A few ideas – Firstly, they need to avoid retelling the Superman origin story in great length and they need to focus less on the Kent / Lane love story.

I think any new Superman film will have to make an effort to be very big, bombastic and less domesticated.

i don’t think so…

maybe tim drake when the character is in his 30′s
a possible kyle rayner
or even Nightwing… but i just can not see him as superman

ZQ would also make a good Dream [Sandman].

Seriously, though, for the record, my T-shirt would almost certainly be a Superman one. More than any other comic book character I would like to see him done justice on the big screen. Sadly, in my opinion, that hasn’t yet been achieved… but I live in hope.

I agree, though, that there are flaws. But for me they are like tiny blemishes on the skin of Morena Baccarin – more or less irrelevant when compared to the overall achievement.

I loved Batman Begins – that, for me, was a far better film than TDK.

But, back to Superman (keeping things on topic) – I think the key thing you mention there is the terrific lead performance. Reeve carried that movie off in such an amazing way it has set the benchmark for all of its “descendants” and no-one has come up to that mark. Not Bale, not Jackman, not McQuire.

For me, Superman the Movie is as close as I’ve seen to the perfect comic book movie. Relentless silliness? I’m not sure about that: it could be argued that Hackman’s Luthor did balance out the “grandiose mythology” that you mention here, otherwise the film could have become too awe-stuck and bogged down by a sense of a its importance.

All that said, if Menkowitz hand’t severely doctored Puzo’s original script then it would have been a complete disaster and slipped way too far into camp silliness (who loves ya, baby).

On Superman Returns – I really really enjoyed it. When it became apparent that there would no (immediate) sequel, I read a comment by Donner who advised us not to think of Returns as the beginning, but rather as the third part of the trilogy he started. Viewed from that perspective, it really does make the movie something more than was originally intended and (neatly) avoids answering the questions it raised.

Not that that’s what should have happened – but still – it works for me!

I respect Donner’s film’s place in the industry and it has some decent moments with a terrific lead performance but it is not the flawless masterpiece so many believe it to be. It’s drawn out, frequently dull and struggles to balance its grandiose mythology with the relentless silliness of the later acts.

The Dark Knight is a much more coherent, engaging experience, and one that has more to say than most other comic book movies put together.

Yeah, that’s right, I said it.