Superman in CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths

[Patrick Gerard]

I'll believe it when it's more than just an internet rumor. I'd love for Routh Superman to show up on the show once in a while but him outright getting his own series seems a bit much. Don't get me wrong, I hope this is true. But I'm gonna need more than someone's Instagram page to go on before I believe it.

The rumors I heard were not a series but a 10 episode miniseries like HBO Watchmen with a definitive ending. So it would run for about 3 months and conclude definitively. Different animal from CW’s 20 episodes a season ongoing show. And HBO is looking for stuff in this vein with Watchmen and GoT over.

EDIT: I think they’d borrow elements and maybe the title from Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow just to go for the HBO Watchmen fan base.

Effectively, have Lois interviewed by a reporter on the 10th anniversary of Superman’s disappearance but when she flashes back, it cuts to the shuttle mission from All-Star. You get the accessible episodic structure. But conclude with the siege on the Fortress from WHTMOT, maybe weave Brainiac in place of Solaris in the episodic chapters. The Superman robots could riff on some of Westworld’s vibe. The middle section of WHTMOT isn’t terribly accessible but the Fortress finale is.

Who would you cast as Lex? I know I’ll take heat for this but I’d go Bill Murray. He has Hackman’s quirkiness and can be as intimidating as Spacey. I really think he’d nail the All-Star bits. The cockiness.

And barring Courtney Ford, I’d go for Zooey Deschanel as Lois. Again, a quirky charm like Kidder but I can see her being fun disbelieving Clark when he admits he’s Superman and bringing a mix of quirkiness and heft. This lady grew up on the set of Twin Peaks and All-Star is basically David Lynch on antidepressants and mushrooms. Like Twin Peaks with the dread replaced with hope.

[Frontier]

I don't think Routh has anything planned post-Legends, in fact I don't think he was even planning to leave Legends, so his schedule might be open for returning for a mini-series as his Superman.

[Nelliebly]

The rumors I heard were not a series but a 10 episode miniseries like HBO Watchmen with a definitive ending. So it would run for about 3 months and conclude definitively. Different animal from CW’s 20 episodes a season ongoing show. And HBO is looking for stuff in this vein with Watchmen and GoT over.

EDIT: I think they’d borrow elements and maybe the title from Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow just to go for the HBO Watchmen fan base.

Effectively, have Lois interviewed by a reporter on the 10th anniversary of Superman’s disappearance but when she flashes back, it cuts to the shuttle mission from All-Star. You get the accessible episodic structure. But conclude with the siege on the Fortress from WHTMOT, maybe weave Brainiac in place of Solaris in the episodic chapters. The Superman robots could riff on some of Westworld’s vibe. The middle section of WHTMOT isn’t terribly accessible but the Fortress finale is.

Who would you cast as Lex? I know I’ll take heat for this but I’d go Bill Murray. He has Hackman’s quirkiness and can be as intimidating as Spacey. I really think he’d nail the All-Star bits. The cockiness.

And barring Courtney Ford, I’d go for Zooey Deschanel as Lois. Again, a quirky charm like Kidder but I can see her being fun disbelieving Clark when he admits he’s Superman and bringing a mix of quirkiness and heft. This lady grew up on the set of Twin Peaks and All-Star is basically David Lynch on antidepressants and mushrooms. Like Twin Peaks with the dread replaced with hope.

Everyone keeps talking about Courtney Ford as Lois. I would love nothing more but is this just people hoping for this or are there actual rumors that they are using her?

I would love nothing more. She is so Lois it hurts.

[Nelliebly]

A very close adaptation of All Star Superman with Brandon as a limited series would be amazing. But I don't want to see his wife as Lois at all. I never like that kind of thing. Find another actress that has good chemistry with him.

that said, this sounds too good to be true, but I'd love it if done right.

Honestly I don’t agree. Tulloch had great chemistry with him but, frankly, she has good chemistry with Tyler too and she’s taken for the other show. Barring using Tulloch (who is awesome as Lois) why would they go through with trying to find yet another Lois when people have literally been begging for it to be Courtney for years now?

Courtney Ford looks so much like Lois that there have been times I’ve almost wondered if artists were using her as a face model.

If they aren’t going to extend an offer to Kate Bosworth (which tbh I’m torn on whether that’s a super mean thing to do to her) than they should use Courtney. This isn’t rocket science and she’s perfect.

[Vordan]

The rumors I heard were not a series but a 10 episode miniseries like HBO Watchmen with a definitive ending. So it would run for about 3 months and conclude definitively. Different animal from CW’s 20 episodes a season ongoing show. And HBO is looking for stuff in this vein with Watchmen and GoT over.

EDIT: I think they’d borrow elements and maybe the title from Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow just to go for the HBO Watchmen fan base.

Effectively, have Lois interviewed by a reporter on the 10th anniversary of Superman’s disappearance but when she flashes back, it cuts to the shuttle mission from All-Star. You get the accessible episodic structure. But conclude with the siege on the Fortress from WHTMOT, maybe weave Brainiac in place of Solaris in the episodic chapters. The Superman robots could riff on some of Westworld’s vibe. The middle section of WHTMOT isn’t terribly accessible but the Fortress finale is.

Who would you cast as Lex? I know I’ll take heat for this but I’d go Bill Murray. He has Hackman’s quirkiness and can be as intimidating as Spacey. I really think he’d nail the All-Star bits. The cockiness.

And barring Courtney Ford, I’d go for Zooey Deschanel as Lois. Again, a quirky charm like Kidder but I can see her being fun disbelieving Clark when he admits he’s Superman and bringing a mix of quirkiness and heft. This lady grew up on the set of Twin Peaks and All-Star is basically David Lynch on antidepressants and mushrooms. Like Twin Peaks with the dread replaced with hope.

I’ll believe when I see it but a 10 episode miniseries as a finale for Routh would be a dream come true.

[Nelliebly]

So YouTube is abuzz with speculation about Routh, Berlanti, and Michael Dougherty meeting with WB to pitch a Routh helmed miniseries, likely for HBO?

The impression I’m getting is that Kingdom Come is out as the plot (thanks the Crisis’ revision of Earth-96) but something closer to All-Star Superman with a heavy Richard Donner influence is in, along with some look into how a world would look after having Superman for decades.

What follows is my speculation:

COIE effectively tees it up to be a Donner sequel and star Routh but basically absolves them of any duty to either Superman Returns or Kingdom Come. Which points towards a Donnerized All-Star, possibly with structural elements of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow...? And that gives HBO a “Based on the epic story from the writer of Watchmen” tag but in expanding it out gives them “From the twisted mind that brought you Happy!” tag.

So you get the Lois framing device but some of the episodic stuff from All-Star stitched in. And very much played as a coda to the Donnerverse. Score, title sequences, etc. handled as a faster paced homage to that.

Interesting for sure. I’m fully on board with Superman and Lois but I’m never going to turn down more Superman.

It doesn’t surprise me that the KC story wouldn’t be used. Because, end of day? When you truly get down to it, the obsession with Kingdom Come does not mesh well with 1) as a fitting ending for the Donner Superman. There were more than a few people who questioned if it was cool for them to effectively murder Kidder’s Lois like that and it was a valid question. 2) WB is fighting an image issue with Superman after Snyder fair or unfair that Superman is too “dark” “sad” “depressed” etc. They aren’t going to do w KC adaptation and then have Superman happy go lucky the day his wife and friends are murdered. They got away with showing him ok in crisis because, presumably, time had passed but they aren’t going to adapt such a sad story where Superman himself is rather morally grey when the major criticism of Superman after Snyder (again fair or unfair) was that he wasn’t hopeful enough and too sad.

A limited series like All Star Superman makes it distinct from what they are doing with Superman and Lois and allows them a fitting coda for the Donner Superman.

[Yoda]

Honestly I don’t agree. Tulloch had great chemistry with him but, frankly, she has good chemistry with Tyler too and she’s taken for the other show. Barring using Tulloch (who is awesome as Lois) why would they go through with trying to find yet another Lois when people have literally been begging for it to be Courtney for years now?

Courtney Ford looks so much like Lois that there have been times I’ve almost wondered if artists were using her as a face model.

If they aren’t going to extend an offer to Kate Bosworth (which tbh I’m torn on whether that’s a super mean thing to do to her) than they should use Courtney. This isn’t rocket science and she’s perfect.

I think it's just fan-casting at this point. With her leaving Legends at the same time as him kind of feeding into everything. Though their departure from Legends certainly had nothing to do with this. His reaction at the time, and the reactions of his castmates since then confirms it was not their decision and not done for any reason that they'd be behind.

I would not be opposed to Bosworth coming back if she wanted to. I actually thought she had retired for a bit, but she just did a Netflix show this year. She got screwed even more than Routh did there.

[DochaDocha]

Well, the writing didn't do the Boz or Routh any favors, that's for sure. But I thought the Boz was terribly miscast. She was 23 at the time of the movie's release (for reference, Tom Holland was 23 when Far From Home came out...) and she just couldn't create the illusion that she was a mature career woman and single (ish) mom of a four-year-old. But then again, the talk of the day was that Kevin Effin' Spacey really liked working with her so Bryan Effin' Singer cast her. Whoopsies. I'm willing to give Boz a pass and just blame Singer.

[Patrick Gerard]

I think the possibility of recasting Lex is where I’d focus my energy.

Like I said, Zooey was who I wanted back when the movie came out. Courtney Ford would be great. There’s a case for Bosworth. There’s even a case for Erica Durance. Lois is a rich character who hundreds of actresses could all do uniquely great things with. She’s an everywoman and lots of women would bring something unique to it. Heck, Dana Delaney might make sense particularly if you want to emphasize Superman has aged slower and that more time has passed.

Lex is a kind of singular presence. How you cast him shapes the whole tone.

I do have my stated preference for Bill Murray. Or Joel Murray might be even better although less marquis. Bryan Cranston has long been a favorite. I think it depends on the script. How sympathetic is he supposed to be? How charming? How cocky? How frightening?

With Lois — and Superman — I think the actors probably define the roles as much or more than the script. With Lex, the script defines the role and you want an actor tailored to that.

[Frontier]

Well, the writing didn't do the Boz or Routh any favors, that's for sure. But I thought the Boz was terribly miscast. She was 23 at the time of the movie's release (for reference, Tom Holland was 23 when Far From Home came out...) and she just couldn't create the illusion that she was a mature career woman and single (ish) mom of a four-year-old. But then again, the talk of the day was that Kevin Effin' Spacey really liked working with her so Bryan Effin' Singer cast her. Whoopsies. I'm willing to give Boz a pass and just blame Singer.

In hindsight the production of Returns gets more and more problematic the more you look at it...

[Nelliebly]

I think the possibility of recasting Lex is where I’d focus my energy.

Like I said, Zooey was who I wanted back when the movie came out. Courtney Ford would be great. There’s a case for Bosworth. There’s even a case for Erica Durance. Lois is a rich character who hundreds of actresses could all do uniquely great things with. She’s an everywoman and lots of women would bring something unique to it. Heck, Dana Delaney might make sense particularly if you want to emphasize Superman has aged slower and that more time has passed.

Lex is a kind of singular presence. How you cast him shapes the whole tone.

I do have my stated preference for Bill Murray. Or Joel Murray might be even better although less marquis. Bryan Cranston has long been a favorite. I think it depends on the script. How sympathetic is he supposed to be? How charming? How cocky? How frightening?

With Lois — and Superman — I think the actors probably define the roles as much or more than the script. With Lex, the script defines the role and you want an actor tailored to that.

Erica Durance is my favorite Lois ever but the chemistry between her and Welling was so damn electric (Who are you? Lois...Lois Lane) that I cant picture her with anyone else. Tom and Erica are a pair to me and I can’t see them separated.

Kate Bosworth was actually pretty great in The Domestics opposite Tyler Hoechlin. They played a married couple there. It was obviously stunt casting but they worked really well together and had chemistry. So, I don’t know, maybe that blows my theory that you shouldn’t mix up the Superman and Lois actors.

With Lex, I think it has a lot to do too with age. Is he a Rosenbaum Lex who is older than CK but only by a bit? Or is he decades older like Hackman and Cryer?

[manofsteel1979]

Interesting for sure. I’m fully on board with Superman and Lois but I’m never going to turn down more Superman.

It doesn’t surprise me that the KC story wouldn’t be used. Because, end of day? When you truly get down to it, the obsession with Kingdom Come does not mesh well with 1) as a fitting ending for the Donner Superman. There were more than a few people who questioned if it was cool for them to effectively murder Kidder’s Lois like that and it was a valid question. 2) WB is fighting an image issue with Superman after Snyder fair or unfair that Superman is too “dark” “sad” “depressed” etc. They aren’t going to do w KC adaptation and then have Superman happy go lucky the day his wife and friends are murdered. They got away with showing him ok in crisis because, presumably, time had passed but they aren’t going to adapt such a sad story where Superman himself is rather morally grey when the major criticism of Superman after Snyder (again fair or unfair) was that he wasn’t hopeful enough and too sad.

A limited series like All Star Superman makes it distinct from what they are doing with Superman and Lois and allows them a fitting coda for the Donner Superman.

Well as we saw with the ending to Crisis that it's implied the restored Earth-96 has a rejiggered history that eliminates the kingdom come element. His costume is back to it's classic red and yellow look after all.

I'm hoping the "new" history loosely includes all four Reeve Superman films and Returns. Make it a true send off for that incarnation.


I'd be down for Bosworth returning even though I thought she was miscast back in 2006. I think she could pull off an older Lois Lane today.However as you say Courtney Ford is perfect especially given she and Brandon's natural chemistry.

For Lex it's obvious Spacey is a no go for obvious reasons. If we are sticking with the Donner history losely you probably want to stick with an older Lex. Someone mentioned Bill Murray and actually...I could see it. I wouldn't mind Bryan Cranston either if you want to go darker.

In any case I'm intrigued by the possibility of a finite story and giving Brandon a chance to have full closure with Superman. As much as I liked and still like Henry Cavill in the role I've always felt Routh got a raw deal. If this happens I'm glad Brandon can carve his niche in the legacy of Superman free from the shadow of Superman Returns.

[stargazer01]

Well, the writing didn't do the Boz or Routh any favors, that's for sure. But I thought the Boz was terribly miscast. She was 23 at the time of the movie's release (for reference, Tom Holland was 23 when Far From Home came out...) and she just couldn't create the illusion that she was a mature career woman and single (ish) mom of a four-year-old. But then again, the talk of the day was that Kevin Effin' Spacey really liked working with her so Bryan Effin' Singer cast her. Whoopsies. I'm willing to give Boz a pass and just blame Singer.

I agree Boz was too young in Returns, but I liked her story even though it was flawed. I thought her acting was fine, she just looked too young for the part and as a mother. I wouldn't mind seeing her again now that she's older. I haven't seen her in anything since Returns.

I really don't see Routh's wife as Lois, but she's pretty and a good actress, and we could do worse. But no, I don't need to see Routh's real love life in a possible Superman show. It seems too distracting for me. I want to see him act in love with an actress not his wife.

[DochaDocha]

I agree Boz was too young in Returns, but I liked her story even though it was flawed. I thought her acting was fine, she just looked too young for the part and as a mother. I wouldn't mind seeing her again now that she's older. I haven't seen her in anything since Returns.

Funny thing is that if she were to play Lois today, then she probably could pull it off.

[stargazer01]

Funny thing is that if she were to play Lois today, then she probably could pull it off.

I'd love the continuity from the movie to a show. I hope it happens, Routh is too good in the part to waste, but done very well. Otherwise, not sure..