Superman '78 (2021)

[Gotham Knight]

I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that they're going to try and make Luthor more 'comic accurate' which I'm not too keen on. As much as I enjoy Post Crisis Luthor. Hackman really is his own beast, and needs to be that. He also needs wigs. It is a part of the gimmick of this version of the character, not merely a throw away costume design.

[thecolorsblend]

I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that they're going to try and make Luthor more 'comic accurate' which I'm not too keen on. As much as I enjoy Post Crisis Luthor. Hackman really is his own beast, and needs to be that. He also needs wigs. It is a part of the gimmick of this version of the character, not merely a throw away costume design.

I agree. This version of the character is all about trickery and confounding expectations. The wigs are the best example of that.

Strangely enough, I find I'm less concerned about this Superman comic than I am the B89 comic. I wouldn't have predicted that. But here we are. If they go with a more comics-faithful Luthor, well, those are the breaks.

[The Laughing Fish]

Strangely enough, I find I'm less concerned about this Superman comic than I am the B89 comic.

I was rather indifferent about the upcoming S78 comics, but Brainiac has my curiosity. I'm be eager to see how a Donnerverse take on that villain will play out.

As for the B89 comics, I'm excited because it will be a fun, yet bittersweet experience on what might've been had Keaton and Burton stayed on. In contrast, we've already seen a lot of Reeve's Superman. Not just in appearances, he has had a strong influence on so much media over the years to the point I'm burned out.

But adding characters like Brainiac in the mix is a welcome change. A lot of Superman villains would've been difficult to near impossible to pull off in live action during the Reeve era, so it will be nice to see such characters appearing in comic form.

[Silver Nemesis]

Nice to see Hackman's Luthor. Not having him would seem wrong IMO. Hope he keeps his hair. Brainiac is to be the new villain. Release schedule has shuffled accordingly.

I'm curious to see if any of the other villains will be modelled on real actors. For example, I always thought Christopher Walken would have been a good pick for the Donnerverse Brainiac had he appeared in Superman III. Walken had already appeared in Annie Hal and The Deer Hunter by 1983, which would have been the same year that he made The Dead Zone.

A while ago I posted something about Molasar (Michael Carter) from Michael Mann's The Keep (1983) offering a good visual template for what an eighties Darkseid might have looked like.

As far as casting goes, how about Jack Palance in the role? Kirby based Darkseid's appearance on Palance anyway, so why not use his likeness for the Superman '78 comic as well?

Since Robin Williams and Chris Reeve were such close friends in real life, it might be appropriate to use the former's likeness for the Donnerverse Mister Mxyzptlk.

[BatmanFurst]

Nice to see Hackman's Luthor. Not having him would seem wrong IMO. Hope he keeps his hair. Brainiac is to be the new villain. Release schedule has shuffled accordingly.

I'm curious to see if any of the other villains will be modelled on real actors. For example, I always thought Christopher Walken would have been a good pick for the Donnerverse Brainiac had he appeared in Superman III. Walken had already appeared in Annie Hal and The Deer Hunter by 1983, which would have been the same year that he made The Dead Zone.

A while ago I posted something about Molasar (Michael Carter) from Michael Mann's The Keep (1983) offering a good visual template for what an eighties Darkseid might have looked like.

As far as casting goes, how about Jack Palance in the role? Kirby based Darkseid's appearance on Palance anyway, so why not use his likeness for the Superman '78 comic as well?

Since Robin Williams and Chris Reeve were such close friends in real life, it might be appropriate to use the former's likeness for the Donnerverse Mister Mxyzptlk.

I always thought Molasar looked like an 80's version of Apocalypse from X-Men.

[The Joker]

I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that they're going to try and make Luthor more 'comic accurate' which I'm not too keen on. As much as I enjoy Post Crisis Luthor. Hackman really is his own beast, and needs to be that. He also needs wigs. It is a part of the gimmick of this version of the character, not merely a throw away costume design.

This is coming across like the "Superman '78" comic is taking the place of Superman 2, rather than taking place before Superman 2. Especially so if there is some sort of move to make Hackman's Luthor more like his Post-Crisis counterpart. As Hackman's Luthor, whether it be the Donner cut of Superman 2, or the theatrical Lester cut, was still decidedly the same Luthor we saw in the 1978 original. This appears to be possibly taking a noticeable departure from Hackman's distinguished incarnation.

"If" that's the case, I can roll with it. Hackman's Luthor was very much introduced as already a "Wanted" man in the 1978 film. In-universe, the wigs usage comes across as a ploy to have Lex appear as less recognizable (especially when out and about in public), along with an element of deceitfulness (to the point of insistently wearing them in his underground lair with only Miss Tessmacher, and Otis being present). However, when Superman delivers Lex and Otis to the prison, with the Warden asking, "who is it?", Luthor dramatically unveils the wig in, from what I discern, a declaration of his standing due to his own ego. Literally demanding instant respect from the Warden and prison guards, despite just being put into a compromised position by being personally delivered to prison by Superman, due to his own perceived superiority and inflated ego.

No doubt, Hackman's Lex is a character that insatiably craves validation as the "Greatest Criminal Mind of our Time". If by some chance this Lex was able to gain some form of actual legitimacy following Superman: The Movie (making him more like what the Post-Crisis Lex Luthor enjoyed), then under than lens, I can see Hackman's Lex moving on from the wigs. As, in this stage of the game, he would want everyone to know just exactly who he is, and how much smarter he is than you.

An egotist like Lex wouldn't have it any other way.

[The Dark Knight]

This is coming across like the "Superman '78" comic is taking the place of Superman 2, rather than taking place before Superman 2.

They'll surely find some way to segue '78 into Superman II, but that's what I'm also feeling. I'm not sure if a heavy hitter villain like Brainiac appearing so soon after the original seems right, but I hope to be proven wrong. Luthor's imprisonment raises questions too - is the escape in Superman II going to be retconned to be a second escape following the events of this comic? After being ambivalent about this comic series I'm suddenly intrigued by how they handle things.

[Gotham Knight]

#2 "After a battle with a rampaging robot, Superman enlists an unlikely ally to crack the code behind who sent it. He needs an intelligent technological genius, and that can only mean one person: Lex Luthor!"

[thecolorsblend]

This is coming across like the "Superman '78" comic is taking the place of Superman 2, rather than taking place before Superman 2.

As can be controversial to say out loud in our Cosa Nostra, I am not a fan of Superman II. So, I can live with that getting excised from the canon.

Still, I doubt that's how things will go. Some conception of Superman II is part of the Donner canon and (for better or for worse) that's more or less where he intended to go. Deleting it will probably never happen on Geoff Johns's watch.

[The Joker]

Admittedly, I was a being a bit hyperbolic, but given the case that Superman II's place in Reeve/Donner continuity is not likely to be replaced, I really don't see any other way of viewing this series as lessening (to some degree) the impact of the events that transpired in Superman II.

In terms of it's place in the Donnerverse, the reason it was a big deal that Zod and crew arrived on earth, was because it was a big deal. This was the first time Reeve's Superman had to square off with super powered beings of any sort. Literally speaking, while the time frame couldn't have come at a worst time, due to the inner conflict Reeve's Superman was experiencing (and subsequent choosing to depower himself), the ramifications of three separate Kryptonians arriving on earth, only this time with ill intent, was quickly felt throughout the world. Not only by the U.S., but also other countries who were no doubt witnessing the sudden chaos, but left pondering what sudden changes to their own would be coming down the pike sooner or later with Zod running roughshod over the world.

When you have a villain like Brainiac being inserted inbetween STM and SMII, I can't help but feel the overall magnitude of what transpired in Superman II (Lester or Donner cut) is ultimately being rather diminished in the grand scope of things. It's a odd placement to have Brainiac making a Donnerverse debut (never mind Darkseid, and Bizarro being included as well), rather than just, you know, after Superman II and move on.