The New DCUAOM Era Kicks Off with 'Superman: Man of Tomorrow'

Superman: Man of Tomorrow is the first DCUAOM offering since the DCAMU came to a powerful, poignant close.  I’m not sure if this movie is a standalone or if it’s the first installment of the new DC animated movie universe.  But signs seem to point that it’s the latter.

As another Superman origin story, the movie takes a crack at telling a new version of the story of how Clark Kent eventually took on the identity of Superman.  In this incarnation, Batman has been operating for a while now (Batman actually didn’t appear in the movie, but he got name dropped, which would lead to this inference); J’onn J’onzz a.k.a. Martian Manhunter plays a big role in Clark’s formative arc toward becoming Superman; and Lobo, Lex Luthor, and Parasite are the adversaries that a rookie Superman have to contend while undergoing the learning curve of being a superhero.

The DCUAOM Botches Up 'Superman: Red Son'

After adapting what’s considered as the very first Elseworlds story Gotham by Gaslight, wherein Gotham is reimagined as a Victorian era setting and Batman is pitted against Jack the Ripper, the DCUAOM (DC Universe Animated Original Movies) then adapts an Elseworld story centered on Superman – Superman: Red Son.  I had been greatly looking forward to this animated film adaptation since the source material is my most favorite Elseworlds comic book ever.

'Reign of the Supermen' Is an Underwhelming Followup

Reign of the Supermen is the sequel to last year’s The Death of Superman, continuing the DCAMU’s take on the 90’s Superman comic book storyline.  (Warning: the following synopsis is a bit spoiler-y, but not really; considering that the source material is at least two-and-a-half decades old, the following information is basically out there already.)  Six months after Superman gave up his life to stop Doomsday, four different heroes have emerged claiming to be Superman – Superboy, Steel, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman.  However, when one of them turns out to be working secretly with a vengeful alien invader, the remaining three “Supermen” must put aside their differences, and work together with the revived Superman – the real Superman – to save the world.

'The Death of Superman' Is DCAMU's Best Installment Yet

I described both of the past two DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) films as “the best DCAMU installment yet” – meaning the franchise succeeded in outdoing itself in succession.  And with its latest movie, The Death of Superman, I’m once again going to state it: it’s the best DCAMU installment yet.  Yep.  That’s three in a row now.

As I've Expected, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Ultimate Edition Is Barely an Improvement

When I saw the theatrical cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this year, I was disappointed.   Though I don’t agree with the intensity of how critics panned it (it’s a mess, but it’s not Fant4stic bad), I nonetheless think it failed of being a satisfactory vehicle for showing the “DC Trinity” together in the big screen for the first time.   It did have aspects that were genuinely exciting and entertaining, but they weren’t sufficient to redeem the movie as a whole.

When it was announced that this movie has an R-rated, extended “director’s cut”, there was an anticipation among fans that this would mightily improve the otherwise underwhelming theatrical version.  As for me, I was doubtful.  True, its problems with pacing, editing, and poorly developed plot points and character arcs would probably be remedied by a director’s cut.  However, BvS had other significant flaws that were rooted at its core, making them impossible to address without completely overhauling or changing the movie itself.  Examples are the gritty tone that doesn’t mesh with the silly plot points; the shortage of clever or powerful dialogue; the bad characterizations; the missed opportunities; and, to some extent, the inorganic scenes that don’t really fit to the narrative but are just obviously there in order to set up future movies.

'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Is a Mess of Awesomeness

Coming to this movie, I know that it is strongly disliked by the critics.  But even without those bad reviews, right from the start, there were already elements of its production that made me worry.  No, casting Ben Affleck as Batman was not one of them.  The first red flag for me was the title.  I hated the annoyingly pretentious use of “v” instead of “vs.” Furthermore, putting “Dawn of Justice” as subtitle suggested that the script would heavily shoo-in elements that would set up the Justice League movie, potentially distracting the focus on what the movie should essentially be: Batman and Superman clashing.  Second, the trailers seemed to have revealed so much information about the plot already.

All in all, now that I’ve finally seen it, I find Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice convoluted, problematic, and messy.  My initial dislike for the implications of the title and trailers are justified.  However, I don’t reflect the brutality of the critics’ negative reception of it.   I don’t think it’s that awful.   It actually has terrific aspects as well.

First, let me discuss the negatives.  (By the way, there are going to be SPOILERS in this review.)

'The Death Of "Superman Lives": What Happened?' Makes Me Wish 'Superman Lives' Was Made

Back in the mid to late 90’s, a Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Tim Burton was undergoing development.  “Superman Lives” is what would have been the title.  It was scheduled for a 1998 release date – and then 1999 – but Warner Bros. decided to pull the plug while ongoing production.  Forward years later into the Internet Age, Superman Lives somewhat gained an “urban legend” status, and the general perception about it is that it would have been a godawful film.  The major points raised were that Tim Burton’s knack for weirdness would have bastardized the Superman mythos, and that Nicolas Cage was a giant miscast, that he would have been like the “George Clooney as Batman” version of Superman, only worse.  It also didn’t help that the Nicolas Cage photo that was being circulated was this…

   

…which was taken during the earliest of the development process.  Hence, Superman Lives is enveloped with notoriety in the collective Internet consciousness.

But it was also enveloped in intrigue.  There was genuine curiosity for the story behind it and how it could have turned out.  Through the years, details have surfaced in the Internet that provided us glimpses of what might have been, but there has never really been a comprehensive, easily accessible source of the backstory of Superman Lives.

Until now.  And that is Jon Schnepp’s The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?.

In this documentary, Schnepp was able to interview several key people behind Superman Lives – producer Jon Peters; director Tim Burton; scriptwriters Kevin Smith, Wesley Strick, and Dan Gilroy; and other contributors to its production – which, accompanied by concept arts and archival footage, gave us a fascinating picture on how the movie would have looked like during its different stages of production.  And from what I got from it, Superman Lives would have been awesomely convoluted and different.

The story was going to be a loose adaptation of the epic 1992 comic book storyline “The Death of Superman.”  And it was going to have a couple of insane elements.  Here are some of them:

• Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Doomsday were all going to be in it. 
• Lex Luthor and Brainiac would combine into one entity. 
• Kevin Smith’s early draft – which he himself admitted was fan fiction-y in quality – had Batman giving a stirring speech during Superman’s interment. 
• Kal-El would have had a Kryptonian A.I. companion growing up, which would serve as his “teddy bear”, confidant, and mentor at different stages of his life, which would then serve as Kal-El’s armor while he is healing. 
• Jon Peters insisted that a giant spider should be in it, and Smith complied by writing the “Thanagarian Snare Beast” into the script. 
• Peters apparently also made a horribly stupid suggestion of not having Superman fly in the movie (though this was probably overruled later).

But though the documentary effectively details how much Superman Lives would have departed from the Superman mythology and how bizarre it would have been, Schnepp also made sure that the documentary would also draw attention on some of the cool things that the movie had, as well as raised some points on how it wouldn’t necessarily suck.  There are also parts that kind of criticize fans who tend to collectively rage and prematurely judge a movie whenever they get hold of a piece of information with little or no context at all attached to it.

Personally, I was apathetic or impartial whether Superman Lives should have been made or not.  But after watching this documentary – as the title of this article have already stated – I now do wish that Superman Lives was made back in the 90’s.  Of course, I wouldn’t want to have such movie made at the present time.  But back in 1999?  That would have been great.  It’s going to be a weird and different take on Superman, but I felt in my bones that it would have its moments of entertainment regardless of how the quality turned out to be.  At worst, it could have been the Superman version of Batman and Robin.  And being at this point of time, I wouldn’t mind its awfulness because it would have already been a thing of the past.  We could have made fun of it and go enjoy hating it as we do with Batman and Robin.

On the other hand, it could have been epic.  Tim Burton’s take on the Batman mythos was weird, but it worked really well.  Fans hated the casting of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but he turned out to be awesome, and is now considered by many (including yours truly) as the greatest live-action portrayal of Batman so far.

And just like Keaton, Cage might have turned out to be unexpectedly awesome, too.  Yes, in present time, he is considered by many as someone that has fallen from grace after starring in too many godawful films (guy needs the money).  But remember that back in the 90’s, Cage was a hot property.  He had won an Oscar in 1995.  And he starred in several beloved 90’s action films like Con Air, The Rock, and Face Off.  Personally, I’m a fan of Nicolas Cage as an actor.  He has genuine talent and could project a lot of acting depth when doing good movies.  And on bad movies, he hams it up so incredibly well (e.g. Vampire’s Kiss, The Wicker Man remake) that his presence would ensure an entertaining time nonetheless.  So whether he would have made a terrific or terrible Superman, it’s almost a guarantee that he would have done an entertaining job.

In the end, we can only really speculate on how Superman Lives would have been.  Thankfully, we now have The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?.  Not only did it give us more fuel for our speculations, but watching it is also the closest thing we’ll have on experiencing Superman Lives – and this documentary is quite an enjoyable experience.