Potential comic book films

The final edition of Casting Call is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. For your reading pleasure, I have rounded up all of those ridiculous ideas in my head for movies based on our favorite heroes. Some of them are reboots, some of them are one shot random events and others are brand new adaptations that could turn into great franchises. Enjoy.

The Real Superman Saga

The story of Kal-el/Clark Kent/Superman is rich with history. There is so much that can be done with it yet the gold mine of potential has not yet been tapped. Warner Bros. and DC Comics should take the opportunity to make this their flagship series and use it as the backbone of the DC universe. With a lot of time and effort, this could really turn into a Star Wars type franchise. One unique idea would be to start the series (Episodes 1-3 if you will) on Krypton before Clark Kent is even conceived, make his father Jor-el the main character, and explore the fall of Krypton in a few movies. It could work as a great science fiction futuristic movie.

The details and story of the planet Krypton have not been adequately explored and these films could go into the crux of the matter, right up to the point where Jor-el sees his world literally breaking apart. The middle film could end with Kal-el being sent to Earth. The next few movies would kind of mirror the fall of Krypton with the fall of Earth. We all forget that Superman will likely outlive everyone on the planet. Even though he might be able to save humanity from countless dangers and world ending threats, a day will come where he will see his people fall. It would really be interesting to see how Superman saves Earth, but eventually gets to a point where he can do no more. That is the kind of epic Superman story we need to see.

The Dark Knight Returns

Frank Miller has missed the mark on more than a few occasions, but no one can argue the quality of one of his most famous works, "The Dark Knight Returns." It is set in a future in which an aging Bruce Wayne has given up his crusade on crime and the city has basically gone to hell. The story is about him finding his way back to save his city and has some groundbreaking moments that have defined the Batman we are all familiar with today. Now, filming this can enter dangerous territory for a variety of reasons. The first is the fact that it will likely clash with the current continuity of "The Dark Knight" franchise and confuse everyone to no end. Another is the fact that it could go the route of "Watchmen" and seriously just film the book panel for panel. If this is going to be done, it needs to be done faithfully but also differently so that it is best suited for film. Clint Eastwood as the aging Bruce Wayne would be awesome, but even he might be too old for this type of film. Perhaps someone like Mel Gibson would work, once he's done with all his off-screen problems.

X-Men Origins:

Charles Xavier

Word on the street is that they are making a Magneto origins movie a la "Wolverine." That is too Darth Vader-esque if you ask me. It would be far more interesting to see how Xavier's life pans out and there is no doubt that Magneto would have to be involved in that film anyway. Seeing those two begin as great friends only to end up as sworn enemies would make for an awesome dynamic as opposed to just focusing on the dark side. Let Batman stick to the darkness, we need some more uplifting stuff with X-men. A young actor like Orlando Bloom or Jude Law would work really well as a young Xavier.

The Spider-man

we all know and love

Somewhere along the line, Sony really screwed up with Marvel's premiere character. They started strong but then fell into the campy villain cluster. They also forgot to make Peter Parker a flawed but likeable character in the last movie. They need to restart the franchise with Parker in either high school or college and go from there. He needs to be that nerd again that gets his aggression out web slinging around Manhattan. Oh, and let's not forget that sarcastic dialogue. Parker is always talking while he is fighting because he is nervous. When he is scared and nervous, he rambles and makes corny jokes. That is who he is and that is why we love the guy. Oh, and get someone else as Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy. Let's get back to the basics Sony, then we can fix Venom somewhere down the line.

Nightwing

Dick Grayson is one of the most underrated characters in all of comic books. He used to be Robin, the boy wonder, but then branched off on his own to become Nightwing. He is essentially a distillation of Batman. That means he took everything that is positive about Batman and made it his own and left most of the brooding dark attitude at home. That's not to say he is not a dark character, but his personality is probably a melting pot of Batman, Superman, and Spider-man. He was trained ever since he was a young boy by The Dark Knight himself, so realistically, he should at least be athletically superior to old Bruce Wayne. Regardless, a film branching off from the Batman franchise could really do well. Having Robin leave his mentor in the Batman series is how it would have to start before the little guy could have his own series. His story worked best in the comics when Grayson employed a police officer as his alter ego making the whole cop/vigilante dynamic pretty controversial. Someone like Milo Ventigmilia or Orlando Bloom could accurately bring this acrobat to life.