Today, it was announced that Christopher Nolan (director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) would be overseeing the reboot of the Superman franchise. I'm going to play the optimist and surmise that this will be a good thing. In all honesty, I was a fan of Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. It hearkened back to the golden age of cinema in a lot of ways, but I can also understand why it was decided to scrap it all and start from scratch. Could it have continued? Absolutely. Should it have? We may never know.
But looking to the future, the real question is... how do you re-cast one of the most iconic roles in comic book history? After Christopher Reeve's take on Superman, you really have to wonder if there are even a handful of people left on the planet (or even one, for that matter) that have the combination of physique, believable klutzyness, and earnest heroism required to bring Superman to life. For what it's worth, I think Singer did an admirable job of finding and developing Brandon Routh as the Superman of our generation. He was a solid choice for Superman Returns, and far better than any of the typical beefcake actors that most people tend to name as top choices. Given half the chance, I think Routh's portrayal of the Man of Steel would have only gotten better with a solid franchise. Sadly, the box office gods have spoken, and all possibilities of a sequel quietly faded away after Superman Returns failed to bring in the green (the movie's metaphorical kryptonite).
The thought of starting yet another worldwide talent search for a new Superman wearies me. The sad bit is that it wouldn't really be a reboot if they brought Routh back on board, so that option is clearly out. The problem, of course, being that people would see a (now) familiar actor back in the cape and assume it's a sequel. The dilemma here is that a new and even more exhaustive search will have to be initiated to find Superman amongst a world of unknown (or nearly unknown) actors. I've got my fingers crossed that they get it right. I will say this though... Singer had the right idea, find someone who can play Kent first, and then train him to play Superman... not the other way around. As a blog-only dream casting agent, I can only post names of at least somewhat established actors... and so, I have no real name to submit for who I think should don the tights. All I know for sure, is that every actor I am aware of at the moment is decidedly not a good choice.
As for the rest of the cast, honestly, I could care less. A good reboot only needs a solid Superman, and a solid Lois Lane. Everyone else can be made to revolve around those two.
And so the only place where I can start is exactly where I feel Singer dropped the ball: his well-intentioned, but misguided casting of Kate Bosworth to play the role of Lois Lane. Bosworth was easy enough on the eyes, but she did very little to inhabit the role. Singer was all about Superman Returns being a spiritual successor of sorts to Superman I and II. Routh had the same nerdy charm that Reeve did, but Kate Bosworth was a total miss. If he wanted a fresh young actress to succeed the original Margot Kidder, he really had only one clear choice: Rashida Jones.
Seriously. Don't just take my word for it, go and check out anything she's done, and then compare her to Margot Kidder from Supes I and II. They have a passing physical resemblance, but the vibe is dead-on.
Christopher Nolan obviously knows what he's doing, seeing as The Dark Knight was one of the greatest comic book movies ever made. So to this auteur, I have only these small suggestions. First, start looking for your new Kal-El ASAP, you'll need all the time you can get. And second, don't underestimate how important it is to cast Superman's love interest right, because really, Superman is only as good as his Lois Lane.
