Comic Book Writers Weigh In on Rebooting Supes

[Jack Napier]

Check it out:
splashpage.mtv.com/2008/08/11/how-to-reboot-the-superman-movie-franchise-comic-writers-chime-in/

[Timothy]

Great article, and I'm glad MTV found some great writers to weigh in on the Man of Steel.

Here's the section that really jumped out at me;

To understand Superman, Meltzer says, you have to know why Superman was created in the first place — because a young Jerry Siegel’s father was shot and killed in 1932 (a fact first uncovered by Gerard Jones in “Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book”).

“Superman was created not because America is the greatest country on earth, not because Moses came to save us from Krypton, but because a little boy lost his father,” Meltzer said. “In his first appearances, he couldn’t fly. He didn’t have X-ray vision. He was only bulletproof. So Superman’s not a character built out of strength, but out of loss.”

“When you hear that, it puts on a whole new spin on Superman and his origins,” Waid said. “The understanding was that Batman was born out of traged and Superman out of hope and aspiration, and it turns out that it’s about not wanting to lose your loved ones. That’s critical, and it means that we can connect with him. He’s not an untouchable character. Bad things still happen to him. His father passes away, and his powers can’t save him.”

I had no idea that the late Jerry Siegel's father was murdered; keeping that in mind, as long as a reboot does not attempt to become a red-clad Batman franchise, I'm entirely up to rebooting the series.

The problem, as far as I see it, is that fans, filmmakers and executives are afraid of disrespecting or somehow dishonoring the late Christopher Reeve. As much as the 1978 Superman film was a great film, 30 years have passed; it is time for fans to move on.