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Opinion

What’s Wrong With Superman? Absolutely Nothing.

KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne makes the case for Superman.

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superman233Perhaps it is because a new Superman film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, is due out in less than two months. Whatever it is, it seems as though it is again the season for the “What’s Wrong With Superman?” think pieces to start popping up. My personal opinion is that most critics of the Man of Steel just don’t get that the things that are “uncool” about Superman are exactly the things that have made him special and enduring.

Superman is inherently good. His planet exploded, killing almost his entire family, yet he still wants to help people. With that power, he could do horrible things, but you know what? He doesn’t. Because he’s Superman.

If Superman is a failed character, he would not have endured for over 75 years in the comic books. There wouldn’t have been multiple movies and TV series devoted to the character, including one TV show that lasted for 10 years. When Christopher Reeve was paralyzed and later passed away, we were all crushed. Why? Because for a lot of us, he was our hero brought to life.

No, Superman is not Batman. He doesn’t get a fancy car, but he can fly faster than a fancy car, anyway. We already have a Batman, and that’s great. I’m a fan of Batman, because one can like both the Dark Knight Detective and the Man of Steel.

Superman rescues cats from trees. He’ll brag that his mother made his costume for him. He probably would hear the screams of millions in every second, and yet he still gets through the day. So he wears his underpants on the outside sometimes. You would, too, if it made your costume look cooler.

superman423In addition to being the ultimate immigration story on an interplanetary scale, we must also recall that, because he was raised by some of us (humans), a lot of who he is is because of his fantastic supporting cast. The guidance of the Kents, the love of Lois, the friendship of Jimmy Olsen and Perry White… those things mold him into one of us.

Sometimes, people point to box office returns as “proof” of Superman’s failure. Man of Steel made money. I’m pretty sure Superman Returns made money. So what if they didn’t make as much money as The Dark Knight did. Thousands if not millions of movies haven’t performed like The Dark Knight did. According to Box Office Mojo, Man of Steel made more money than both Captain America films, both Thor movies, The Amazing Spider-Man, 1989’s Batman, and every X-Men movie. Some failure. And all of those people wearing “S” t-shirts, maybe even getting the symbol as a tattoo? Why would they do that if Superman is a loser?

In short? Superman doesn’t need fixing. He’s been just right for 78 years, underpants on the outside and all. I’ve been a fan of the character since Superfriends, and I have never had a problem with what he is meant to represent.

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7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. 1927 Bugatti Girl

    February 9, 2016 at 6:51 pm

    The Superman character is just fine. It’s just sad that such terrible movies are being made with that character.

  2. Steve

    February 9, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    You’re my hero, Craig. Very well said!

  3. John Sorensen

    February 10, 2016 at 2:38 am

    Bandwagon jumpers don’t know what’s good for them. There are tons of great superman stories to read for anyone who look, and loads of good TV and films as well.
    Is you ask me Superman has never been broken, and he doesn’t need fixing.

  4. Sam

    February 12, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    I agree with everything except for the underpants. The best thing they did with Superman is lose those things. Also, a little fun fact, Superman’s symbol is one of the most recognized symbol in the world; second only to the cross. But I think the best way to understand and admire Superman, is from a speech from Superman himself:
    “That man won’t quit as long as he can still draw a breath. None of my teammates will. Me? I’ve got a different problem. I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard, always taking constant care not to break something, to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control even for a moment, or someone could die. But you can take it, can’t you, big man? What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cut loose and show you just how powerful I really am.”
    — Superman, Justice League Unlimited.

  5. mswood

    February 14, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    You skip a couple of very important aspects of the movie going business when referencing Box Office Mojo.

    Many of the films you list actually would not see a single penny in profit based off of the numbers you reference which are only US box office numbers. You don’t mention the fact that when you use World Wide numbers there are a few of the film that you mention that out gross Man of Steel, and many more that outgross Superman Returns.

    You also don’t take into account the reported budget (which doesn’t include prints or marketing), of which both Superman films are on the very high end for cost of the actual production. We most always remember that studios only earn a percentage of the actual ticket price. that is what prevented Superman Returns from seeing profit off of its theatrical release. It required its home market and tv broadcasts, to put it into the green. Now Man of Steel did earn a profit off of its theatrical releases (again that means World Wide release).while Superman Returns eventually made a profit, it didn’t make a lot, in relationship to the amount of capital they spent. And studios also know how much the average sequel earn in relationship to the original (though there are of course many exceptions, including a good number of the superhero films of the last 10 years). Sequels generally generate 80% of the original in ticket sales. That was the single reason that the studio was not willing to spend money on a sequel to Superman Returns. Now Man of Steel didn’t have that issue, for two reasons. 1 it’s WW sales were sufficient to warrant a sequel. And 2, WB really, really wants to create a shared film universe like Marvel has done to create a ongoing franchise of blockbuster films. They probably would have done it, even if Man of Steel only did the business Superman Returns did..

    • Craig Byrne

      February 15, 2016 at 1:56 pm

      ^^ All of that is pretty irrelevant, as I was writing from a U.S. perspective.

    • SVIlleGal03

      February 16, 2016 at 8:53 pm

      And Box Office Mojo may not provide a clear-cut estimate of a film’s true production budget. As an example, BOM lists Superman Returns’ budget at $270 million, yet there have been other sources, including interviews with director Bryan Singer, which put the budget at far less than that – somewhere around $204-220 million.

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Opinion

Who Are the Surprise Guests in the Superman & Lois Finale?

KryptonSite looks at the speculation of who could be guest starring in the Superman & Lois finale.

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Last summer at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, it was hinted that some surprise guests would be showing up in the series finale of Superman & Lois which airs tonight (December 2) on The CW. While this post isn’t meant to confirm or deny any fan speculation, there has been a lot of it in the past week, and this post is a way in which we can share what’s been talked about… you know, in case one of these actually does happen.

We can tell you that almost all of the former series regulars for Superman & Lois are confirmed to return — a list that includes Emmanuelle Chriqui as Lana, Erik Valdez as Kyle, Inde Navarrette as Sarah, Wolé Parks as John Henry, Tayler Buck as Nat, Sofia Hasmik as Chrissy, and possibly more.

For what it’s worth, though, here’s some of the speculation, in no particular order, plus a few extras we threw in for this post. Enjoy:

Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin) or Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell): Since the finale of Superman & Lois is the effective end of the Arrowverse (even if it’s not on Earth-Prime), what if the show revisits one or both of the heroes who started it all? Barry could surely find a way to travel Earths and Oliver is still the Spectre last we checked, so… maybe? Though they might not be as likely as….

Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist): It was her show that first introduced us to Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman. Is there a Supergirl on this show’s Earth? Now is as good of a time as any to find out.

John Diggle (David Ramsey): He was there at the start of the Arrowverse ever since the first episode of Arrow, and unlike those folks up above, he has appeared on Superman & Lois. If he does show up, though, he better have a green ring!

The Justice League: Peacemaker ended with a Justice League we’ve had to say goodbye to; what if Superman & Lois does the same thing, either with established characters, or folks just cast as a special one-shot treat?

Bruce Wayne (David Giuntoli?): Bitsie Tulloch has hinted that Grimm fans should be sure to tune in, so we’re assuming a Grimm cast member, most likely her real-life husband David Giuntoli might be appearing in the finale. Popular speculation has him playing Bruce Wayne if he was to show up.

Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan): Jenna Dewan is super busy with The Rookie but since she missed Sam’s funeral, maybe she’ll be back for the show’s last hurrah at least?

Tom Welling: Because why not.

Jon-El (Jordan Elsass?): The Bizarro World version of Jonathan Kent is still out there, as far as we know, and that storyline was revisited as recently as the penultimate episode. What if this other Jonathan still looks like the first actor to play this role, Jordan Elsass? Or could we see Michael Bishop donning the 1990s-inspired suit and red pants?

Tom Cavanagh (Again): We saw Tom Cavanagh as recently as episode 7 this season, playing Gordon Godfrey, but considering how many characters he played on The Flash, surely there’s one more in the tank before all is said and done? A Wells, a Thawne, a Pariah…. there are lots of possibilities out there.

What do you think? Are any of these speculations correct or are we BS-ing you this whole time? Leave your speculation in the comments below and ENJOY THE FINALE tonight at 8PM ET/PT on The CW!

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Opinion

Review: Rosenbaum & Welling’s Live TalkVille Show Is A Success

The first live Smallville TalkVille Podcast event from Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum was a fantastic experience.

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Several weeks ago, Smallville stars Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling took their “TalkVille” podcast and made it a live performance combined with their exclusive “Smallville Nights” that they’ve had on the convention circuit. Their first stop — extended to two shows after the first sold out — was at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood.

I’ve long said that for fans of the show, it’s costly but you need to do “Smallville Nights” at least once. It’s an interactive thing where fans get to re-enact scenes with the actors themselves, and all get the chance to offer the perfect delivery for “I am the villain of the story!” At the live TalkVille event, this was especially cool because each and every attendee got the chance to do the thing.

The “TalkVille” element of the show was different from I at least hda originally expected — it was more of a freeform discussion between Rosenbaum and Welling, discussing some of their favorite memories of the show, and answering questions from the audience. It would have been fun to see them do an actual show from the podcast in front of the audience, but realistically, that could be a recipe for disaster in case any cuts are needed or anything like that.

One strong thing I felt when watching Tom and Michael on stage is that the source of one of the criticisms of the podcast seems to be identified: Sometimes it has been noted that Michael would interrupt or speak over Tom, when it appears the actual problem is that when recording the podcast, there’s a slight video delay so Michael might not even realize he is talking. So, it’s not a matter of being rude, but perhaps a technical difficulty that might be solved in a future show or two where Tom actually recorded in person at the studio. Both guys (and Ryan!) got time to talk at this event, and there wasn’t any such interruption.

There were some stories told at the event that I didn’t even know or realize — for example, how Kristin Kreuk helped Tom with his audition. Both had a gratitude for the show and I think events like these really make them see it first hand. Tom joked more than once that he tried to cancel the event, but he seemed to do really well with it when it happened. I was touched and surprised that I got a few shoutouts in person… and even hugs when the guys realized I was there! Sadly, there weren’t any individual photo ops or anything, but the memories will remain very strong, and there was a very cool “poster” given to all attendees with awesome artwork by Mickael Journou (MikePosters on Instgram). You can see that artwork up above; hopefully it’s okay that it was used for this post. Apparently, this art was also being sold on a T-shirt, but I didn’t see one!

Beyond getting to see two of the leads of Smallville, a great part of the night was a 45 minute to an hour intermission between Smallville Nights and the TalkVille presentation, and that was also a lot of fun because it gave the opportunity to meet other fans and talk. So many of us started watching the show at different times and it was so much fun to share those experiences with one another. After all, we were all there because of loving Smallville! It was just a lot of positivity and fun, and I met some cool people and hopefully made some cool new friends.

As someone who has covered the show since the beginning, it is also really fun to see Tom being joyful about talking about the show. It really highlights how overwhelmed he must have been when the show was on the air. I still can tell when fans are recreating scenes from Smallville that he still thinks like a director, which is so cool. He’s also such a dad now. His shoes were sticky so he took them off to reveal neon socks, which were actually not as uncool as he thought because…. maybe it was kryptonite. Haha. Still, all in all a good time!

Any negative feedback? A venue with easier parking and a less expensive menu would be nice, but as for the show itself, it was a great time. If and when the TalkVille guys do this again, I highly recommend that you check it out.

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Opinion

Is Superman & Lois Starting Season 4 with “The Death of Superman?”

Bitsie Tulloch may have hinted at “The Death of Superman” to kick off Superman & Lois Season 4 this Fall.

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Season 3 of Superman & Lois ended with what looked like a fatal showdown between Superman and Doomsday, reminiscent of the events of the legendary Superman #75 comic book by Dan Jurgens over 30 years ago. Now, some new comments from Bitsie Tulloch combined with some analysis from our good friend Ben Rolph of the Ben’s Take YouTube channel (formerly TheDCTVShow) begs the question: Is Superman & Lois adapting “The Death of Superman” in Season 4?

In the original comics, the Death of Superman was followed by an acclaimed storyline called “Funeral for a Friend” as the folks in Superman’s orbit as well as the people of the Daily Planet deal with the loss of Metropolis’ greatest hero. That led months later to a “Reign of the Supermen” story where four folks – including John Henry Irons, making his first comic book appearances – tried to become Metropolis’ new hero, with some including the Cyborg Superman claiming to the the real steel deal.

So what made Ben think they’re going full force into “Death of Superman” territory, and why do we agree with him?

Bitsie Tulloch recently appeared at the Metropolis Celebration in Illinois this past weekend, and she made a certain major tease:

“You guys are not going to believe the first episode,” she teased. “It’s bananas. It’s emotional. What they did was based on one of the comics. It was a very bold decision on their part to do to do this and to pull it off for the first episode of Season 4.”

Bold decision? Based on the comics? Killing Superman would be pretty darned bold, yeah?

You can watch video of Bitsie’s panel below, courtesy of the Superman Homepage, and then leave some thoughts in the comments! Superman & Lois Season 4 – the show’s final season – is scheduled to premiere this Fall on The CW.

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