The greatest and most well-known comic book character of all time, Superman, has had a somewhat patchy record when it comes to the big screen. With six solo films and four other films where he stars jointly with other heroes, the Man of Steel’s onscreen journey has been mired by clashing creative decisions, financial concerns, and a persisting effort by parent company Warner Bros to sabotage their own biggest property. With this in mind, let’s dive into why is it so hard to make an engaging Superman movie?
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Every Superman film ever made (except the 1978 one) faltered in some capacity when it came to fulfilling expectations heaped upon it. Richard Donner’s Superman (1978), the first comic book movie ever made, was made with Oscar-winning actors, impressive CGI (for that time), and a massive budget. With Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel, the film was a slam dunk when it came to both reviews and box office receipts. A sequel was quickly greenlit, and with all the crew and cast returning, it was understood to be a surefire hit as well.
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However, in typical WB fashion, as production progressed on this highly anticipated sequel, Donner was suddenly fired, the studio took control of the film, and what resulted was a disjointed mess hated by the fans.
Two more sequels, even goofier and campier, followed, which both imploded at the box office, and the franchise was dead soon after. Attempts to resurrect a new Superman film repeatedly failed in the late 1990s and early 2000s until a new Superman film with Bryan Singer was greenlit, which would also turn out to be a massive, albeit unique, mistake.
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This film was Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns. Hot off the success of his X-Men films, Singer chose to do a quasi-sequel to the Richard Donner films with a new cast. Why he chose to do this is not known, and why Warner didn't do anything about it?
The result is a film that has almost no action, a bloated runtime, and characters (who are supposed to be the same versions of the first two Donner films) yet played by different actors. The film was a massive undertaking and predictably failed at the box office, and a potential sequel was put on ice forever.
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However, WB didn't give up just yet. Inspired by the success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, the studio once again set out for a Superman reboot, this time produced by Nolan and written by Dark Knight scribe David S. Goyer. A dark take on the character, inspired by the post 9/11 world where humanity would initially see Henry Cavill’s Kal-El with mistrust and apprehension, the new Superman film titled Man of Steel was released in 2013.
Directed by 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder, the film prioritized bombastic action sequences as it laid the foundations of the new DC shared universe.
Why Is It So Hard To Make An Engaging Superman Movie?
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Although the film was a box office success, fan and critic reactions were mixed. Despite this, WB marched on ahead with a sequel that saw Ben Affleck’s Batman going toe to toe with Superman, mad over the colossal damage and death toll from the previous film’s finale. Introducing Wonder Woman, Doomsday, and several other legacy DC characters, the film was supposed to be the springboard to launch the much-touted DC universe. However, the long runtime of the film saw WB forcing Zack Snyder to cut 30 minutes from the theatrical version, leaving audiences confused when the film was finally released in theatres.
Although the film made close to 900 million USD, the horrific reviews meant the next Superman feature, Justice League, was hacked to bits by the studio.
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The subsequent five years witnessed a fragmented and absurd release of a Justice League film, which faced both critical and commercial disdain, alongside Henry Cavill's retirement from the role of Superman, and appearances of a headless Superman in various other DCEU properties, and finally, Cavill’s return as the Man of Steel in 2022’s Black Adam.
Intense fan demand had also finally ushered in the release of Snyder’s original Justice League cut, where Cavill’s Superman was the highlight of the film yet again. Things were again looking good for Cavill and his Superman as he not only announced his official return as Kal-El but also filmed a couple of cameos for The Flash film.
Why Is It So Hard To Make An Engaging Superman Movie?
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But, it was Warner Bros who managed to shoot themselves in the foot here yet again. Blindsiding everyone, they announced a new Superman film and a complete reboot of their DC Universe. David Corenswet has been officially named as the new Kal El, while James Gunn, renowned for his work on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, has been appointed as the director and the new head of DC Studios.
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The film, with lofty expectations and the future of the entire studio, releases this July. A potential box office failure would undoubtedly spell doom for the entire brand. A spin-off feature titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, also starring Corenswet, is in production.
Why Is It So Hard To Make An Engaging Superman Movie?
So this is the entire history of Superman in film, and the only real culprit that has repeatedly destroyed the character’s theatrical potential has been none other than the parent company, WB. Some say that Superman is not a well enough engaging character in the modern world for audiences to give a hoot about him. Others say his story has already been done to death in eight live-action films, and there is no more room for freshness to make audiences excited for him again.
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With eighty years of comics and other media behind him, the Superman character has been reinvented and rebooted countless times, and every single possible iteration of the character has been extracted for public consumption.
Superman, similar to James Bond and Star Trek, continues to be a fundamental element of the pop culture phenomenon. The character will undoubtedly continue to endure, but we should not expect any radical transformation in regards to the character anytime soon.
