigger budget but that's not really a movie fix.

SIV
Hell, make it all a fever dream Superman has during an encounter with Swamp Thing.

Returns
I pretty much don't like anything of the plot in this movie. I say get a new one.

MoS
Minimize the destruction at the end. I realize that it's the point of terraforming, so I say just make it a much slower process.

BvS
Cut out the JL commercial. Odd distraction.

[Gaius]

Superman: The Movie: Move the reversing time power to the second film like the original plan was.

Superman II: Let Donner finish the film.

Man of Steel: Probably have Zod just get sucked back in the Phantom Zone

BvS: Axe the Death of Superman angle entirely.

Too many problems with III, Quest for Peace, and Returns to fix with one tweak. You could say the same about the DCEU films but I feel those are more salvageable