Yep Warner Bros. plans to reboot the Superman franchise with a new take, just like Marvel did with "The Incredible Hulk" this summer. That's the big news coming from this Wall Street Journal article in which WB president Jeff Robinov talked about the upcoming plans for their movies based on DC characters.

While Robinov speaks about many things in the movie, among them Batman 3, and adopting Marvel's new approach to films, the biggest news is that they are indeed relaunching Superman. Saying that "'Superman Returns' didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to...had [it] worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009, But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman..."

This looks to confirm, at least somewhat, the news that Mark Millar was planning to pitch a new approach to Superman as Warner was looking to do so. Hopefully now that Warner has opened the door to a relaunch more about Millar's ideas, along with the identity of his secret director.

Meanwhile Warner has decided to release single films for each of their characters (currently films are being developed for Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Flash, & Wonder Woman) which will all lead into a Justice League film. Which means that the JLA film that was being worked on prior to and just after the writers strike is officially dead.

Along with all this fantastic news is one bit of news which really disappoints me, due to the huge success of The Dark Knight, Robinov wants all of his upcoming superhero films to focus on the darker side of the characters. Apparently he sees "exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties" stating that "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it." And yes that last bit goes for their relaunch of the Superman franchise as well.

So what do you think of all this? Personally I really dug Superman Returns. Yes it had it's flaws, but overall I like that it was kind of a part 3 following the original Superman and Superman 2. I felt like looking at it from that approach the film worked really well.

But at the same time I'm interested in seeing a reboot and leaving all that behind. Let's get some new Superman stories out there and explore how much the character has changed since the late 70s when 'Superman' was released. And I'm ecstatic that DC is going the Marvel route and trying to make their characters more connected and developing them all before jumping into a Justice League film.

Labels: DC, News, Reboot, Superman, Warner Brothers

Could it be that DC is looking at the success of the rebooted Hulk franchise as a way to do the same with their Superman franchise?

If comic all-star Mark Millar is to believed, they just might be. Millar, the mind behind the recent film Wanted, apparently told Scotland's Daily Record that he's part of a small cabal working to pitch a new take on Superman to Warner Brothers.

Millar has apparently dreamed of this since he was a boy living in Scotland, saying "I've been planning this my entire life. I've got my director and producer set up, and it'll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to think. The Superman brand is toxic after that last movie lost 200 million, but in 2011 we're hoping to restart it. Sadly I can't say who the director is, but we may make it official by Christmas. But fingers crossed it could work out, that would be my lifetime's dream."

Millar then clarified his remarks on his own site, Millarworld, saying "That Superman news is interesting, isn't it? In the interests of clarity (because I'm sure this will be picked up somewhere) a very well known American action director heard about my love of Superman, approached me and asked me to team up with he and his producer to make a pitch for this. We've been talking for several weeks now and, if this is going to happen, we'll know by Christmas. He has huge pull at WB so fingers crossed. But this is nothing more than a huge US name pulling me into his fold and making me part of a package."

If Millar's remarks are true (and who am I to doubt the man) this might be news to Bryan Singer, who recently said publicly that he was still committed to making a sequel to 2006's Superman Returns. That film wasn't real well received, although I enjoyed it, and regarded as a failure even though the movie made over $390 million vs a $270 Million Budget. But would Warner and DC really through away a $270 million investment? And would the entire cast be thrown out, or retained?

Personally I would love to see what Millar could do with Superman, a big budget, and a big action director. The last time Millar tangoed with Supes the world was given a Russian Superman in the Elseworld series, Superman: Red Son. While I haven't read Red Son, I've heard nothing but good things, so I may have to check it out, especially if Millar ends up taking on this project. Heck I'd love to see Red Son turned into a movie. I think it would be interesting to see DC do a series of Elseworld movies with different actors, writers, & directors taking on each project.

What about you, do you long to see Routh pull on the tights one again, or would you like to see a whole new take on the franchise, maybe even an Elseworld's version?

Labels: Rumors, Superman