The huge event this past Saturday at the San Diego Comic Con was the epic three-hour Warner Brothers/Legendary Pictures panel in Hall H. del Toro showed off the first pants-soiling footage of giant-frackin-robots fighting giant-frackin-monsters in Pacific Rim, and it delivered on every promise. Godzilla was a somewhat unexpected surprise. I’d heard rumors of it showing up, so when the trailer began I knew we’d see the King of the Monsters. And it was awesome. Of course, The Hobbit delivered.
The only real disappointment in the whole thing was Man of Steel. You may have seen other people fainting over it and screaming how awesome it was, but it wasn’t Superman. It was a very Christopher Nolan-inspired dark take on Supes that completely doesn’t fit the tone of what Superman should be! Superman is not, and should never be, Batman. But with the success of The Dark Knight, DC and Warner has decided that all of their heroes should be dark, brooding, and hunted by the public.
That isn’t Superman. Maybe in Christopher Nolan’s mind it is. But that’s what Man of Steel turns Superman into.
I won’t lie. Some parts of the footage looked pretty cool. Krypton looked very much like the futuristic city depicted in the more modern comics, as opposed to the ice crystals Donner did. I liked that. But they made it too dark. Much too much like Batman Begins. With Hans Zimmer doing the music, it’ll likely even sound like Batman Begins.
Superman is supposed to be bright, positive, and powerful. Something to inspire people and show humanity that there is hope. He’s the biggest boy scout on the planet and stands for truth, justice, and the American way. Superman isn’t hated, feared, or hunted by the military. What Warner showed at Comic Con was actually the exact opposite. It was an insult to long time Superman fans, and really nothing but pandering to the Batman crowd in the hopes that they’ll turn out to see a Superman movie.
During the Q&A, someone thankfully asked if the John Williams’ theme would be used in the movie. Back at the 2004 Comic Con, someone asked the same thing of Bryan Singer and he said the theme is like Star Wars and you couldn’t do Superman without it. Not according to Zack Snyder. His arrogant answer that his Superman movie was going to be the only Superman movie as if none had ever come before it and as such couldn’t use the theme made me rage. I’m so pissed, I may just wait to see the slow-motion piece of crap on Netflix.
