Mark Millar Wants to Make An 8 Hour Superman Epic
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
I think the dust has pretty much settled on the story of the Superman reboot. Presumably, the Man of Steel's fate is being plotted out in those DC-Warner Bros meetings. Are they going dark and Christopher Nolan-ish? Is Bryan Singer in or out? Anyone penned a script yet? Like most of the DC properties, Superman seems to be sitting in uncomfortable limbo.But at least one man is chugging right along -- Mark Millar has been talking for months about his Superman script, and the "big Hollywood action director" who wants to shop it around for him. Now, he's told Empire his big pitch and goal, which is nothing short of a Superman epic. Millar wants to make an 8-hour saga, split into three films, Lord of the Rings style. "It's gonna be like Michael Corleone in the Godfather films, the entire story from beginning to end, you see where he starts, how he becomes who he becomes, and where that takes him. The Dark Knight showed you can take a comic book property and make a serious film, and I think the studios are ready to listen to bigger ideas now ... I want to start on Krypton, a thousand years ago, and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers."
Wow. That's a reboot, all right. Somehow, I would expect nothing less in scope from the man who fed Daredevil and the Punisher to dinosaurs. (See Wolverine: Old Man Logan.) I think that sounds too exhausting to even contemplate -- but if there was a superhero to give an epic series to, it would probably be Superman. I'll hand it over to you to think about.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-30-2008 @ 9:04AM
Matt said...
i would watch those movies. sounds like a much better idea than a serialization approach.
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11-03-2008 @ 1:07AM
Gerald Cooper said...
In the Superman Returns sequel, in my thoughts, Luthor kidnaps Superman’s son, and should jam the very last crystal into him … turning him into Doomsday! Superman battles Doomsday to the death, not knowing that it’s his own son. At the end of the battle, Doomsday dies and reverts back into the boy. We’ll have a classic scene where Supes is holding his son in his arms, screaming into the sky with white hot rage. Superman is primed to kill Luthor, and must battle himself not to. This would get rid of the boy respectfully, and darken the relationship of Supes and Luthor even more. Want more info on my story? There's more! Call me at 513 884 4854. Thanks, Gerald Cooper.
10-30-2008 @ 9:16AM
bongo123 said...
well thats the ending ruined... jeeze...
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10-30-2008 @ 9:24AM
Kevin said...
This sounds like it could be pretty incredible. People seem to have this idea stuck in their heads about what a Superman movie has to be. Its got to be light, bright, with a lot of cute romance and then at the end they introduce the conflict that he has to resolve. I think there are a ton of different ways to go about making a compelling Superman movie, and none of them fall under that category (although I did love Superman 1,2 and Returns). One way to make it interesting would be to go in a kinda Heroes route. Supermans not exactly sure who the enemy is, and he has a ton of people trying to manipulate him into their broader plans. Throw in some of the villians from his universe and you could have a Superman who thinks he's doing good but is really being controlled by forces he can't overpower with his strength alone.
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10-30-2008 @ 9:31AM
Peter Hall said...
I think the title should more accurately be, "Mark Millar Wants to Make a Superman Epic that will Never Happen." It sounds great to me, but I'll be shocked if a studio runs with that ending...
Then again, if Watchmen is the hit we're all hoping for...
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10-30-2008 @ 9:43AM
The Pepto Pimp said...
Sounds (or reads I guess) fantastic. I'd love to see it. Are there any visionaries with deep enough pockets in Hollywood?
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10-30-2008 @ 9:46AM
Sam said...
Mark Millar REALLY needs to STFU.
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10-30-2008 @ 10:19AM
Alex From Liveagl.com said...
Ughh,
this has been doneeee, why we rebooting...everybody already knows the superman story...
What they need to do is focus on doomsday and do a trilogy of the death of superman...with an intimitation superman and then superman returning..(thats how superman was revived in the comics)
and then make it extremely serious like dark knight...
you'll then have a revival of a franchiseeee...
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10-30-2008 @ 12:25PM
michaelyoung41 said...
I like it. With the destruction of Krypton as your starting point and the destruction of earth as your ending, the story arc is as much about the cycles of celestial life and death as it is about the life and death of Superman. Now that's epic.
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10-30-2008 @ 12:24PM
vinceb said...
I could go for this concept. Supes doesn't have to be dark like Bman. He is a near god like the old Greek ones so he needs a heroic journey.
The LOTR analogy is a good one. Story should be epic in scale to fit the character. Smallville was great at the start since it plays on the idea of him being the last of his kind, stranger in a strange land never comfortable revealing his true remarkable powers.
Lots of Krypton in the first film setting up the death of the planet should echo the Aeneid tale of setting off to find a new world. Maybe establish a new race of heros on Earth?
And the third film showing Supes lasting until our Sun turns red?! Wow now thats epic.
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10-30-2008 @ 2:43PM
dukrous said...
I like this idea...but I'm not sure you could do it in 8 hours, or even get to that ending in a logical way. What does the end say? Is Superman how humanity survives into space? Does a Human become him? If you're going to study the life of the Last Son of Krypton, there has to be something lasting...something that can be said this is why he lived.
But I'll trust Millar. Red Son is my favorite Superman story.
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10-30-2008 @ 2:55PM
Joe said...
Nice idea but I think it would have to be nice hours instead of eight. This way each film is three hours and gets to have every thing it needs in it. Though I wonder if it will feel rushed.
I was always wanting a Superman movie with Brainiac or a real Lex Luther He is like Bruth Wane but no one ever shows him that way He is freaking rich.
But this story could be good if done right.
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10-30-2008 @ 3:23PM
Tash said...
If WB goes for this, hell has frozen over. There is no way they will take a character like Superman and make a closed-off story that won't allow for further sequels. Superman isn't like Lord of the Rings because LOTR has a beginning and end. Superman is neverending. So until making money is not the number one priority for studio's anymore, setting a permenant end to Superman will not happen.
If Millar wants to make this story, let him write it for a graphic novel. Superman doesn't need another reboot; just write one good story and go from there. Enough people already know the set-up for Superman anyways, so it's rhetorical and pointless to rehash it over and over again.
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10-30-2008 @ 3:26PM
Riley Freeman said...
i like it too. lets do it.
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10-30-2008 @ 5:49PM
Sabi said...
Why aren't we seeing any Villain movies...
i would love to see a movie about the bad guy.
Like Apocalypse, or an Onslaught movie..
I dunno much about DC comics, but im sure Darkseid could be used..
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10-31-2008 @ 12:50PM
david said...
please! please! please! make these films! every time i think about this story line i get chills. i just pray, dont mess with his morality. dont bring him to a batman level, because hes not batman. his morality should always be unwavering. show his struggles, but dont taint the image of superman for future generations. hes suppose to be a hero that all us look up to.
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