Despite my best efforts, the powers that be at Warner Bros. have decided that Superman Returns wasn’t Superman-y enough, and the franchise will be re-started in a new, darker direction.

Sigh.

I already said all I have to say on this matter in my unbelievably long articles on this (that you all already read - right? RIGHT???), but to recap in just one post, I really think this is a terrible idea. I mean, if the new movie comes out and is awesome, I’ll be stoked, because I love the character of Superman and always have, but I just don’t see Superman needing the reboot treatment.

Just in case there are any non-nerds reading, a “reboot” is what they did with the Batman, Hulk, and James Bond franchises - they basically took all of the old movies, pretended that they don’t exist, and started over with the character. It made total sense to reboot Batman, because it had been eight years since the last Batman movie, and 13 since the last GOOD Batman movie. And James Bond had been through so many incarnations over the years, giving him a fresh start also was a wise move.

But it doesn’t make sense with Superman. Superman Returns wasn’t universally loved, but it wasn’t as universally despised as Ang Lee’s Hulk. That movie was so panned that it was given the reboot treatment this year, and though The Incredible Hulk fared better with critics, fans, and at the box office, it didn’t do MUCH better than the last film. I am sure that had at least something to do with the fact that there was only a five year gap between the two movies, and a lot of people were put off by the concept of such a recent movie being ignored.

But Warner Bros. wants every movie to be as big as The Dark Knight, so they’re going to throw away Superman Returns, and we’ll have another, totally new and separate movie in 2011. For those keeping score, that will be just five years after Returns, the exact same time difference between the two Hulk movies.

They want Superman to go in a darker and grittier direction, similar to what Christopher Nolan did with Batman.  That’s all well and good in theory, but what they fail to understand is that Superman is a fundamentally different character.  Batman, despite undergoing some pretty silly incarnations over the years, is at heart a really dark and gritty character, a human being who is fundamentally flawed and driven by vengeance.  Superman is not.  He is a beacon of hope, an alien with unwavering moral fibers who is virtually indestructible, and for better or worse, almost unrelateable.  Some people just don’t like Superman because of these differences, but I personally think they are what makes him interesting.  Superman is constantly trying to save everyone all the time, and the struggle in the way he balances his quest for truth, justice, and the American way by his life as a humble reporter, his love of Lois Lane, and the times he is unable to save people make him, in my humble opinion, a fascinating character.

Superman Returns showed how the world, and Lois specifically, reacted to having, losing, and then regaining Superman, and it made for a powerful story with TONS of sequel potential; Jason growing into his powers, the island of kryptonite hurtling through space, and even a possibility of what really kept Supes tied up for five years - was he attacked by Zod?  Captured in the Phantom Zone?  Enslaved by Darkseid?  We’ll never know, because the story is starting over from scratch.

Whoever ends up making the new movie and whatever direction they go with the story, I just hope they treat the character with the respect that he deserves.  Like I say, if the new movie is amazing, I’ll be thrilled, because Superman deserves to have fantastic big screen adventures, just like his Gotham City chum.  But for whatever it’s worth, Superman Returns was a phenomenal movie, and it will always have fans like me who cry foul over the reboot.

FOUL!