New Man of Steel Pictures

[huedell]

The official running time is 2 hours, 23 minutes. Yikes! One has to wonder if that isn't a long haul for a reboot.

That's within 2 minutes of Nolan's other reboot so it seems like a pretty predictable number to me.

And not that I think longer movies are a good idea (quite the opposite) but it does seem that if there was any time to spend extra time on a superhero, it'd be the first installment in a series in order to establish the new version of the character.

[MIB41]

That's within 2 minutes of Nolan's other reboot so it seems like a pretty predictable number to me.

And not that I think longer movies are a good idea (quite the opposite) but it does seem that if there was any time to spend extra time on a superhero, it'd be the first installment in a series in order to establish the new version of the character.

Yeah, without question a thoughtful reintroduction is never a bad idea. But I'm still a little on the fence about another origin story for Superman. When Nolan directed Batman Begins, that character had never had an in depth origin told theatrically. So that gave the film a unique perspective. And while one could argue Superman's origin has not been told theatrically since the '78 introduction, it has been covered extensively on television with Smallville and in animated features. So it's not like it's been out of sight, out of mind. Quite the contrary. It's probably the most examined origin of any present day hero out there. So for myself, MOS could have a serious pacing problem if too much of the material is derivative of well established stories. And right now MOS looks like Superman the movie meets Smallville, meets Superman 2. We'll see. Personally, I'm just wanting a fresh story that expands upon the foundation already established.

[huedell]

And right now MOS looks like Superman the movie meets Smallville, meets Superman 2. We'll see. Personally, I'm just wanting a fresh story that expands upon the foundation already established.

My personal view differs from what many others would like, I'm sure. And worse yet, my own view might or might not be a box office helper... of course, it's all speculation, particularly now when we know very little about the ratios of the elements we've been presented with already.

That said, I'm with you about minimizing the origin stuff to aid tighter pacing. We share simillar fears, and a lot of that (for me) is, frankly, I didn't even enjoy it all that much in the '78 movie. To me, it was nice, but not necessary to linger on Krypton and in Smallville.

If it was up to me, I's start the friggin movie with that unique MOS trailer "Zod" transmission coming thru space to Earth to some computer nerd's computer and the nerd is like "Oh ****, I thought Superman's planet was destroyed. Who's this guy who claims he's a General... from KRYPTON?" The nerd then goes to the news media...

...and BANG within the first few minutes of the film we know that Supes is already established on Earth, Earth's citizens know all about Supes's Kryptonian past, annnnnd we are introduced to the main antagonist of the film (Zod) PLUS when the nerd goes to the news media we can meet Lane, White and Olsen as well.

Origin stuff is cool (who doesn't wanna see Krypton and Jor-El, etc) but it could be shown in flashback. I know it sounds like a real unorthodox gamble, and I know MOS won't actually have pacing like THAT. But, I just wanted to diagram how much that, I too, hope that the origin stuff doesn't hamper my (or the public's) viewing enjoyment of MOS.

I don't wanna go through too much of what I went through in Batman Begins... I wanna see THAT SUIT!

[MIB41]

That said, I'm with you about minimizing the origin stuff to aid tighter pacing. We share simillar fears, and a lot of that (for me) is, frankly, I didn't even enjoy it all that much in the '78 movie. To me, it was nice, but not necessary to linger on Krypton and in Smallville.

If it was up to me, I's start the friggin movie with that unique MOS trailer "Zod" transmission coming thru space to Earth to some computer nerd's computer and the nerd is like "Oh ****, I thought Superman's planet was destroyed. Who's this guy who claims he's a General... from KRYPTON?" The nerd then goes to the news media...

...and BANG within the first few minutes of the film we know that Supes is already established on Earth, Earth's citizens know all about Supes's Kryptonian past, annnnnd we are introduced to the main antagonist of the film (Zod) PLUS when the nerd goes to the news media we can meet Lane, White and Olsen as well.

Origin stuff is cool (who doesn't wanna see Krypton and Jor-El, etc) but it could be shown in flashback. I know it sounds like a real unorthodox gamble, and I know MOS won't actually have pacing like THAT. But, I just wanted to diagram how much that, I too, hope that the origin stuff doesn't hamper my (or the public's) viewing enjoyment of MOS.

I don't wanna go through too much of what I went through in Batman Begins... I wanna see THAT SUIT!

I honestly believe modern audiences want that approach as well. The whole discovery tale seems a bit labored at this point. And my fear is their going to wallow in too much back story (on Krypton) forging some "new" rationale for why Kal-El came to earth. And although I don't KNOW this to be the case, I smell a major shift occurring in those events. Perhaps Krypton is not destroyed right away? Perhaps this is a story of Superman before he invents his Metropolis incarnation of Clark Kent? It's what I'm NOT seeing that leads to me to this conjecture. Or perhaps it's just more trailer manipulation like Marvel? Not sure. But what I don't see is what you, me, and a blue million other people want to see... Superman kicking butt for an entire film! Let him get past first base folks! Let Superman (the hero) spend an ENTIRE film being the lead character of topic, rather than the encore sampling he always turns into with these reboots.

[Earth 2 Chris]

From what I'm seeing, events on Krypton are heavily tied into this story, even beyond the Jor-El/Zod feud. I'm not sure how, but it looks like Krypton figures more into the story than past versions.

I honestly don't mind the origin. Sure, WE'VE seen it, but the movie was 35 years ago, and the most recent version, Smallville, had a much smaller audience than what Warners is hoping for. Plus, making a clean break from past continuity is almost a necessity after Returns tied into a 25-year old movie.

It's a whole new beginning for Superman, so to me, you have to do the origin.

Chris

[MIB41]

Fingers crossed. Because I want to see DC heroes made like Marvel is doing with theirs. I would LOVE to see the Flash, Aquaman, even another Green lantern now that we have the origin behind us. There's a huge world to tap into. And if Superman needs to be a blockbuster to make that happen, I'm all in.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I have a good feeling about this one. Both the movie, and the reception. Everyone seems jazzed about. Lot of buzz going in. I've had several people at work ask me about it, much like the Marvel films. I had a few people ask me about Green Lantern, but it was more of a "Isn't that a comic book too?" kind of thing.

Chris

[hedrap]

At 2H23M, that means at least twenty minutes of Krypton.

I think the story goes - Clark travels the world, ends up doing Guardian Angel deeds. Lois follows story, and labels him "man of steel" after someone he saved referred to him with that name, (most likely the oil rig fire).

Then, I think we get a variation of Superman 2 - Zod appears, wants "son of Jor-El" forcing Clark to go to The Fortress, where he's educated and whatnot. He then springs out as Superman.

I don't think he becomes Superman before Zod. It feels like Goyer's take was that Clark just wanted to help people in anonymity, but Zod made that impossible.

The Smallville rift seems to be how Jor-El expects Kal-El to become a demigod to humans, where John Kent wants him to just be who he is. A destiny thing that Kal-el has to come to accept.

In the trailer I saw last night, they really don't shy away from the Christ imagery. In one shot, he's floating in space with his arms outstretched. I think it's a smart move, because it's the only angle left to differentiate him from Thor, Iron Man, Spidey and Cap.

And Brainiac is going to be in this and I think that's what the guy who played Future Luthor on Smallville is alluding to when he saws "what I play", since Brainiac is a construct.

Also, look at the armor Zod and crew are wearing. It's incredibly close to the Super Powers Brainiac. Then add in the tentacle ship, and we might be looking at a case where we're sold Zod, but Brainiac is the real instrument behind the attack.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I suspected that as well. If that's the case, it won't bother me one bit.

Chris

[MIB41]

At 2H23M, that means at least twenty minutes of Krypton.

I think the story goes - Clark travels the world, ends up doing Guardian Angel deeds. Lois follows story, and labels him "man of steel" after someone he saved referred to him with that name, (most likely the oil rig fire).

Then, I think we get a variation of Superman 2 - Zod appears, wants "son of Jor-El" forcing Clark to go to The Fortress, where he's educated and whatnot. He then springs out as Superman.

I don't think he becomes Superman before Zod. It feels like Goyer's take was that Clark just wanted to help people in anonymity, but Zod made that impossible.

The Smallville rift seems to be how Jor-El expects Kal-El to become a demigod to humans, where John Kent wants him to just be who he is. A destiny thing that Kal-el has to come to accept.

In the trailer I saw last night, they really don't shy away from the Christ imagery. In one shot, he's floating in space with his arms outstretched. I think it's a smart move, because it's the only angle left to differentiate him from Thor, Iron Man, Spidey and Cap.

And Brainiac is going to be in this and I think that's what the guy who played Future Luthor on Smallville is alluding to when he saws "what I play", since Brainiac is a construct.

Also, look at the armor Zod and crew are wearing. It's incredibly close to the Super Powers Brainiac. Then add in the tentacle ship, and we might be looking at a case where we're sold Zod, but Brainiac is the real instrument behind the attack.

Interesting set up. Would be cool to see Brainiac in the picture. If ever I needed to get a film out of my system, this is it. So many variables! C'mon June 14th.

[huedell]

If that's the set-up I'd take a wild guess that Brainiac wouldn't really appear more than a cameo at the end. Seems like that's the M.O. these days for superhero flicks.

[hedrap]

If that's the set-up I'd take a wild guess that Brainiac wouldn't really appear more than a cameo at the end. Seems like that's the M.O. these days for superhero flicks.

You know me. I keep hoping for a Terminator aspect, where Kryptonian remnants become Brainiac, Metallo and Bizarro.

What I really want to know, is what is the war on Krypton about? You have Zod and crew totally armored up, but I swear in one scene we see a giant Dragonfly zip by with someone riding it. It's too hard to tell because of how smushed the action is when edited for a commercial spot.

After IM3 and Trek, all my hope is with Supes and Pac Rim now.

Chris Pine is doing a perfect Hal Jordan-as-Kirk, by the way.

[Operation:Mego]

[thunderbolt]

^^^ Great, I was hoping to not see an homages to Christopher Reeve.

[Operation:Mego]

Awesome!