Start with laying your pieces on the board:

The World: This has to take place after at least Aquaman, Shazam and Wonder Woman 2. It’s hard to say exactly what that milieu looks like. But let's see what we're working with post-Justice League.

• Knowledge of Steppenwolf's invasion — STAR Labs would have some idea of what happened, especially if they brought Cyborg into the fold. Jim Gordon has snippets of knowledge. The American, Ukrainian and Russian governments know some shit went down in Pripyat-lite. But in general, ‘who knows what’ is open to be shaped by our story.
• Pro-superhuman sentiment — Wonder Woman's out of the shadows, shaking hands and taking pictures. Cyborg is working openly with STAR. The world really missed Superman, and they got him back!
• That damn Kryptonian ship — Still sitting in the middle of Centennial Park, the source of three destructive superhuman events so far. The villainous deus ex machina that keeps on giving.
• Three-and-a-half major cities have faced certain doom — Metropolis in MOS, Midway in Suicide Squad, Pripyat in Justice League, and kinda Gotham in BvS and JL. ‘Death from above’ is a way of life now.
• The U.S. government back on its heels — Waller's Suicide Squad did not work out as planned, and she seemed humbled/chastised by Bruce Wayne (who she clearly knows is Batman) in their sit-down over who will handle metahuman threats moving forward. In addition, Senator Holly Hunter's hearings clearly missed the threat posed by Luthor and got dozens of people killed because of it.

Our characters:

• Superman — Soooo…Last anyone saw him, Clark Kent was being buried in Smallville. That's a tough narrative choice. Sure, you can cough awkwardly and move past it, but that's a shitty thing to do to your audience. Other than that, Superman is now engaged to Lois, is returned to life with a joie de vivre for Earth and everyone on it, and has seemingly made peace with being everyone's hero. All of this happened in a rather convoluted and unconvincing way.
• Lois Lane — Now engaged to Superman, who presumably has told her everything about life, death, Steppenwolf and Mother Boxes. We're coming off the equally tough narrative choice of having her shrink from her responsibilities at The Planet, lost without Clark. Now that he's literally back from the dead, she should be doing a lot of re-evaluating.
• Lex Luthor — Escaped from prison, on the lam, living the billionaire's life on international waters and in countries that won't extradite him. Building the Legion of Doom.
• General Swanwick — Presumably still Secretary of…Defense, I believe?
• Martha Kent — Still living on the farm, being gruff and lovable.
• The crazy thing is there are no other significant characters left from the first films. Perry White and the Planet crew have been more props than characters, and Hamilton, the Kryptonians, Zod, Chris Meloni, KGBeast, Mercy and Holly Hunter are all deadski. You could argue a bunch got zapped to the Phantom Zone, but they looked well spaghettified in the transition. And what’re you gonna do anyway, bring them back and do ANOTHER story about Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone? The reality is Man of Steel 2's biggest job will be introducing new round characters who we want to see stick around.

The Future: Where do we wanna steer this ship? Presumably there's long games at play involving Luthor's Legion of Doom and the encroaching threat of Darkseid. We'll want to position characters into the most interesting possible spots for those stories, without using either as our villains. Bonus points if the positions are shocking AND reflect famous comic storylines.

Arcs: There’s a couple things we need to do with Superman here.

• Give him an ethos, rather than keeping him this purely reactive force. He needs to want and strive for things. I'd like to show him embracing a never-ending battle for truth and justice, and perhaps wrestling with what that means. Force him to make proactive choices.
• Related: Give him a reason and a viable in-story way to live as Clark Kent, if it feels possible. I'm a great believer that Superman NEEDS Clark Kent, that being a mild-mannered reporter is Superman's GREATEST tool in his quest to turn hearts and minds to a righteous path. But so far the movies have given us NONE of this. What I just described is NOT the character currently in the DCEU. Can we get him there without it feeling hack and obligatory? Not sure. Further complicated by the fact that Clark is publically dead.
• Build an actual supporting cast. Iron Man got Happy, Pepper, Fury, Coulson and Widow, all with motivation and personality conflict with the hero. Thor got the Warriors 3, his family, Sif, Jane, Darcy and Stellan Skarsgaard. Cap got Bucky, Peggy, Howard Stark, Tommy Lee Jones, and the Howlin' Commandos. Then Sam, Fury, Widow, Agent 13 and eventually all the Avengers. WW got the Amazons, then Steve, Etta and their crew. That's not even touching on their relationships with the villains. Superman needs a team, broader than suspicious military personnel and Lois' office acquaintances. He needs foils, challengers, and people he can change, because that's the only way to fill in his own personality. It's high time to bring in Jimmy Olsen, Lucy Lane, John Henry Irons, maybe a Maggie Sawyer or Dan Turpin, and at least one other super-scientist to take the place of dead Hamilton in the DCEU. Kitty Faulkner, head of STAR? Dabney Donovan or even Dubbilex, from Cadmus? Maybe even Lana Lang or Ben Hubbard to reframe his Smallville life as something better than tortured paranoia? Whoever it is, we then have to give them real, shifting relationships with Clark and Lois.
• Where's the best place to leave Superman to set up the Legion of Doom? What makes him most vulnerable to their/Luthor's machinations? I might argue it's having a conviction that evil can be redeemed. Put him in a place of pulling punches and trying to see the good when a team of supervillains shows up to murder him deader than before. That’s always been the primary conflict between Superman and Lex — Luthor’s spite for/desire to rule the world, and Superman's earnest belief that Lex can serve the world. This movie should deliver that Superman into the next film — one who's hopeful not just because he smiles more and cracks jokes, but because he has a conviction that all evil can be redeemed. Which means one of two things. Either we start this guy in the position of wanting to solve problems with his fists so we can teach him a better way; or we stick him in a world of people ready to do likewise, and he becomes a catalyst hero, who redeems them and shows them a better way. Either case, good arc, and seems like it could be a pretty hopeful movie, no?

Tone: Here's where the rubber meets the road: What kind of movie are we going to make? What kind of threat will we build? What will it FEEL like?

As a writer, I have absolutely zero say in what anything looks like. But I can control what the environments are, the pace and genre of the thing.

Do we want the film to feel Spielbergian? That calls for combining horror elements with a simple, visceral ‘chase’ plotline, i.e. E.T., Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Minority Report and now Ready Player One. The hero stays barely one step ahead, either preserving or preventing a thing that would change life as we know it. Meanwhile outsize danger closes in. Bonus points for a last-act twist. Feels pretty right for Superman to me.

Do we want a film that focuses on the Lois and Clark of it all? That calls for something in the vein of a political thriller or conspiracy thriller, a la All The President's Men. Give the characters something meaty and complicated to unpack. These tend to slow burn at the start, then ramp into a relentless conclusion, which matches a Spielbergian pace. My caveat here is that BvS already did this. Whether they did it well or not is up for debate. But that film tried to combine an African warlord with black ops double agents with Senate hearings with import license drama with the White Portugese mystery with blackmail and kidnapping to arrive at a twisty-turny superhero conspiracy film.

Could we make a more straight-forward mystery? Maybe Lois and Clark want to understand the origin and power of this Mother Box that raised him from the dead. Or we give them some other singular incident to unpack. The issue here is that the most satisfying mysteries often end with something dark and twisted to say about human nature (from Maltese Falcon to Chinatown to Gone Girl). Can we invert that for our Superman film? Is Sherlock Holmes the model, where our heroes’ superior wit trumps even the most unexpected villainous twist?

Whatever we do, we have to move away from the ‘Coming Of Age'/Rites of Passage story that's so far defined Superman's arc in the DCEU. Especially given that he's now surrounded by other heroes (Aquaman, Flash, Shazam, presumably Green Lantern) whose whole shtick is not knowing their place in the grand scheme of things. Superman should be a mentor and inspiration to these guys, and as such, he ought to know himself.

One other bit to consider: Metropolis. What is this place? It's been cold, sterile window dressing thus far. Its only in-story function is a collection of buildings to be knocked down. It's neither the surreal phantasmagoria of Burton's Gotham nor the realistic, humanistic ur-city of Nolan's Gotham, nor the lived-in technofuturist social experiment of Wakanda. Metropolis deserves a place amongst those great fictional cities! We have to give it something to do.

But Metropolis also presents a problem for us to solve or dodge: Superman is arguably at his best when fighting monsters. And in cinema, monsters are at their scariest in contained environments. The cabin in the woods, the dinosaur island, the creature in the shadows of the cave or small town or spaceship. Its potential victims should have NO ESCAPE. In The Dark Knight Rises, they blew out all the bridges and tunnels, stranding the populace in the city with Bane. Matt Reeves did likewise in the original Cloverfield - destroy a bridge, infect the tunnels with mini-monsters, no escape. For Superman, who’s so powerful, this feeling of ‘Trapped With A Monster' is usually achieved by scaling the threat up to planetary level — we can't evacuate the planet, so we need some way to defeat this menace! But that tends to mean we gloss over the Metropolis of it all.

Can we find a ‘monster' that both allows Metropolis to shine but doesn't feel too small for Superman?

Villain Options: This is tough. In 3 DCEU Superman films, we've seen 2.5 extraterrestrial threats (the .5 is Doomsday, made on Earth with alien tech from an alien body) and 2 explicitly Kryptonian threats. Then the 2 non-Superman films have given us 2 gods as villains, with a bonus crossover point for Steppenwolf as a New God. Ideally, we wouldn’t return to any of these wells. Not another alien, not another god, not another Kryptonian derivation. To do so would be rote and redundant storytelling, and would play into the uncomfortable theme of Superman himself creating or attracting world-ending threats. The DCEU already blew its load with having Luthor attract a world-ending alien with Steppenwolf. So on a basic level, the only impetus left for more alien invasions is ‘blind luck.’ At any rate, going back to these wells does nothing to build dynamic new elements into the DCEU.

Let's immediately rule out some fan favorites:

• No Mongul — Random alien, and too similar to Darkseid anyway.
• No Lobo — The most random, story-deficient alien menace of all alien menaces. I love him too, but no.
• No Brainiac — In his purest form, he's an alien menace; in a bastardized fan fave form, he's both an alien AND Kryptonian menace; in a viable non-alien, non-Kryptonian form, he's basically Ultron from Age of Ultron. Nopes across the board.
• No Intergang — Intergang has exactly the same M.O. and scope as DCEU's Luthor with his Legion of Doom. In the DCEU, either the Legion of Doom will be an outgrowth/level-up of Intergang, or Intergang are the “mooks" for the LoD. Both set-ups work…For the Legion of Doom movie. MOS2 needs to tell it's own story, to redefine and reset DCEU Superman. Nobody wants it to be a closure-less, B-Team prequel to the next Justice League. That'd be frustrating as hell. Save it for a post-credits scene.
• No Bizarro (probably…) — Doomsday in BvS had Bizarro’s origin.

So where does that leave us?

• Parasite — I’ve long thought Parasite couldn't carry a film as the sole antagonist. With everything I laid out above, I talked myself into it. A threat Superman can't defeat with city-leveling punches (even tho he’ll try)? A villain who is very much a monster, and yet deserves compassion, who needs to be redeemed and cured, rather than beat down and banished? A villain who is a man that wishes to become a god, to mirror Superman's arc of a god who wants to be a man? The makings of an exciting chase film? Perhaps the Parasite starts in pursuit of Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen, gets more powerful and more relentless when he goes toe-to-toe with Superman, then aggressively pursues Superman to absorb all that power for himself? You could even play with his power-set a bit…Instead of leaving behind dead husks, the Parasite could learn to transform his victims into drones, mindless zombie-like creatures who can nevertheless absorb and store power for the Parasite. Along the way, we‘d meet SCU police and super-scientists to help manage the threat. All are exciting opportunities. Bonus points: Parasite is a (meta)human threat made by humans, and that sets up a potential mystery/conspiracy story. It might actually dovetail with our next villain candidate:

• Cadmus — My biggest gripe here is it's been done. The DCEU Superman franchise doesn’t need to be remixing JLU's and Supergirl's thloppy thirds. That said, the DCEU has told the Death of Superman story…Why not the Return of Superman? Enter Superboy and John Henry Irons. When Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad went tits up, it was time for the government to activate their next level metahuman contingency. Maybe we go back to the Jack Kirby roots, and it's not Cadmus at all…It’s the DNA Project. An initiative designed to replace Superman, a need more dire than ever after the Midway City (Suicide Squad) fiasco. Wade Eiling and Amanda Waller build on Luthor's pioneering work with the Kryptonian birthing matrix, using Superman's blood collected off the Doomsday creature. From this wellspring they could create Bizarro(s), Parasite, OMAC and introduce the Kon-El Superboy to the DCEU. Kon-El becomes another threat that’s saved, not defeated. The roots of the Project is a great story for Lois and Clark to chase. Plus, how fun a precedent would it be if every time we see Amanda Waller in the DCEU, her mandate has grown? So the Suicide Squad turns into Project Cadmus which in a future film becomes the OMAC Project with the Brother Eye satellite. For MOS2, we still need a whopper third-act twist, to spin everything in an even more high-stakes and crazy direction. Borrow from All-Star, and introduce synthetic Black Kryptonite, leaving Jimmy Olsen to inject himself with the Doomsday Matrix and team up with Superboy (and Parasite?) to take down a rampaging Superman? It'd make for amazing visuals, but we may be losing our thematic thread. Plus we got enough of Bad Superman already in JL and the BvS dream. Still a lot to like here. And I'd end it with Superman giving his blessing to the Project, rather than shutting it down. He would never have that knee-jerk “man shouldn't play God” mentality; the journalist in him wants to see humankind progress, just with transparency and accountability.

• Captain Atom — Instead of Project Cadmus, why not Project Atom? Same general sketch as the Cadmus story, but instead of genetics and Superboy, we’re talking extra-dimensional energy sources (Mother Box tie-in?) and Captain Atom. Another fun riff on the man-becomes-God Superman inversion, as well as the ‘enemy who must be saved’ and ‘enemy who can’t be pounded into submission’ beats. Captain Atom starts as a soldier just doing his duty, but once he’s been transformed, he goes full Lucy. Starts as a super-powered badass who can go toe-to-toe with Superman, but continually transcends into something more like Dr. Manhattan (or beyond). Superman’s motivation goes from beating him up to pulling him back into synch with humanity before he snaps his fingers and destroys us. Shit, do Infinity War - with all the time travel, extra dimensions and quantum weirdness - without the need for stones or a team! Ha. There’s also a world wherein Captain Atom is our ‘cold open’ villain, a la Crossbones in Civil War. In this case, Superman does solve the problem of Captain Atom with his fists, but takes it too far, igniting a nuclear meltdown that propels us into a story really anchored by our next villain:

• Gog — I’ve always had a soft spot for this guy. Is the DCEU ready for time travel? If so, this story could be leaps and bounds better than Flashpoint. Gog begins as a kid orphaned by a titanic meta human battle (in one version, it’s Captain Atom’s death in Kingdom Come). Two things happen as he grows up: He eventually accesses the power of time travel, and he blames Superman for the disaster that killed his family. So Gog breaks the bounds of time and space to achieve nigh-omnipotent tech/power, then skips backward through time forever murdering younger and younger Supermen. The exciting prospect here is you can keep the same backstory and M.O. Gog has from the comics, but adapt his motivation and plot into something new and surprising. You have with Captain Atom and Gog two characters who can bounce through time, even splinter the time stream, and a desire to rewrite history (or erase Superman from it). What sells me on this possibility are the MOMENTS: That moment when Superman, in his present, comes face-to-face with the omni-powerful villain - a hurt young boy. The glimpses of Superman’s possible futures. The glimpse of Krona’s hand as the Man Who Would Be Gog pierces the time stream. The moment when Captain Atom returns from his quantum leap, wiser, with the conviction to save everybody. The moment when Superman literally confronts himself killing Zod from MoS, and realizes there is always a better way. The resolution ripped from the comics wherein Gog demands that Superman, whom he has beaten, put him out of his misery. And Superman refuses. The moment when the audience sees the revenge-obsessed Gog and the duty-blind Atom both redeemed, both surrender. We could almost make this a curse tale, some kind of riff on Groundhog Day, at least in part, with Superman stuck in an infinite loop of death and destruction, until he learns the lessons of the film and makes it out alive. One last bonus point? With all the time travel nonsense, maybe we can figure out a way to bring back Clark Kent.

• Ruin — This is the more grounded version of the Gog story. Forget time travel and ultimate power altogether. This is a mystery where a five-steps-ahead super-villain is targeting Superman with advanced science and sick moral dilemmas. Ruin’s motivation seems equal parts destruction of Superman and a general public discrediting of metahumans. No one's sure who it is or why, and that becomes the mystery for Lois, Clark and Jimmy Olsen to solve. Along the way we meet a ton of people with vested interests in the rise of metahumans. This story has perhaps has the most potential for exploring Metropolis, as Ruin and his plots turn the city into a giant death-trap/battlefield for Superman. The debate over whether we should want Superman around becomes text, and perhaps we get G. Gordon Godfrey and Leslie Willis as supporting characters. This story could really put the media upfront, exploring what their place could/should be in a world beset by outsize threats. We can introduce Toyman and Metallo as minor antagonists, caught up in Ruin’s scheme. I’m not entirely sure how to ‘embiggen’ this concept - turn it into something that feels worthy of a feature film as opposed to an episode or arc of television. Also, we’re completely rewriting the twist of Ruin’s identity, as the comics pulled a misdirect to Pete Ross then revealed Prof. Hamilton. They were last seen in the DCEU managing an IHOP and being shredded by a wormhole respectively. Still, this is certainly the most grounded of the 5 villains ideas, and maybe we need that to refocus on the human elements of Superman.

Moments: These are the lifeblood of a film. They're partially derived from everything I say above, and they also partially drive the decisions demanded by the above. These are the things that just FEEL right.

• Kristin Wells — Superman needs a mentor. Jot-El and Pa Kent are both gone, and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is too expensive and important to keep around in a supporting role. Enter Karsta Wor-Ul. She’s the Kryptonian from the open stasis chamber in the Fortress of Solitude (seen when Superman is first exploring the scout ship in MoS). She is almost 19,000 years old (potentially many thousands older still when accounting for the time dilation involved in traveling the stars), and she has been watching the emergence of the Superman with wonder and bemusement. She has lived many, many lives in her time on Earth, and she has all but resigned herself to hermitude. Her function was to explore…Not to lead, not to save, not to build. She has exhausted this function. Human affairs no longer interest her. She embodies a quiet almost peaceful nihilism that Superman has to challenge and overcome. Either she becomes an ally to him, or a villain enraged by him. I’d say perhaps she is behind Ruin (if we tell that story), but that seems too easy. Either way, she raises big, important questions for Superman, like ‘Will I live forever?’ And she allows us to bring a venerable older actress into this world in a meaty role.
• Superman lifts the Kryptonian scout ship into space — This isn’t some big climactic moment. I’d almost want to start the movie this way, in a symbolic gesture. We’re getting rid of this fucking thing. Too many stories so far have hinged on it. Superman doesn’t need to throw it into the sun, but at least set it into orbit where Dr. Kitty Faulkner and her team on the STAR Orbital Lab can study it in zero-G, removed from immediate danger. Then bring it back the next time we need a plot device.
• Make Jimmy Olsen the coolest nerd in Metropolis — I don’t know why Superman adaptations seem stuck on this idea of Jimmy as a bumbling nitwit. To paraphrase Grant Morrison, the guy’s best friends with Superman! That means he should be AWESOME. Who’s the type of guy - out of all people - to whom Superman would give a signal watch? Not saying the signal watch comes into play here, but that’s the relevant question to ask. Jimmy is the most DGAF Gen-Zer you can imagine. He’s already wearing shades in anticipation of the blinding-bright future. You mean we can’t edit our genes to become aquatic turtle people if we want to explore the oceans? Jimmy Olsen thinks somebody ought to get to work on that. Jimmy is this eminently likable roiling ball of nerd wonder and matter-of-fact hopefulness. And he constantly gets himself in jams because no where in his brain is there a switch that say, ‘I probably shouldn’t…’ He’s a pain in the ass, but it’d be sad if he was any different. Put that Jimmy in the movies and let him add a whole new dynamic to the Superman/Lois/Daily Planet relationship.
• Work with Henry Cavill on his expressions — Ok, this has nothing to do with writing. But give me this one. There’s a problem with Henry Cavill’s Superman looking mean or mopey. He tends to turn effort and determination into a big ol’ scowl. He tends to turn thoughtfulness into sad puppy face. There have to be better ways. Yes, it’s true, classic Superman tends to be a bit stoic, precisely because extreme externalizations of emotion are a little off-putting from the guy who can do anything. It’s the same reason why as kids we don’t like to see our fathers cry or scream. We need him to be steady, even in the face of the most insurmountable odds. Quiet confidence with subtle nuance is key. I think the actor can pull this off, but please, somebody have that conversation!

We still don’t even have a coherent story, but HOW WOULD I WRITE MOS2? I’d start by thinking through ALL OF THE ABOVE and more. Then I’d start outlining. I’d probably end up in a place I haven’t even thought about yet.

Then I’d pitch the outline to Warner Brothers, and they’d buy it or not based on market research into the toy and merchandise audiences, plus how well they think I could conform everything about the pitch to whatever Walter Hamada, Geoff Johns and Patty Jenkins want the DCEU to be.

NOTE: This answer is consistent with the DCEU as written. I have different thoughts entirely on where the DC Film Universe SHOULD be. Very different discussion.

William Castonzo's answer to How would you structure the DCEU lineup?

William Castonzo's answer to How would you structure the DCEU lineup?

For me, personally, I think I’d like to see Brainiac. No Lex Luthor. No Zod. No Darkseid. Brainiac.

I think he’s a really interesting villain, who Superman is often forced to outwit, rather than win by brute strength as he usually does.

I also want to see Superman transitioning into the ‘Big Blue Boy Scout’ we all know and love.

Less of this:

More of this:

This scene from Superman: Grounded perfectly captures the essence of who Superman really is. He exists to protect people, and make their lives better. He lives by a specific code, and he adheres to it, no matter how difficult it may be. That’s the kind of Superman I’d like to see again in Man of Steel 2.

I know everyone hates Iron Man 3, but one thing I really loved about it was Tony hanging out with that one boy for a portion of the movie. It was a powerful relationship that hasn’t really been shown in superhero movies before or since, and I think it would work extremely well in Man of Steel 2, just to show how great a person Superman is and how us regular folk look up to him.

I love smaller, more intimate stories like that instead of “BANG! EXPLOSION! BOOM! I WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND HOLD DEAR!” I love character deconstruction pieces, especially in contrast to larger-than-life characters and their mythos.

Well, I’m no writer, but this is what I’d do.

I think I’d take a tiny bit of inspiration from this comic:

Basically this version of Superman is sort of like a modern take on his Golden Age roots, where he really leaned into the “champion of the oppressed” part of his title.

This movie would be about Clark facing down Metropolis’ corruption. Clark at this point is a young twenty-something fresh out of college, still an intern at the Daily Planet, and he has a pretty simplistic worldview. He sees a problem, he’ll punch it. He’s open to different solutions but this is the one he’s most comfortable with, and at this point it’s usually his first resort. He’s a blunt instrument, lacking in finesse and precision.

The film would be about Superman refining his technique and discovering his place in Metropolis and the world. He starts out as a man unsure of his purpose with all his power, full of anger at injustice, and lacking in self-control. He’s just doing things right now, he’s not thinking about the future, or the impacts of his actions. It’s easy to piss him off, and his impetuosity gets the better of him a lot.

This all makes him very, very easy to manipulate, especially for the smartest man on the planet:

Lex Luthor makes sure nothing can get traced to him, and he plays Superman for a fool, staging situations to turn the public against him, and ruining his reputation in the media. Only one person still stands up for Superman. Jimmy Olsen:

Jimmy in this movie would be worried about the ramifications Superman’s actions would have, but he’s the only one who realizes that Superman is just a guy trying to do what’s right. And maybe, given a chance, he could change the world for the better, like the Justice Society, a superhero team that formed during the 1940s, but were all eventually killed off in various battles with supervillains in the past:

Jimmy will also act as Clark’s best friend, someone Clark can always come to when he’s confused, worried, or needs advice.

Clark’s character arc in the movie is obvious. He needs to learn to control his power and use it intelligently, and be mindful of his actions. He needs to think before he acts. Strength without logic to guide it isn’t helping, and he needs to learn to deal with the responsibilities that come with being the world’s most powerful man. He needs to lead them to pursue a better future, instead of just hitting bad guys.

Clark also puts his investigative journalism skills to use as he starts to learn different skills to assist him with his activities as Superman, and at this point we’d see this classic trio form up:

And of course hints of a developing romance between Lois and Clark.

Ultimately, Superman wins the begrudging trust of the public, and, after provoking Luthor into a fight in the streets of Metropolis

the world will see the truth of both their natures.

Also at some point either before, during, or after this climax, we’d get a moment like this:

With Superman inspiring the public, leading by example.

Luthor would be incarcerated. Jimmy gets the iconic signal watch. And the film ends with Clark getting hired as a reporter for the Daily Planet after writing an article exposing Luthor’s vast criminal empire.

Kevin Tsujihara killed it. That’s it. There is your reason. We can actually access the record. Google “tsujihara man of steel interview billion dollars”. Kevin Tsujihara gave multiple interviews before MoS came out saying that anything short of $1 billion was a failure. When that didn’t happen, he blamed Zack and immediately began meddling. Quickly, the pace went from—

• MoS2
• Knight of Gotham
• Green Lantern Corps

—directly to Batman v. Superman. So Zack had to accelerate the pace. Everybody hated it. Then Tsujihara wanted his big bonus, so he ordered the sequel to BvS to be rushed and we got the giant abortion that we got. Zack Snyder really needs a supervisor like Kevin Feige. No doubt. So many of his ideas need someone to reign him in. But, none of us knows what he would’ve produced had Tsujihara not meddled in the entire affair.

I would make it a horror movie. I know what people will say, but why make it into a horror movie? Because it would be awesome and also action is overrated. The villain I am planning to use is Parasite.

You might think to yourself, how can Parasite be a scary character or be use in a horror character. Parasite or Ruby Jones was a janitor that got toxic materials waste on him. The toxic gives him the abilities to absorb people’s life source like a parasite and even see their identifies and memories. In my movie I will change his backstory and powerset. In the DCEU, he was a teenager that was walking across during the BVS Event and he got toxic materials waste on him. Admarda Waller and Camdus find the teenager, dying. So, they stole his body and place him in Star Labs in Metropolis. Waller and Proffessor Hamltion use Doomsday’s body and mix with the Boy’s DNA with Doomsday’s DNA. He got the abilities to absorb people’s life energy and shapeshift. He escape the lab and starts killing people that taking their form so he can live.

I based my version of Parasite off the Thing by John Capterner.

The Movie will be a mystery and horror movie where you will get to see Superman’s detective skills because he is a journalist. Superman as Clark Kent will try to stop Parasite. He realizes Waller creates the thing in attempt to kill Superman because she sees Superman almost killing Batman in Justice League.

First, I'd have a flashback to Batman v superman that explains why he's light and happy now. Then, write a plot about Braniac, with a side plot that gives Lois something to do: to be specific, the discovery of Super boy, the kon el version, who was created by Amanda Waller for use on the Suicide Squad but escaped. Have lead up to both plot lines, with research for a while on what's going on. Batman helps Lois find Superboy of screen with the files he got from the end of suicide squad, and real explanations are given why no one else can help. In the climax, Superman defeats Braniac while Super boy stops the collection process, or vice versa. Then, when they're in space, bam. Green lantern comes out of nowhere and helps. Finally, wrap up the plot, with Braniac defeated, Superboy is going on a self discovery quest, and Lois writes a news article.

Well, I’m not a deeply invested fan of Superman. I have my favorite stories, but I don’t collect stories for him, or have an extensive knowledge of his lore.

So the first thing I would do is hire someone who DOES collect stories just for Superman and DOES have an extensive knowledge of the lore as a producer who is in direct control of hiring and firing and design, but also has an appreciation for what makes a good story. That way I can act as the “normie” audience standin on production meetings to prevent the movie being made to only appeal to longtime Superman fans, but also protect the Superman fans and give them what they deserve for their favorite character.

The second thing I’d do is make sure the writer is deeply involved. Writing is the cheapest part of a movie, but it’s really important and often ignored.

Third thing I’d do is sit back and let the people I hired go to work, and only tell them to stop if they’re clearly making dumb and self-indulgent choices. :)

Every Superman movie keeps using Jesus imager, but Superman actually has a lot more in common with Hercules than Jesus, so I would use Hercules imagery;

I would have Brainiac attack Earth using various robots of various shapes and sizes, all difficult but none impossible to fight even with Supergirl and Power Girl’s help.

The first robot he fights is a lion-shaped robot with a scorpion tail and buring hot claws and teeth. Superman destroys it and uses bits fo it to put together crude armour.

The 2nd robot is one with multipe limbs that each act as legs, heads and /or mouths, and it is consuming resources (cars, garbage etc) from around Earth to build itself even more limbs. Superman and Supergirl fight it together, the machine notices that they’re more concerned with protecting each-other than fighting it, so it shoots a thing at Supergirl that cocoons around her, then transforms into a thing with a deer head, motorbike wheels and rockets, and it zooms away really fast, forcing Superman to chase and catch it without destroying it. As soon as he does and frees her, he flies back to the hydra, going faster and faster as he flies, and destroys it as he rams right through it. Then Superman and Supergirl agree that they should separate and fight robots individually.

At one point, Superman finds out that Lex Luthor has been trying to clone Doomsday, but the clone can’t stand up and has 3 heads. Superman borrows it.

At another point, Brainiac has been making cyborgs in Gotham City (which is why so many of his robots have skull-shaped heads)

But the cyborgs malfunction whenever they’re in close proximity to Poison Ivy or her garden, so Superman borrows Posion Ivy’s bra for a little bit. They also malfunction when they touch Mad Hatter’s tea, but he’s too insane to cooperate or make enough for Superman’s use.

At another point, he redirects a river.

Meanwhile, Supergirl is mostly punching things whereas Power Girl is using her intellect and hacking skills. Also, Power girl has figured out how to make the robots underestimate her and uses that against them.

i hate the man of steel i don't like the world created by Zacks at all. Love the actor hate the character so don't get me wrong. Anyway let start by this there 2 movie open for me to make.

1- The fallowing 2 new movie made by me would fallow AFTER Justice league 2.0

2- It is not allowed to Retcon any action performed before my set of movies.

3- I will set each movie into 3 part with part 4 being a future movie teaser.

(TLDR: Movie 2 = Martian focus | Movie 3 = Supergirl )

Extra this is what the new suit for the next 2 movie would look like its just new 52 but its my favorite superman suit.

___________________________________________________________________________________
Movie 2: Superman the strange visitor

Part 1:

The movie resume 3 weeks after the event of justice league where we can see superman returning to his ship where he reshape his black suit into a newly made suit representing him regaining grasp of his humanity.

During the time on the ship we would see multiple things in the secret room more especially the corps of Steppenwolf without its head being dissected and study by Kryptonian robot. We could also see his ships and his corrupted soldier being study as well as seeing a a plaque with a green lantern symbol on it.

After the scene on the ship we see him fly to the destroy city where Steppenwolf was using has a base where we see him work around the place where life started to grow back and the civilian running after him while he is doing some work around the block helping the citizen rebuild their houses.

We see a compilation of him where he would bring Water, Food and electricity. This would lead to the finally scene where we see the newly finish village looking alive at night. With the powerplant being fully restore now using clean energy.

-Time skip 1 year-

Clark is now seeing work has a farmer living with Lois and his mother in a newly build house thank to Bruce support. One day during his regular errant the general would arrived at the newly built Kent house were he introduce himself the Clark.

We cut to Lois lookin at the window only to cut back to the Clark and the General we see them both talk about the many alien treats that earth has encounter. After this Clark simply cut the general in the conversation where he request Martian Manhunter to just show himself. We then get a quick scene where the General shape shift into his Martian Manhunter form.

With this Clark simply ask him why is a alien pretending to be a General and what append to the original General. This lead to a flashback of Martian Manhunter Origins where we get to see his family being killed has well as him accidently killing the general after showing up in his true form giving him a hearth attack.

Before the general death he was able to see his life and memory where he used his position has the General to counter aliens invasion has well has using his resources as he try to find any surviving Martian. Their conversation his cut short as Clark activate his new suit where it would phase into him as he flew off to a burning city where a active volcano is rampaging.

Where we see him trying his best to save the island but cannot take care of everything going on. This result into him requesting Manhunter help this lead to Manhunter first public appearance helping superman saving the island in the end.

This lead to the media to use him as a way to push public hate against aliens. This lead to the justice league arriving with the only exception of batman. We see them asking question to Manhunter and superman trying to understand what is going on and is this another invasion.

This is latter cut into Manhunter family killer laughing in a room cover in blood and dead body on the ground.

Part 2:

-Time skip 2 weeks-

Some time append where Clark is on his ship where he is currently writing in his journal. We see him talk about his time in the after life and a man in a green cloak and how he had to face all the dead who has die during his battle against the kryptonian invasion. During the time on the ship his internal monologue is cut short has a drone come in warning him that Green Lantern energy signature has been detected approaching.

This lead to Green Lantern Hal Jordan to phase into the ship appearing Infront of Clark Requesting some time with him. We are lead to a scene where Hal explain the situation going on with the Martian invasion and that remanent of the white Martian are currently on earth planning another invasion and that he request superman and Martian Manhunter to help him.

We are cut from their scene to Martian manhunter posing as the General has he has found a secret hideout of the white Martian and the killer of his family. Not wasting time he would contact Superman to come help him capture and take down the white Martian danger once and for good.

Superman would act on this requesting Green Lantern help with this witch he gladly accept. This lead to Green Lantern to teleport Clark and himself to Martian Manhunter location as they then flew toward the white Martian hideout.

Part 3:

We get too see Green Lantern create a giant construct of Thor smashing his hammer on top of the Martian hide out resulting into a full on battle with the 3 heroes against the Martian treat. We see a multitude of construct made by Green Lantern such as missiles, Planes, Large canon, Drills, Fist and many more. Has well as seeing superman in his full glory shooting laser all around has well as using his physical strength but compare to his fight against Steppenwolf he clearly his holding himself up.

During the fight Manhunter would be call by the killer leading into him leaving the group where we cut to him fighting the Martian seeing much body horror has well has a mental attacks leading into a scene where we see Manhunter reliving his family death. This scene is fallow with him being cover in flames where the body horror is push to the max. This lead to superman arriving and using his cold breath to stop the fire as Green Lantern burst in now done arresting all remaining white Martian.

This lead to a 3 v 1 where they all used their signature attack. Superman blasting with a powerful heat vision Martian manhunter shape shifting into a giant beast slamming him down and green lantern punching him with a giant fist. Resulting into the killer defeat.

He is then arrested by Hal as he thanks both superman and Martian Manhunter as he told them that if they ever need help feel free to call him giving superman and device before saying that he must return to OA. We then see him leave earth as we get a nice scene of him fling out to space before entering a wormhole.

We are left with both aliens shaking hands before before both flew their own path back to their home.

Part 4:

The screen fade to black has we then see Lex activating the Bizzarro clone.

The end.

___________________________________________________________________________________
Movie 3: Superman Bizzarro Attack

Part 1:

We open in a soon to be destroy krypton where we see a young girl get put into a pod said to protect her younger cousin. This his then cut showcasing the movie title.

We are shown her pod travel to earth before hitting a asteroid resulting into her pod being flung around the sun where she would orbit it for years before her pod recharged flying back to earth where it would land near Clark Farm.

This Lead to a scene with Clark taking her pod to his space ship where he would await her awakening. Seeing her slowly waking her she would comforts her explaining that everything is fine explaining her situation. This lead to a compilation of her training as well of her learning about the world and being introduce to the league has well as the Kent Family and the Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern.

-Time skip 20 weeks-

We are set into the introduction narrated by Supergirl explaining her current situation on earth and her new identity. She mostly shy around humans and showcase her anger of her current life style as we see her training in Clark Ship punching a metal slab with multiple dent in it.

During her time we see her working with Superman has Supergirl. We would get quite a few flash moment with her and Barry being similar in age and all that. With him trying his best to make her enjoy life on earth and keep her happy.

During a scene we are introduce to Lex Luthor working on clones where we flash to two clones awakening one being disfigure and plate and the other looking like a younger version of superman. The pale one break out of his pod as he walk toward a stage taking on a superman costume as he flew up and away.

Part 2:

During a scene where superman and Supergirl are helping a city after a earthquake we are introduce into Bizzarro entering the scene where he let out his frost vision freezing multiple people in ice killing them. Seeing this Superman and Supergirl flew to their saving attacking bizzarro. This lead to a clash where the shockwave would destroy the houses under them.

Superman would then grab him flying far away trying to not cause anymore casualty. This lead him to making himself open for bizzarro to attack him resulting into him being knock out has Bizzarro utilized his kryptonite base biology to spit in superman eyes blinding him and weakening him.

Seeing this Supergirl would enter a full on rampage resulting into her accidently destroying multiple village as well as blowing part of Everest resulting into multiple villager death. Before she finally arrived at the outskirt of Coast city where she would let out a powerful solar explosion of pure energy resulting into nearly half of the city to be destroy.

The attack would have vaporized Bizzarro but also killed nearly 300 people. Those action would result into superman and Supergirl image being spit upon by the media and the world wanting to see her being arrested.

Part 3:

Her action would lead to the justice league has well has Green Lantern and 3 other earth base Lantern to arrived and arrest her the fight would not last long with has she was quickly outpower. Her scream of help awaken superman has he arrived only to see the horror of her action. Resulting into him talking her down and demanding her to simply accept the demands.

This lead to a trial of Supergirl where she was condemn guilty. This lead to the government to turn their head toward lex industry where his cloning program would be accepted. Supergirl herself would be taken by the Lanterns where she would be taken into a red sun prison.

This lead into superman trying his best to accept this outcome has well as heling coast city being rebuild with the help of the other lanterns.

The movie would end has with a sadden Supergirl telling that she is sorry to Hal before entering the prison.

Part 4:

We see flash talking with superman about Supergirl before we see him thinking about his mother. Has we see him run entering the speed force starting the flash point paradox.

The end.

This has been my longest answer i have ever done hope you all like it.

Man of Steel wasn't my favourite movie. Although the first half was pretty compelling, and told a unique spin of the classic Superman mythos, its darker tone was a little off putting. But the films set up of Krypton and Superman's origins itself was a favourable one. I also really loved Zod as a villain. He was compelling, had a great motivation and Faora-Ul also was a great supporting villain. Lois Lane was built up as a strong reporter and Clark Kent, although dark and somewhat depressing, you could see some of the classic Superman hope and American patriot symbolism sneaking through.

The second half is where the film lost me though. Too much action, not enough subtext. Too much destruction, not enough rescuing. I understand Superman was beginning, but he let millions of people die just so he could save Lois. Zod also turned into a cliché screamo villain.

But I do believe a sequel can fix up many of the mistakes of the first one. Although Batman v Supermam: Dawn of Justice was initially set up as a Man of Steel 2, its since been confirmed to only be a follow-up film, not a sequel. I will go through some of my top wants/needs for the sequel. Obviously DC is a little busy. They have three films in active development- Aquaman, Shazam! and Wonder Woman 1984, and I do think Aquaman and WW84 will do wonders for the DCEU, giving it three absolutely awesome movies, which is what it needs. I recently suggested that the DCEU may begin to make "solo" films once again, and not try to link their films for a while. However if these three films do well, Man of Steel 2 may actually be able to re-link the DCEU, just like the first film begun it.

First of all, I would title the film Man of Tomorrow. Whilst Man of Steel is Superman's most famous secondary title, he is also known as the Last Son of Krypton, Big Blue Cheese, and Man of Tomorrow. At the end of Justice League we saw Clark Kent do his classic clothes changing stance-

After he hears a scream from nearby, this in turn represents a new turning point for Clark. In Justice League he focused on becoming a lighter hero, more hopeful and in line with his comic book counter part. So let Man of Tomorrow have Superman be a symbol of hope to Metropolis and start saving more people than just Lois Lane.

On this note, I would also give Superman a new suit. Lighten up the blue, lighten up the red, and strengthen the yellow. Superman is a symbol of hope, justice and the American way, let him show it on his costume. Also- let him fricken smile. Henry Cavill, who plays Superman, has a wonderful smile, let him fricken show it. Along with Superman lightening up, light up Metropolis. Give it some sun and blue skies, and let the Daily Planet have its classic spinning ball on top of the building like it so famously does in the comics- why the DCEU left that out is beyond me.

As for some new supporting characters? Obviously have Amy Adams and Diane Lane return as Lois Lane and Martha Kent respectively. Also return Laurence Fishburne was Perry White and maybe if possible feature a cameo scene with Russell Crowe as Jor-El perhaps in a flashback scene. New characters; I want Jimmy Olsen to appear. He already appeared in BvS, but he was killed off after two minutes of screen time and he was only listed as Jimmy in the Ultimate Edition. Maybe he was Jimmy. But lets make him another Jimmy. Lets bring in a new Jimmy Olsen, one much more in line with the comics. In the comics, Jimmy brought Clark into the newspaper, however I think this film could introduce Jimmy as a mega-Superman fan, joining the Daily Planet to earn the chance to take some wow action photos of Superman. He would bring in some much needed new blood to this world and maybe allow Superman to see the fun in life again.

Another new character I'd want to see is Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. Its been done a million times before; someone thinks they are the last of their kind, only to discover that no- they are not. Supergirl was already introduced in the Man of Steel Prequel comic book, a story which actually centred around her, so we know Kara is a canon character in the DCEU.

Whilst the comic largely took place on Krypton, the story did feature earth. Currently Kara is on earth, it is unknown if she is alive and moving or knocked in a state of unconsciousness, but Kara is on earth. This film can show a scene where Kara reawakens and is scared and a danger to all near her, as she doesn't understand her powers or know that Krypton is destroyed. She'll play mostly an antagonist, I'll discuss this later, and Superman will spend the film trying to reach out to her and turn her to the side of good. Kara was alive whilst Superman was still in its glory days, so she will be able to offer an insight into the daily life of Krypton. Whether the film will show the two as cousins- I would hold off on that for a while.

As for the villain? We've done Zod. We've done Faora. We've had Lex Luthor and Doomsday. We can't do Darkseid, as he will likely come in a future Justice League film, if and when Warner Bros. make another one. So- I have two villains for this film; Brainiac and Metallo. I think Metallo could be the films first half villain.

After Kryptonite was found, many would want to get hold of it. If I was this film I would introduce Metallo as an established villain. Superman and Metallo have had battles back and forward for months leading into this film. Finally Superman will overcome his most challenging foe yet, only for Brainiac to appear. If I was this film, I would use the classic story of Brainiac as a background.

Brainiac is a collector of cities. He tries to collect famous cities that can grow his empire. He was the one responsible for stealing the city of Kandor from Krypton. Perhaps he comes to earth on hopes of finishing his quest and taking out the last of Kryptonians and tries to take Metropolis. This is where Kara comes in. Kara will be confused and Superman will go and stop the threat and then realise she is Kryptonian, this'll all be after defeating Metallo. He will subdue her and talk to her, and she'll start by being on his side. After Brainiacs appearance, Brainiac is able to persuade Kara to join him via his mind control abilities and pits her against Kara, and also makes her fully believe that he is doing the right thing.

At the films end, Superman will be able to break through to Kara that Brainiac is using her to stall him from saving Metropolis, and the two would team up to finish Brainiac's plan once and for all.

The film would end with Superman giving Kara a new super suit and name, Supergirl, and the film would end with them flying through the sky, fighting crime side by side.

If I were this film, I wouldn't introduce the Fortress of Solitude just yet. That introduction can be for Man of Steel 3.

I may never get the chance to write it, and be paid for it by Warner Brothers, but I would take it from two aspects that clash. It would be after Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.

There is something about Superman being around the people of the world and somehow distant. His only real connection is Lois Lane and his mother. In that sense, I feel like he would try to make amends with the world, open up, and get right with us. Somehow, he’d save Lex Luthor in this movie. This would encourage Lex to be, on the surface, an advertisement to the world to give Superman a chance to get right with us.

This would also encourage Superman to embrace more of his familial heroic elements not just of what his Kryptonian heritage ask of him but what his father and soon, his mother with a change of heart, asks him to do without malice and unrelentingly.

This would spark the other part of the story I think would be from the perspective of Lex Luthor. It would be his further connection to his father, which he’d research semi-Citizen Kane style, and present a way DC could rework Lex Luthor to be more depth filled, more comic-like, and driven to really know Superman, respect, like even, but hate what he represents.

In a sense, on the surface of the film, it would be Lex, discovering more of himself and becoming a blend of his father, and in a friendly battle for the city of Metropolis and the world, with Superman.

Under the surface, it would be Lex’s discovery of his father’s encounters with alien visitors and true steps to becoming an every man. His father doesn’t have to be a mad scientist, but just a powerful character to instill hate in Lex, and encourage his son to take action against all alien visitors etc.

For example, his father may embrace visitors from another world. Lex can operate the opposite way. He hates visitors, just because his father likes them. So, while Lex respects Superman, he tests him throughout the movie.

In the end, Lex is in a position to seek the highest political office in the nation, in the near future. He also connects himself to some major criminal scheme in order to see if he can kill Superman, indirectly. Superman will follow the mystery throughout the movie to Lex, but would be unable to stop him because he has to prove Lex Luthor’s involvement in the scheme.

It would end, Lex would fail and both of them resuming their lives. Superman will be loved by some and hated by others. He will have a hate for Lex, but respect his power, influence and current status. He will also have a new found respect for life.

Lex will hate Superman. Some will believe he was behind the scheme to kill Superman, while others will see Lex as an every man like his father. In the end, Lex will no longer advertise Superman, but will respect him and acknowledge his public dislike for aliens and costumed characters.

I think there would also be, in a subplot, a rise of Metallo/John Corben, First as a Lex Luthor hater as one of his ex-employees. Through Lex’s change at the start of the movie, he gives Corbin criminal work, and forces, to test Superman.

In an accident, midway through the film, Corbin is injured accidentally and hence becomes Metallo, with Lex Luthor’s help secretly. He will be in a scheme to kill Superman at the end of the movie, but fail.

Martha Kent can exist to test, but pass the baton, of caregiver he once held to Lois Lane.

Lois Lane exist to also, while Superman looks embrace the world, helps to ground him and make their relationship more secure. She also acts as Superman/Clark Kent’s partner to uncover Lex Luthor’s plot to test and eventually kill Superman.

I would like to see a massive epic, spanning the cosmos and involving the entire Superman family.

That means Jon Kent, Supergirl, Krypto the dog, Zod, Evil Supermen, etc.

Basically the plot would be it’s about 15 years after the Snyder Cut ended. Clark’s got an established family with Lois, and early on, we’re introduced to his cousin Kara who lands on Earth. but the portal that brought her has also brought other problems.

Evil Supermen, like Red Son and Ultraman are appearing, and beginning to attack Earth. So Clark has to summon all his heroism and strength just to survive, as does Kara. His son is seemingly killed, so Clark goes absolutely nuts on his enemies and beats them almost to death only to realize what he almost became, so he pulls back and stays a hero.

The final battle is an all out knock down drag out brawl in the city. Kind of like the animated Superman vs Doomsday where both sides are tired, barely able to stand and beating the absolute hell out of one another. But Clark’s son is alive, and Kara comes in to save him at the last second, after having her own epic final fight as well.

This all leads into a Supergirl solo movie, as well as a possible Jon Kent/Superboy solo movie.

I assume you’re talking about the Zack Snyder movies, Man of Steel being the first, followed by Batman vs. Superman.

Let me think. I don’t have a plot exactly in mind, but there are themes I think I would explore.

In Man of Steel Superman snapped Zod’s neck to save the world.

In Batman vs. Superman Superman died

In Justice League Superman was revived.

All of that would probably be really traumatic. Superman should probably find himself haunted by all these things. Guilt over taking Zod’s life, PTSD from dying and coming back and engaging in a giant battle with the legions of Apocalypse.

I don’t know what should happen exactly, but that’s where I’d start.

First of all, I'd make sure Christopher Reeve was onboard as Superman/Clark Kent.

The plot sees the Man of Steel against his ultimate nemesis Lex Luthor, played by the one and only Gene Hackman.

The story would be of epic proportions, so that would mean Luthor recruiting these supervillains:

Brainiac

And Metallo.

Luthor is in charge - as always - but he will treat the above characters as equals and with respect. He wouldn't have much choice really! Even Superman will feel the challenge of fighting two supervillains, not to mention a criminal mastermind. Enter his Kryptonian cousin - Supergirl.

Together, they pool their resources against Luthor. Production-wise, I would ensure that extensive location photography take place in New York City - just like in Superman: The Movie (1978). There would be no silly comic relief, which means no Gus Gorman.

Lastly, a question of the budget. In order for the entire plot to work, a LOT of money is required. I would set the budget at somewhere between $350,000,000 and $600,000,000.

Thanks for reading.

I wouldn’t use the Nolan Trilogy at all. It was always meant to be its own standalone universe. And far too “human”. Like Bane is supposed to look like this;

A roided out monster of a man. Who can even man-handle Batman (and is no fool either). Instead, we get Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs;

Its why Batfleck, who cut through a warehouse full of goons like a hot knife through butter, ragdolling regular humans like he does in the comics, works so much better than Nolan Batman for an extended universe.

I would keep the overall serious tone but not make a dour Superman. If he is to be a symbol of hope then he should act like it. Also I would not make Zod the villain, it's been done already. I'd also cut out the long Krypton beginning, it just becomes redundant when Clark heard the whole story again from Jor El in the Fortress of Solitude. So the story should start at the destruction of Krypton with the rest of the story shown in a flashback later in the movie.

So, just off the top of my head, I'd do something kind of like this.

The movie would start with Lara El caring for baby Kal El when Jor El comes in and says that Zod was right, it's too late to do anything except saving their son. Little Kal El is placed in the pod which escapes the planet as it crumbles. Observant viewers will notice in the background hidden among the pieces of planet a second, larger pod escaping the planet in the opposite direction, but more on that later.

On Earth a freak meteor shower is hitting just outside and around Smallville Kansas. Among the meteors comes Kal El's pod which crashes near the Kent Farm. Jonathan and Martha Kent discover the baby and take him in. As young Clark grows we see how the Kent’s are struggling with how to raise a baby who can physically over power them. There aren't any parenting books which deal with how to discipline a toddler who is throwing furniture around the house.

The school bus rescue was good, so that stays but the Jonathan Kent “maybe” speech gets cut out. Instead he tells Clark that he's proud but that Clark needs to be more careful. He tells Clark the truth of his origin and why it needs to stay secret. Later while Johnathan is alone with Martha he tells her how scared he is for Clark. The Kent's want Clark to have as normal a life as possible but they know that can never happen. Johnathan hopes that he's raising a good person because there's nothing that could stop Clark should he decide to use his powers for ill. Unbeknownst to his parents Clark heard the whole thing. He understands that his father has two sides, one he shows to Clark and the world and another that he shares only privately. He feels a sense of responsibility to his parents and the values they have taught him and he makes the decision to always use his powers to help others.

There are some bullies picking on some smaller kids and throwing rocks at them. Clark puts himself in between the bullies and their victims. He tells the bullies to back off “or else” but they laugh and throw a few rocks at Clark. A few bounce off and he is unphased, then one greenish rock hits Clark in the face and he goes down. An adult comes along and the bullies leave. Clark is concerned because a rock shouldn't have hurt him. However the adult is interested in the rock, it looks like a piece of meteorite from years ago and it seems to almost glow. The rock needs to be studied.

The tornado scene happens like it did in Man of Steel but Clark disobeys his father and runs out to save him. To those watching it looks like Clark and his father took refuge in a ditch along the road but it's really Clark using his powers to keep them from getting blown away. Afterwards Clark tells his father that he raised Clark right and there is no need to worry about what kind of man Clark will become. As they are reconciling Johnathan has a heart attack and despite Clark's abilities he is powerless to help. Clark puts his feeling into words a writes a short biopic about his father which gets published in the local paper.

In a Lexcorp laboratory, technicians are working with strange green meteor rocks from a Kansas field and have discovered it's emitting some strange form of radiation which doesn't seem to react at all with humans or animals. If it could be processed right it would be a new form of “clean” nuclear power. However there is not much to work with so Lex decides to give priority to the weapons division for making use of this new technology.

Clark is now in Metropolis and taking his resume to the Daily Planet where he meets Lois Lane. After his father's heart attack Clark was asked to write some more for the Smallville papers and now has a chance to for his work to be read by a larger audience. He's still helping people and discovers new powers, including flight. He returns home to see his mother and tells her of his growing abilities.

He then goes out to the barn cellar and looks at his pod, he starts poking around and activates it. He gets the saved message from Jor El which instructs him to take the pod someplace safe and remote. Clark flies it to the Arctic where the pod technology creates the Fortress of Solitude. It here that Clark hears the story of Krypton's destruction, which is told through narration and flashback: It was a society much like Earth, but there was a radioactive mineral which sickened and often killed those exposed to it. However if handled carefully it could also be used to generate power. For this purpose robots were created that could safely work with the mineral they named Kryptonite. After some failures they also created an intelligent system with an artificial, electronic brain to run the robots and machinery. This artificial brain was named Brainiac. Under the care of Brainiac Krypton became a utopia. Robots filled the jobs and provided not only power but all amenities for society. However not everyone felt this was a good thing. A no longer needed military general named Zod felt that giving up so much to the robots and Brainiac would lead to generations of Kryptonians who would be unable to care for themselves and be completely reliant on Brainiac, which would make them slaves. Brainiac cannot be trusted with the future of the people. Zod started gathering a following with the goal of seizing control of Brainiac and taking control of the planet for himself. This was deemed treason and Zod gets banished to the Phantom Zone. It's only after Zod is gone that Jor El learns that Brainiac has been secretly drilling deeper into the planet core to get the purest kryptonite. This is making the planet unstable but Brainiac doesn't care, it sees the people as an impediment to it's existence and it's goals. Being an artificial brain it wants to gather knowledge. Brainiac has learned all it can from Krypton so it's taking the planet core to power itself and a ship it built to gather knowledge from across the galaxy. Too much damage has been done to the planet by removing the core and there is nothing that can be done to keep Krypton from imploding. He instead rushes home to his wife and son.

In addition to creating the Fortress the pod has also crafted clothes in the style that Kryptonians wore.

Back in Metropolis Superman has officially arrived and is making headlines by saving people and stopping criminals. This doesn't sit well with Lex Luthor who has been wanting to market new technology to police and military. One such project involves cybernetics, but it's not very popular as people aren't that willing to implant or replace body parts just because they signed up for the police department or army, especially with Superman around. But Lex, unknowingly echoing Zod, doesn't trust this new “Man of Steel” and sees him as a threat. So Lex takes the cybernetics program “off the books” and works on it in secret. He even finds a willing test subject crazy enough to undergo the surgery and treatment, a rogue mercenary named John Corben. Thus Metallo is created.

With his new metal body and Kryptonite “heart” Metallo becomes an unstoppable force, committing acts of terror for hire around the world. The police and military reach out to Lexcorp but Luthor apologizes but says he scrapped his cybernetics project and accuses rival companies of taking his plans and creating a monster.

Metallo challenges Superman. In the midst of battle he discovers that his power source is Superman's weakness. Superman eventually gains the upper hand and destroys Metallo's body leaving him alive but unable to move.

Publicly Lexcorp has offered to help thus poor misguided Metallo by creating a less powerful body and offering psychological treatment. But it's more of a chance for Lex to learn and improve his tech. Superman confronts Lex Luthor about his involvement in creating Metallo but has no actual proof.

Wrap up with Clark asking Lois out and roll credits.

Ideally I'd follow this up with MOS 2 where Lobo comes to Earth to collect a bounty on one of the last Kryptonians in the universe (which means there are others) and Lois discovers Clark's secret. In the end it's shown that Lobo was sent by Braniac who decides to visit Earth and becomes the main villain in Part 3.

Metallo and Lex Luthor should be the villains of Man of Steel 2. I feel like there have been a lot of big level threats for Superman in the previous movies like Zod and Doomsday; Metropolis has been the collateral damage for all these big battles. Having a villain like Metallo would be a good way to reduce the damage done on the city, depower Superman temporarily and watch him fight with smarts, give us a villain we could all sympathize with, introduce Supergirl, and play on emotions a bit(a happy light-hearted Superman accepted by all/ a really Dark Villain out for personal vengeance)

I’m no writer, but this is how I’d imagine the story roughly:

After Superman’s resurrection, the people and government come to trust him more and accept him happily. NASA and the Army call for his help to rescue some scientists studying life and bacteria on Mars who have encountered some fuel and oxygen problems. He flies to the planet and is unknowingly infected by an old Kryptonian virus that reduces his intake of sunlight at the same time drastically degrading his cells.

With a little difficulty, he flies the scientists in their spacecraft back to Earth and receives praise from everyone watching on TV and social media via satellite. Meanwhile, Lex helps one of the victims of the metropolis battle, John Corbin, who sustained life-threatening injuries and was fitted with a Kryptonite device on his heart to help keep him alive. The Kryptonite makes him 5x stronger than the average man and also prone to anger. During rehabilitation, Corbin is overhwhelmed by flashbacks of his last moments with his wife and baby in one of the sky scrapers while watching helplessly as Zod and Superman crash into them within a split second without warning, killing his wife, baby,and mortally injuring him.

He’s shown the graves of his wife and child and a blood-stained photo of them that was recovered in his clothes on the day he was found. Lex also shows him a video footage of the battle of Metropolis he stole from the satellites of Wayne Industries at the same time pin-pointing Superman tossing Zod into several buildings on the video. He later shows Corbin all the casualties of the battle, including Corbin's wife and baby’s names, and goes on to ramble on how aliens who play “God” bring untold miseries on the lives of mortal men. He also talks of how Superman is the instrument of death rather than life. In short, Superman is the cause of every problem-The Kryptonians coming to earth, the destruction of Metropolis, and the countless deaths. And Corbin AKA Metallo hates Superman even more because he has lost everything that meant the world to him and couldn't attend the burial of his family.

Superman appears on a talk show and discusses how he rescued the scientists, talks about his powers, and is also asked about his fight with Batman-while watching a snippet of the battle that was recorded on a phone. He then jokes about how he was holding back all the while; he also talks his friendship with Batman now( meanwhile Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne are in Paris watching the video and she laughs at him, while he still broods.)

At the studio, where Superman is being interviewed, there's a loud, sudden explosion, but Superman is quick to shield the audience from the blast and debris(he’s been on alert all the while since he learned his lesson the last time at the courthouse) He shouts to the audience to run to safety while he attempts to locate the perpetrator.

He begins experiencing tinnitus, the ringing in the ears from the explosion while realizing his vision is going blurry[the virus is at work]. He falls to his knees and begins to cough blood. He also feels that familiar weakness when he's in the presence of Kryptonite. That's when Metallo steps out and goes toe to toe with Superman, expressig all the pain that's been bottled up…

To be continued…

For the most part I’m gonna try to avoid cosmic stuff and keep things on Earth.

Movie 1: Simply titled “Superman”.

Much of the story is going to focus more on investigation than superheroics.

We start with a very brief summary of Krypton being destroyed, Kal-El arriving and growing up with the Kents in Kansas and moving to Metropolis. It should take no more than ten minutes including opening credits.

We are introduced to powerful businessman and beloved philanthropist Lex Luthor. A man who genuinely wants Metropolis and the people of the world to prosper. It is revealed that the city was falling apart fifteen years prior due to a financiel crisis, record levels of unemployment and a crumbling infrastructure. It was basically a sunnier Gotham City. But Lexcorp turned it all around, rebuilt most of the city and remains its largest job provider.

Lois Lane was always sceptical of how he managed it. And with the help of newly arrived reporter, mild-mannered Clark Kent, she is finally starting to get some answers. Much of Lex Luthor's and Lexcorp’s early funding came from criminal activity and shady dealings with internationally blacklisted organisations. Furthermore, in many of the early infrastructure projects a lot of corners were cut both in workplace safety and construction to meet deadlines and stay within budgets.

When one of Lexcorp's early projects collapses, Superman swoops in to save the day and is hailed as a hero by the people of the city. He takes Luthor's place as Metropolis’ favourite son due to this an other deeds, such as breaking up the operations of the criminal organisation Intergang lead by Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim. At first Luthor is delighted that no one was harmed and that Metropolis has its own superhero. In a press conference covering the collapse he publically applauds Superman and reaches out his hand in friendship. “Together we can lift up not only this great city, but the whole world to heights we previously could only dream of!” he becomes somewhat flustered when Lois Lane begins questioning him on the integrity of other early Lexcorp projects.

Due to the exposés run by the Daily Planet the stockprices of Lexcorp begin plummeting and investors start cutting ties to Luthor and his philanthropic projects. In order to save his company he expands the weapons development division, acquires multiple military contracts and meets with government representative Amanda Waller. The latter expresses concern about having a superpowered alien running around with no oversight and wants a weapon that can stop him if necessary. At this point Luthor's opinion of Superman has soured and he promises to deliver such a weapon.

During Lois and Clark's continued investigations they discover that Luthor has been studying Superman since the beginning. Initially in order to create scientific advances for the betterment of the world, but now in order to destroy him. Luthor has developed a theory that a notoriously rare mineral might harm the Man of Steel. Kryptonite. The development of Kryptonite weapons has already begun.

But it seems not all of it is going to the government.

Luthor has set up a secret deal with Intergang in a shortsighted desperate attempt to secure funding for his philanthropy.

Superman disrupts the exchange, but Luthor escapes criminal charges due to his ties with the government and impressive legal team. The movie ends with Superman telling Luthor, that he is exposed now and that he'll be watching.

Movie 2: “Man of Tomorrow”

The movie will take a lot of inspiration from the comic “Luthor” by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo.

It opens somewhere in Eastern Europe where a team of mercenaries are breaking in to a secret military compound. They are using incredibly advanced weapons and a close-up on one of them reveals it to be manufactured by Lexcorp.

The mercenary leader, John Corben, kills a number of soldiers and finally reaches a laboratory where a scientist is being held against his will. Professor Anthony Ivo. Corben offers him a ringing cellphone and on the other end Luthor offers Ivo safe haven in Metropolis in exchange for help with a project. A look at Corben holding a gun makes it clear that there are no other options.

Back in Metropolis Superman is stopping robberies, saving people from accidents and still finding time to stop and talk to people who are going through a hard time. His popularity is at an all time high.

He arrives just in time to join Lois in covering the grand reveal of Luthor's newest project. The Metropolis Science Spire. A tower in the heart of the city dedicated entirely to scientific advancement for the betterment of mankind. Including ten stories at the very top devoted to non-profit projects. Lois asks hard hitting questions, but Luthor expertly glides off of them.

In the sub-basement of the Science Spire Professor Ivo is constructing an android. Luthor arrives and is unhappy with the appearance of the project, stating that it needs to look more appealing. “Like the face of a daughter long lost finally returned home.”

Later the android is revealed to the public as Metropolis’ newest protector, the superheroine “Hope”. Everything about her is designed to be appealing from her appearance to her personality. She is presented as a girl born and raised in the city and has no idea of her true origins.

She quickly earns the people's love through superheroics. On several occasions she and Superman work together with her playfully teasing him as “old timer” and “big blue boyscout”.

John Corben plants a bomb in a building belonging to one of Lexcorp's competitors. Unbeknownst to him the neighbouring building is a preschool which also is destroyed in the explosion killing several children. There is a public outcry played up by media owned by Luthor. The people demand the head of the criminal responsible. When Superman is preoccupied with a natural dissaster Luthor calls in an anonymous tip to the authorities with John Corben's identity and location. Before Superman can get there Hope breaks into Corben's hideout and beats him to a pulp. She flies him up through the roof and is hovering a hundred feet above the ground when Superman arrives. He is shocked to see what she has done and tells her to hand Corben over to him and he'll take him in.

Meanwhile, in the subbasement of the Science Spire, Luthor is sitting at a control panel. He presses a few buttons and Hope punches Superman and drops Corben.

Hope doesn't understand what happened and is frightened. When Superman angrily confronts her about killing Corben she flies away. He pursues yelling that she has to turn herself in and answer for what she did. He catches up to her at the top of the Science Spire, where she breaks down in tears. She is frightened and confused. Luthor presses a few buttons and she lashes out at Superman who tries to calm her down while defending himself. After he knocks her back Luthor presses a final button. Superman and Hope hear a beeping inside her chest, he scans her with his x-ray vision and discovers not only that she is a machine, but that she is carrying powerful bomb. They look at each other for a moment before Superman grabs her and flies her out over the bay away from the city. Hope looks up at Superman, grabs him by the shoulders and says: “All I ever wanted was to be hero. And know I get to save you, Big Blue. Please don't let them remember me as a monster”. She throws him with all her power and flies further away before exploding with enough force to blow Superman deep into the bay.

A few days later Superman delivers a eulogy for Hope, but public opinion has turned against him with many blaming him for her death and calling for him to go to jail.

Meanwhile, in the subbasement of the Science Spire, it is revealed that Corben is still alive. Saved by the combined efforts of Luthor and Ivo who have turned him into a cyborg they name Metallo. Luthor convinces him that Superman is to blame for his monstrous condition and Metallo sets of to kill him.

It is a hard won fight for the last son of Krypton, but he eventually manages to subdue Metallo, who reveals Lex Luthor's involvement.

Superman confronts Luthor who tells him: “I finally figured out what you are. You're the end. When people look up they don't see the limitless potential of humanity anymore. They just see you! Why try to be better when they can never measure up to you! Well, they don't see you as perfect any longer. And humanity will benefit from that more nuanced perspective. They will try to be better. And one day, Superman, we WILL be.”

The movie ends with Luthor in prison. In the offices of the Daily Planet Lois Lane is trying to write an article about the events. Ending it with the lines: “so what is a hero? Do you need a Cape? A costume? Or just the willingness to do what is right? Maybe the question is irrelevant. Maybe we shouldn't try to be heroes, but just try to be better. If we do that any one of us could be the man of tomorrow. Today.”

Movie 3: “Last Son of Krypton”

The final installment of the trilogy takes place years after the previous film and is basically an adaptation of Grant Morrison's “All-star Superman” with a lot of the cosmic and more obscure characters cut out.

Luthor has deteriorated into a full on mad scientist during his incarceration. The film opens with him carrying out a remote attack on a space expedition exploring Mercury. Superman arrives to save the astronauts and receives a massive dose of solar radiation as he flies close to the Sun.

Back on Earth Luthor is arrested and sentenced to death. He is almost happy as he accepts the verdict.

A year passes and Superman starts noticing that he is changing. His powers are growing far stronger. He goes to S.T.A.R. Labs to try and found out what is happening. They determine that his exposure to the sun a year prior has caused his body to produce denser and an exponentially rising number of cells as time passes. They theorise that eventually his body simply won't be able to contain that much energy and he will explode releasing all of the energi inside him and probably destroy the world.

During an interview Clark has with Lex Luthor on death row the latter reveals that this was his plan all along when he attacked the space exploration. By Luthor's calculations Superman should be feeling the effects now, which means he hasn't got more than a week left at best.

Superman uses the week to say goodbye to family and friends. He goes on a last adventure with many of them and a last date with Lois Lane where he finally let's her know everything about him.

Meanwhile, on death row, Luthor's final meal is a drink of his own recipe which it turns out grants him the powers of a kryptonian for 24 hours. He escapes and intends to kill Superman. Thus saving the world.

They two enemies fight each other. But Superman is only stalling. Waiting for Luthor to finally see the world the way he sees it. All of the atoms dancing among each other. Everything interconnected. Luthor breaks down at the complex yet simple beauty of it.

“All I ever wanted was to save the world.”

“You're a brilliant man, Lex. If it really mattered to you, you would have.”

“yes… you're right.”

Feeling that he is nearing the end Superman says goodbye to Lois and flies away into the Sun. Looking back at Earth and smiling all the way.

On death row a humble Lex Luthor is visited by scientist from S.T.A.R. Labs. He hands them a huge folder and several hard drives. “This is all I know about Kryptonian fysiology and anatomy. Please take it and use it to help the world. Particularly miss Lane. She'll need all the help she can get.”

“Why?”

Luthor just smiles.

We cut to the final image of the trilogy. Lois Lane pregnant looking up at the sky with hope.

Man of Steel was a fatally flawed film that little to do with Superman. If you took "Superman" out of the film, and replaced him with Supreme, Superior, Hyperion, or even Hancock, no one would notice. Goyer and Synder's method for the film was to borrow heavily from the Donner classics and do the reverse of everything that worked, which is a remarkable feat, as I'm certain that if I had submitted Man of Steel for a film, I would have been laughed out of the room and never allowed near Superman again. Every inch of the film is a testament to how little they understood about the character, what he represents, and why he resonates with so many people worldwide. Superman is an archetype of our best values and not our modern cynicism that believes in catastrophe before competency.

We didn't need to see the origin again, though I enjoy that portion of the film. Viewers are familiar with who Superman is and what he came to be. Grant Morrison summarizes this in four panels:

Too much time was spent on Superman's development, and by film's end, he still wasn't developed. Too much time was spent giving Superman angst and malarkey to brood over, when he's not that type of character.

Superman is unique among superheroes, for not being born of trauma, guilt, revenge, or negativity. He comes to Earth as a baby, and is nurtured by loving parents. He has Smallville as the idyllic place where he can develop into the man and hero we will all know. When that's discarded for a Batmanesque storyline, it's hard to make it work, as such a tale will always perform better with Batman, since that's his story.

Superman is supposed to be the solution to the problem, but in Man of Steel he's the cause and makes things worse. He unwittingly leads Zod and company to Earth, then sorts nothing out on what to do. Every move he makes is wrong, culminating in killing Zod. He never thinks, or even reacts, he does what he's told to do by the three male figures in his life: Jon Kent, Jor-El, and Zod. Jon says hide and he hides. Jor-El says fly and he flies. Zod says kill, and he kills. No time in the film is Superman his own man, a thinking individual who sees a way because he's free of the foibles that plague too many people. Instead of showing a man who genuinely cares for people, we're shown a man who would grab the villain and fly off with him, instead of protecting his mother.

The biggest change that needed to happen to the film is with DC/WB perception that something is wrong with Superman and he needs "fixing" or "modernizing". Superman isn't an auto that needs to be tricked out to stay current. Truth, Justice, and the American Way are always current. People will always need help, a hero, a savior, inasmuch as we are finite beings who consistently reach for things that exceed our grasp. When we distrust the man who wants to help us, for no reason other than it's right, then we need to be reminded why that part of nature needs to be believed in. Superman resonates with people because you won't have to worry about trusting him and you can implicitly know that his actions aren't malicious. He'll get the job done with you getting hurt or offering the trite "I'll do better next time". He's the best.

The biggest change I would have made to Man of Steel, would have been to never let it happen. I would have sent them back to the drawing board until they got it right, and yes, that can be done. Here's a quote from Henry Cavil to close with:

“They’re the mythological heroes of our day,” Cavill says, “and I want to help tell their stories for as long I can.” He seems almost territorial over the Man of Steel and his story. “But I have no power over the script,” he admits, “and Chris Terrio [scriptwriter for the series] is a very good writer. There’s so much that can be done with Superman. The Batman story is easy. He’s dark and brooding and dangerous. Superman, I believe, can be a better story, but it requires 10 times the effort to get it right. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that the big cheeses at the top care as much about the character as I do.”

Let’s be honest, Zach Snyder appears to have a pretty minimal interest in Superman as a protagonist.

Snyder made Man Of Steel, in part, because he had a pre-existing relationship with Warner Bros and the executives knew that he was capable of getting the movie into production very quickly. WB was on a deadline as a result of their then on-going legal dispute with the Estate of Jerry Siegel, the Superman Co-Creator.

Once Man Of Steel was a hit, Snyder became the De Facto shepherd of the DCEU project.

However, Snyder took that opportunity to immediately pivot to characters other than Superman. He had cast the leads and figured out how to shoot Superman in modern action scenes, but beyond that he did not really see Superman as a lead. In Batman V. Superman, Clark Kent was effectively the antagonist to Bruce Wayne. The movie walked right up to line of Superman being a full-blown baddie and then killed him. While the #Snydercut of Justice League was much better overall, it did not deal with Superman nearly as well as the otherwise weaker Whedon version. Essentially, his entire existence was treated as a problem.

So, Snyder is not coming back. The next most logical person would be the guy who did the wonderful Superman re-shoots on Justice League, but Joss Whedon is in the midst of career meltdown. So, who makes the sequel?

Footnotes

I'd suggest Brainiac. He's one of the biggest bads among the rogues' gallery of Superman villains, especially now that (spoilers) General Zod is dead and Lex Luthor is a crazy man (and SERIOUSLY miscast). His (frequent) connection back to Krypton would likewise be a means to further investigate Superman's back history and make any story more personal to Clark Kent/Kal-El than just some random villain showing up. Add in how powerful Brainiac is - when he shows up Earth itself is always at risk - and he's a bad guy made for a major motion picture.

The only other villain at the same level would be Darkseid, but he is obviously being held back for other things, so Brainiac becomes the obvious choice.

Now if they can actually write Superman to be an inspirational boy scout and not some depressed sad-sack...

It would be an entirely different movie.

The technology of Krypton was ugly - they were trying to spin a new look to Krypton, and they arrived at something that managed to look worse than fins and bubble helmets. And come on, the ‘monster Zod’ was a badly done 3D cave troll from The Lord of the Rings.

Zod has been done before, but better. Lex Luthor had been done too much.

I would like to see an overhaul of the Superman story, and do a trilogy where Superman is actually older. This is a bit less radical than Id like, but I think it would work, and would hook into the “New Gods” theme.

Movie 1

Start with his youth and then a 1960s Daily Planet story line in the first movie, where he’s got his core powers, strong, flight, x-ray vision, invulnerability, but not set on ‘ultra’ - more like his earlier depictions. Make his enemies mostly human, but ultimately his villain is a very damaged Brainiac (nearly destroyed by Darkseid for having stolen some technology, perhaps the shrink ray). Id insert a Lex Luthor ‘hair burn’ scene when Superman ‘saves’ him and others doing bio experiments at a university. By the end of the movie, he realizes that he hasn’t lived up to his potential as a Kryptonian, quits the Daily Planet and secludes himself to the Fortress of Solitude, where he comes up with his Superman suit.

Movie 2

He returns to the Daily Planet in the 1990s, having wiped out any evidence that he worked there before. We meet very young Lois Lane and young Jimmy Olsen and other Daily Planet folk. Lex Luthor at this point is a Gordon Gecko type in his mid 50s but looks great, and Lex Corp focuses on bio tech. He manages to find what’s left of Brainiac, repairs him somewhat, and they plan a Y2K disaster for which Lex Corp will supply the critical fix. Brainiac double crosses Lex Luthor, having established automated factories that go online and begin to produce terminator type enemies to enslave humanity. Lex is conflicted because now he knows “The Superman” harmed him in college, but ultimately helps Superman against Brainiac. Superman finds the miniaturized city of Kandor in the secret lair of Brainiac.

Movie 3

The year 2015 finds Superman facing off Doomsday. We know that DC needs Superman dead for the Justice League movie, so lets have a movie about that. Since Doomsday has a link to Krypton, perhaps some experiment to restore the city of Kandor attracts Doomsday to earth.

I would incorporate Lex Luthor’s release from jail into this. He’s financially ruined, and can provide a good ‘citizen’s view’ of the destruction wrought by the Superman-Doomsday battle.

Also, Id depict Clark also married to a Lois Lane that is age appropriate (him not changing since the 1990s, and her looking age appropriate).

Since this is a Superman movie and we don’t want other superheroes in the world to respond in time to participate, Id have Doomsday be one of those terminator type villains that keeps coming back stronger after Superman thinks he’s entirely defeated.