Thread Drift: Waid on MOS

[Clark_Kent]

Glad to see some level headedness ITT. People constantly say that "there is no wrong interpretation" for Batman; everything from West to Miller to Bale to Affleck is accepted. Why is this different for Superman?

Why is it okay for George Reeves to leave somebody to die on a mountain? Nobody complains about Reeves. Why was it ok for Reeve to not only drop a powerless Zod down a shaft (only the finished film counts, remember) but to also drop Nuclear Man into a reactor?

Waid wrote 2/3rds of a good Superman origin...the ending was terrible. But he doesn't own the character, and his whiny reaction to MoS is reflective of everything wrong with fanboys today. His smartass response to the question -- "oh, you mean Man of Steel. You said Superman, so I was confused for a sec" -- shows how childish he is. He isn't a "godsend" to Superman. He's the stereotype of what people believe comics fans to be. Whiny & self-absorbed. I can imagine him raising one eyebrow & cocking his head a bit at the question, giving the interviewer an "Eh? Eh? Do you get it?? I'm pretending to not understand you! Look how clever I am!" kind of look.

But it's not clever. It's pathetic. Get over it already & move the hell on.

He'll be there opening weekend for BvS, though, just like all of the MoS haters on this board. And then they'll come here to whine & complain, with the cliche excuse of "well, I had no intention of seeing this, but I got dragged to it by ______."

[D4BBT]

"Oh! 'Man of Steel,'" Waid said after a pause. "You said 'Superman' and it threw me."

I think Waid has missed the whole point of the movie. He isn't Superman until the very end. Everything he does up to that point is him learning to be the hero. That's why it's called Man of Steel and not Superman.

[LordUltimus]

I think Waid has missed the whole point of the movie. He isn't Superman until the very end. Everything he does up to that point is him learning to be the hero. That's why it's called Man of Steel and not Superman.

Then why is the sequel going to be called "Man of Steel 2"?

[Auguste Dupin]

Then why is the sequel going to be called "Man of Steel 2"?

Because it's....not?
I mean, either you're talking about "Batman vs Superman", in which case the title is, well, "Batman vs Superman", or you're talking about that unamed Man Of Steel sequel, in which case, it doesn't have a name yet.

[Rakzo]

Waid is still complaining about this movie?

Damn, despite that I liked Birthright I'm glad that DC never gave him the Superman reign.

[D4BBT]

Because it's....not?
I mean, either you're talking about "Batman vs Superman", in which case the title is, well, "Batman vs Superman", or you're talking about that unamed Man Of Steel sequel, in which case, it doesn't have a name yet.

Thank you. Saved me from typing the same thing.

[manofsteel1979]

I did feel the same way about his reaction: that he was dramatic, mainly coming from a biased place, and pretty hypocritical. I wonder if he'll call the new Avengers movie disaster porn.

I know, right? I mean, an entire village was pretty much vaporized because of events put in motion by Tony Stark, thousands likely dead...but I doubt we will see rants on the net about how Tony is an Iron Man of Murder ETC.

[manofsteel1979]

Waid is still complaining about this movie?

Damn, despite that I liked Birthright I'm glad that DC never gave him the Superman reign.

I love Birthright and I respect Waid's work...but the more he keeps harping on MOS, the more I'm inclined to agree with you. He is almost as bad as another certain Poster here who can't let it go.

(wait....I wonder.....Could it be??????)

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, he's turned into a genuine "NOT MAH SUPERMAN" guy. Disappointing.

[SiegePerilous02]

Y'know, Silver Age Superman and stuff like it is my favorite version of Superman. But all this whining from people like Waid is souring me on it, and I don't like that. I want to be able to enjoy other interpretations of the character without being made to feel like I'm betraying something.

This is why Batman is kicking Superman's ass in popularity. He's more versatile and can appear in a wider tone of stories, adult oriented and kid friendly. The notion that Superman can only appear in bright happy stories where he's always smiling and where everything works out in the end if beyond stupid. Having him know what to do right out of the gate and have the perfect solution for everything is why most people don't find him compelling at all, and prefer heroes like Peter Parker or Buffy Summers. I love God-like Superman, but I prefer him to grow into it, not start out as a perfect, invincible Mary Sue.

And Waid's infamous outburst in the theater is beyond ridiculous. I would have demanded money for my movie ticket from him after ruining a showing like that.

[Ishmael]

People constantly say that "there is no wrong interpretation" for Batman; everything from West to Miller to Bale to Affleck is accepted. Why is this different for Superman?

Finally someone said it.

We can have a camp Batman and a "Dark Knight" -- but god forbid there be different iterations of Superman.

[JBatmanFan05]

but god forbid there be different iterations of Superman.

You may never see any other iterations of Superman after Snyder's, so don't worry. You can enjoy dark, violent, apocalyptic Superman forever by other directors who love Frank Miller and Alan Moore.

[Kid A]

Yeah, I'm sure after 75 years of drastically varying interpretations of Superman, Snyder's Superman is now the final iteration from now until the end of time.

[Clark_Kent]

You may never see any other iterations of Superman after Snyder's, so don't worry. You can enjoy dark, violent, apocalyptic Superman forever by other directors who love Frank Miller and Alan Moore.

Ever since the Kirk Alyn black & white serials, there has been light, simple, sometimes campy live-action Superman. Reeve's films were all-ages, Lois & Clark was a romantic comedy, and Smallville borrowed heavily from Donner. Judging by your avatar, you're a fan of Smallville (so am I)...it lasted ten years! Ten years of weekly shows with the tone you want. It's time to try something new, for the first time ever. If it fails, it fails--but let it live for the time it's here. Nobody's making you watch it.

And "dark" and "apocalyptic"? Yeah, no. It's really not. Reeve isn't coming back, man. He just isn't. Welling isn't suiting up. Reeves is gone...get over it already.

[manofsteel1979]

Yeah, I'm sure after 75 years of drastically varying interpretations of Superman, Snyder's Superman is now the final iteration from now until the end of time.

Yeah, because DC and Warners burned all remaining film of the 60's BATMAN series and doesn't allow it to be shown anywhere on earth, same with the Chris Reeve Superman movies.They also stopped publishing collections of all BATMAN and SUPERMAN comics prior to 2011, and just last week Zack Snyder, Dan DiDio and Jim Lee came to my house and took away my longboxes of Pre-Flashpoint DC COMICS, poured gasoline on them, lit a match and watched it all burn, laughing maniacally between bouts of humming Zimmer's MOS soundtrack.

Oh, wait......they didn't. My bad.