Another Superman/Wonder Woman rant

I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to post this since Superman dominates this blog enough, but I just need to vent a little. Okay, I need to vent a lot.

With all of the rumors and news floating around regarding “Superman: The Man of Steel,” the film sequel or reboot or whatever you want to call it, I’m so glad actor Brandon Routh has gone on record with his opinion. See, I knew I loved that man for a reason other than his complete and total hotness. Routh absolutely echoed my sentiments — and the sentiments of a lot of Supes fans — by disagreeing with this stupid idea Warner Brothers execs have for making the next film “darker.” Superman is not a dark character! Superman is a symbol of hope and good! Just because “The Dark Knight” made globs of money doesn’t mean people will pay to see an angry Superman smashing down bad guys just because he’s pissed off. That’s not who he is. It never has been. If you must, make the villain darker, but leave Clark/Superman alone already! Geez.

While I’m on the topic, I’m so sick of Mark Millar trying to generate support for his pitch for an “epic” Superman film trilogy. I mean, have you heard the basics of his idea? A Godfather-style epic on Krypton then on Earth? I think seeing Krypton would be cool, but that’s about all I can agree with. His idea to have Superman end the film series as the last man on earth when the sun turns red and he loses all his powers is way too depressing. Even if the meat in between is decent, I don’t want to pay money to see that! I don’t get why so many fans are excited by his idea. Why? Why? Why?

If Warner Brothers had any sense at all, they’d hire Geoff Johns to write the screenplay. No one seems to know Superman better right now, and if he were to use Brainiac as the villain in the next sequel, I’m 99 percent confident that he’d do it right. Also, bring back Routh as Superman if you don’t bring back anyone else. I mean, he NAILED the role last time, and obviously, he gets the character if he’s jeopardizing his chances of keeping the role by publicly stating his opinion on what a bad idea Warner Brothers has for the next movie. That alone means something to me as a fan. Routh’s brownie points went way up in my book — even if they were pretty high to begin with.

And another thing…

It’s cool they’re making a Captain America movie, but I had to scream, “Nooooooooooo!” when I read that recent interview with Beyonce Knowles. You know the one I’m talking about. You know the one — where she pushes for the role of Wonder Woman in the forever rumored Wonder Woman film. First of all, I have to say one thing. I greatly admire Beyonce. I have three of her albums and thought she was hilarious in that Austin Powers sequel, not to mention she’s one of the few mega-celebrities you never hear anything bad about. She’s awesome. But she can’t play Wonder Woman! No, no, no, no!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (see the posts below if you don’t believe me). The actress who plays Diana Prince needs to be pale, white, dark-haired, and at least 6’1 or it’s not the same character at all. I’m a total purist when it comes to the actors who play my favorite superheroes. Adopt the look or lose the role — and some people just aren’t born with the physical characteristics to play certain characters. Sorry, Beyonce, but that’s the way I feel. Will Smith understood that. Didn’t you see his feelings on playing Superman? I wasn't too crazy about the Megan Fox hoax either. I mean, physically she fits the part better than most I've seen, but I'd prefer the role to go to someone who can act, too.

Okay, I feel better now. Thanks. :)

Spidey 4, Iron Man sequel and silly ideas

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so a lot of the news I’m excited about is probably old news to many of you.

First of all, Tobey Maguire has signed on for Spider-Man 4 and 5. Gee, did he finally realize Spidey was his bread and butter and the best role he’s ever played? Since I love these movies so much, I’m excited by this. I know not everyone liked Spidey 3, but I actually loved it, Gwen Stacey’s character aside. I’d like to see more Spider-Man movies on the big screen.

Robert Downey Jr. has also signed on for Iron Man 2 and an Avengers movie. How awesome is that? Once again Marvel will be beating DC to the punch by putting its superhero league on the big screen first. Last I heard, the Justice League movie is pretty much dead in the water.

On a personal note, I’ve decided to hone my skills as a screenwriter by doing my own take on Wonder Woman, a movie that has been in limbo for as long as I can remember. If I had to guess, I’d say the reason we haven’t seen a movie for Wonder Woman yet is because, let’s face it, she’s not an easy character to modernize. Based on everything I’ve heard, anyone who has touched the project has tried to do just that. Then the problem becomes how do you make her character relevant today? How can you modernize her in a world that already has Buffy, Charlie’s Angels and Sarah Conner battling bad guys? Wonder Woman might be the first female superhero but she’s not the only one anymore.

I think it’s possible to bring her into this century, but I also don’t see why she can’t just stick to the WWII era fighting Nazis. Keep it simple. Then again, I might just pen a manuscript and try to do a book instead. Kevin Anderson is one of my role models, after all. Yeah, maybe I need to write him for advice on breaking into the genre. Wonder if he’d reply? I’d love, love, love to write a Supergirl story. I really have an idea that I think would be fantastic for her, but alas, who am I? Plus, Supergirl has always been the problem child of DC, it seems. No writer has yet found his or her niche with her like Gail Simone has with Wonder Woman. Too bad. I’m bursting with ideas and see a lot of potential with the character. In my opinion, Supergirl’s identity has never been clearly defined as anything other than Superman’s cousin. Her backstory and personality has been rewritten so many times, it’s hard to get a good feel for the character. However, I like how Geoff Johns is using her in Action Comics right now.