I have heard it said before that writing for Superman can be a bit problematic and I just wanted to discuss what makes Superman a difficult character to write for. I sometimes try to place myself in the shoes of a writer trying to come up with challenges of writing for someone like Superman. There are several problems with this character that makes him both interesting and challenging to write interesting plots and story archs for.
First, is that since he is so strong even in the DC Universe, it was for many years difficult for writers to come up with villains to challenge Superman given that nothing can stop him except kryptonite and I have heard magic….but then again I am not going to get into that one. This problem popped up in the latest DC movie with the Justice League and how they all pretty much waited until Superman “woke” from the dead so that they could pose a challenge to Steppenwolf. Once Superman was in the picture I don’t think it was much of a challenge for them to defeat Steppenwolf as it seems like they were pretty much out of ideas until Superman came into the picture. He is as fast as the Flash, stronger than the other Justice League members and the whole Batman vs Superman thing I wasn’t really feeling that movie since all Superman had to do was fly into space and vaporize Batman from space.
Second…..his lack of adversary.
Along those lines I do believe Lex Luthor to be the worst and most boring villain ever. I think this does get into why Superman isn’t more popular, here you have the most, or one of the most powerful superheroes ever and his biggest nemesis has the following superpower: intelligence. Nope…..boring!!! Everything about Lex Luthor is boring. Nothing he does has ever appealed to me, so he is so smart he has billions of dollars…..and has through corporations he has built anything he could ever want and his sole purpose is to destroy Superman? So…..Superman protects the earth from alien invasions, inter dimensional beings, etc etc….and Lex wants Superman dead so he can …..rule the world?? Then what? What is his plan beyond that?
Lex is super boring, I hate Lex Luthor.
I have discussed this point with other comic book fans, and the response I usually get is…..”but you don’t get it, Lex is super super smart!!!” (yawn)
Steppenwolf was not bad, at least he looks the part of a decent villain for Superman.
Which by the way doesn’t he look like the guy from “Legend” with Tom Cruise??? Except not red??
Anyway, so yeah, Doomsday was not a bad shot at making Superman a decent villain. The ending of Superman vs Batman was quite good I thought, at least they didn’t try killing him with kryptonite.
Which is yet another thing that irks me about Superman movies, such as in Superman Returns with Brandon Routh. So, basically we all know by now that Superman’s weakness is kryptonite, and the writers of Superman Returns I thought were lazy and non creative in their writing, and let me explain.
So, not only is Lex Luthor again……the main villain in this movie but the ending is what bothered me. No fight with huge monsters from another dimension, no General Zod, no other super villain to smash a city with…….Superman must out fly a kryptonite that is growing really fast to save the city. Yes, he must outfly a growing crystal. I wonder how that even made it past executives when they pitched it.
Writer: “Superman must face his greatest test of his power, flying faster than a growing crystal, but wait that’s not all!!, we have added Lex Luthor as an added bonus to the audience, I doubt they have ever seen anything like this before! ”
Let me guess…..the next Superman movie will have Lex Luthor as the main villain….and his weapon of choice to defeat Superman is: Kidnapping those he loves—> Placing Kryptonite near him. Which is basically the plot of every Superman co starring Lex Luthor.
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