Warner Bros. plans 'Superman vs. Batman' Movie

ReadParse writes "The Sacramento Bee is running an AP story about Warner Bros' plans to produce a Batman vs. Superman movie. It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel -- somebody check Michael Keaton's schedule."

Comments

Lacking something important.....

[Lord_Slepnir]

I think they'd get more money with a Catwoman vs. Wonder Woman movie. Unless this new one has a lot of Kristen Dunst in the rain.....

Re:Lacking something important.....

[Afrosheen]

Haven't you seen the last 3 Batman's? Batman *always* gets the hotties. Superman on the other hand is stuck with dumpy, whiny Lois Lane. Spiderman is the ultimate pimp though. He has technology AND supernatural ability, plus he gets to bang Kirsten Dunst (the rain shot...ooooh). Batman is all tech, Superman is all supernatural, but Spiderman is the best of both worlds.

Spiderman vs. Batman would be alot more interesting.

Who's the baddie?

[atcurtis]

Who is going to be the baddie? The defender of the meek (Batman) or the defender of Humanity (Superman)?

Or are they thinking of making some supervillan which the both team uo to fight?

"Arrghhh, Kryptonite! Take over and save the world, Batman!"

Well - it's been a few years since they had used the tech (was it used in Gladiator and earlier in the last Bruce Lee film?), but it isn't so far fetched that they use a body/stunt double for Mr Reeves and put his face over the double's body.

Still - rumors are rumors.... I'm still waiting for the film adaptation of Red Dwarf with Patrick Stewart as the baddie.

Re:Who's the baddie?

[Jethro]

Well - it's been a few years since they had used the tech (was it used in Gladiator and earlier in the last Bruce Lee film?),

"The Game of Death" is the movie Bruce Lee was working on when he died (actually he started working on it, took a break to make "Enter the Dragon").

Bruce Lee was writing and directing, as well as starring in the movie, which was to deliver his philosophy and vision.Unfortunately his notes and storyboards were lost, and the movie that got released had very little resemblance to his original intent.Only about 30 minutes out of hundreds of hours of film were deemed suitable for release.

Amongst the tricks used to complete the film were, indeed, body doubles, as well as having Bruce's character off camera, having his fact blown off and even scenes shot with Bruce Lee Cardboard Cutouts.

A couple of years ago, the documentary "Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey" was released. It contains the actual final scenes Bruce shot for "The Game of Death".They're somewhat incomplete, but they're well worth watching. The entire documentary is actually one of the best Bruce Lee documentaries out there - has a lot of archive footage and old interviews with him. My TiVo picked it up on TCM or AMC or something a few days ago, so it's probably floating around right now. Anyone interested in Bruce Lee or Martial Arts in general should definately attempt to catch it.

Wolfgang Petersen also directing 'Ender's Game'

[Bonker]

Which, in my humble opinion, going to be a lot more interesting than a fanpiece like 'Superman Vs. Batman'. Well, if you get to make both, why not?

The problem with the Ender's Game movie is that the studio is apparently trying to submarine Petersen's efforts into getting a cast that he feels is realistic for the story. You can read the AICN rumour here: http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12681

Essentially, it boils down to the fact that Petersen wants to include a racially mixed cast to reflect the in-book and real-world race ratios at the time Ender's Game is supposed to be set. The studio has vetoed his plans claiming that white audiences won't want to go unless the adults in the movie are all white.

From the rumour:

He was flat out told "Not a chance in hell. There will be a handful of token characters from other races but every other child will be white." As the studio execs pointed out, if there are too many background characters that aren't white, white people will be afraid to go see it.

Re:Wolfgang Petersen also directing 'Ender's Game'

[pogle]

And of course the fact (rumor?) that Peterson is shelving Ender's Game to direct a cheesy averagehero vs superhero movie doesnt make me happy about the latter movie.

Probably asked many times already, but...

[goldspider]

...what beef does Batman have with Superman? They protect two completely different cities, and the only thing I can see creating a conflict here is a very un-superhero-like grab for power. I don't see how this idea would work even at it's most basic levels...

Re:Probably asked many times already, but...

[Patrick13]

...what beef does Batman have with Superman? They protect two completely different cities, and the only thing I can see creating a conflict here is a very un-superhero-like grab for power. I don't see how this idea would work even at it's most basic levels...

well... maybe it will be a very real conflict over the same girl.... after all, in the yahoo article it says there are 3 roles for women...

Re:Probably asked many times already, but...

[ghjm]

They could fight over whether Gothic or Modernist influences represent the true spirit of Manhattan...

zerg

[Lord Omlette]

Anyone else here watch Smallville? Imagine WB turning this into a whiny ('angsty') teen drama?

I'm going straight to hell

[Mike Schiraldi]

It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel

Well, I guess they could just put kryptonite in every scene.

Other discussion

[fiziko]

Those of you who haven't activated the Sci-Fi news slashbox might have missed this article about the same thing on Bureau 42.
</shameless plug>

Eh?

[American AC in Paris]

from the man-of-steal-vs-the-dark-knight dept.

...Hamburgler vs. Batman?

Re:Eh?

[daeley]

Hamburgler vs. The Riddler is more like it.

Re:Eh?

[sharkey]

Better yet, the Hammurderer vs. Batman.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[SirSlud]

Too late.

Check out "The Dark Knight Returns", where Batman defeats Superman (using some Kryptonite, btw.)

Miller (the author) got it right; Batman is the world's greatest detective mind (nevermind one of the top martial artists in the world), and basically an all around genius.

Might might be right, but only when the dude holding the might doesn't get outsmarted, as Superman did in "The Dark Knight Returns"

Batman is the coolest superhero ever. Why? No superpowers. Brains, altheticism, and a raging case of vengance. What can be more powerful than that?

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[3Y3]

I guess you never actually read any of the comics then, in fact basically every time they meet Batman whips superman like a little girl. Just because super man has powers doesnt mean he wins, remember, Batman is smarter and will set up any fight to his specifications. Superman isn't the brightest of fellows ever (duh..i'll use my heatvision). Just read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (as well as the sequal comic to is in which batman leaves superman a bloody lump) and you should get an idea what I mean.

Thats why I think this movie will be a bad idea, it cannot cature to both the hardcore comic readers and the common public. The actual comic readers would know that Batman would most likely win (or at least kick the daylights out of superman) while the common public wont be able to get past the idea that since superman has powers and batman does not, then it will be an easy victory for superman.

Hulk vs. Superman: from the Internet Oracle

[Creosote]

Forget the movies. The best, funniest treatment of a superhero face-off ever was the Internet Oracle's response a few years ago to a query about who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk.

"Hulk will impale Superman on sentence fragment!"

They don't make Net humor like that any more.

How to Do It Right

[arfy]

This could be good.

Pray that the screenwriter (who worked on Se7en) is adapting, or at least heavily influenced by "The Dark Knight Falls" by Frank Miller.

Now that would be something worth seeing! And if you look at the director's comments in the article it's not out of the question that this is the story they may be telling...

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[SirSlud]

Guns are for wussies.

Batman is vengeful but ethical. Much more interesting than some trigger happy vigilante. :)

I can think of a better one (or 2)

[night_flyer]

Batman vs. the Predator (awsome series)
OR
Batman Vs. Judge Dredd (first two of the three were awsome)

Batman vs Superman always seemed a bit hokey to me

Re:I can think of a better one (or 2)

[Monkelectric]

Batman Vs. Judge Dredd (first two of the three were awsome)

How about, batman vs. Judge Judy ? I can see it now, "Young man! young man!!! Dont get guano on my shoes and tell me im not in the batcave!"

(one of her famous sayings is, "dont pee on my shoes and tell me its raining)

Re:How is this a fight?

[swagr]

Superman also flew faster than light to go back in time.

1. Time travel gives him an advantage.
2. The work required to accelerate an object with mass to the speed of light is infinite. So Superman isn't just "Really REALLY strong", he's "REALLY REALLY REALLY..." strong.
3. The universe doesn't seem to mind when Superman breaks the laws of physics.

Crappy plot, I think.

[MattRog]

Batman: I finally found the people that killed my parents! Prepare to die! :holds up BatGun:
Superman, swooping in: I'm sorry Bruc-- I mean 'Bat-Man'. I can't let you kill them, that would be wrong.
Batman: Oh shut up you tight-wearing pansy! :looks at own tights: Ok, well at least I make this look good!
Superman: After all we've been through together! :wipes tear away: Prepare to die! :turns on heat vision:
Batman: Ah-hah! 'BatAntiSupermanHeatShield' activate! :heat vision deflects and blows up a nearby building:
Superman: You bastard! I'll crush you with my pinky! :lunges at the Caped Crusader:
Batman: Not so fast, Superdork! :whips out glowing green kryptonite rock:
Superman: Noo, my one weakness! My Achilles rock, as it were! :grabs Bruce's parents killers: Now I have YOUR weakness, the vengeance for your parent's killers! :laughs heartily:

...Lather, rinse, repeat...

2 hours later

Superman: :breathless and weary from a long fight: How did... how did Lex Luthor and The Joker team up to defeat us both?
Batman: :also beat-up: I don't know, but I suspect it is the scene for Batman V Superman II: "Two super-heads are better than one!"

fin.

Re:Crappy plot, I think.

[sconeu]

Batman: I finally found the people that killed my parents! Prepare to die! :holds up BatGun:

Add this:

Batman: Hello. My name is Batman. You killed my parents. Prepare to die.
Thug: STOP SAYING THAT!!!!

This puts "Ender's Game" on hold

[Lumpish Scholar]

According to http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/eo/ 20020709/en_movies_eo/10217, "Petersen says he will temporarily shelve his other Warners projects--the epic Trojan War and an adaptation of Orson Scott Card's sci-fi novels Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow--and will begin working on Superman vs. Batman."

Re:this is the second time around...

[Ralph Wiggam]

That was called Superman Lives and was supposed to be the movie that followed his death in the comic book. There isn't much of anything on IMDB, but this is what I remember about the project. Nick Cage was signed up to be the new supe. Kevin Smith was paid $300k to write a script, which he cranked out in three weeks and had Superman fighting Braniac (Smith has been a comic book geek for a lot longer than a movie geek). Tim Burton signed up to direct, but on the condition that they throw away Kevin Smith's script. After that, the project completely disappeared. I'm pretty sure the producer was Joel Silver. I just looked at his IMDB list and it's possible that Superman Lives got canned after Matrix hit big and he realized that he could start his own big franchise instead of rehashing an existing (and basically dead) one.

-B

They have one out

[jcsehak]

And that's to get Frank Miller to write (or re-write) the script. The Batman/Superman encounter in Return of the Dark Night was excellent. Also, if they paired him with M. Night Shay*an. Unbreakable was just about the best superhero movie ever. I doubt the producers will have the insight to do either though.

Re:They have one out

[osgeek]

Unbreakable was just about the best superhero movie ever.

Hmm... yeah... in Bizarro World.

Re:How is this a fight?

[Cheeko]

In the original Justice League, you had all these super-human super heros and then Batman. He was like this sorta dark guy who was out for good, but also wasn't super righteous like the super-human guys. In the comic, he made sure he know everyone elses secret weekness, and was prepared to exploit it if need be. Now I haven't read all of these cause well, I haven't even seen most of them, but I've been informed by people who've read them, that in Super Man's case, Batman had a gun with kryptonite bullets or something along those lines. And also was able to figure out who Super Man's alter ego was. I also seem to recall that Batman knew were Super Man's ice cave was, but I'm a bit less certain about this bit.

Basically while Super Man is the definition of pure physical strength, Batman is the definition of pure cunning. Batman was a loner always, even when fighting for good, and as such mistrusted even his "super" friends, and was always ready to cover his own ass first if need be.

I'm still waiting for

[unformed]

The Superhuman Royal Rumble.

Granted, it'll probably get sued by the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) who was recently sued by the WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

Even still, the Royal Rumble between Superman, Scooby Doo, Batman, the Penguin, Wonderwoman, Catwoman, and Tonya Harding, would be a truly kickass event.

New man of steel

[st0rmshad0w]

" It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel"

True enough, but I vote Bruce Campbell. Its all in the chin, baby.

Re:New man of steel

[Skyshadow]

Then Batman really wouldn't stand a chance. He'd kick Supes around the film in amusing ways for a half hour only to get his head blown off by a not-much-worse-for-wear, shotgun-weilding Superman.

Hail to the King, baby.

Re:New man of steel

[Keith Russell]

I'd go see any Superman film with the hero line:

Good... bad... I'm the guy with the heat vision.

Although I'd have a problem with Batman dancing around, singing "Little goody-two-shoes! Little goody-two-shoes!"

Re:New man of steel

[G-funk]

I vote Bruce Campbell. Its all in the chin, baby.

At first I thought - beeeeeeeauuuuuuuuutiful. Who could do it better?

Then I thought - but we need him to be Duke Nukem!

Then I thought, but we have a better candidate to be duke, so long as we teach him to act :)

Of course since not too many of you are from god's country you won't understand... but trust me, the man looks like the duke.

While we're on the WB...

[KFury]

I'd rather see Batman v. Buffy

Or Superman v. Evil Willow...

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[JoeBuck]

SirSlud writes: Check out "The Dark Knight Returns", where Batman defeats Superman (using some Kryptonite, btw.)

Cool. So Christopher Reeve can play Superman after all.

Brains vs. Brawn

[ackthpt]

Batman is the coolest superhero ever. Why? No superpowers. Brains, altheticism, and a raging case of vengance. What can be more powerful than that?

If you recall when Batman first fought the leader of the Mutants gang, same 4 issue series, he got his butt kicked and barely got away. Next time he used his brains to win (also, just barely). Seems Bats relies a bit more on luck, as he pretty much needs to.

About there my reading of the whole thing ended, but in another setting (i.e. not during the era of a 60-something Batman) it would have to be something of a political nature, to make any sense and be somewhat consistent with the current direction of both comics, BUT(!), never rule out the possibility (and entire likelihood) that Hollywood comes through and places both characters completely at odds with everything they have been and pull some lame (i.e. Dallas' Bobby Ewing's death dream) story, which is totally full of holes and dismisses generations of fans opinion of "how things should be" (a la Mission Impossible movie, bleahh(!))

Now, what I'd like to know is when there's going to be an Aliens vs Predator movie (yeah, been comics and books, but it could still be pretty darn cool) if done well and with a decent director (paging Ridley Scot, paging Ridley Scott!) 8-)

Re:Brains vs. Brawn

[SirSlud]

Oh, I've already decided that Hollywood will destory every childhood institution I love, and this will be no exception.

They always need to dumb down the story to appeal to a wider audience, and this will always burn the purists like me. (Well, okay, not _always always_, but a good 95% of the time.) When they do maintain the integrity of the comic (like Ghost World), they're too scared of mass marketing it, and nobody sees it.

Re:Brains vs. Brawn

[jafac]

It certainly has a potential for good political commentary.

Batman's big beef against Superman in the Dark Knight series was that Superman was a bit too boy-scouty, a bit too flag-wavingly patriotic. Too much of a political tool. Too much Law and Order, not enough Justice. Batman was perceived to have "crossed the line" and Superman was sent to reign him in.

In this post 9/11 PATRIOT Act Globalization Corporate Facism Goth/geek-profiling-from-Columbine-aftermath world (heh, I beat Jon Katz to the punch with THAT one) - there's EXCELLENT fodder for political commentary. Too bad the spineless wussies will probably shelve that idea.

Re:Brains vs. Brawn

[ackthpt]

In this post 9/11 PATRIOT Act Globalization Corporate Facism Goth/geek-profiling-from-Columbine-aftermath world (heh, I beat Jon Katz to the punch with THAT one) - there's EXCELLENT fodder for political commentary. Too bad the spineless wussies will probably shelve that idea.

Typically it's been the Dems (conservative southerners?) going after Hollywood for making gratuitous violent/obsene/whatever movies just to rake in the bucks, while making sure enough high profile ones get enough campaign $$$ to ensure nothing which really sticks comes out of washington. Now, assume Hollywood _DID_ make a post 9/11 Batman vs. Superman, where W. is painted with the same brush that Reagan was in DK (Reagan was painted as a reckless warmonger who was the first to head to his bomb shelter when the Russians launched a nuclear counter-attack) and you can bet the next time some legislation concerning restricting TV/Games/Movies/Radio comes up, it'll have more support than Reps and moderates usually give it.

Re:Brains vs. Brawn

[DNS-and-BIND]

Shelve that idea? WTF? Hollywood scriptwriters, and most Hollywood people in general, share your anti-American opinions. The biggest box office draw, Tom Cruise, said "I think the U.S. is terrifying" and considers the USA an unfit environment in which to raise his children. There's plenty of anti-everything sentiment in popular movies...the single example I will cite is the deep green pro-human-genocide message in "The Matrix".

I certainly expect Superman's message of TJAW to be thoroughly fouled and shown to be horribly wrong when the movie comes out. Hollywood engages in anti-conservative (NOT liberal) political commentary every chance it gets...

I don't get it. Maybe you're just karma whoring (you did mention columbine).

Re:Brains vs. Brawn

[SirSlud]

I think you made his point. The movie will be very black and white; these blockbusters dont really actually have much to say in terms of a serious political discourse.

You've just basically gone ahead and pointed out that the hollywood blockbusters never really ponders an idea; they go ahead and tell you whats right, whats wrong, and its fairly evident to see how they like to criticise the right. (Although, why shouldn't they, they are artists (even if really really commercial ones))

Thats not really criticism, as other movies fill the role of being unjudgemental about their subjects .. its just harder to find 'em. :P

History Lesson

[Guppy06]

"It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel"

Once upon a time nobody could see anybody but George Reeves playing Superman. A change in actors can be done successfully. Whether it will be done successfully is a whole other matter.

On the other hand, Batman has been played by a revolving door of actors since Keaton.

Re:History Lesson

[sconeu]

Nope. Bring back Keaton. Keaton has the "just-this-side-of-psycho" eyes that the Dark Knight needs. Alternatively, if they want an older Batman (ala Miller), then do what someone else suggested and bring in Clint Eastwood. He also has the "repressed psycho" thing down.

Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[tbmaddux]

It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel -- somebody check Michael Keaton's schedule.

According tp the IMDB's "Celebrity News" the director wants Matt Damon. Here's the relevant text:

Matt Damon may get his choice of playing either Batman or Superman in a new movie that brings the comic book superheroes together - as enemies. Moviemaker Wolfgang Petersen has signed up to direct Batman vs. Superman for a 2004 release, and he wants Damon among his stars. The director says, "Matt's an interesting action man and a hell of an actor." The Perfect Storm director jumped at the chance to make the new movie because he likes the idea of pitting two heroes against each other. He says, "It's a clash of the titans. They play off each other so perfectly - Superman is clear, bright, all that is noble and good, and Batman represents the dark, obsessive and vengeful side. It'll make for great drama."

Re:Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[jafac]

That would definately suck.

Batman and Superman in the Dark Knight were OLD.

How about; Sean Connery (minus the accent) as Batman.

That'd be about as perfect as you could get.

Re:Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[Slak]

Have you ever seen a Connery movie where he drops the accent? Didn't think so.

How about Clint Eastwood as the Dark Night - think "Unforgiven" - if it's to be anything like "The Fall".

Cheers,
Slak

Re:Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[Slak]

Damn, that should read "Dark Knight"

Re:Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[jafac]

eh? Clint would work too. The cape would kind of have the same effect as the poncho in "Two Mules .. ." - I could see Clint-Batman lighting a kryptonite bomb with a cigar. . .

Re:Matt Damon, not Michael Keaton

[Rogerborg]

• Matt Damon may get his choice of playing either Batman or Superman

Oh dear god. And here we see how Hollywood funding works. Title, Director, headline name, cha-CHING, fill in the blanks (including concept and script) later. How can Matt Damon be ideal for both roles? Does he get to pick his favourite, and then they just cast the other? What if he changes his mind after filming starts? We know (from the way he dumped Minnie Driver via an announcement on Oprah ) that he's an arrogant, self important prick. How smart is it to give him license to dictate and decide terms on a project like this, and what does it say about the artistic vision of the director that his image of both characters has the same face?

The more that I hear about this, the more I become convinced that this will be just another tedious by-the-numbers banker. No tough decisions, no risk. The only possible point of interest is how they'll cripple Superman so that they can work in the inevitable fist fight. I rather suspect that we'll just see the Dark Knight Returns scene, lifted out of context.

Re:Keaton?

[ffatTony]

Personally, I'd like to see The Rock in this film - I think he'd make a great Batman,

You sir have made me violently ill with such a comment. The rock deserves a role commensurate to his acting skill and mental prowess. Yes, scrubbing my toilet for the rest of his life seems appropriate to me.

Robo Cop 2

[Lysander Luddite]

Don't forget Miller's role in this travesty before you go wishing him in this movie. Hollywood has a way of ruining lots of potentially great movies.

Re:Batman v. Superman in The Dark Knight Returns

[Remus Shepherd]

"Like the kryptonite, Clark? It took years to synthesize, and cost a fortune. Fortunately I had both." -- Batman, _The Dark Knight Returns_

I doubt this movie will do the Batman vs Superman battle as well as Miller did. We'll see.

Re:impossible!

[silicon_synapse]

I'll ignore your mentioning Spiderman for the moment. Yahoo News has a story with more details about this movie including a very basic plot and the character type of Batman and Superman.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[cHALiTO]

Heh, i think i remember once seeing an episode when Superman looks at batman with his x-ray vision, and sees he's Bruce Wayne, and tells him something like "go home bruce" (trying to impress bruce by letting him know that he knew who he was, etc), and later, when superman gets to his appartment and 'changes' into Clark kent, he looks out the window and sees batman on the roof across the street, looking with a pair of binoculars and a smile that said "yeah, i bet now you feel *really* dumb".

Superman is a sissy.. never kills anyone, and when he does, he makes a drama out of it. And besides, it's too much like Captain America.. he's too.. american :) (don't get mad at me.. it's just that i get tired sometimes of watching the us flag on the tv screen like it was a desktop wallpaper or something..)

Batman just plain rocks.. and Alan Grant was did the best scripts for it.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[jafac]

Maybe hand it over to Lucas, then he can do Superman with a CGI of Christopher Reeves' face.

IIRC, Superman did not lose - he and Batman colluded; Batman had a faked death, and came out of a drug-induced catelepsy in the grave (was later dug up by his trusty butler).

Yea, we want a real LAME MOVIE

[dh003i]

Yeah, I've been waiting years for a real lame movie to watch.

While they're at it with "Superman v. Batman", why don't they throw in a few more lame scenarios, like:

Batman v. Spiderman

Spiderman v. Superman

Jaws v. Jurassic Park

Jason v. Freddy

Lara Croft v. Indianna Jones

Come one, does it get any lamer than this? Imagine what went through their minds when they came up with this one:

hmm...we could have another lame sequel that would make us a lot of money because people are stupid enough to keep coming back for more....or we could combine this movie with that movie to make a really lame movie that won't make sense and'll suck, but it'll bring in the fans from both series and make us gobs and gobs and gobs of money. Then we'll do a sequel.

Who cares?

[Guppy06]

What AOL/TW really needs to do is to get off their asses and do some more things with their animated super hero serei. I'm sorry but just about every live-action Batman movie I've seen can't hold a candle to a single half-hour episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Give us a JL movie or another Batman Beyond or something!

Just looking at the way the live-action Batman movies WB has put out portrays the villans (the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Bane, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, etc.) and then looking at how those same characters have been done in the animated series... can anybody honestly tell me that they're really looking forward to another live-action movie? What they did to Mr. Freeze and Bane alone should be reason to shudder with fear...

The Great Carnak holds the envelope to his head...

[Cirrocco]

...and says, "Christopher Walken."(carefully opens the envelope and removes the card)

"Name something that members of the Reeves family will never see again!"

Re:How is this a fight?

[jafac]

Of course he knew his alter ego - they were on a first name basis in that comic book, calling eachother "Bruce" and "Clark" while they were fighting. (I always liked that touch).

Matt Damon will star

[GuyMannDude]

The IMDB is reporting that Matt Damon will probably be in it and get to choose which superhero he wants to be.

GMD

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[Archfeld]

LOL the BAT Kryptonite necklace.....God this is gonna be cheesy..Go Hollywood

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[DNS-and-BIND]

So, Batman can beat Superman the first time he tries, but Lex Luthor and Brainiac (two great minds) together can't do it, despite having the benefit of hundreds of experiences trying? I think Miller might have had a little prejudice for his hero on his side :)

Comprimise

[Skyshadow]

Thats why I think this movie will be a bad idea, it cannot cature to both the hardcore comic readers and the common public. The actual comic readers would know that Batman would most likely win (or at least kick the daylights out of superman) while the common public wont be able to get past the idea that since superman has powers and batman does not, then it will be an easy victory for superman.

I suggest that a comprimise already exists lower down the discussion page: Cast Bruce Campbell as Superman.

This will effectively allow you to please everyone. Batman can beat the daylights out of Bruce, and in the end Bruce can dispatch Batman using a chainsaw or shotgun and make a smart-alec quip. Viola, the general public gets what it expects and all the hardcore fans will be too busy messing themselves to care about what would "really" happen.

begins chanting

[Darth_brooks]

This will not be like 'Batman and Robin' This will not be like 'Batman and Robin'

I can't see the movie being half as good as an episode of Batman the Animated Series. The characters of Batman and Superman have such great depth, regretably some hollywierd casting director will pull a demographic move, rather than using real actors. Here's to holding out hope.

Good is dumb

[GuyMannDude]

You're forgetting that Superman is a goody-goody and Batman kind of has a dark, evil side to him. And as Dark Helmet would say "Evil will always defeat good because good is dumb."

GMD

Hail to the king!! Mod parent up!

[mekkab]

I'm feeling that...
I'm with you on this one...

I can't think of a better post-modern super hero than Bruce Campbell. Heck, even the satiric edge we've all come to associate him with (army of darkness, et al) works perfectly! Come on, now that we're adults we shouldn't be eating chicken and stars soup and we shouldn't be expected to have a total suspension of disbelief...

P.S.- I do not work for progresso.

Re:Dyslexia?

[Bearpaw]

Is it "Superman vs. Batman" or "Batman vs. Superman"?

That's what they're fighting about.

"Hey, Fatman, I should get top billing."

"No way, Stuperman, I should."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

FOX could do it first

[eaddict]

Just imagine it on celebrity boxing! Whoo hoo!
If not FOX, then a deathmatch of course!

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[jafac]

Now, I sold my Dark Knight books (and made a bundle) back in the 90's, but I think I recall the sequence being something like;

Batman hides in some buildings,
Superman uses his x-ray vision,
x-ray-seeking missile auto-launches carrying warhead of synthesized kryptonite as Bruce comments how many years and how much money it cost to make. . .
Clark gets creamed.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[Skyshadow]

Kmart. A lot of people never shop there, but there's actually some great super hero supplies stashed back behind the fishing stuff in sporting goods.

Don't tell anyone.

Re:How is this a fight?

[NanoGator]

"Superman would kick Batman's ass. Up. Down. Around the block. Back around the block." ...which is exactly why Batman will win. Hollywood thinks that'd surprise us.

A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sell?

[GuyMannDude]

Titilation aside, I wonder if the time is approaching that mainstream America is ready for a superheroine movie that isn't a joke or B-movie trash. The popularity of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon seems to indicate the American audiences may be willing to accept women as competent, powerful fighters. But I wonder if that acceptance wasn't because the whole movie was supposed to be a fantasy (with the flying and all). What do slashdotters think about the popularity of a serious big-budget Hollywood superheronie movie? You think people would go to see it?

GMD

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[Skyshadow]

Superman doesn't really fight very well, either. I suspect it's just always been too easy for him -- it's like always practicing Quake with the bots set on the lowest possible level.

Effective tactics for Superman: Zip up to Batman at light speed and make balloon animals out of his small intestines tied together with his spinal cord. Do this very quickly -- preferably while the "get kryptonite from utility belt" message is still en route from Batman's brain to his hand.

But nooo... He's just got to showboat. That, plus a certain amount of writer irony, is what gets him in trouble.

Don't fall for this!

[CleverNickName]

This movie is just a ploy to get all of us geeks into theatres so they can gas us, and stop our anti-DMCA, pro-open-source, anti-Jar-Jar rhetoric.

Excelsior!

Re:Don't fall for this!

[CokeBear]

Hey Wesley!

Have you been approached to play Batman? (Or Robin?)

I think you'd be a great superhero. Heck, you were practically a superhero on TNG.

Re:Don't fall for this!

[Rogerborg]

• Have you been approached to play Batman? (Or Robin?)

Hmmm. Given that this isn't going to be Dark Knight Returns or Kingdom Come, they might as well start over with a new (or a Next, ahem) generation of actors. Superman requires a wholesome, All-American actor.

Honestly, can you imagine anyone better than Wil? You could just see him on a Young Republican recruitment poster, and most people will remember him as the too good to be true "I'll-save-the-day!" Wesley Crusher.

Kick the campaign off, it'll get my name on it. Or maybe I just want to see him in a skintight unitard again.

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[osgeek]

That's the kind of contrived bullshit that will lead to a decrease in the enjoyment that I'll have when viewing the movie.

Superman is a genius intellect and partially a product of an advanced race and civilization. He's able to make an enormous number of decisions at nearly the speed of light (move at near the speed of light, and you kinda need to be able to think that quickly as well). Time and again in the cartoons and comics, supervillains neutralize Superman's physical advantages, and Superman has to instead outsmart them.

So we can see after years of evidence that he's this world-class intellect, yet Batman is going to defeat Superman's nearly invincible physical attributes. That's just contrived nonsense. You'd think by now that Superman would be paranoid when entering a situation where he might be trapped in closed quarters with someone bearing Kryptonite. But no, X-Ray vision and all, he's going to walk right into it once again. Ugh, it's just awful.

There is only one way this movie could work...

[Anonvmous Coward]

Sadly, Hollywood's taste is so bad that I think this flick will simply be a 'Who would win?' type of movie. Unfortunately, that's not an interesting subject for reasons that people have already posted here.

Instead, they should develop the movie that gives you deeper insights into each character, taking the plot away from the 'whos gonna win?' direction. To put it another way: If you find out that Batman wins, it shouldn't ruin the movie for you.

With that said, why not explore what could possibly make these two guys fight? What kind of ethical questions would that provide for Superman? What could possibly happen to make the Man of Steel defeat somebody who, like himself, has made his life's work to protect people?

How would Batman feel about having the opportunity to deal the death blow to Superman? In light of how his parents were killed, how could he bring himself to destroy somebody that undoubtedly would have prevented it if he could?

They both had their parents killed tragically, they have that pain in common. Could they come to a resolution?

In any case, with questions like these (or hopefully more interesting ones, I am not a writer heh) the movie could actually be rather meaningful. If the movie tries to be like Spiderman and is written to show of using the latest effects to have two 'super humans' battle it out, then there's no way it's going to but much more than a jock flick.

I hope somebody puts some interesting thought into this. Both characters are deep enough that they could tell a fascinating story. This really is the type of movie that should be animated. It's hard to take a guy seriously when he's wearing bright blue underwear.

Great idea, here's the script...

[Kredal]

Batman: Bane broke my back all those years ago, and I can still beat up badguys with the best of them! I just had to take a little break.. heh heh.

Superman: Enough with the bad jokes! Nobody gave you a kryptonite wheelchair.

Batman: That's because I'm rich and powerful, and can afford the best, while you're just a pansie who thinks he can fly.

Superman: I coud fly... and you're the one named after a flying rat. Why can't you get off the ground without help?

Batman: At least I can get out of bed without help.

And so on....

Christopher Reeve as Superman

[acoustix]

It's kind of hard to imagine anybody but Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel.

It's kind of hard to imagine that people think Christopher Reeve is the only Superman. Christopher Reeve is not the first person to play Superman and he will not be the last.

However, I do think he's played Superman the best out of all of them.

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[VivianC]

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the new POWER PUFF GIRLS movie does....

To paraphrase The Onion...

[dswensen]

Working title: "Superman Vs. Batman: The Last Thing You'd Ever Want To Sit Through."

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[JoeBuck]

Well, people watch this show. The original Buffy movie was a joke, of course, but the TV show takes things quite seriously.

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[Skirwan]

But I wonder if that acceptance wasn't because the whole movie was supposed to be a fantasy (with the flying and all).

I hate to burst your bubble, but Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Catwoman are all fantasy too. Completely fictional.

You might want to get out more.

--
Damn the Emperor!

A "World's Finest" type movie is more likely.

[Thag]

I see this running like every crossover comic ever written:

Reel 1: Batman and Superman cross paths, get in each other's way and fight, messing each other up but neither taking home a definitive win. Kiss another Batplane goodbye.

Reel 2: Villians gang up on Batman and Superman.

Reel 3: Batman and Superman team up and defeat villians.

For a good idea of what I mean, see the 3-part World's Finest comic that Steve Rude illustrated for DC a few years back. It rocked.

Of course, for Joe Sixpack, "Batman vs. Superman" is a better title than "World's Finest," since Joe Sixpack doesn't get the reference to the old teamup title from the fifties.

Lastly, while I wish Christopher Reeve all the best, he wasn't the first actor to play Superman, and he won't be the last. It might be nice to get Gene Hackman back as Lex Luthor, though.

Jon Acheson

Re:sequel to Dark Knight?

[3Y3]

The 2nd part of the Dark Knight story line is called 'The Dark Knight Strikes Again', you can find more information on it at:

http://www.dccomics.com/features/dk2/dk2.html

I personally don't really like the art in this one, but the fact that the story line is top notch more then makes up for it.

Would rather see batman vs spawn/spidrman

[Kasmiur]

The spawn vs batman comic was cool.

And batman vs spiderman could ride the wave of spidermans success.

Re:How is this a fight?

[starvingartist12]

In the relatively recent JLA comic story arc writen by Mark Waid, called "Tower of Babel", a villain breaks into Batman's secret logs of all his teammates and uses it to systematically defeat every member of the Justice League of America.

Batman never talked about himself in the JLA, but often coaxed little pieces of information from his teammates. He secretly worked on "protocols" for defeating them. Batman made sure he could stop any of the JLA, and he thought they were foolish if they weren't doing the same.

His tactics:

Aquaman - Made him fear water, which he needs to live.
Green Lantern - Blinded him, leaving him unable to create anything with his ring
Flash - Created a vibration bullet that doesn't phase through the Flash, leaving him subjected to light speed epileptic seizures.
Wonder Woman - Subjected her to a virtual unending combat.
Martian Manhunter - Created nanites that embed themselves to his skin, making him a human flame (with fire being his weakness)
Plastic Man - Froze and shattered him

and of course...

Superman - Synthesized a red kryptonite, which left Superman in tremendous pain.

While Batman wasn't the one to use these tactics, his friends felt betrayed, cheated and physically scarred.

Re:How is this a fight?

[Anonymous Coward]

And also was able to figure out who Super Man's alter ego was

WTF? He saw past the glasses???

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[markmoss]

Wouldn't Superman crush Batman in about a milli-second?

That's always been a problem for the Superman scriptwriters - how to make _anything_ be a challenge, since over the years since the comic strip started (around 1930?) they've attributed so much strength and so many abilities to him that anything short of a galaxy-sized black hole ought to be easy. He's the irresistible force and the immovable object. And if he screws up and lets something bad happen without being there to stop it, he can just fly faster than light to reverse time. You'd think his only real problem would be keeping his personal organizer up to date (08:45 save Lois from bad guy 1, 08:50 save the world from bad guy 2, 08:55 pick up a mugger from the alley and drop him off at Sing Sing, 09:00 put in an appearance in civies as the mild mannered reporter who missed all the fun again, 09:05 save Lois again...)

So how is Batman, who is just a human being with really nice toys, going to face Superman? Yawn, kryptonite again. Obviously that stuff deadens his brain long before he comes close enough to lose his strength, otherwise he'd have learned not to fall for it every time. And it's easy to find green kryptonite on earth, even for convicts on the run from the law, let alone billionaires.

IIRC, someone once calculated from the quantities of kryptonite that have turned up on Earth and the inverse square law, that Krypton must have been so massive it collapsed into a black hole.

Re:impossible!

[sconeu]

Nah. Try: Bartman vs. Duffman.

Duffman says... Oh YEAH!

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[Kwil]

Well.. what wasn't mentioned is Batman did have a wee bit of an advantage in the Miller books.

Superman had just recently been at ground zero of a multi-megaton nuclear bomb, one that kicked up enough dust that there was next to no sunlight getting through to the earth. Being that sunlight is what powers Superman, he was in a weakened condition to begin with.

Plus, Superman didn't actually want to kill Batman - he was just there to "bring him in", and considering that Batman was in his elder years in the DKR, Superman was probably holding back considerably.

Mix this with Batman being in a veritable tank of a suit and using Superman's known weaknesses (such as they are) including electricity, sonics, and of course kryptonite (which in the words of the comic "The stuff took years and millions of dollars to synthesize, but luckily I had both")

Put it all together and you wound up with a situation where Batman could beat Superman.. if only just barely.

back to superheroes and audiences for a moment...

[dpilot]

I really liked "Unbreakable" as a truly unusual treatment of the whole superhero thing. I guess most people didn't, because it didn't do that well at the box office.

In the same vein, I couldn't imagine Michael Keaton as Batman. He did well enough there, but his portrayal as Bruce Wayne was downright terrific. First time the character ever seemed believable, comic, TV, cartoon, whatever.

Re:I don't get it???

[Jace of Fuse!]

Superman does crap doesn't he?

Yeah, it's called Kraptonite.

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[dswensen]

I wonder if the time is approaching that mainstream America is ready for a superheroine movie that isn't a joke or B-movie trash...

God, I hope not!

Good vs. Good???

[Fascist Christ]

How much do you want to bet that in the end they set aside their differences and work together against some super-villain?

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[osgeek]

Superman may be a genius and clever and all that, but there are certain ways that he simply won't think because it's against his nature.

We saw in Superman II that Superman is capable of fairly judging and anticipating "evil" human behavior. I think that a lot of this "batman is darkly clever" is really just a form of apologetics.

Regarding magic: I don't think Batman will be playing that card.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[DNS-and-BIND]

Why didn't the Superman Emergency Squad come to Kal-El's rescue? Big-time continuity problem there.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:How is this a fight?

[SuiteSisterMary]

I believe the quote from Dark Knight Returns goes something like "It took several years, and cost a fortune, to synthesize that kryptonite, Clark. Fortunately, I had both."

Old News

[crashnbur]

Not to take away from ReadParse, but news about this movie has been available at Coming Soon for several weeks. Maybe the boys over there have more news worth duplicating...

Now for an on topic comment: haven't we had enough comic book hero movies for one life time? The answer seems to be no, as it was first Superman, then Batman, and now Spider-Man who have repeatedly broken box office records every time a new one is released.

Now the bad news: we all have to wait two years for the movie to develop. So why is it such big news now?

I'm Batman!

[c4tp]

I could care less about Christopher Reeve as Superman.

But if Adam West doesn't reprise his role as Batman, I don't know what I'll do!

Matt Damon: I'm Not Kidding

[Sandman1971]

What's scary is that Coming Attractions states that the director is hoping to get Matt Damon on board (but doesn't mention for which role). I can't see Damon doing either Batman or Superman. Maybe he can play Jimmy Olsen :P

I would love to see Keaton under the cowl again. As for Superman, there's not a hell of alot of choices out there. Dean Cain did a half-decent job in the Lois & Clarke shot, but I don't think he could carry the movie.

Who would you like to see play The Dark Knight and The Man Of Steel?

Re:Was that irony? :)

[Afrosheen]

If you're gunning for the Pres, I think hitting the WTC with 2 planes and the Pentagon with another is missing your mark _just a little_. Seems more like you're hitting Jewish folks and washington war mongers to me.

Re:How is this a fight?

[Afrosheen]

Keeping this in mind, it's pretty much impossible to beat Superman twice, isn't it? If you kick his ass and he breaks loose, he'll turn back time and kick your ass preemptively. Or, truer to character, he'll alter things in his or your life to prevent you two ever coming together for the previous (future) battle. Funny how he never considers the danger of paradoxes or anything else related with time travel and altering 'the course of things'.

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[Catbeller]

Nah, the missles contained conventional military-grade explosives. Easy to get for a billionaire with no scruples. The missles were just there to soften Superman up a bit while Bruce watched in the shadows, clad in strength-enchanced armor he had charged up with the entire city's power grid.

Whilst Batman tried a bit of Ali on Supes, getting his ribs caved in, old Oliver Queen, former billionaire and current anarcho-socialist terrorist, otherwise known as the Green Arrow, fired a kryptonite arrowhead at Clark's noggin.

Distracted by trying not to kill his old friend, Clark spun a bit too slow when he heard the arrow arrive, instinctively snatching the shaft in mid-trajectory.

Oops, thought Clark as the payload detonated. Queen was well pleased -- he wanted Wayne to beat nine kinds of holy hell out of the Big Blue Schoolboy, who had been the agent of a fascistic U.S. regime which had rounded all of the superheroes years before. Ollie lost his right arm fighting the guvmint, and blamed Supes for that.

After the arrow went off, Bruce proceeded to slam thousands of foot-pounds of force via fist and feet into Supes weakened nads. This didn't kill the Big Cheese, but it gave Wayne the chance to pretend to die at the moment he had Clark on his knees with Wayne's hand around his throat.

Payback was Batman's for all the hell Clark had put them all through by cooperating with the people who locked up or deported the heroes.

I've got the theme music

[ryanvm]

Oh man, I have the perfect theme music (it's Wesley Willis).

Re:Go easy on Affleck/Daredevil

[Saint Nobody]

you're forgetting some marvel movies in there. all the bad ones, in fact. for instance:

captain america (1979)
captain america ii: death too soon (1979)
the incredible hulk returns (1988)
the punisher (1989)
the fantastic four (1994) (it was so bad it was never released.)

granted the first three are tv movies, so ignore them if you see fit. but that's by no means a full list, either. there's plenty that i'm missing. and wasn't "howard the duck" marvel?

not to mention that i have some serious complaints about some of those films you list as "fan successes". every comic book movie to date has destroyed large aspects of the comics ("gwen stacy? who's that?") and i don't expect much better from daredevil, and the rest of the upcoming pack of comic flicks.

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[nexex]

You'll find out when the Catwomen (Ashley Judd as Catwoman) movie is released. see http://www.superherohype.com/catwoman/

Re:Why?

[cribcage]

The first thing you have to realize is that there isn't any, "OK, here's what happened..." answer. Superman and Batman (in comics) are separate storylines, directed by separate creative teams. Each has its own loose continuity; but as the books change hands over the years, different artists and writers come and go, and many try to stake out their own territory by (1) writing continuity-altering events into the present, or (2) revising the past.

First, a nameless thug gunned down Bruce Wayne's parents. Then, a team came along and named that character ("Joe Chill"), and wrote a confrontation between the Chill and Batman ("Batman: Year Two"). Then another team came along and wrote a story that said, "No, actually, it wasn't Joe Chill after all..." And then, of course, the 1989 movie came along, and said, "Hey, it wasn't a nameless thug who killed the Waynes. It was the Joker." Back and forth. "Suspension of disbelief" is very important. :-)

There have been all sorts of confrontations between Batman and Superman in comics throughout the years. The basic conflict boils down to this: Batman is a dark, obsessed character. He distrusts everyone, and is your basic control freak. Superman, on the other hand, is your basic "good guy": He wants to save everybody from everything, and doesn't want anything in return. Batman doesn't trust Superman 'cause Batman doesn't trust anyone; and Superman doesn't trust Batman 'cause Batman's obsessed, and could fly off the handle at any time -- quite possibly killing someone.

Charitable writers have teamed up the pair in the past, but it's never a "comfy" team-up. At the end of the day, Batman always knows he has a chunk of kryptonite hidden away in his Batcave, just in case Superman (who is an alien, after all) gets out of control. Other writers have played up the conflict, usually using Batman's obsessive side as catalyst. Example: Gotham City was destroyed by an earthquake, and Superman wanted to help the citizens. Batman told his to get out of "my city" (his words). Several writers have referenced a standing agreement on the part of other superheroes: They stay out of Gotham, unless their help is specifically requested by Batman.

As far as the loose continuity goes, there isn't any standing grudge between Batman and Superman. They don't get along very well, but they work together respectfully when they have to. There's no backstory that involves any sort of huge blowout. Every big fight they've had has occurred outside the continuity. (Several readers have referenced Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" storyline. This took place far in Batman's future. The story begins with Batman's return from retirement, and Miller introduces familiar characters who have undergone huge changes during the story's course.)

I doubt they'll make an actual "Batman Battles Superman" movie. More likely, the two will have some rivalry, but eventually team up to destroy...Brainiac, or the Joker, or the Clock King, or whomever the hell the producer decides to cast. Personally, I think it'd be REALLY cool to see Adam West in a major role, maybe as Ra's al Ghul -- one of Batman's lesser-known but major foes. ...Hope I helped.

crib

Re:Wolfgang Petersen

[Saint Fnordius]

Considering a lot of Wolfgang's other movies ("Das Boot", "In The Line Of Fire", "Perfect Storm"), I think he'd be the right man to make sure this doesn't become a fanpiece. I'm hoping it will make both "heroes" look like crazies: Batman a little too much of a vigilante, Superman too much of a hypocritical "boy scout".

My guess is that we'll see them holding each other in contempt, growing into hate. And the climatic battle will be broken off so that a greater threat can be averted (or they look at the collateral damage they caused and turn away in disgust). No winners.

Then again, AOLTimeWarner is not gonna let Mr. Petersen do a ruined downtown, especially not in a post-11.09.01 climate.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[biglig2]

I recall something similar done with some superb lines:

"Did you really think a Lead-Lined Cape would stop the Man of Steel from finding out who you are, Mr Wayne?"

"Not really. By the way, did you really think combing your hair different would fool the worlds greatest detective, Mr Kent?"

You know who'd be perfect for the Superman role?

[Rogerborg]

Our own dear Wil Wheaton.

Think about it. He's handsome in a boy-next-door Young Republican poster kind of way, he has the correct wholesome, too good to be true, "I'll save-the-day" associations in the public consciousness, he can actually act, he has geek appeal, and he looks good in a skin tight unitard.

Petition here.

Xena

[Kris Warkentin]

Look at how successful Xena has been over the years. I think that a superheroine is not too hard to swallow.

Re:back to superheroes and audiences for a moment.

[Zathrus]

Unbreakable was good, but it simply couldn't live up to the hype generated as "from the director/writer of The Sixth Sense". I'm hoping that Shyamalan doesn't pull the same trick in Signs -- a last second twist.

It was a good movie though, and the twist did do some gut wrenching. But perhaps a bit overwrought.

As for Keaton - nobody thought he'd be a good Wayne/Batman... but he played it right, much as Toby Wright did. You don't have to play the superhero -- that's merely a foil for the really interesting story, which is that of a man (or woman) who has immense power. And what that does to the person.

All of the later Batman movies failed because the actors tried to play the hero instead of the average guy. The script writers also focused too much on the hero instead of how the person is handling the issues.

Really this is a good bit of the "comic book curse" that afflicts non-written attempts to do superheros right.

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[SealBeater]

So we can see after years of evidence that he's this
world-class intellect, yet Batman is going to defeat Superman's nearly
invincible physical attributes.

Batman is a dirty fighter. Superman isn't. The instant Batman heard of
Superman, he probably started thinking of ways to beat him, just in case.
That's the whole point of Batman and why he is so liked, he stacks the deck in
his favor every way he can think of.

SealBeater

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[SealBeater]

Heh, i think i remember once seeing an episode when Superman
looks at batman with his x-ray vision, and sees he's Bruce Wayne, and
tells him something like "go home bruce" (trying to impress bruce
by letting him know that he knew who he was, etc), and later, when
superman gets to his appartment and 'changes' into Clark kent, he
looks out the window and sees batman on the roof across the street,
looking with a pair of binoculars and a smile that said "yeah, i
bet now you feel *really* dumb".


Totally, I remember that episode. That was good. There was a colloration in
the comic series. I believe it was "Death in The Family", where the second
Robin got beaten to death with a crowbar, (the possible start of the animosity
smoldering between Batman and Superman) when Superman was ordered by the state
dept to stop Batman from going apeshit. Superman was being apologetic and said
"Bruce" to Batman, trying to make a connection and all that. Batman turns
around and says "Never call me that name again....Kent." Tit for tat.

SealBeater

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[ShavenYak]

IIRC, someone once calculated from the quantities of kryptonite that have turned up on Earth and the inverse square law, that Krypton must have been so massive it collapsed into a black hole.

Not necessarily true. Remember Richard Pryor's supercomputer from Superman.. uh, 3 I think? There's no telling how much kryptonite it might have synthesized once it got the formula right.

Hey, there's an idea... Batman vs. Superman, with Superman's brain all contaminated with the messed up 'kryptonite' with tar so he'd be almost as big an asshole as Batman. I might pay to see that.

Oh, who am I kidding, I would wait for it on video. Heck, I'm passing on seeing a Star Wars movie in the theater, for crying out loud.

Re:How is this a fight? (Hint: it was, Batman won)

[ShavenYak]

Batman ethical and boring? I suppose next you'll be telling me the Batman movie in the '60s was campy.

Oh, wait...

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[markmoss]

Heck, I'm passing on seeing a Star Wars movie in the theater, for crying out loud.

Me too. And the first movie (episode 4) was my first date with my wife. But what I've heard about AOTC doesn't fill me with desire to pay about 20 bucks to watch it in a large room full of strangers...

Re:Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

[Jonavin]

All this fuse and it's not even a particularily good movie, even by wire-fu standards.

Re:You know who'd be perfect QWZX

[Rogerborg]

• I don't Superman should be short, skinny and look gay.

Wil is 5'11", and if we're talking gay, I've got some really bad news for you about guys who spend a lot of time in the gym... ;-)

If it still bothers you, consider that the same actor is playing both Bruce Banner and the Hulk in next year's ">Ang Lee / James Shamus interpretation. We have the technology.

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[jafac]

Thank you for that account.
Now wishing I hadn't sold my comix. But WorldCom seemed like such a better investment!

Re:Someone tell me how Batman could beat Superman?

[Catbeller]

try eBay for a cheap paperback reprint, or go to any Barnes and Noble or Borders... or even Amazon. The joy is still out there.

Re:You know who'd be perfect QWZX

[Rogerborg]

• I think Superman needs to be at least a six-footer. Christopher Reeve is listed at 6' 4", and that actually looks accurate

That's part of the problem. Christopher Reeve made the role his own. Dean Cain and Tom Welling have just been playing in his shadow. Reeve was so right for the character (as drawn) that anyone else will look awkward and unconvincing in comparison.

So, why not take advantage of that? Superman and Batman have historically been drawn with similar physiques, but that's comic convention. Both Dark Knight and Kingdom Come played on Superman's godlike aspect, but I seriously doubt whether we're going to see anything like an adaptation of either of those, given the title.

Given the title, we're just going to see a conflict. For conflict, you need difference. The difference is largely in attitude and methods, but what's wrong with a difference of appearance as well? Batman needs a big physique. Superman doesn't. I'm picturing the dramatic potential of having a slight Superman that can physically intimidate a bulky Batman. That's an instant illustration that a conflict between these two characters cannot be the movie convention of two big men flexing and posturing and sweating testosterone. Superman is a misnomer; he's not human, not a man, and there's no reason to have him conform to the stereotypical macho man physique, other than habit and convention.

Re:A serious reply: Would a superheroine movie sel

[Rogerborg]

• What do slashdotters think about the popularity of a serious big-budget Hollywood superheronie movie?

Given the popularity of Alias, if Jennifer Garner doesn't get an Elektra spinoff from Daredevil then I'll be very surprised. However, if she does then I'll be very disappointed, but I'll be in a minority, I suspect.

Or, go and look at the plethora of rumours about a Wonder Woman movie. Front runner though is Sandra Bullock, another lips-on-stilts slipping clsoer to anorexia every birthday.

As an aside, how many superheroines aren't based to some degree on titilation?

Ah, the classic All American Hero

[Rogerborg]

Yes, cloaked and masked in anonymising black, operating in secret without accountability, striking without warning, acting in the name of justice without being burdened by due process. Everything that we've come to expect from our modern paramilitary protectors, in fact.

What, did you think I was going to talk about Superman? Jeez, grow up.

Secret Identity

[geoswan]

I never understood any real reason for Superman, Batman, Spiderman et al to have secret identities . Damon Wayans did a movie, about ten years ago, called "blankman" , that had a funny take on the whole secret identity thing.