The DCCU Superman problem

Superman is my favorite superhero. Plain and simple. I am always on the side of Superman when it comes to a who would win in a fight argument and I also think he’s a great character that a lot of stories can be pulled out of if only he’s given the chance.

The unfortunate thing is, there haven’t been nearly enough really good Superman movies, at least not for a good decade or two.

I personally love Man of Steel and think it’s one of my favorite Superhero movies. I like the original movies (first two) enough, but I always thought they were a little boring and made for a different era. And at the end of the day I don’t hate Superman Returns, but it definitely wasn’t the movie that I wanted.

I talked a little bit about this in my Suicide Squad rant on the Joker and the same goes for Superman. We are lucky enough to live in a world where we can expect multiple outings with this character. In the past, Superman had one big movie every so often and yes, it was a spectacle, but it didn’t feel like he was a part of a larger world. With this DC Cinematic Universe (I know the official acronym is DCECU, but I’m always going to just call it the DCCU), we suddenly get the opportunity for Superman, and the rest of the DC heroes to interact and be heroes in a larger world.

Here’s the issue though… Batman v Superman happened.

Now I will probably be the first to jump to this movie’s defense. I don’t think it’s as god awfully horrible as everyone thinks it is. It definitely isn’t good, but I still have fun watching it, the ultimate cut helps it not be as much of a structural train wreck, and I can recognize the strokes of genius that were in it that weren’t fully realized.

But the biggest issue I see with Batman v Superman, regardless of whether or not you are watching the theatrical cut or the Ultimate edition, is that it wasn’t focused enough on Clark Kent/Superman. Batman v Superman had so many lofty goals that got in the way of actually developing Superman as a hero, Clark Kent as a person, and the entire character as just that, a character. They were so focused on the cash cow that is Batman, introducing Wonder Woman, hinting at the Justice League, doing whatever they did with Lex Luthor, and so much more that they forgot to develop the one character who started this all and the one we’re the most familiar with, Superman.  

Now we had some good news last week that DC is putting all cylinders forward to make a sequel to Man of Steel and actually give another movie dedicated to Superman again.

However, the previous movies do not exactly put Superman in a great position to be a good character, and it looks like this standalone film will be more of a way to take back some of the mistakes instead of actually making Superman a good character. It’s not impossible and I would hope that this all falls into the master plan of the execs   at Warner Brothers and DC. But here are a couple of reasons why Superman is at a disadvantage going into his standalone film.

1. He’s a bruiting alien instead of a conflicted but symbolic demi-god.

The first issue that DC shot themselves in the foot with is how they went about the creation of the character of Superman in this cinematic universe.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like the direction that they took with Superman in Man of Steel. It’s a good mixture of the Christopher Reeves Superman, who dealt more with the duality of being a man and an alien, and a newer approach where Superman is basically a demi-god and how will he deal with those powers.

DC wants to display the Justice League like a modern pantheon of Greek Gods which sounds awesome, but they also want to follow the model of the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy and make these heroes bruiting and conflicted. The reality is, you can do both.

I’m not one to think that Henry Cavil’s Superman needs to be a campy hero, representing Truth, justice, and the American Way of Life in every sentence he has. This is a different world and therefore a different Superman. But at the same time, you can have a conflicted demi-god not sure of how to deal with his powers, and you can have someone who brings hope, someone who people would look up to, someone who can have some fun figuring out who he is. I mean Damn, Henry Cavill has a fantastic smile, let him smile for once in these movies!

When he’s saving people in BvS, he looks like it’s both the most profound thing that has ever happened and also the world’s worst torture! I get that they tried to create this political debate of what Superman is, God or Demon, but why does he look so down trodden when he saves people in BvS?

Again, I’m not saying this Superman needs to be making campy jokes about flying is still the safest way to travel or winking to the camera as he flies by, but the entire political dilemma in BvS was whether or not Superman is a Savior or an Alien. They did a very good job at pointing out why he’s a dangerous villain, show why he’s a savior and why he inspires people.

But the biggest challenge with Superman in the future is, his experiences in these movies have not changed him at all. And one event in particular that should have been the crux of his character had absolutely no effect on anything.

2. Killing Zod didn’t have any impact on the character or on BvS.

I know a lot of people had an issue with the ending of Man of Steel where Superman is forced to snap General Zod’s neck in order to save some innocent people. I actually found this to be one of the best parts of the movie because it showed the resolve of General Zod and that he could not be stopped. It showed the struggle of Kal-El as saving humanity means turning his back on Krypton, putting consequences to his statement, “Krypton had its chance”. And finally, it made Superman a relatable character of having to deal with the calamity of his powers and making him decide what kind of hero he’s going to be. Can he kill those who get in his way? If he does what does that mean for him as a character? All these questions were posed to be expanded on in Batman v Superman and could have been used in tandem with how Kal-El wants to deal with Batman.

Unfortunately, that goes out the window for this…

While there is a little bit of personal struggle for Superman, especially in the Ultimate Cut where Clark must decide what kind of hero, if he’s going to be one at all, he’s going to be, BvS undercuts that development by not fully developing the reason Superman wants to fight Batman, and making it all about wanting to “SAVE MARTHA”.

Furthermore, Clark never mentions Zod, or the fact that he’s the last known Kryptonian, or any of the events from Man of Steel. Why? Because it didn’t matter. That scene where Superman is forced to

kill Zod and he cries out in anguish because of what he was just forced to do… yeah never mentioned again. Superman didn’t kill nearly as many people as Batman did in Batman v Superman, but there was no growth or signs  that having to extinguish the last remnant of his home world had any effect on him. And that’s a missed opportunity.

Of course it’s not all on the character of Superman. Showing how past experiences and having him actually inspired people is easy. Unfortunately Batman v Superman had other factors that hurt the character.

3. Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor

I am in a very small minority that thinks that Jesse Eisenberg is not worst thing in BvS and instead is like 2^nd or 3^rd worst. I actually didn’t hate the performance and I understood his motivations more than other people did. But Jesse Eisenberg playing the character and how that character is written in Batman v Superman really under cuts not only the movie and the future of that character, but it also undercuts Superman.

Lex Luthor is the arch nemesis of Superman. He is the best known villain and he’s everything Superman isn’t. Superman uses his strength, Lex uses his mind. Superman fights for good, Lex fights for evil. Superman is a farm boy from Kansas, Lex is a business man from Metropolis. And I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Eisenberg was a horrible choice as it could only further that contrast where Superman is big and strong man, Lex is a… small and weak weasel?

I’m not an expert when it comes to the comics, I don’t know every little intricacy of a lot of characters including Lex Luthor, but I do know that Lex was a suave charismatic businessman. He’s basically Batman except he trades in crime fighting vigilantism for influence and power. Yes he has gotten into the robot suit, but his style is more influencing others to defeat Superman for him. And that’s something that could have been utilized in Batman v Superman… except for the fact that Lex Luthor could have been left out of that movie and Batman still would have wanted to fight Superman. Sure there was a really complex plan orchestrated by Lex Luthor, but at the end of the day, I didn’t see Lex as a formidable foe to Superman, I saw him as a crazy, whiney little boy.

And it would be one thing if the only issue with Lex Luthor was the fact that Jesse Eisenberg, a small weasel like person is playing him. Performances can be workshopped and characters can be changed to work better in the future, but when the writing is working against this character and his ultimate comparison to the Man of Steel, suddenly it becomes a bigger issue.

At the end of BvS, He’s headed to Arkham Asylum raving mad about the bells or something, obviously referring to the coming of Darkseid and Apocalypse. But where does that put him as the arch nemesis of Superman. In the future, instead of fighting the suave businessman, Superman will more than likely fight against a raving lunatic. Instead of trying to fight a man who at one point runs for President like a Donald Trumpian super villain, he’s turning into the Joker or The Riddler behind bars in Arkham Asylum.

If Lex Luthor had been a charismatic character and kept his sanity at the end of BvS, sending him to Arkham could have been an interesting choice. He’s obviously not insane and instead of the inmates of Arkham being a horror for Luthor set up by Batman, he could have turned that around and been the king of Arkham, having a whole new rogues gallery to use against Batman and Superman in his grand scheme. But no, he’s just crazy and ranting about bells. If Lex had been a sane villain, I would have been disappointed he didn’t show up in Suicide Squad to manipulate the Squad or play manipulation games with Amanda Waller. After BvS, I’m glad he was nowhere near that movie.

And the worst of it all is, Superman suffers because his arch nemesis, the Mastermind of his rogue’s gallery, isn’t Lex Luthor. Its sniveling snot nose Jesse Eisenberg. And the unfortunate part is the solution for this one isn’t easy.

DC could recast but what would that say to Jesse Eisenberg who, regardless of whether you liked him or not, put all the hard work and enthusiasm into the project. And furthermore, how do you explain the sudden change in not only appearance, but demeanor. On the other hand, you could just leave Lex Luthor out of future movies. But how can you have a universe where Superman exists without Lex Luthor.

The best outcome we can hope for is the fact that this is “Lex Luthor Jr.” and Bryan Cranston appears as his father, or the real Lex Luthor to make that disappointment disappear.

4. Doomsday was in Batman v Superman (and died)

Doomsday is definitely the point in the movie where you know they jumped the shark. They

reference this science experiment gone wrong once in the beginning when Lex gets Zod’s body, and then it doesn’t show up again until the end when Zack Snyder thought we needed a big boss fight, as if the fight between Batman and Superman wasn’t enough.

On top of that, it’s something the movie should have kept hidden as it was a huge plot point that gave away the entire story.

But Doomsday being an issue for the future of the Superman character is more the fact that instead of any other possibility like Superman punching him to a different planet, or Lex holding onto him until the end credit scene, they decided to go full on Death of Superman with this monstrosity and Doomsday was killed.

Instead of being a monstorous Doomsday for the world and Superman’s greatest foe yet, Doomsday was a cave troll that was killed off faster than he was brought to life.

Of course there is always the possibility that this monster could be reborn, but like Lex Luthor, its going to come off as desperate to remedy mistakes of previous films and that is hard to do.

But it affects Superman because Doomsday is his ultimate foe. He is his Doomsday. And that’s not a villain call a Cave troll and throw him into the last 30 minutes of the movie. That is a villain that deserves time, effort, and his own damn movie! Maybe he’s not the main villain, but he at least needs to be developed more than he was in BvS.  

I don’t know DC’s plan. But the best solution is to keep Doomsday dead for quite a while, and IF you bring him back, you better have a really good explanation for this characters sudden reappearance as well as a convincing back story to make him the formidable foe that Superman deserves.

However, this is all makes not difference, as the real missed opportunity and the biggest misstep in the entire DC cinematic universe right now is…

5. Superman is Dead

I’ve talked about this before in my review of Batman v Superman but I want to double tap it, especially how it puts Superman at a really awkward spot when it comes around time to his standalone outing.

Not only is Superman dead, a hero who we never really got to know that well. But so is Clark Kent. The end of BvS shows a funeral for both Superman and Clark Kent and all I could do when that was happening was just be pissed off because of how badly DC screwed up.

Let’s talk about the death of Clark Kent. Now Clark Kent is not exactly the most intriguing alter ego for a super hero because in reality, Clark Kent is very much the secret identity of Superman, not the other way around. (See Bill’s monologue in Kill Bill Vol 2). So I can maybe understand the thought that Clark Kent isn’t that vital to the Superman storyline. However, this is not true and an incredible missed opportunity. Clark Kent is what humanizes Superman. He is an alien living in a human world and he must ride that fine line to be both a demi-god and a human. If they were going to extrapolate a little bit on the Superman story, why not develop Clark Kent more, make him a more intriguing character and let him have a little bit of a story as opposed to just being the Secret Identity for Superman.

But you can’t now because he’s dead. And yeah, bringing Superman back to life is easy, all you have to do is show a few specks of dirt rising from his grave and nobody is going to question a superhero like Superman coming back from the grave. But if Clark Kent suddenly appears alive, what’re people going to think? How’re they going to play that?

So maybe Superman just doesn’t have an alter ego. Maybe Clark Kent just stays dead. So you don’t want to see Clark Kent responding to danger, running out onto the street pulling his shirt away to reveal the S. Okay, you stay in your world of denial.

I just think Clark Kent is quintessential to the character of Superman, especially if you’re going to humanize him more and make Man of Steel 2 a solid sequel. And now that movie is at a disadvantage because someone thought it was a good idea to kill off Superman in his second movie…

THANKS ZACH!

But then let’s talk about the actual death of Superman. Putting aside the fact that you shoehorned in one of the best story lines of the Superman comics into a movie that was supposed to just be about Batman and Superman, killing off Superman now really negates any opportunity to kill him off again.

It negates any kind of emotional connection to the character and makes it impossible for the audience to feel any connection with any future deaths, because if he came back again, he can definitely come back again.

And that’s a web DC needs to avoid very quickly and it’s the web of death. If you kill off characters, give them very sad deaths, only to bring them back or point towards them coming back 10 minutes later, you’ve negated all the feelings I had when I watched them die.

A prime example of this is Loki from the Thor movies.

In both Thor 1 and 2, Loki has these very touching moments where you think he dies. In the first Thor movie, it’s the moment when Odin denounces him and he lets go falling into the abyss because he realizes he’s the villain. It’s a sad moment, especially with the brother and brother, father and son

dynamic going on in that movie... but then 10 minutes later he’s alive again. Then in Thor 2, he sacrifices himself bravely to save Thor, finally getting his redemption before dying in Thor’s arms… and then 10 minutes later he’s alive again, and not only that, he’s looking like he’s pulling off some evil plot, negating any feelings I had of him being redeemed.

Nick Fury is another example. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Nick Fury seemed like the right person to be killed off and his death put stakes on the mission ahead of Cap and his friends… until he’s suddenly alive. Nick Fury wasn’t even fake dead for that long. And that could have been its own movie, Sam Jackson as Nick Fury off the grid! But no, he just comes back in Age of Ultron as if nothing had happened.

So DC, now that Superman has been killed off and is definitely coming back, how am I supposed to connect to that death in BvS when I know he’s coming back in Justice League, how am I supposed to feel any stakes to any future fight Superman is in, when I know he can just come back. You already have a superhero which people think is too OP. You already have a superhero who people think is a trump card. How can he be relatable when he can’t be killed?

I’m not saying it can’t be done, and I’ll talk about some possible solutions to this problem but I’m saying BvS shot Superman in the foot and told him to run real fast. It’s not impossible, but it’s going to be very difficult for it to be a good run. (this is in a world where Superman is human and shooting him in the foot would actually do something).

That’s a lot of issues, and they’re all really given an exclamation point with this last reason why the standalone Superman movie is screwed from the start…

6. DC doesn't know what direction they want to go with Superman.

Or at least that’s what it seems.

I will give them a little bit of slack, there are a lot of possibilities. There have been so many comics, so many iterations of Superman that the sky is really the limit (and that’s not even the limit as Superman can go in space so there’s a whole other possibility).

But while there are a lot of possibilities, DC hasn’t convinced me that they have an actual plan to make those possibilities work for them. Superhero movies have the advantage and disadvantage of being a little bit predictable. On top of that, they’re pulling from comic books so you can look into original material and predict what storyline is going to be used. This works for them in the way that the audience can identify and enjoy these films because they feel like they possibly know what’s going to happen and predict how their favorite storylines are going to be used. But they are also unpredictable because you don’t really know what kind of plans studios have up their sleeve so while Superhero movies are fun to predict, you’re never one hundred percent right. Even if they use a well-known comic book story, they’re going to adapt it for a movie. Days of Future Past has a similar set up than the actual comic but in reality is nothing like the comic.

The issue is, I have no idea what direction DC is headed. And for a while, that was exciting to me. I didn’t know what BvS was going to be about because it wasn’t pulling directly from a particular source. I’m not familiar with the Suicide Squad comics so I have no idea what kinds of stories they were trying to tell. The problem is, I’m not sure DC knows what they’re going to pull from next. It almost seems like they’re pulling random comic titles from a hat and saying, yeah let’s throw that on their. BvS is a good example of that because it has elements from The Dark Knight Returns in it, but it’s also a pseudo sequel to Man of Steel, but it’s also starting the Justice League, but it also pulls from the Death of Superman, but it also is a Wonder Woman introduction, and all the while its BATMAN versus SUPERMAN, which should have been the singular focus the entire time. These story lines weren’t good in the comics because they were all connected (which they weren’t), they were good because they were individual stories that were developed and sound stories that people really enjoyed!

One of the big issues with both BvS and Suicide Squad is that both movies feel very edited and cut. BvS needed a 3 hour long version just so all the stories made sense. Suicide Squad feels very edited and there are tons of scenes they cut from that film, so much that Jared Leto is kind of pissed right now because they filmed so much of him and he’s barely in the movie. The thing is, a lot of these scenes that are being cut out contribute to story lines that could be their own movie. The origin of Harley Quinn and the story Mad Love could be its own movie. The Death of Superman should have been its own movie. But for some reason, DC feels like they need to cram as much into these movies as humanly possible and its hurting them because their movies feel sliced and diced and need directors cuts to make them feel complete.

So how does this relate to Superman? I will discuss that, and some solutions to all the problems that create problems for a Superman standalone film in my second part as this rant has gone on way too long.

But did I miss anything? Do you think there are some other issues that make a Superman standalone movie difficult? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as your requests for movies I should review in the future, as well as things I should discuss on this blog. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates of future movie news and reviews that I post in the future.

I'll leave you with this. Just to show the vast history of this character, here's a video they made during the 75th anniversary of the character. Enjoy!