People who pay a lot of attention to the animated series as well as animated movies based on DC Comics should be familiar with the name of Bruce Timm. After all, he is one of the most critical figures behind the DC animated universe, so much so that said setting is sometimes just called the Timmverse by those who follow it. As a result, when Timm speaks out, there are a lot of people who are interested in hearing what he has to say, as shown by his recent statement expressing his interest in making an animated adaptation of Superman: Red Son.
What Is Superman: Red Son?
Essentially, Superman: Red Son is a mini-series of comic books that happened outside of what is considered to be canon for DC Comics. In it, Superman was not raised in the United States but rather in the Soviet Union. As a result, when Stalin dies, it is Superman who becomes the leader of the Soviet Union, with the result that it transforms into both something of a utopia and something of a dystopia at the same time. On the one hand, Superman’s society has neither crime nor poverty; on the other hand, Superman’s society is quite authoritarian, which is in addition to the fact that he came up with a brain procedure to turn dissidents into drones at some point. Regardless, while the Soviet Union is becoming more and more influential under Superman’s leadership, the United States is less than pleased, which is why it secures the services of Lex Luthor, who makes it his life’s goal to defeat Superman. In the end, Luthor succeeds following a series of standard superhero comic shenanigans, but the hilarious part is that Luthor proceeds to create a state that is both something of a utopia and something of a dystopia because perhaps unsurprisingly, Luthor is a huge hypocrite. Summed up, Superman: Red Son‘s message was a bit muddled, but it is rather memorable, which has helped make it one of the most popular and thus one of the most influential stories printed under DC’s Elseworlds imprint.
Could This Happen?
As a result, it should come as no surprise to learn that there has been a fair amount of interest in making an adaptation of Superman: Red Son. For example, it was reported that the idea of a live-action movie was pitched to Warner Bros. in 2017, which was turned down. However, there were also reports that Warner Bros. looked into the idea to some extent, which suggests that the idea wasn’t wholly unacceptable.
Whatever the case, the chances of an animated adaptation of Superman: Red Son look much better than the chances of an live-action adaptation. After all, another Elseworlds story called Gotham By Gaslight has just received its animated adaptation. As a result, if Gotham By Gaslight does well, that would prove the commercial potential of Elseworlds stories to the people making those decisions, which in turn, would increase the chances of a Superman: Red Son animated adaptation. Combined with the interest shown by Timm, it seems that such an animated movie might not be that far-off, though it should be stressed that it should be seen how Gotham By Gaslight performs before speculating further.
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