Can Warner Brothers & DC Comics rescue Superman from oblivion

Superman II  Supe Vs the Bat

Save the big geeky displays of super-strength for when Supe gets ticked off or feels underestimated or is cornered. Ditch the idiosyncratic supersilly kryptonite weakness. Fine Kryptonite can weaken him, but not to the point where a six year old can defeat him with a swift kick in the knee-cap. Let Supe develop resistance to Kryptonite his enemies don’t yet know and shockingly discover he is immune to the stuff. Make Supe’s potential weakness his personality. In battle always make it as though he fails or failed only because he hadn’t decided to bring it to the battle yet. He's so powerfull he never feels he has anything to prove or that he has to try too hard - which is why he sometimes fails. This way the true depth of his ability should never really be known, and despite all his power Supe's weakness [new kryptonite] should be that he can fail at tasks if his heart isn’t in them or is distracted; this is his weakness.  By the way, stop making those super-cheesy subliminal comparisons between JC and Superman; the doe eyed “man of peace” my-farts-don’t-smell look and falling to earth with arms spread apart with that pose like he’s on the cross, yeah you know what we’re talking about, supercheesy, shelve that non-sense. Supe is great n'all but he's not as great JC so stop trying to make him copy the uncopy-able and compare him to something incomparable. Show us a real relatable Superman who smiles and likes to pull pranks and crack jokes at some characters expense with the pun intended.

More soft power moments throughout the movie please. These may  seem too trivial for Supe but they are important for watch-ability, so he needs to do them anyway a) an old one tweaked: the kitten stuck in the tree being saved, lets see that again; b)some mundane rescues: the adorable fluffy dog being mauled by two Rottweiler let Supe step in, make it look like the dogs are mauling him to death for a while, but then cut to his face he's actually laughing hysterically and says stop tickling me to the pair of Rottweilers trying to sink their teeth into him, then show him later giving the fluffy dog back to its owner and later still the Rottweiler, him and the fluffy dog interacting - coz he's just that type of guy. c) the kid at the toy store looking thru the shop window at the popular toy other kids are buying that he cant afford. Supe as CK just happens to be standing beside him. Audience later sees clip of CKent asking the store owner for the toy. Later that night the kid finds the toy he wanted on the 3rd flood of his bedroom windowsill. d) Pirates hijacking a tanker at sea Supe lifts the entire vessel and drops it off at the nearest police headquarters [later seen putting the vessel back at sea]

The adult  Clarke Kent (CK) Make-over: Bring Supe’s identity into the modern world and mainstream culture by involving him in the technical side of music, increase revenues by making the movie soundtrack cool. DC Comics and Warner Brothers (WB)  should collaborate with some hip hop and RnB moguls. Let hip hop and RnB be Supe's pet passion. Make some imaginary and real big time rappers, singers and music producers in the movie be CK’s bosom buddies. Screen flashbacks that show when CK was a kid at the Kent farm he had an old fashion mixer and used to mix tracks as well as DJ at school dances, show other kids constantly pestering Clarke Kent for new music and his latest mixes or to DJ at their parties [show him making some pocket money off this] or write an article about a famous musician when he's at school press club, show him holding a headphone to his ear at a dance as he turns tables nodding his head to the base in the beat he’s putting out. As an adult let CK be seen secretly using his super-hearing to help tweak a soulful track in studio and get the perfect pitch during a recording session in a professional studio; show him using x-ray to view diaphragms so he can tell artists how to breathe in order to hit notes correctly.  Make CK sought after by the music industry, he is a sure hit maker, he is sought for this music production ability, with studios and artists practically begging and wooing him into collabos for their next hit. Let music be CK's other profession/passion alongside journalism when he clocks out at the Daily Planet he goes on to his other work at the studio. Give him some cool dance moves. Let everyone at the daily planet think he has dorky dance moves only because they know nothing about bopping themselves or because it’s when he's learning a new dance step or move that he hasn’t mastered yet, but it’s only because he's practising - let him kill it when he thinks he's got it or is with his music buddies. When filming/producing a rap song in studio make CK call the rapper off the stage and take his place in the dance routine and say the rap the way he thinks it should be done; in another scene he cuts short a vocalist, enters the booth shows them how to soulfully sing the part; in another cut-to scene let Supe stop a well known/famous artist in the middle of choreography, CK pulls him out of the dance troupe, the music starts and CK does the moves with the rest of the troupe, the artist nods his head, CK steps out – gives some advice and they continue - make his ability to rap, dance and sing very real, the real deal - topped with good believable voice overs or doubles. Turn these moments into hits songs that are part of the movies sound track. Make a number of radio DJs his best buddies, make them send CK shout outs over the radio with accompanying tracks throughout the movie and these should become part of the soundtrack, a DJ should be heard saying over the radio, "This track is for you Clarke and your buddy Supe." Let the industry know Supe is CK’s best buddy; which makes Supe their friend. Make these radio plays form the backdrop to scenes and moods in the movie. When CK as Supe gets beat up real bad by an adversary let his music industry buddies seeing this live on the news become torn, sad, despair and worry about him. As well as the sun reviving him, this time let CK’s pick up be music, have Supe's buddies over the radio begin to play his favourite tracks during battle that pick him up, get him back on his feet and back in the fight. Use this to bring the audience along. A song picks him up, reinvigorates him. He gets knocked down again. The DJs quickly scramble to fade in another of his favourite tracks, changing tracks each time, until on the third track his buddies collaborate over the phone and pull out his all time smack down track that becomes his battle anthem. Let’s have a hip hop and RnB soundtrack from Superman II on the billboard top 20 from the movie.

The young Kent make-over : Give the audience a break on the “miserable” childhood of Superman. What kid with superpowers would have a completely miserable childhood – come on? So the young Kent can’t play football cause he might accidentally knock someone’s head clean off. Yes he’s disappointed so what does he do? He sees some kids break dancing and krunking and is blown away. He has an epiphany dance is something he can compete in without accidentally hacking someone in half or hurting anyone. He teaches himself some moves and tries to join Smallville’s top dog dance crew but they laugh him off; but a talented bunch of other kids take him in. He mixes the music for the crew; there’s dance off between Kent’s underdog crew and the top dog crew. The battle is fierce, a lot is at stake. Towards the end the underdog crew is about to win, but the top dog crew cheats by including a last minute out of town bad ass dancer whose just joined the Smallville community with sick moves no ones ever seen before named Lex Luther. Kent made the crew make a crazy bet thinking between his music mixes and their talent they couldn’t lose, their now in trouble. Kent decides that since the top dog cheated this is now a no holds barred contest. He does some moves tapping slightly into his superhuman side ending with a crazy moonwalk and sick lean from Michael Jackson’s smooth criminal, flicking back the lapels of his shirt like MJ,  at an angle only Supe can. He tips his hat at the end with a wicked smile. While everyone is cheering and going crazy at the underdog win, Lex Luther is glaring at Clarke, replaying some of the moves in his mind with an angry suspicious glint in his eye showing unlike everybody else he knows something about Clark isn’t quite right. Clarke and Lex’s rivalry grows to include many other teenage/adolescent confrontations.  

Back away from the silly supersonic high speed linear displays of speed which take place for no sensible reason for a while. Show how Supe can cover distance flying through an obstacle course where flight can only last for a few seconds at a time before he has to nimbly twist, turn, swing around, double back as he flies upward or around, let him be nimble, like Peter Pan again, enough with the ceaseless crashing through buildings nonsense for a while. Find clever ways of showing off his speed and power without exertion. Show us some unique agility in flight, we' re tired of just trying to make him fly fast in a straight line to knock things down, duh.

Give us a break from Loise on the romantic front - yawn. Make her a former lover. Let Loise become a bit of vixen with veiled ambitions who is willing to sleep with the enemy yet profess her love Supe. Let this become a big part of the dark side of the movie. Make Loise a professional journalist getting herself into very serious, insidious and dangerous, life threatening situations in hotspots around the world through CSI-like journalistic investigations which she does for the story. Loise does good, but is willing to be a bad girl to get it done. She should have loveable side hat appeals to the audience yet an insidious side that keeps making the audience ask itself if their liking for Loise is misplaced; she can be so kind yet at the same time so cruel and ruthless. Let the audience sometimes doubt Loise Lane’s sincerity and integrity. Where Loise is, let there be real danger and scary thriller-like suspense.  Make the audience feel Louise is abusing her friendship with Supe. CK persistently has to drop what he's doing to save her, sometimes halfway across the world when in the midst of reporting she’s taken as hostage during a live broadcast. Make CK's having to do this become a reason why some of his important friendships and relationships suffer, make the audience love Loise’s bravery and willingness to take risks, but hate her for the problems she's causing in CK’s own personal relationships with people he cares about as a result, let the audience wonder if some of the serious danger she gets into though important is sometimes deliberate because Supe will save her. Why does Loise know so many criminals socially yet she vilifies them in the media? IS she good or she bad? Make Supe conflicted about this, make him gradually realise he can’t always be there for her and have to come to a decision about this state of affairs. Tie this dangerous and serious/insidious side of the movie with Batman; that will lead to the clash and epic battle between him and Supe.

Give Supe a real, passionate, touching inter-racial romance so he gains wider international box office appeal, e.g. a fresh faced likeable newcomer like Lupita, make her “the girl”, that is, the girl in the movie who is the love interest that is purely romantic but a key sticking point in the movie. She’s a charismatic model with fragile beauty, poise and a rare penetrating insight. Use this for the soft scenes, like the picnic, tweak it;  the club scene when she's with Supe swaying to his beats and watching him DJ, or hanging out with him and his music industry buddies. On the other end is her other friend – the Bat. Let the gym work out, private jet flight be when she's with the Bat. Let them both be seen to meet her for the first time in the movie both the Bat and Supe are secretly using social media apps to hook-up and accidentally meet “the girl”; let the liking they both have for her turn into much more, an attraction that becomes something out of their control; a jealousy over a girl they seem to be unable to help prevent becoming un-gentlemanly and  anti-heroic on the screen; this rivalry can provide both soft and dark comedy as the two try to undermine each other to gain her attention; because she’s just that hot and mysterious.

If Supe is up against the Bat in Superman II let their lifestyles be different, night and day. Supe is at the club chillin music producer by night and hard nosed journalist by day. He is the music producer guy, who is in the music studio until late with his buddies after work, show scenes with him heading to the dance floor enjoying the hits he helps make, while Batman is rich, moody, broody and obsessed with building and designing gadgets, providing for orphans and curing cancer etc but round this off by giving the Bat a very good sense of wry humour. When they clash let it not just be about strength, let it be about personality, priorities, technique, people and likes. Let them both be deeply and become headily in love with the same chick/new love interest; the girl. Let them both have impeccable tastes in music but divergent views on who is the best at what genre of music. Let the girl be the chick they like, "She's that chick they like!!" as the 2008 Mariah Carey song goes, let it be the fresh new chick the audience likes, that the audience falls in love with, that makes the fight between the Bat and Supe become more emotionally brutal, introspective, selfish, sad, funny, unsportsmanlike, unsuperherolike coz they both want the same girl; even though the epic movie battle is not over the girl, its really all about her. Let their battle eventually put her in danger such that she has to get away, escape from both of them, while the clash gets ever more personal, intense, increasingly aggressive each hero showing what they are made of, until at some point they must come to their senses as tragically in a horrifying accident caused by their clash–she dies. Make her apparent death, melodramatic, a real tear jerker – [like they did with E.T]. The battle ends. Only one thing can save her, bring her back to life; the cancer machine the Bat built in his lair, if they can get her to it in time. He takes off, places her in special protective g-force suite, then tries to get her there in his Bat Jet. The Jet takes off. He wants to get her to the machine but in deep despair, mid flight,  realises he can't get her there in time, the Bat Jet is movin at supersonic speed, but isn’t fast enough. Precious time within which to save her is slipping away. The Bat puts the Bat Jet in over drive and hits the afterburners, but the jet is at its limits. He loses his edge, becomes hysterical. He puts it in autopilot hugs the girl, feels anguish and expresses deep, wracking remorse about the weakness and limitations of his humanity, getting her there needs something more than him. Nothing can be done, she won’t be saved. On the wing of the supersonic Bat Jet the audience sees Supe, arms at his side impossibly keeping pace with the Bat Jet. The Bat hastily brings Supe on board, using a specially designed hatch, never slowing down the Bat Jet, the Bat anxiously explains to Supe what needs to be done. Supe picks her up. Supe is calm, he's in charge now. The radio play changes. Supe rises through the hatch, takes off for the Bat's lair with the girl in his arms, he leaves the Bat Jet while it’s still in supersonic flight. At first he falls back badly, buffeted by air currents, struggles against the wind and is tossed about. Then incredibly catches up with, then whips past the Bat Jet and begins to fly faster  until he leaves it behind like its standing still. He heads with the girl to the Bat Lair so quick the Bat’s instruments and radar can’t keeping up with him. When Supe arrives, the Bat radios through a videocom at the hidden entrance to the Lair that damage to the Bat Jet means he can’t deactivate the Lair’s security. The Bat tells Supe, he will never get through the Lair’s defences. Supe disables and destroys, section after section of the Bat lair’s defences some that seem impossible deterrents, this happens to the Bat's amazement. When Supe gets her to the machine he places the girl carefully into it but doesn’t know how to operate it. Frantically he uses x-ray eyes to try to study the machines internal schematics, mechanisms and systems to find how to operate it. All his power can’t help him to save the girl. The Supe's composure crumbles, he becomes hysterical as he tries to configure it. The Supe despairs, his triumph of getting her there in time changes to terrible despair. He laments, begins to weep and turns to hug the limp girl. A radio in the Bat lair crackles, it’s the Bat’s voice, steady, calm now and strong; he has managed to repair the Bat Jets systems. The scene cuts to the Bat Jet. The Bat can see everything in the lair on screen, he is calm but stern. He gradually calms Supe down, tells him to stop messing with the controls or he'll destroy the machine, it can only put out one tissue replenishing charge at a time, if its set off incorrectly the charge will be wasted and it will need an hour to recharge; time their girl doesn’t have. He says he will talk Supe through how to operate the machine. Supe tries to calm his emotions, gets hold of his nerves and steadies himself. The Bat steps in, he's now in charge. He talks Supe through the steps, what to do. Supe follows instructions activating, gadget after gadget and switch after switch, adjusting level indicators. When it’s done there's suspense. The machine starts working fantastically, but suddenly its lights grow dimmer, sound more sluggish. The Bat’s worst fear is realised, the machine was never fully tested and its power core is failing, the lights in the Bat lair are flickering as the machine drains all the surrounding energy which is proving inadequate to power it. Bat tells Supe he has to use his xray eyes to heat up machines red beam reactor. Supe’s closes his eyes, turns his head, they open suddenly glowing red and light up the machine’s power core. First the machine, then the entire Bat lair fires back up. Will the machine save her? In the midst of this tense waiting Loise calls in, she's in trouble, the villains have gained the advantage and have her. They are about to destroy a city and its inhabitants halfway across the world. The Bat diverts the Bat Jet to Loise’s location and tells Supe to stay with the girl; the procedure to revive her will fail if he's not there to juice up the machine. Supe tells the Bat he can’t take down the villains alone. The Bat warns him that if he leaves now her health may be restored but the consequence is that she may never regain consciousness. [Audience should feel anger and suspense of this; yet another interruption from Loise]. Torn Supe disengages his red laser from the power core, the machine and the lair power levels drop but all the machinery in the lair continues to function albeit on reduced power. Supe leaves the girl to help the Bat and Loise. Both Supe and the Bat have to leave the girl to save humanity, not knowing what the outcome will be. They have to grudgingly collaborate to save Loise and defeat the villain, torn by the fact they have to leave the girl blaming each other for her fate. The Bat angrily tells Supe he shouldn’t have left the girl's side, Supe heatedly tells the Bat he had done all he could to save the girl. If they don’t defeat the villains its all for nothing as no one will survive the villains plans; the Bat can’t do it alone. Radio play changes. They disagree. But have to work together. They do battle with the villains, eventually defeat them, rounding them up and saving Loise. Later Loise, instead of them,  is shown receiving credit at an award ceremony for saving the world.

The movie scene cuts back to the Bat lair. The supers stand each on either side of the girl who is still unconscious in the machine; her vitals are back but she may never gain consciousness. They’re both looking down at her lost in their own worlds of thought. Suspense. Will the girl make it? Did they botch her rescue by leaving her side to save humanity? The Bat fiddles with his machine. It seems they stand there forever. Her eyelids begin to flutter. She wakes up. Sees them both. Stares. Seems to recognize them in their costumes, but seems unsure who they are; then to their surprise she sees right through their superhero disguises to Supe she says Clarke and to the Bat she says Bruce. Bruce pulls of his mask. Her ability to see through their costumes into who they really are when nobody else can is one of the reasons they are smitten. The Bat tells Supe to take her home where she can recuperate; she will make a full recovery. Radio play changes, becomes more upbeat. Supe flies her home, he hovers at the window to her apartment, floats in, helps her take off the g-force body suite and put on a soft light nighty, places her gently in her bed, there's a romantic moment, a kiss, Supe tells her he loves her more than anything in the world. When Supe leaves, he floats out the window, pauses to stare back at the gril like he’s on top of the world and goes supersonic. Just then her skype screen comes on and its Bruce, she touches his face affectionately on the screen, says a heartfelt thank you. Bruce in a shaky voice tells her she is the love of his life. The audience is left in suspense as it doesn’t know who gets the girl. As the skype screen flickers out, the audience hears a DJs voice come on the radio, Supe streaks across the DJ’s studio window. The DJ talks about how the Bat and Supe took down the enemy and kept the humanity safe. He says he has a new track for the duo fresh out the oven from music industry pundits. He plays a new funky rhythmic club-remix, a reworked and combined BatSupe track. Supe’s flight goes stratospheric, he is seen doing his famous closing scene, where he’s smiling above the earth. The scene switches to the Bat deep underground in his lair, wearing the Bat suite but not the mask which was pulled off earlier. He’s sitting at the lair’s giant command consul, deep in thought, he’s holding a trinket the girl gave him some time back in the movie, then unexpectedly, in the corner of the Bat’s mouth – a rare smile. BatSupe track plays on. The movie ends.