The heavily tweet-laden article by Andrew Heaton of We Got This Covered makes a very strong point from the vantage point of DC fans and those that would no doubt be silent as the grave if they were face to face, or not, when regarding just how relevant Superman still is to the entire DC universe, and in fact to realm of comic books altogether. In a way that’s like saying that sunlight is no longer relevant to agriculture, it would be an utterly ridiculous statement and might come from a place of true ignorance, which is unfortunately where some Hollywood minds seem to be stuck at this point. But despite not being the biggest fan of Superman, oh yes it’s true, I can at least agree that he is a very relevant character since he’s the archetype that so many other heroes have been built from or have at least taken inspiration from in some way. Simply saying something like “Oh yeah, he’s good but he’s not really what we need at this point” is tantamount to saying that you don’t need a part of your body for a crucial, life-preserving act that is necessary at all times. Superman is as relevant to DC at ALL times as any single character could possibly be.
Here are just a couple remarks that were pulled out of the storm of tweets that were levied towards those that dared to assume such a thing:
@Variety stated: “Warner Bros. has less clarity on what to do with #Superman. However, there have been discussions with Michael B. Jordan and J.J. Abrams to help make the Man of Steel more relevant.”
While @TravisClark2 had this to say: “The sad thing about WB’s handling of Superman is that this is THE PERFECT time for a Superman movie. He is the embodiment of hope. He’s an immigrant created by two Jewish dudes in the late 1930s. Wtf are you doing if you don’t know how to make that relevant right now.”
As you can see people are in a definite snit about this and they have every right to be since Superman is without a doubt the one superhero that DC should be struggling the hardest to keep relevant no matter if they’re trying to focus on Batman, Wonder Woman, and other projects at the moment. Dedicating one part of their funding towards the man of steel should be a priority as much as anything since he’s one of the biggest reasons why they’ve been so successful in the past. One bit of warning that might be wise to listen to however is that in keeping Superman relevant, as they should, DC should be cautious when it comes to the idea of whether or not they’ll hire on Michael B. Jordan as the next man of steel.
While the idea isn’t horrible and it isn’t something to be shied away from, it’s also time to be careful not to use him as an out and out replacement for the man of steel since the outrage inherent in such a move would be just as bad it would seem since any movie trying to be ‘woke’ at this point is subject to a lot of backlash and as a result using Jordan as a replacement for Henry Cavill could backfire in a big way, especially since at this time Jordan doesn’t seem to have the right demeanor in most of his appearances on the big screen to really equate to what Superman’s alter ego is known to be like. And if DC is thinking to completely redo Superman as far as his color AND his attitude, then they’re bound to realize their mistake a little too late since the movie would likely tank, not because of a black man taking the suit, but because of their inability to recognize when to be innovative and when to follow the formula that’s been laid down.
There’s a time to be creative, and so far those moments have been passing them by in a big way as they’ve relied on the supposedly ‘legendary’ Zack Snyder to show the way. If that was the case and it’s what they’ve been banking on then they would have been better off including a free flashlight with each ticket sale to counter Snyder’s insane use of shadows to tell a story that relies heavily on the sad and depressing motives that seem to reside behind every other second of the movie. As it stands, Superman has been misused in a big way as he’s been show first as a sort of depressed and restless wanderer and then as the Justice League Friends version when he came back around in Justice League. It’s really time for DC to make up their minds what they want to do with this guy, since at this point it’s their continued mishandling of him that’s killing his credibility and destroying any relevance that he still has, as John Fuge of MovieWeb might agree with.
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