Amidst all of the speculation over last week’s announced restructuring of DC Comics into DC Entertainment by corporate owner Time Warner, one of the big questions was what plans would the new entity have for a future film based on the company’s most recognizable character- Superman.
Turns out, the answer is none.
In an interview with MTV’s Splash Page, new DC Entertainment head honcho Diane Nelson stated that there has been no talk about a new cinematic adventure for the Man of steel-
We actually don’t have any current plans for Superman… We’ve obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it’s a key part of the family, but we don’t have current plans behind Superman.
This news is a bit of a mixed bag. It does imply that DC and Warners’ attentions are more firmly fixed on the comics publisher’s vast array of characters as potential films. Superman and Batman have been the dominate DC superhero characters on the silver screen for the past couple of decades now, to the detriment of everything else in their catalog. (Note: Steel is a character in the Superman family of titles and we all now that Catwoman is Batman dependent. John Constantine, Hellblazer and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are both not traditional superheroe comics and the less said about their movie versions, especially League, the better…)
However, it does present a problem if they decide further down the road if they decide that they do have a (hopefully) good enough idea for a Superman movie. Due to the recent lawsuit settlement with the heirs of Superman’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel, DC stands to loose the trademark and film rights on the character in 2013 and will be forced to negotiate with the Siegel family to get them back.
So as things stand right now, we can disregard all the rumors about floating out there that the Wachowski Brothers, McG, Bryan Singer, Norah Ephron or anyone else is currently developing a Superman film for Warner Brothers. Although if someone were to walk into Nelson’s office tomorrow with a sure-fire pitch, all bets are off.
Can’t really say I am dissapointed either. True, while a really GREAT Superman movie would be awesome, Superman Returns was not so great and if we are faced with no movie or more of the events that developed in SR, especially the child angle, I say pass and give us the thrid Chris Nolan Dark Knight movie.