DC has a chance to save Superman. Here’s what it needs to do

Supes was in a crisis. Not personally, mind you, but after the dreary affair of 2017 justice league, Superman’s future on screen was, shall we say, uncertain. Then, last week, Henry Cavill confirmed he’d be wearing the cape again, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced that starting today, director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran will oversee DC Studios, a new entity within the company that will separate dedicated to producing films and series based on DC characters.

Cavill’s return as the Man of Steel offers Gunn et al. with a unique opportunity to rework the hero. In his previous appearances, the actor’s Superman was serious and grumpy. But in an interview with diversity Of his return, Cavill said, “The future of the character is bright. I look forward to telling a story with an immensely happy Superman” – a quote that indicates that those who take on the character’s fate on the big screen know what they are doing.

To realize that Superman (and maybe should) Having fun is just one of the many things the new DC overlords must do to bring it back to life. In addition to spilling the troubled hero seen in man of Steel and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (aka Zack Snyder Era), a good Supes movie needs to show him as someone working to help those around him in his two chosen careers. Let’s see who does this because they Have fun not because they feel compelled to do so at great stress and cost to themselves.

Speaking of jobs, Clark Kent is indispensable in every Superman movie. He might not be as visually spectacular without the cloak, and yes, the meek reporter thing isn’t quite as appealing as flying through the air while wriggling people with thermal vision, but Superman must have ties to humanity. Even the idea “without his Smallville experience, he’d just be a random superhero” ignored, Clark’s job at the Daily Planets often drives the story forward. Without her, Superman is just a one-note do-gooder with jaws of steel.

Clark Kent also provides something else: connections to other characters. Yes, there is Lois Lane – smart, stubborn, altruistic Lois Lane. But there’s also grumpy editor Perry White, new reporter and thrill-seeker Jimmy Olsen, superscientist and part-time superhero John Henry Irons, the Kents, Bibbo, Morgan Edge, neighborhood braggart Steve Lombard, and so on. Superman has the largest supporting cast in superhero comics outside of Spider-Man, and they don’t appear in any adaptation for more than a second. Giving them full character arcs in the DC Extended Universe would do wonders.

Why? Because Superman stories are rarely about Superman. When the eponymous hero is stable and secure in who he is and committed to helping everyone around him, it’s almost impossible for him to have a truly personal involvement in every story. You shouldn’t say that there are not good stories in which the man of steel is closely connected to the operations in question –All Star Superman, The Death of Superman and its sequels and The Man Who Got Everything come to mind—but letting someone else handle the emotional arc while Superman takes care of the rest is more than acceptable.

Thankfully, with Gunn in charge of DC’s creative direction, this last one should be easy to pull off. Throughout his career, Gunn has never been afraid to get weird (see: everyone Guardians of the Galaxy movie), and frankly, Superman could use a little weirdness. The character has eight decades of truly ridiculous, imaginative canon and more than enough ridiculous details – Krypto the Super Dog! The shrunken city of Kandor! Super ventriloquist! – to fill multiple films. Let Batman be the guy who keeps things grounded; Superman’s stripes should rise and enrich the imagination. It’s time to let him fly.