Superman Returns, Batman Begins: the comics, toons, and movies
Spoilers for Superman Returns, Batman Begins, for the cartoons Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond episode "Shriek", and one particular Batman comics arc, issue #s unknown.
ETA: My more emotional response to a second viewing of the movie over here. I've kinda made a 180 on my appreciation for this version of Superman -- he really is a joy. I less than 3 him SO MUCH. *g*
Went to the theatres to see Superman Returns tonight, finally. I'm not sure what to say about this movie yet -- I need to let it seep into me, need to meditate on it a little, maybe watch it a second time, before I write out my thoughts. With Batman Begins, I felt I could grasp all the nuances and references, partly because I'm more familiar with Bat-canon and partly because Batman Begins doesn't try to carry on from the previous Batman movies. With Superman Returns, I find myself feeling -- knowing -- that I'm missing important layers, history. I've seen the first Superman movie a few times, but of the second movie I've only seen bits and pieces, a long, long time ago.
My understanding of Clark Kent/Superman comes primarily from the modern-age comics, from the Bruce Timm cartoons, and to a lesser extent, from Smallville. In both the comics and toons, I feel that the "Clark Kent" and "Superman" personae are fairly balanced, with neither being an obvious disguise. Of course Clark still hides himself, both behind the S and behind the glasses, depending on who he's dealing with and the situation. With Smallville, it's clear Clark is the real deal, that "Superman" is merely a way of saying Clark's all grown up, and the costume is just that -- a costume. But there is very obviously a Real Clark, a Unified Theory of Clark, who is the Clark Kent who works for the Daily Planet, flirts with or is married to Lois Lane, grew up in Smallville as Martha and Jonathan's son, and who is the Clark who is Kal-El, beloved son of Jor-El and Lara, sole survivor of Krypton, an alien, and who is the Clark who saves the world, Superman, a hero of heroes, a mentor and leader, a symbol of truth and justice, a friend to all.
With the movies, I'm not so clear on who Clark really is. What's the Unified Theory of Clark in these three movies? On one hand, I get the sense that Clark is only truly himself when he puts on the cape. Except with his mother -- who of course knew him as Clark first and foremost, and therefore knows Superman is her son Clark -- nobody seems to have a clue who Clark Kent really is. Jimmy seems to truly like mild-mannered Clark Kent for himself, but that's about it. Perry doesn't know him. Even Lois considers Clark nothing more than a footnote. When Clark tells her maybe people don't say good-bye because it's too hard, he's not speaking as Clark Kent, fellow reporter and friend and hopefully something more, but as Superman, hiding behind the Clark Kent mask. (ETA: On the other hand, maybe he'd like to build a relationship with Lois as Clark, because there's a line in which he's trying to figure out who should be speaking, who Lois is talking about, but Lois completely fails to respond to him as Clark. She only sees Superman. Everybody only ever sees Superman, except Martha.)
Just last night I watched the Batman Beyond episode "Shriek". A supervillain plants a high-tech two-way radio on Bruce's person, uses the radio to broadcast eerie voices to convince Bruce that he's going insane. But Bruce refuses to believe he's anything but the picture of mental health -- and when Terry later asks why he suspected the voices weren't really in his head, Bruce answers, "The voices kept calling me 'Bruce'. That's not how I think of myself."
In the comics, I suspect Bruce does think of himself as Batman, more often than not. Not that the real Bruce Wayne doesn't exist -- and I don't mean Brucie, here -- just that Bruce is Batman. Batman is who he is, always. Except, possibly, in those moments when he's remembering his parents, or that traumatised little boy in the alley.
In the movie Batman Begins, however, I don't get as strong a sense of Batman being who Bruce is. Or at least, it's not how he usually thinks of himself, except as an extension of his mission. Maybe this is because Batman Begins is an origin story, and we get to follow a very fleshed-out Bruce Wayne on a journey from childhood to young adulthood to Batman. We see him go and we see him come back, and we see him as Bruce. One could argue that Bruce evolves into the man who puts on the mask and becomes Batman, and therefore is Batman. But I still get the sense of Batman as a costume, another weapon or tool Bruce uses to further his goals.
With the cartoons, particularly Bruce's much more desperate donning of the mask in Mask of the Phantasm compared to Batman Begins, it's evident that Bruce is deeply invested in being Batman, having become Batman, identifying himself, at least subconsciously, as Batman.
The comics are the darkest, of course. I'm digging in scans_daily for The Post Of Oh My God So Wrong And Bad And WRONG in which Bruce pleads with The Bat (psychologically, a near schizophrenic projection of the hell-god damning him to become Batman) to let him go. He doesn't want to take up the mantle, doesn't want to be a monster in the dark. We see a hint of this in Mask of the Phantasm when Bruce is pleading to his parents' graves, but the comics takes it way, way further. *shudders* Powerful scene. Nightmare-inducing, even. The Bat mentally/spiritually consumes Bruce, swallowing him into the black.
*freaks out and hides under the covers*
Anyway, to get back to Superman Returns... After the Crisis, DC Comics decided to keep Martha and Jonathan alive in the modern-era, as a way of grounding Superman to humanity. We can relate more to Clark Kent, farmboy, and with his family as a touch-stone, reminders of his humble beginnings, of home and the earth and apple pie, Superman is less likely to fall prey to his own press and accidentally achieve godhood. (As Luthor so helpfully spells out for us in Superman Returns.) The movies killed off Jonathan but thankfully kept Martha. I loved seeing her in the crowd keeping vigil outside the hospital. Still, that brief street scene is very telling. The poor woman can't even get into the hospital to see her own son, but Lois can get in to see Superman. (When Superman visits his son's bedroom and echoes Jor-El's words to him to his own son, I see Kal-El, the part of Superman who is the last son of Krypton. But I can't be the only one who wanted Superman to say, "I hope one day you'll get to meet your grandmother. She loves you already, and wants to feed you pie.")
[ETA liviapenn's comment on Jor-El vs the Kents here: "Yeah. I was a little miffed at the strong Jor-El influence unbalanced by any Jonathan Kent references in the movie, but then I read this really good blog-review that basically described that last scene (with Clark and Jason) as Clark coming full circle with Jor-El-- in that he's giving up his son for adoption, basically, because it's the right thing to do. *snif*" No wonder I have such love for Daddy!Richard!]
There doesn't seem to be much of the farmboy left inside Superman -- from what I recall, Lois doesn't call Clark "Smallville" even once in the movie! -- though Clark does seem to feel safe at home on the farm in those early scenes. But in the end, he is not Clark Kent the farmer, and this movie barely touched on his being a reporter. I suspect he feels the most satisfied, the most content, most like himself, when he's wearing the S. This Superman reminds me strongly of Batman in the comics and cartoons, while Bruce in Batman Begins reminds me of Clark in Smallville.
I truly enjoyed Superman Returns, and probably even love it, though not with the fervor of my Timmverse love. I had no expectations going into the theatre tonight beyond knowing this movie is a continuation of the first two Christopher Reeve movies, and that Spacey's Luthor is much more "old school". I started to suspect the truth about Jason, but was still nicely surprised in that "Oh, of course! It all makes sense now!" kind of way when he slammed that guy with the piano. Oh wee!Super! You're no Kon (*sniff!*) but you'll do for now.
I have mad mad love for Richard White. James Marsden, I thought you were only doing Marvel superhero movies! Heh. Er, welcome to the dark side?
Kate Bosworth did a good job as Lois, I felt. I know some fans had concerns about her casting, but I didn't have any complaints. This Lois was a lot more subdued, though, compared to before. Not necessarily a bad thing -- I think losing Superman and gaining a son really affected her. Of course she wouldn't be the same person.
Brandon Routh was... I liked him. I really liked him. Don't ask me why, I don't know much about acting. Just that he had a kind of quiet stillness that seemed to work really well for a man coming home from a long, spiritually harrowing journey, slightly uncomfortable with the world, a man coming to grips with the past and regrets. An introspective Superman. I was occasionally thrown by how much Routh looks like Christopher Reeve, but after a while I got carried away by the story. I highly approve.
The relationship stuff I'll leave for another post (and I thought I didn't know what to write!) but I'll say Superman, Lois, and Richard strongly remind me of Johnny, Sarah, and Walt from The Dead Zone. I love the relationship stuff. Finally, a love triangle with real tension, complexity, and maturity!
Speaking of OT3...
If anybody wants to rec me some Superman Returns fic, I'd be very grateful!
ETA: My more emotional response to a second viewing of the movie over here. I've kinda made a 180 on my appreciation for this version of Superman -- he really is a joy. I less than 3 him SO MUCH. *g*
Went to the theatres to see Superman Returns tonight, finally. I'm not sure what to say about this movie yet -- I need to let it seep into me, need to meditate on it a little, maybe watch it a second time, before I write out my thoughts. With Batman Begins, I felt I could grasp all the nuances and references, partly because I'm more familiar with Bat-canon and partly because Batman Begins doesn't try to carry on from the previous Batman movies. With Superman Returns, I find myself feeling -- knowing -- that I'm missing important layers, history. I've seen the first Superman movie a few times, but of the second movie I've only seen bits and pieces, a long, long time ago.
My understanding of Clark Kent/Superman comes primarily from the modern-age comics, from the Bruce Timm cartoons, and to a lesser extent, from Smallville. In both the comics and toons, I feel that the "Clark Kent" and "Superman" personae are fairly balanced, with neither being an obvious disguise. Of course Clark still hides himself, both behind the S and behind the glasses, depending on who he's dealing with and the situation. With Smallville, it's clear Clark is the real deal, that "Superman" is merely a way of saying Clark's all grown up, and the costume is just that -- a costume. But there is very obviously a Real Clark, a Unified Theory of Clark, who is the Clark Kent who works for the Daily Planet, flirts with or is married to Lois Lane, grew up in Smallville as Martha and Jonathan's son, and who is the Clark who is Kal-El, beloved son of Jor-El and Lara, sole survivor of Krypton, an alien, and who is the Clark who saves the world, Superman, a hero of heroes, a mentor and leader, a symbol of truth and justice, a friend to all.
With the movies, I'm not so clear on who Clark really is. What's the Unified Theory of Clark in these three movies? On one hand, I get the sense that Clark is only truly himself when he puts on the cape. Except with his mother -- who of course knew him as Clark first and foremost, and therefore knows Superman is her son Clark -- nobody seems to have a clue who Clark Kent really is. Jimmy seems to truly like mild-mannered Clark Kent for himself, but that's about it. Perry doesn't know him. Even Lois considers Clark nothing more than a footnote. When Clark tells her maybe people don't say good-bye because it's too hard, he's not speaking as Clark Kent, fellow reporter and friend and hopefully something more, but as Superman, hiding behind the Clark Kent mask. (ETA: On the other hand, maybe he'd like to build a relationship with Lois as Clark, because there's a line in which he's trying to figure out who should be speaking, who Lois is talking about, but Lois completely fails to respond to him as Clark. She only sees Superman. Everybody only ever sees Superman, except Martha.)
Just last night I watched the Batman Beyond episode "Shriek". A supervillain plants a high-tech two-way radio on Bruce's person, uses the radio to broadcast eerie voices to convince Bruce that he's going insane. But Bruce refuses to believe he's anything but the picture of mental health -- and when Terry later asks why he suspected the voices weren't really in his head, Bruce answers, "The voices kept calling me 'Bruce'. That's not how I think of myself."
In the comics, I suspect Bruce does think of himself as Batman, more often than not. Not that the real Bruce Wayne doesn't exist -- and I don't mean Brucie, here -- just that Bruce is Batman. Batman is who he is, always. Except, possibly, in those moments when he's remembering his parents, or that traumatised little boy in the alley.
In the movie Batman Begins, however, I don't get as strong a sense of Batman being who Bruce is. Or at least, it's not how he usually thinks of himself, except as an extension of his mission. Maybe this is because Batman Begins is an origin story, and we get to follow a very fleshed-out Bruce Wayne on a journey from childhood to young adulthood to Batman. We see him go and we see him come back, and we see him as Bruce. One could argue that Bruce evolves into the man who puts on the mask and becomes Batman, and therefore is Batman. But I still get the sense of Batman as a costume, another weapon or tool Bruce uses to further his goals.
With the cartoons, particularly Bruce's much more desperate donning of the mask in Mask of the Phantasm compared to Batman Begins, it's evident that Bruce is deeply invested in being Batman, having become Batman, identifying himself, at least subconsciously, as Batman.
The comics are the darkest, of course. I'm digging in scans_daily for The Post Of Oh My God So Wrong And Bad And WRONG in which Bruce pleads with The Bat (psychologically, a near schizophrenic projection of the hell-god damning him to become Batman) to let him go. He doesn't want to take up the mantle, doesn't want to be a monster in the dark. We see a hint of this in Mask of the Phantasm when Bruce is pleading to his parents' graves, but the comics takes it way, way further. *shudders* Powerful scene. Nightmare-inducing, even. The Bat mentally/spiritually consumes Bruce, swallowing him into the black.
*freaks out and hides under the covers*
Anyway, to get back to Superman Returns... After the Crisis, DC Comics decided to keep Martha and Jonathan alive in the modern-era, as a way of grounding Superman to humanity. We can relate more to Clark Kent, farmboy, and with his family as a touch-stone, reminders of his humble beginnings, of home and the earth and apple pie, Superman is less likely to fall prey to his own press and accidentally achieve godhood. (As Luthor so helpfully spells out for us in Superman Returns.) The movies killed off Jonathan but thankfully kept Martha. I loved seeing her in the crowd keeping vigil outside the hospital. Still, that brief street scene is very telling. The poor woman can't even get into the hospital to see her own son, but Lois can get in to see Superman. (When Superman visits his son's bedroom and echoes Jor-El's words to him to his own son, I see Kal-El, the part of Superman who is the last son of Krypton. But I can't be the only one who wanted Superman to say, "I hope one day you'll get to meet your grandmother. She loves you already, and wants to feed you pie.")
[ETA liviapenn's comment on Jor-El vs the Kents here: "Yeah. I was a little miffed at the strong Jor-El influence unbalanced by any Jonathan Kent references in the movie, but then I read this really good blog-review that basically described that last scene (with Clark and Jason) as Clark coming full circle with Jor-El-- in that he's giving up his son for adoption, basically, because it's the right thing to do. *snif*" No wonder I have such love for Daddy!Richard!]
There doesn't seem to be much of the farmboy left inside Superman -- from what I recall, Lois doesn't call Clark "Smallville" even once in the movie! -- though Clark does seem to feel safe at home on the farm in those early scenes. But in the end, he is not Clark Kent the farmer, and this movie barely touched on his being a reporter. I suspect he feels the most satisfied, the most content, most like himself, when he's wearing the S. This Superman reminds me strongly of Batman in the comics and cartoons, while Bruce in Batman Begins reminds me of Clark in Smallville.
I truly enjoyed Superman Returns, and probably even love it, though not with the fervor of my Timmverse love. I had no expectations going into the theatre tonight beyond knowing this movie is a continuation of the first two Christopher Reeve movies, and that Spacey's Luthor is much more "old school". I started to suspect the truth about Jason, but was still nicely surprised in that "Oh, of course! It all makes sense now!" kind of way when he slammed that guy with the piano. Oh wee!Super! You're no Kon (*sniff!*) but you'll do for now.
I have mad mad love for Richard White. James Marsden, I thought you were only doing Marvel superhero movies! Heh. Er, welcome to the dark side?
Kate Bosworth did a good job as Lois, I felt. I know some fans had concerns about her casting, but I didn't have any complaints. This Lois was a lot more subdued, though, compared to before. Not necessarily a bad thing -- I think losing Superman and gaining a son really affected her. Of course she wouldn't be the same person.
Brandon Routh was... I liked him. I really liked him. Don't ask me why, I don't know much about acting. Just that he had a kind of quiet stillness that seemed to work really well for a man coming home from a long, spiritually harrowing journey, slightly uncomfortable with the world, a man coming to grips with the past and regrets. An introspective Superman. I was occasionally thrown by how much Routh looks like Christopher Reeve, but after a while I got carried away by the story. I highly approve.
The relationship stuff I'll leave for another post (and I thought I didn't know what to write!) but I'll say Superman, Lois, and Richard strongly remind me of Johnny, Sarah, and Walt from The Dead Zone. I love the relationship stuff. Finally, a love triangle with real tension, complexity, and maturity!
Speaking of OT3...
If anybody wants to rec me some Superman Returns fic, I'd be very grateful!