Should Ultraman get a re-invented?

[Castiel]

One of my favorite video games is Injustice Gods Among Us. Ever since I played it I can't stop thinking about the character Ultraman Superman's evil Doppleganger and leader of the Syndicate. I feel like he should be reintroduced and with some tweaking and alterations I think he could be a very compelling character. How I'd re-do him is I'd have him possess all of Superman's powers and weaknesses. Essentially I have his back ground be the same but include differences like his ship after crashing on the Kent Farm caused so much damage it ruined the Kent's Financially causing Johnathan Kent to become an alcoholic and very abusive. Creating a situation where Clark finally fought back but accidentally murdered his Johnathan with his super strength and maybe even accidentally killing Martha with his heat vision.

Ultimately these events cause him to seek out his true lineage and he fully embraces his kryptonian heritage rejecting the name Clark Kent and going only by Cal El. Around the same time his Zod breaks free from the phantom zone and becomes like a father figure to him molding his ideology and beliefs only Zod gets killed by a weapon(possibly designed by his Earths Lex Luthor) using kryptonite and Cal El grows even more unhinged.

Realizing he can't openly conquer his Earth he creates two personas Superman(to give the people hope) and Ultraman(his true personae that gives the people something to fear) which could be where his Lois Lane comes in she could be that beacon of light that keeps him from being a monster and just when he starts thinking he could be a hero for real she gets killed and he completely goes over the edge and fully embraces his Ultraman personae believing humans little more than animals that must be controlled.

Essentially how I'd do his first encounter with Superman is I'd have him pose as his Earth's Superman as a subtle deception leading up to the shocking reveal and for his main goal being to make himself immune to kryptonite. I like this idea because I think it would add a lot of complexity to the character Ultraman and it would be interesting to see his how Superman would react to a version of himself that is completely messed up. I was pretty much inspired by Flash Season 2

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I wrote on how I'd low-grade reinvent Ultraman a couple weeks back; essentially, making him the ultimate nihilist to Superman's ultimate idealist. He had that same "looking into the universe" moment as Lex at the end of All-Star, but it's Earth 3, so he saw...nothing. If all we have is each other, and people are at base worthless in his world, the only way to matter is to rule.

[Castiel]

I wrote on how I'd low-grade reinvent Ultraman a couple weeks back; essentially, making him the ultimate nihilist to Superman's ultimate idealist. He had that same "looking into the universe" moment as Lex at the end of All-Star, but it's Earth 3, so he saw...nothing. If all we have is each other, and people are at base worthless in his world, the only way to matter is to rule.

Just read it and I'm very impressed. He should be Superman's polar opposite but on a fundamental level he should be the same. Where Superman sees light and hope Ultraman should see despair and hopelessness. Where Superman acts out of a desire to protect others Ultraman should act of a desire to always be superior and always fearing the idea that he'll be second best to someone else. This is why I like the Justice Lord story line in Justice League both supermen were different but were quite similar in some regards and that is how Ultraman should be he should be bad but not so evil that he's uninteresting.

He should be like a more extreme version of Zod.

[Sardorim]

Didn't he try to sleep with Super-Girl?

[Castiel]

Didn't he try to sleep with Super-Girl?

Was it his Supergirl or Superman's Supergirl?

[Mutant God]

I like the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths version where he seems more mobster-ish, like a super power Tony Soprano.

[Patrick Gerard]

Didn't he try to sleep with Super-Girl?

Pre-Crisis Ultraman tried to brainwash her into marriage after blinking back into existence in Infinite Crisis.

Note: Morrison's Ultraman and, possibly, none of the Ultramen until Johns' New 52 version, are not Kryptonian. Pre-Crisis never really got an origin although I'm aware of the fan theory that he may be Kal-Ul, son of the evil alternate universe Jor-Ul from the Superboy comics. Morrison has had a thing for non-Kryptonian alternate universe Supermen through his career. Since the pre-Crisis version never got an origin, he may be -- like Morrison's -- a human astronaut made Kryptonian by Kryptonian astronauts who found him in space.

One thing I used to talk about a lot with comic pro friends back in the day was a Crime Syndicate Original Sin story that made sense of their origins. When you stop to think about it, despite being in a morally backwards universe, certain motivations typically still apply in their stories like greed and a desire for revenge. A big question is: what makes them tick? Johns seems to have had similar thoughts since he went out and gave us these origins. But that version of Earth-3 is gone now.

For me, that's where I would start with any exploration of these guys: what motivates and drives them? My focus would be on getting inside their heads and showing us a bigger slice of their world and history and how it functions. Ultraman typically has a secret identity. Why? How does he keep it secret? What was his relationship with the Kents like? Along with that, I'd be looking at Superman iconography I could pilfer, in particular the "Superdickery" covers. So you'd get lots of standalone issues like one where Ultraman starts a religion and puts on that pope hat Superman had in a couple of old Silver-Age issues. We'd get takeoffs on some of the more contentious Golden-Age stories like the one where Superman declares war on cars.

Along the way, I'd be feeding you a coherent philosophy of what makes Ultraman tick while going through a kind of greatest hits of "Bad Superman" stories and moments. Only here, they're the norm. So when Ultraman stops beating up truckers and getting drunk at bars, THAT becomes the change that worries people. There are some cruel twists I'd have in mind there but my overall take would be fairly Young Animal/indie comics. Maybe a dash of Lobo. This is a book full of darkly comedic punchlines that have bodycounts. But I'd also be trying to figure out how to make you sympathize with this jerk.

[Flash Gordon]

I can't stand the current Geoff Johns verison, so I'd like to see something new done. Something a little offbeat.

[NeonZ]

Pre-Crisis Ultraman tried to brainwash her into marriage after blinking back into existence in Infinite Crisis.

Note: Morrison's Ultraman and, possibly, none of the Ultramen until Johns' New 52 version, are not Kryptonian. Pre-Crisis never really got an origin although I'm aware of the fan theory that he may be Kal-Ul, son of the evil alternate universe Jor-Ul from the Superboy comics. Morrison has had a thing for non-Kryptonian alternate universe Supermen through his career. Since the pre-Crisis version never got an origin, he may be -- like Morrison's -- a human astronaut made Kryptonian by Kryptonian astronauts who found him in space.

It'd be hard to check right now, but I remember Pre-Crisis Ultraman being Kryptonian, from a Krypton that was never destroyed. I can't check his first appearance right now to see if it's from there though.

Anyway, as far as what made them tick, if you look at their original appearance, they didn't seem to be portrayed as conquerors or rulers of the world, but rather thrill seekers. The whole reason they went after the JL and JS was just because they were bored, feeling unchallenged in their own world. Later appearances, even of the Pre-Crisis versions themselves seemed to change things around to making them fight for control and conquest though.

A good element about the thrill seeker concept, IMO, is that it'd make it much easier to keep them as recurring foes or even protagonists compared to most later takes on them. When they're corrupt rulers of the world, it becomes much harder to use them as anything besides one shots.