Mark Millar's 8 hour Superman Epic

*Originally published on 2/9/09



While Batman is flourishing at the box office, Superman hasn't had as much luck. Superman Returns, while doing fine at the box office, wasn't the tentpole megablockbuster that WB was hoping it would be. Singer has said that he has big plans for the sequel, the movie studio isn't as enthusiastic. Mark Millar, well known comic writer has come out and said that he would be happy to do a trilogy should Singer not return.

Millar has said that he has an idea for an 8 hour epic trilogy, like Lord of the Rings that would start thousands of years ago on Krypton, and end well into the future as the sun is about to go supernova and Supes is the last man on earth.

I know Mark is a comic writer and Superman is like the dream character for comic writers. I also understand his intent to make the franchise epic. Why? Because it should be dangit! This is Superman we're talking about. Sure, I'd much rather have Geoff Johns or Grant Morrison (he writes an incredibly crappy Batman but he gets Superman no doubt about it) but I'm willing to give Millar a shot.

I just don't get why we need to go so far into the past and present. Covering a long period of time does not automatically equal epic. Take the LoTR trilogy, or TDK, both of those were epic and didn't cover a vast period of time. We all know Superman's origin so you need not cover that. Even if you make it a reboot (something that Superman Returns should have done) you can just start in Metropolis with the world knowing who Superman is.

You can tell an epic story that stays in the present for a vast majority of the series. For example; movie 1, you can pit the man of steel against Lex Luthor and Metallo. Now I know, a lot of people are saying that they should move on and stop having Lex in the movies. While I agree that they should broaden their horizons villain wise; you can't do a Superman trilogy without Lex Luthor. It just isn't done. Seeing as Lex made Metallo, we can get both Lex and a villain capable of going toe to toe with Superman. He would most likely play a part in the Brainiac story too as they have developed an interesting dynamic over the years.

Which brings us to part 2, introduce Brainiac. He is Superman's second biggest enemy, he deserves the big screen treatment. You can alternate between scenes on Earth with Supes taking on Brainiac in the present and flashbacks to Krypton during it's last days with Jor-El's warnings, Kandor being taken and Kal-El being launched to Earth. Then conclude with the introduction of Darkseid.

The third movie can be the big climax where Superman battles the forces of Apokolips. With that caliber of villains, you'll need 8 hours to give these villains the breathing room needed to show how powerful they are. If done right you could top The Dark Knight as far as epic superhero blockbusters go.

I like that Millar is aiming high. I just hope that he doesn't botch this because it's well past time that the man of tomorrow got a major film franchise. He is the greatest superhero of all time as well as DC's most iconic character. They should start treating him as such.