Superhero Reboots

[txshusker]

Why do we need new origin stories for EVERY new version of a superhero? I just watched the trailer for Man of Steel, which appears to be ANOTHER origin story. In case you're counting, that's 3 for the big screen in 30 yrs - if you take at face value Superman Returns really was a different story than C.Reeves versions). Really? Do we need that? It doesn't do anything to forward the story of Superman, which is what is most exciting about his character. It's just a waste of 45 minutes of film explaining a known background and not getting into the real meat of the plot.

Hey Hollywood. We KNOW he was born on Krypton. We KNOW he was shipped to Earth just before said planet was blown up. We KNOW he was found by the Kent's and raised in Kansas, that his dad died when he was in HS, that his fortress of solitude is near the north pole, that he works at the Daily Planet, and that he has a thing for any woman with the initials LL.

Get on with it. I'd rather them just start up somewhere after he's been around for a few years.

And Batman. I assume since the Dark Knight trilogy is over, the next rendition of Batman will have a new origin to it. Yah-hoo.

[ebusinesstutor]

Good point. I agree.

I think you waste a lot of time in the movie retelling the origin story. It would be much better if they just dove right in to a present day story and left all the origin stuff behind.

[Loerwyn]

Because they want to keep the rights. Simple as. It's why Spider-man got rebooted - Sony don't want to lose the rights, so they rebooted with a new actor. It's safer to reboot each time anyway, as you don't need to spend so long coming up with new stories.

It's really only Fox who have kept pushing on with the X-Men films.

[DurzoBlint]

But superman is owned outright by WB which owns DC. DC is a mess currently, they want to jump start something like The Avengers, but don't know how to go about it. Batman is already on the back burner for another reboot. Possibly, will reboot after JL movie, according to rumors.

[Loerwyn]

DC movies, individually, do better than Marvel ones. No Marvel film has come close to the amount of money the Batman movies have taken, if my memory is correct.

As for Superman? The legal issues with that are a whole different story, and part of why Man of Steel is being made (as well rebooting to distance it from the not-so-successful Superman Returns).

[DurzoBlint]

DC won that legal battle as predicted.

As for box office take on movies:

From http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=superhero.htm



1 Marvel's The Avengers BV $623,357,910 4,349 $207,438,708 4,349 5/4/12
2 The Dark Knight WB $534,858,444 4,366 $158,411,483 4,366 7/18/08
3 The Dark Knight Rises WB $447,572,216 4,404 $160,887,295 4,404 7/20/12
4 Spider-Man Sony $403,706,375 3,876 $114,844,116 3,615 5/3/02
5 Spider-Man 2 Sony $373,585,825 4,166 $88,156,227 4,152 6/30/04
6 Spider-Man 3 Sony $336,530,303 4,324 $151,116,516 4,252 5/4/07
7 Iron Man Par. $318,412,101 4,154 $98,618,668 4,105 5/2/08
8 Iron Man 2 Par. $312,433,331 4,390 $128,122,480 4,380 5/7/10
9 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $262,030,663 4,318 $62,004,688 4,318 7/3/12
10 The Incredibles BV $261,441,092 3,933 $70,467,623 3,933 11/5/04
11 Batman WB $251,188,924 2,201 $40,489,746 2,194 6/23/89
12 X-Men: The Last Stand Fox $234,362,462 3,714 $102,750,665 3,690 5/26/06
13 Hancock Sony $227,946,274 3,965 $62,603,879 3,965 7/2/08
14 X2: X-Men United Fox $214,949,694 3,749 $85,558,731 3,741 5/2/03
15 Batman Begins WB $206,852,432 3,858 $48,745,440 3,858 6/15/05
16 Superman Returns WB $200,081,192 4,065 $52,535,096 4,065 6/28/06
17 Batman Forever WB $184,031,112 2,893 $52,784,433 2,842 6/16/95
18 Thor Par. $181,030,624 3,963 $65,723,338 3,955 5/6/11
19 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Fox $179,883,157 4,102 $85,058,003 4,099 5/1/09
20 Captain America: The First Avenger Par. $176,654,505 3,715 $65,058,524 3,715 7/22/11
21 Batman Returns WB $162,831,698 2,644 $45,687,711 2,644 6/19/92
22 X-Men Fox $157,299,717 3,112 $54,471,475 3,025 7/14/00
23 Fantastic Four Fox $154,696,080 3,619 $56,061,504 3,602 7/8/05
24 Megamind P/DW $148,415,853 3,949 $46,016,833 3,944 11/5/10
25 X-Men: First Class Fox $146,408,305 3,692 $55,101,604 3,641 6/3/11
26 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NL $135,265,915 2,377 $25,398,367 2,006 3/30/90
27 The Incredible Hulk Uni. $134,806,913 3,508 $55,414,050 3,505 6/13/08
28 Wanted Uni. $134,508,551 3,185 $50,927,085 3,175 6/27/08
29 Superman WB $134,218,018 817 $7,465,343 508 12/15/78
30 Hulk Uni. $132,177,234 3,674 $62,128,420 3,660 6/20/03
31 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fox $131,921,738 3,963 $58,051,684 3,959 6/15/07
32 Green Lantern WB $116,601,172 3,816 $53,174,303 3,816 6/17/11
33 Ghost Rider Sony $115,802,596 3,620 $45,388,836 3,619 2/16/07
34 Superman II WB $108,185,706 1,878 $14,100,523 1,397 6/19/81
35 Watchmen WB $107,509,799 3,611 $55,214,334 3,611 3/6/09
36 Batman and Robin WB $107,325,195 2,942 $42,872,605 2,934 6/20/97
37 Daredevil Fox $102,543,518 3,474 $40,310,419 3,471 2/14/03
38 The Green Hornet Sony $98,780,042 3,584 $33,526,876 3,584 1/14/11
39 Unbreakable BV $95,011,339 2,708 $30,330,771 2,708 11/22/00
40 The Mask of Zorro Sony $94,095,523 2,515 $22,525,855 2,515 7/17/98
41 Blade II NL $82,348,319 2,707 $32,528,016 2,707 3/22/02
42 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II NL $78,656,813 2,868 $20,030,473 2,868 3/22/91
43 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Uni. $75,986,503 3,212 $34,539,115 3,204 7/11/08
44 Blade NL $70,087,718 2,389 $17,073,856 2,322 8/21/98
45 Chronicle (2012) Fox $64,575,175 2,908 $22,004,098 2,907 2/3/12
46 Sky High BV $63,946,815 2,912 $14,631,784 2,905 7/29/05
47 Superman III WB $59,950,623 1,763 $13,352,357 1,759 6/17/83
48 Hellboy SonR $59,623,958 3,043 $23,172,440 3,028 4/2/04
49 Spawn NL $54,870,175 2,604 $19,738,749 2,536 8/1/97
50 Blade: Trinity NL $52,411,906 2,912 $16,061,271 2,912 12/8/04
51 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Sony $51,774,002 3,174 $22,115,334 3,174 2/17/12
52 The Crow Mira. $50,693,129 2,119 $11,774,332 1,573 5/13/94
53 Kick-Ass LGF $48,071,303 3,065 $19,828,687 3,065 4/16/10
54 The Rocketeer BV $46,704,056 1,903 $9,600,754 1,616 6/21/91
55 The Legend of Zorro Sony $46,464,023 3,520 $16,328,506 3,520 10/28/05
56 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III NL $42,273,609 2,087 $12,419,597 2,087 3/19/93
57 Catwoman WB $40,202,379 3,117 $16,728,411 3,117 7/23/04
58 Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Fox $38,187,431 2,409 $13,104,788 2,409 6/30/95
59 Judge Dredd BV $34,693,481 2,204 $12,291,536 2,204 6/30/95
60 Darkman Uni. $33,878,502 1,833 $8,054,860 1,786 8/24/90
61 The Punisher Lions $33,810,189 2,649 $13,834,527 2,649 4/16/04
62 The Shadow Uni. $32,063,435 1,769 $11,713,845 1,677 7/1/94
63 Mystery Men Uni. $29,762,011 2,142 $10,017,865 2,136 8/6/99
64 Flash Gordon Uni. $27,107,960 - $3,934,030 823 12/5/80
65 Superhero Movie MGM/W $25,881,068 2,965 $9,510,297 2,960 3/28/08
66 Elektra Fox $24,409,722 3,204 $12,804,793 3,204 1/14/05
67 My Super Ex-Girlfriend Fox $22,530,295 2,702 $8,603,460 2,702 7/21/06
68 The Spirit LGF $19,806,188 2,509 $6,463,278 2,509 12/25/08
69 The Crow: City of Angels Mira. $17,917,287 2,423 $9,785,111 2,423 8/30/96
70 The Phantom Par. $17,323,326 2,163 $5,072,346 2,159 6/7/96
71 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fox $16,624,456 1,981 $4,515,541 1,959 7/31/92
72 Hero at Large MGM $15,934,737 - $1,850,725 486 2/8/80
73 Superman IV: The Quest for Peace WB $15,681,020 1,511 $5,683,122 1,511 7/24/87
74 Iron Monkey Mira. $14,694,904 1,235 $6,014,653 1,225 10/12/01
75 Supergirl TriS $14,296,438 1,620 $5,738,249 1,608 11/21/84
76 The Legend of the Lone Ranger Uni. $12,617,845 - $2,945,600 1,018 5/22/81
77 Black Mask Art. $12,504,289 988 $4,449,692 979 5/14/99
78 Zoom SonR $11,989,328 2,501 $4,510,408 2,501 8/11/06
79 The Powerpuff Girls Movie WB $11,412,414 2,340 $3,583,114 2,340 7/3/02
80 Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie Fox $8,363,899 2,113 $3,301,135 2,113 3/28/97
81 Punisher: War Zone LGF $8,050,977 2,508 $4,271,451 2,508 12/5/08
82 The Meteor Man MGM $8,016,708 1,060 $2,643,091 1,060 8/6/93
83 Blankman Col. $7,941,977 1,615 $3,715,480 1,615 8/19/94
84 Sheena Col. $5,778,353 1,496 $2,950,114 1,496 8/17/84
85 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm WB $5,617,391 1,506 $1,189,975 1,506 12/25/93
86 Tank Girl MGM $4,064,495 1,363 $2,018,183 1,341 3/31/95
87 Barb Wire Gram. $3,793,614 1,312 $1,844,426 1,312 5/3/96
88 Steel WB $1,710,972 1,260 $870,068 1,260 8/15/97
89 Orgazmo Oct. $602,302 94 $210,073 94 10/23/98
90 Super IFC $327,716 39 $46,549 11 4/1/11
91 Super Capers RAtt. $30,955 80 $21,559 80 3/20/09
92 The Specials Reg. $13,276 2 n/a - 9/22/00

[Loerwyn]

Maybe I'm wrong, then.

But DC haven't won the Superman battle just yet. Still in court over various details, IIRC.

[DurzoBlint]

The latest is they have the rights after 13 Oct 2013. But it is also going to appeal. Here is the article (http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/10/dc-comics-wins-crucial-victory-in-superman-legal-battle/)

[Action Avenue]

Yes, I agree. Don't really understand why it's necessary for a new origin story. Just watched The Amazing Spider-Man last night and couldn't help but to think that the writers/actors wasted valuable screen time & plot lines on re-establishing the origin story for Spider-Man. The movie was not bad (although not as good as the Raimi/Maguire installments), but the origin part of the story was an unecessary distraction. It's already been done, why go there?

[DurzoBlint]

Spider-man didn't need a reboot, the story is still fresh in our minds. Superman , I can give some slack on a reboot. It has been a long time and they are looking to change the tone of the series (so they say), with that in mind I am willing to see a reboot.
Now if they get their act together for a new Batman movie, I assume there will be yet another reboot so, he can join the same DC universe as the other characters. I am not sure they would need it as they could easily have Batman join that world with a few well placed lines of dialogue.

Perhaps Spidey required a reboot because without the origins the movie would have been far too short. I too am tired of the constant reboots but sometimes they are required.