The Adventures of Captain Otter

Captain Otter carries an unabashed, beyond fanboy-ish obsession to Batman.  And today we have two crazy ideas from both Marvel and DC about the Caped Crusader.

Let’s look at Marvel’s latest project.  Okay, so this isn’t “Batman”, but it’s as close to plagiarism as I can imagine.  Mark Millar, who I have mixed feelings about, is asking us “what if Batman was the Joker?”  First of all, this is a horrendously stupid question.  The two are polar opposites, the alpha and the omega, the yin and the yang.  All that junk.  Bruce Wayne can’t be the Joker, and if he is then he loses every element that makes him Batman.  The comic will be published by Marvel, but will be driven by Mark Millar and Icon, just like Kick Ass.   The comic imagines Bruce Wayne as an anarchist who enjoys messing with cops, and we see “Nemesis” now toying with this world’s Comissioner Gordon.  It’s a reversal of Batman’s story in every way.

A better way of framing this would be, what if the Joker was a rich billionaire?  No elements of Bruce Wayne seem to be left, and we’ll have to see what the take on his origin is.  Also, it feels weird that Marvel is handling this project.  They’re taking concepts directly from DC and using them for themselves.  I would feel much more comfortable  if DC was publishing this in one of their various multiverses.

 Speaking of which, we have more crazy stories from DC’s multiverses.  Geoff Johns, DC’s newest golden boy and J. Michael Stracynski are working on a new Batman and Superman project.  The stories will take place on Earth-1, and will be new takes on the two characters.  Havn’t we seen this before?  Telling stories about the characters that are not part of continuity?  Isn’t that All-star Batman and Superman?  The writers will be picking and choosing elements of the characters origins to create more modern takes on the characters.  Seems a bit like Marvel;s Ultimate universe.  But while the Ultimate universe felt like an attempt to create something entirely new and original, this feels like a way to escape the tedious backstories and continuity.  Which is strange, because the DC universe continues to be filled with retcons.  It’s my least favorite part of the company, really.  Still, I’m not going to complain at the prospect of two great writes handling two great heroes with an incredible writer on board.  I know I’m going to pick this up, and think it could be something special.

I love talking about comic book movies.  Even if it’s starring a character I hate.  Although I “meh” Superman, I think he can be done well.  And as I mentioned in my last post, Superman might be getting a reboot sooner than expected.  The movie will be a full blown re-do, with a new director, actor and style.  I support this decision.  Superman Returns had some problems, and giving Superman a kid puts a damper on future storylines.  Any Clark Kent/Louis Lane romance is going to be bugged down by the super powered child in the room.  Nah, it’s best to do what the Hulk did and forget the whole thing ever happened.

Now that we’ve gotten rid of any continuity problems by effectively erasing them, the writers have almost complete freedom to do whatever they want with the character.  They can use any villains, cover any stories, anything.  My first, humble suggestion is to NOT HAVE THE FIRST VILLAIN BE LEX LUTHOR.  I don’t care if he’s the archnemesis: it doesn’t matter.  Lex was the big villain in almost all the old Superman movies, and that got old.  The best villain was General Zod, and it’s easy to figure out why.  Superman could punch the guy.  The big blue boy scout needs a villain who he can hit, and one who can hit back just as hard.  I don’t know too much about Superman’s villains, but the one that stands out is Brainiac.  He has close personal connections to Superman, and can physically take him on.  He’s also the kind of guy (robot?) who can have devious master plans.  Brainiac gets my vote for villain, and I know they can make that work.  Something like Superman’s opportunity to defend his new home, even though he had that chance for Krypton.  I’d go see that.

But who should play Superman?  Routh probably won’t be coming back if it’s a reboot, so they need a new leading man.  No one comes to mind though.  Picking someone who can pull off both Superman and Clark Kent is always tricky, and I don’t have any good names in mind.  I’ve heard some people suggest Tom Welling, and I disagree with this.  If Welling were chosen, it would feel more like “Smallville: The Movie!”.  No, a real fresh start works.  Warners did have an actor in mind for the Justice League, so he might get another shot at the role.  Still, I just can’t think of a guy who can pull off both those roles.  And yeah, Lex Luthor can be in the movie.  He shouldn’t be the main villain, but that doesn’t mean they can’t set something up for a future confrontation.  As long as they clearly make someone like Brainiac the villain, they can do whatever they want with Lex.  Kevin Spacey did a great job in Returns, but they still shouldn’t ask him back.  if you’re going to do a reboot, everyone has to be replaced.

As for the director, some names have been thrown around.  One pair that keeps on coming up is the Wachowski brothers and their protege who’s done alot of movies with them.  This doesn’t excite me all that much.  Sure, they did the Matrix, but they also did the two sequels.  They did V for Vendetta, but they also did Speed Racer.  These guys really go all out on a movie, and we will get something really different and unique.  But is that what we want?  I would like to see a classic Superman movie done very well.  Not a clone of the old movies, but nothing like the seizure-fest that was Speed Racer.

Anyway, the movie is on the fast track to get made.  If they can get the movie in production by 2011, then they get to avoid nasty legal trouble.  The corollary to that statement is that if they don’t get it in production by 2011, their reward is nasty legal trouble.  So if it does start filming in 2011, then the movie would surely come out in 2012, which seems likely.  Even though the movie isn’t confirmed, it’s only a matter of time before we get a Superman movie of some kind.

When I started seriously keeping up with comics a little more than a year ago, my pull list was dominated by Marvel.  It still is, but as I add more and more comics, some DC stuff manages to sneak it’s way in.  They’re tricky like that.  The only DC titles I’m reading are Batman and Green Lantern related, and I’m happy with them so far.  After looking at reviews and solicits, I’m actually thinking of adding some Superman trades and issues to my collection.  I have mixed feelings on the character.  I mean, the costume always seemed a little…questionable, and I was never a big fan of the movies.  The character’s image just didn’t seem as cool as say, Iron Man’s.  The little exposure I had gave the impression of a character who was a shy, insecure little boy scout.  Superheroes are suppossed to do the right thing, but Superman came off as being almost subservient to the needs of others.  I dunno, I guess I just never felt a connection to the character.

Now that I know more about the character and comics in general, I’m willing to give the Man of Steel a real chance.  I want to look into the Braniac arc, which some of my friends tell me is fantastic.  And what’s all this New World of Krypton stuff?  Sounds kind of intriguing.  Maybe with such big villains and cosmic threats, the character will work for me.  Superman doesn’t have a deep Rogues Gallery, with just a few worthwhile villains.  I think the character could work if he fights big extra-terrestrial baddies.  Monsters from beyond the stars who can give Supes a run for his money.  I like that.  Superman’s abilities are more suited for cosmic threats, and from what I hear that’s what is going on.  I’m not sure if it will last, but Superman is going to get a shot at my pull list.

Oh, a real quick update.  While writing this, I checked out some Superman news.  It looks like the reboot might be back on track.  And it will be a reboot.  The Richard Donner years are over, and they are looking for a brand new direction.  Check back tomorrow for a full post on the reboot, what I want to see in it, and more solid news.