Superman '78 (2021)

[Gotham Knight]

Nuclear Man will be appearing, it seems.

[Silver Nemesis]

Nuclear Man will be appearing, it seems.

Now we're talking! I like to think that Nuclear Man being trapped inside the reactor was the cause of the power surplus that Bruce Wayne alluded to in Batman Returns. If Brainiac's the one who releases him in the new comic, then hopefully he'll also cure him of his crippling dependency on direct sunlight.

Wilfredo Torres shared some Bizarro art a while ago. Could there be a connection between Nuclear Man and the Donnerverse Bizarro?

[thecolorsblend]

I always thought Nuclear Man had untapped potential. Good to see him possibly getting some attention.

As to Bizarro, I would argue that there are two near-misses with him in the movies. Superman's evil (or at least superdickish) alter-ego in Superman III and Nuclear Man himself in S4. Both of those are different enough to leave plenty of room for the actual Bizarro to appear.

All in all, I'm pretty jazzed for this comic.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm jazzed too, especially with how it all links up and enriches the universe. It's probably the only Superman related comic I'm interested in at the moment.

Reading up on Superman IV, there's a deleted scene with a prototype Nuclear Man, who was made in Lex's lab, and was quickly defeated after Superman kicked him into a power transformer. Genetic material from his remains was to build the version we see in IV. Perhaps in this comic all material is destroyed and Lex temporarily shelves the idea.

If the gap between Superman: The Movie and Superman II is two years I guess that's enough time to play with. Events happened but things went back to 'normal' for a long enough period before Zod and his gang arrived.

[The Joker]

Nuclear Man will be appearing, it seems.

Plot must involve Brainiac pulling a Convergence or something.

Oh well. I'll just go with it. *shrugs*

[The Laughing Fish]

Not a fan of Nuclear Man. Disappointing.

Oh well, here's hoping they retcon him into a worthy villain.

[The Dark Knight]

Plot must involve Brainiac pulling a Convergence or something.

Oh well. I'll just go with it. *shrugs*

Or attempts it, at least.

I'm not a big fan of Superman III or IV, but I dig Nuclear Man's presence here. One of my initial concerns was the comic leaning too heavily on STM given the timeframe it's taking place in. Bringing in elements from the other films makes this feel like a celebration of the whole Reevesverse. III and IV are canon, whether I like that or not. Yes, I'm ignoring Superman Returns.

[Gotham Knight]

[The Dark Knight]

Getting something from inside the Phantom Zone would set up Superman II nicely, and build up the resentment of the three prisoners. Although I'm not sure how the Donner version of the location exactly works. Richard referred to it as a "zone of silence", which if taken literally could mean discourse is impossible.

[Gotham Knight]

"He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good but he also knows that good and evil are artificial constructs and he is beyond the primitive moralities of lesser beings."