Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman instead of whom?

Superman Returns was clearly a kind of tedious remake of the first movie, but I can understand Bryan Singer wanting to do it. Also, Bryan Singer is still spending his credit from The Usual Suspects, so I'll see a Superman VIII, or whatever.

Oh no. It sucked so bad.

Honestly, I'll go see another FF movie first.

I loved Superman Returns--if Orci and Kurtzman are scripting the sequel, well...Bring it on!!

That was pretty bad.. I think we saw that at the two dollar theater, and felt ripped off. Never did like Superman anyway. What's the point? He's too strong. So then it's kryptonite for breakfast lunch and dinner. Bring on Bizzaro. And mr. mplrfx (did i spell that wrong?)

I thought it was a great film myself, but it certainly could have nixed the "superkid"

That being said, the rumors of Trek scribes writing it have been killed off by Orci himself who flat out said not only are they not doing it, they haven't even been approached about it.

Wow, he needed an ENTIRE movie just to establish Superman as a character? Because 60 years of comic books, radio plays and BETTER movies weren't enough to round him out?

Haha, love the headline!

Yeah that was terrible. But my super ex-girlfriend ROCKED!! Great comedy, however stupid~will there be a sequel?

@extracrispy: Seriously, especially when by his own hand this was Superman III. Why do you need to establish anything when you're making the sequel to a sequel.

He just blew it. He needs to just own up to it and reboot the franchise because they are seriously in the corner with Superman and his bastard son by Lois. Lois and Superman are instantly assholes for not telling Richard the child is not his given his abilities which have already manifested. Not to mention you have to remove him from the picture which means killing him. It's just a clusterfuck all around.

@jenndavo: I think he kind of did. He needed an entire movie to say, "Okay, here's where this franchise stands in relationship to the 60 years of comic books, movies, etc, etc." He's under pressure from producers, from fans, he's got to make something that answers Richard Donner's start, and also will eventually give him room to go where he wants.

Like I said, I like Bryan Singer. I want to believe that he's thinking ahead--that his plan wasn't to try and take the series in the direction he wants all in one movie, but is giving himself room to change it.

I think Bryan did an awesome job with X-Men franchise so i have faith in him.

@Falconfire: I agree, the kid needs to go. He reminded me of a muppet or something...but then again, muppets can act better than he did.

Ok, first of all, I did like Superman Returns. As bad as it was, there were some great moments. I think Singer is going to get the next movie right, he has to. Especially since action-packed hero flicks like Iron Man, Dark Knight and Hulk are all going to kick ass at the box office this summer. He's going to get the message, pick a great villian and produce a Superman like we've never scene. Keep hope alive.

Why does anyone think that the romantic aspect of Superman needs to be center-stage?

I loved the airliner rescue sequence and the casting but the rest of Singer flick was so-so.

It's SUPERman, so yeah, superheroics would be a fine idea.

Paul Dini? Bruce Timm?

Just sayin'....

Sr was a 2 hour suckfest and I cannot believe how badly used was the character of Lex Luthor and the acting talents of Spacey, Don't even talk about the Kid - oh that and yeah Superman is a dick trying to steal another mans wife away from him - but she's a daft cow if she didn't know that the kid was supes as she must've shacked up with the new bloke 5 mins after supes vanished.
Rubbish - utter tosh and hope it kills of lame-o-man for ever.

@braak: I was (and still am) so incredibly disappointed by the whole thing. Considering the build-up to SR -- the McG phase, the Nic Cage casting and a decade of similar craptacular ideas -- I'd hoped for something a bit more solid. Also: who casts a 22-year-old actress (who looks every inch of 22) as a reporter with a decade of experience and a 5-year-old son?

aaaand another thing...why is it hard to make a superman movie anyway?

Step 1: Pick an awesome villian (Braniac)
Step 2: Give the villian a motive (Braniac is goes nuts, resposnible for Krypton's destruction. Seeks out to destroy everything Kryptonian)
Step 3: Love (Lois - NO KID)
Step 4: Awesome Fight Scenes (space, nyc, pyramids, etc)
Step 5: Hero wins, flys off into space, winks at screen.

You picking up what im putting down?

Also, io9, you're looking pretty good today! How have you escaped the redesign issues that make the other Gawker sites, for lack of a better tech term, all wiggy?

@Darkedge: It is well documented that Superman can be a dick:

[www.superdickery.com]

@braak: But he did that to himself by deciding to do a "sequel" to Superman II. He could have rebooted, but chose not to.

three words: kneel before zod

@jenndavo: @Macloserboy: Okay, well, look. Yes, he made a mistake with Superman Returns. Let's say, rather, he made a number of big mistakes. What I'm hoping is, the way he's talking about this, is that he got those mistakes out of his system with that one, and is now ready to do something that people will like.

I am remaining cautiously optimistic.

@braak: it's like looking into a mirror of myself on the way into star wars episode II: attack of the clones...

@tetracycloide: Aw, crap.

@braak: it's as if a thousand half-full glasses cried out in terror and were suddenly half-empty. i feel something terrible has happened.

And this time have Lex plan a crime that doesn't involve some stupid real estate scheme.

What sort of super-criminal takes crystals that contain information on advanced alien technology and weapons and use them to create a big rock in the Atlantic. Even Dr. Evil had better plans.

Oh, and thirding or fourthing the whole WTF do you mean 'establish characters' thing.

@daveNYC: So you're saying Lex Luthor isn't the one behind the Sub-Prime mortgage meltdown?

Actually, I'd love to see the movies go a different route with the love angle (read: Wonder Woman). It shouldn't be too difficult since DC is owned by WB and I've always thought that pairing made a heckuva lot more sense than Superman/Lois. And, yeah, for GOD'S SAKE let's see some superheroics!

Yes, more action.

Less Superman as a creepy, stalking ex-boyfriend.

More flying around and smashing things.

Less hesitant looks and M Night Shyamalan dramatic pacing.

Zero super-kid. Let him die in scene 1. Horribly. Painfully. Tragically ripped limb from limb by kryptonite infused dingoes. Then Superman can have plot-motivation as he seeks revenge.

"They are a great audience Kal-El, if they wish to be. They only lack the script and the Director to show them the way."

I love superman, even have jim lee's version of him tatood on my arm; but I will not watch another movie with lex luthor in it. seriously five movie with him is four too many.

I dug the movie, with plenty of reservations about it. I agree with the overly-romanticized plot and the ridiculous use of Spacey, but still... There were moments of beauty, such as the plane scene.

But I completely agree with complex, Luthor needs to take at least a backseat as a villian, there are SO many others that need some face time.

KNEEL.

I had a problem with the Production Design too.

I really disliked the desaturated sun-dappled world. It felt excessivly artificial and empty. And also, completely wrong for a Superman movie.

can he please kill the kid!

I think superman returns would have been a pretty okay movie if they released the follow up a week later where something actually happened

but as has been said, superman is already pretty established. Often over established actually, with the movies making up lots of new bullshit powers for him. Luckily singer stayed away from that.

The movie should have gone in an entirely different direction after the awesome plane saving scene.

"And now that the characters are established..."

It's frelling Superman! How much "establishing" was really needed in the first place!?

They could have just as easily started the movie with him swooping down on some villains and gone off from there.

I just hope he spends a little more time with his origin. I'm still a little hazy on that.

Yeah, that's a little narcissistic of him to think that Bryan Freakin' Singer "established" these characters.

Just tell a great story, bud!

@Macloserboy: Couldn't agree more with you questioning Clark and Lois's character. Very disappointed to see SM as a "dead beat dad". SupKid is a domestic disturbance waiting to happen. Superman needs to be physical vulnerable in some sort of way in order to become "heroic".

I will only see this movie if they kill the kid... IN THE TEASER TRAILER.

Oh, and bring back the cellophane chest "S"s too, those were awesome!

@DarkPlaces:

Opens with superkid test-flying around a clear blue sky, giggling, happy. Superman is there to guide him in his first step to superdome...

... and a Kyptonite meteor falls an smooshes superkid flat.

Superman Returns was not worth Brian Singer letting Brett Ratner rape over his first two X-men movies with that last abomination of a film.

It was cool but it wasn't anything special, I honestly I like Hulk better then Supes Returns

Superman Returns was far more enjoyable to watch than the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

I didn't have any problems with the superkid (superboy).

Remember, it had been more than a decade since the last Superman film, so you have to assume people kind of forget stuff.

Macloserboy gave the best comment in the entire blog. "He needs to just own up to it and reboot the franchise because they are seriously in the corner with Superman and his bastard son by Lois."
u just wanna slap that kid around.
and the belt logo needs to go back to the back of the cape for fuck's sake.

But give me some kind of super villain I'm not a D.C. guy but Ra's Al Ghul and scarecrow got me to go see Batman at the theatre and the Joker is gonna have me spend another 20 bucks before snacks. I waited for Superman on cable and I'm glad I did.

Superman isn't going to have any kind of character development, no big revelations/ paradigm shifts/ change in the status quo. There won't be a chance of him melting faces off normal ppl. So what the hell is the point of a movie about a static character who doesn't have any obstacles including himself. If I know the character inside and out, if he's not going to change as I know him, give me a massive fight, collateral damage and a villain that I want to see get the snot knocked out of or wipe the floor with superman.

Atleast give me Lex Luther in his purple and green power suit if I can't get Apokolips or Metallo or even parasite or Bizarro. Zod is what made superman II the best of the franchise.

Zod wants everyone to kneel, starts by killing Superkid?

The casting would be the important part here.

This is something that bugs the hell out of me in movies and tv shows. Why do they think they have to start at the beginning? Why do they think they have to spend way too much time setting things up? There's another story here on io9 just today about how to write good short stories. The trick they forgot to mention is that those rules go for novels, TV, and film too. START IN THE MIDDLE! Show us your characters in situ, don't take a week to set things up. This isn't a chess match, we don't need to start at the opening move. So he admits wasting an entire film "establishing" the characters. Bryan? It's SUPERMAN AND LOIS LANE. short of Shakespeare, you don't GET more established than that. You wasted a movie.

Ok, ok, how about this?
Clark wakes up from a CRAZY DREAM that he had a kid. Then on his way to The Daily Planet (where Lois is still ignorant of his true identity Zod shows up with Bizarro, Brainiac and Parisite in tow.
There is much kneeling.
Large amounts of real estate get destroyed.
Red, blue and mauve kryptonite.
Possibly Toyman shows up.

HAY GUYS YOU KNOW WHAT MOVEY HADS AN AWESUM SKRIP? TRANSFORMERS!

seriously. they had better not.

SR was an ok movie. Not worth seeing in the theatre but ok from Netflix. Like many have said, it could have been so much more. Did Lex really need to be the villain of choice? Seems too easy. They should have brought in a heavy hitter like Braniac. Plus the super kid was just a dumb idea all around. Also, am I the only one who didn't like the X-Men movies? It seemed so watered down. The Wolvie I remember would go batshit crazy and really mess people up. The storylines I remember most are the Hellfire Club and Morlock ones. He was so kick ass in both. I would have loved to see Nimrod too!

The frickin' Superman-Doomsday (DOOMSDAY! for Pete's sake) direct to DVD animated movie had a better story, plot, dialog, and ACTING than the $100M+ giant movie that SR was. Frankly, I'd rather watch a few more Adult DC Universe movies such as that than sit through two more hours of the cringe inducement that is Bryan Singer Superman.