Clearly Man of Steel is taking a significant cue from Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy (I shan't be calling it the Dark Knight Trilogy). And that is "real world" verisimilitude. Just as the tagline for Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie (1978) was "You will believe a man can fly," the subtextual tagline for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013) seems to be "You will believe a Superman can exist for real." Unfortunately, this means they will only allow themselves to introduce a certain kind of villain. Just as Nolan's Batmans were limited to plausible human adversaries (Scarecrows and Catwomans), without the possibility of more implausible, well, monsters (Clayfaces and Poison Ivys). They even toned down the more fantastical aspects of the rogues they did use. Ra's al Ghul's literal immortality became more of a metaphor, Joker's bleached skin and rictus became practical make-up and scars, Bane's fictional supersteroid became an analgesic gas, Two-Face's impossible physical condition was contained in a short timespan, etc. And though Man of Steel is not in the same universe as the Nolan Batmans, and is indeed a more heightened reality by its very nature, we can assume a comparable approach will be taken.
The Man of Steel universe will allow itself villains who organically fit within the context of a Kryptonian world. Like, y'know, Zod. But I very much doubt we'll ever see villains in this universe who can do magic. Which means no Mr. Mxyzptlk. And that's a real loss. Mxyzptlk is a 5th-dimensional imp who fucks with Superman for kicks, and Superman is always at a disadvantage, because his biggest weakness aside from kryptonite is of course magic. This forces Superman to defeat Mxyzptlk every time using only his wits. And that's the fun irony of throwing magic into the mix-- the battle becomes psychological, and thus more grounded than, say, a superhuman fistfight in the sky. Which brings us to other aliens.
If Kryptonians like Zod can find their way to Earth (presumably through the Phantom Zone), we can talk about other extraterrestrial beings, like all-powerful despot Darkseid, gladiatorial ruler Mongul, or even hulking plot beast Doomsday (although Doomsday has also been portrayed as a manmade Superman deterrent, but we'll get to that in three paragraphs). Non-Kryptonian aliens are one more color away on the realism spectrum, so I wouldn't be surprised by their inclusion in this universe, nor by their exclusion. But there's a huge difference between accepting a "super man" and inviting down the entire goddamn Mos Eisley Cantina. So if I had to guess, I'd say probably no forthcoming bad guys from off-world. But let's do discuss Kryptonian tech.
Krypton had way better tech than Earth. So the introduction of Kryptonian tech to our society means quantum leaps in the field of robotics (as does, I suppose, the very existence of LexCorp). Does that mean we can get robot villains, like Kryptonian artificial intelligence Eradicator, insane astronaut Hank Henshaw (aka Cyborg Superman), or kryptonite-hearted cyborg man John Corben (aka Metallo)? This is another one I could see going either way. In a world where a man can shoot lasers from his eyes, is it crossing the line to have that man be attacked by a crazy robot? There's also Brainiac, which is both android and extraterrestrial, occasionally even portrayed as Kryptonian in origin, which would make him a viable option. But hopefully not, because he is boring. Next, we consider the straight-up cartoon supervillains.
Where is Man of Steel in terms of sci-fi monster villains, like energy-and-power-sucking Parasite, super genius ape man Ultra-Humanite, or exactly-what-he-sounds-like Kryptonite Man? These are like the everyday villains. You use them in a one-off. But I prefer them to a larger-than-life Earth swallower like boring Brainiac. There's something much more interesting about a thug who, by touching Superman, can temporarily steal his abilities and memories. It's a huge threat on a manageable scale. The only problem is that it breaks the realism rule. Even with Kryptonian tech, if a guy opens a radioactive waste container, he doesn't get mutant powers-- he curls up into a ball and bleeds from his eyeballs until his heart stops. So that tells me we're not gonna see Man of Steel trading barbs with talking gorillas anytime soon. The science behind the villain has to be accessible. Which brings me to one of my favorite groups.
Superman clones. Superman clones are always legit, because no matter what's happening, you can always clone a guy. So the door is wide open for Man of Steel to bring in a totally unique take on Bizarro, who would have to be played by Henry Cavill, as he is a botched identical clone of Superman. Or you could tweak the Bizarro concept and make a clone that doesn't look quite like Superman, such as Nuclear Man in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) or the Superman/Luthor test tube hybrid Superboy from the comics. My favorite alternate Superman was in Superman III (1983), when a synthetic kryptonite caused Superman to become overwhelmed with apathy, and he was basically A-Hole Superman. Like, he wasn't evil-- he was just an a-hole. He didn't care so much about helping people and instead spent time flirting with chicks, getting drunk, and fucking around with people. Now, he wasn't a clone per se (though he later inexplicably splits into two separate physical entities that fight each other), but I liked that take on a Superman.
Alternate Supermans are good for a franchise like Man of Steel, because they provide the hero with a balanced contrary force. That's why characters like Zod and Bizarro are so appealing. But there's another well brimming with alternate Supermans that I fear may be off limits under the Nolan realism mandate-- parallel universe Supermans, like Ultraman of the Crime Syndicate of Earth Three, Superman of the Justice Lords who one day snapped and just started lobotomizing villains with his heat vision, or the psychotic Superman-Prime whose home dimension was retconned, so now he wants this one. It's always nice to see a dark Superman, but I think dimension hopping is probably gonna be off-menu this time.
Of course, you still have Lex Luthor waiting in the green room, and if that's all you ever had, it would be enough. Luthor is the second-smartest man in the DC Universe, he has nigh-limitless resources, and he hates Superman. You could make ten movies off that alone, easy. But it does leave me buggin' to think that some of my favorite bad guys are likely gonna be benched for the sake of making the Man of Steel world believable. It's a movie about a man who can fly. I think you can make anything believable, if you treat it seriously. The Nolan Batmans didn't seem real because they shied away from crocodile men and freeze guns-- they seemed real because whenever something unbelievable happened, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman were there to react to it like human beings.
Now, maybe some of these doors will be opened if Man of Steel does indeed make the transition to a Justice League franchise. Because those guys all come from magic islands and intergalactic police squads, so now all of a sudden, something like Vandal Savage doesn't seem so weird.
Vandal Savage is an ageless immortal who has spent the past 52,000 years primarily murdering people. He and Superman are not friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment