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What have they done to Superman's costume?!

I wonder if the recent legal dispute between Jerry Siegel's estate and DC has precipitated this. Several sources have reported the possibility of Superman splitting in two, with the rights to certain elements reverting to Jerry Siegel's heirs while everything else is retained by DC. If that happens we could see two simultaneous Superman comic/movie franchises: one produced by the estates of Siegel and Shuster, featuring the original flightless version of Superman, his origin story and costume (minus the 'S' logo), Lois Lane and both Superman's Kryptonian and Earth parents; and another produced by DC, featuring most of Superman's other powers (flight, heat vision, etc), plus most of his supporting cast (Jimmy Olsen, Cat Grant, etc) and his entire gallery of rogues. If this is the case then it would explain why they've changed Superman's costume after 73 years.

Hopefully they're just playing it safe with the new costume until the legal dispute is resolved (which one way or another will happen by 2013). Then once everything is straightened out he'll ditch this 'prototype' for the real costume. At least I hope so...

There's been a lot of speculation in recent weeks regarding a rumoured reboot of the DC universe in September following the final issue of Flashpoint. DC has now confirmed these rumours. They're planning to publish 52 issue 1s in September, with all the heroes made younger and updated for modern readers.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=136835312

This means we'll be seeing updated versions of all the familiar Batman characters and their origin stories. It'll be interesting to see if these comics incorporate any elements from the movies into the new canon.

Here's the first image.

While I never actually loved Smallville, there was a time – so long ago now I'd almost forgotten – when I did at least like it and looked forward to watching each episode. So I do feel a little sad that it's over, even though its conclusion was long overdue. And I've got to admit I did find some of the scenes in the last thirty minutes of the finale quite moving.

A retrospective article on IGN (http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/116/1168363p1.html) made an interesting point about how the show allowed us to see live action versions of lesser known DC characters who ordinarily were unlikely to appear in a live action medium. It was annoying in the early seasons the way every hero wore a t-shirt/hoody that happened to be the same colour as the costume they wore in the comics. But in recent seasons they made more effort to translate the comic iconography onto the screen. Characters like Booster Gold, Hawkman, Blue Beetle, and especially Dr. Fate, all looked pretty accurate to the source material. And unless they appear in Warner Bros' planned Justice League movie, I think it's going to be a long time before we see live action versions of those characters again.

One other thing I find sad about the show's demise is that, aside from 1998, 1999 and 2000, there's been a live action Superman show on TV every year for the last 23 years.
•   Superboy (1988 – 1992)
•   Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 – 1997)
•   Smallville (2001 – 2011)
And even in the three years between L&C and Smallville we had Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. Nowadays Warner Bros are far more conscious of the commercial value of their superhero properties. Consequently I think they'd be less likely to commission a live action Superman show today than they were back in 2001. I doubt we'll see another non-animated Superman series for many years now. And that's a sad thought.

It looks like they just borrowed the Superman Returns suit, they might have used cg models from the film too.

I think that's probably true. There are rumours circulating that they took unused test footage from Superman Returns and reformatted it. If you look at the Superman character model –



– you can see that his face is blurred. Possibly to disguise Brandon Routh's digital likeness?

We should be asking why. Really we should. Think about it. Who wouldn't want to have Superman standing in an iconic shot (perhaps on top of the Daily Planet - which should have been the final scene btw, not a shirt-rip)?

Nobody.

So why didn't they?

I think this question is going to follow Welling around for a long time. I've been seeing a lot of comments from disappointed fans across the internet bemoaning the fact that he never actually wore the suit. Yes, he donned a blue top with the 'S' logo. But he was never shown in the full costume. Rumour has it that his contract stipulated he'd never have to wear the tights. If that's true then it's a kick in the teeth to the fans who waited ten years to see him do it.

The theories I've heard about why he didn't wear the suit are:
1)   He just didn't want to. Every other actor has manned up and worn the tights so it'd be silly for Welling to commit ten years of his life to the project and then balk at taking the final step. Especially when you consider he gets paid an estimated 200,000 dollars per episode. If this is the real reason then it's pretty disrespectful to his fans and to the character.
2)   Warner Bros wouldn't let him wear the suit because they wanted to avoid having the image of another Superman fresh in the audience's mind when Henry Cavill plays the role next year. But considering they didn't have a problem with Ben Affleck wearing the suit for the George Reeves biopic Hollywoodland the same year Superman Returns came out, I don't see why they'd have a problem with a licensed Superman adaptation using the suit now.
3)   They couldn't afford to make the costume. This theory is just ridiculous. If they can afford to make all those other hero costumes – many of which were far more elaborate than Superman's – then they could afford the make the man of steel's suit. Supposedly the suit on display in the Fortress of Solitude was one of Routh's from the 2006 movie. I read somewhere that this had been confirmed by a producer. So in a worst case scenario, Welling could simply have worn that.

Whatever the reason, that aspect of the finale was a letdown. Eventually someone will give us the real reason. But until then we can only speculate.

New downloadable Batman game coming to XBox 360, PS3 and PC.

Batman: Arkham City may be the center of superhero attention right now, but the Dark Knight has another trick up his sleeve. Warner Bros.' development studio Monolith Games is working on a downloadable multiplayer Batman title called Gotham City Impostors.

In this Batman-themed first-person shooter, players take on the roles of ordinary people (one is dubbed "the Office Bat") pretending to be Batman and "impostors" of dastardly bad guys. At a presentation at a pre-E3 event this week, we were shown an image of the Joker flipping the camera the bird. Oh, and he wasn't wearing any pants.

In a mode we watched called Psych Warfare, players defended a battery hooked up to a brainwashing machine while the opposing team tried to destroy it in a capture-the-bomb-style back-and-forth. According the WB and Monolith, Gotham City Impostors will be highly customizable, and players will be able to tweak their characters' body styles and weapons.

Gotham City Impostors is planned for release on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC.

http://uk.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/116/1168524p1.html

It was ok. Not bad, but not great.

Superman is probably my favourite superhero but I never really liked Smallville. I watched the entire first season and bits of seasons 3-4. The last complete season I watched was the fifth. And since then I've just watched the occasional episode (season premieres, the feature length Justice Society episode, etc). I personally don't think it was worth waiting ten seasons for this 'payoff', but it was still pretty cool to see the costume (albeit indistinctly) and hear the Williams score. Considering the budget they had, they did a good job of creating an epic finale. But it hasn't changed my overall opinion of the series.

For all its faults, I still think Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is the best live action Superman TV show to date. Smallville trumped it in terms of visual effects, but L&C stuck closer to the comics and had an integral charm that Smallville always lacked for me. But that's just my opinion and I don't mean to offend any Smallville fans.

Here are some screen captures I took of the Smallville costume. If anyone would rather wait until they see the episode themselves, then don't scroll down (though you can't see the suit all that clearly anyway).
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Wow, these are amazing! I wonder why they've never been released before.
It's quite hard to tell if it's Lea or Keaton in the suit of some of these pics. They really do look alike from a distance. I wonder if that's DeVito's stunt double in the Penguin makeup.

And there's the Adam West Batmobile behind Lea in the penultimate picture! I remember reading in interviews about how Lea got hold of it and was driving it round the set. That's one behind the scenes picture I've always wanted to see.

Thanks for sharing these The Dark Knight.

Thanks for posting these. I've never seen them before.
The one in the middle is one of the best full length shots I've ever seen of the Returns suit.
I like the one with the batarang too. I'm surprised nobody's tinkered with that one to make it look like he's holding up a book or something.
I'd love to see more if you've got them.

Interesting to see Christian Slater at the premiere.

From his IMDb page:

Arrested in West Hollywood, California, after allegedly leading sheriff's deputies on a car chase. A sheriff's spokesman said Slater crashed into a telephone pole, kicked a cop after getting out of his car, then tried to escape over a fence. He was charged with evading police, driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon {his cowboy boots} and driving with a suspended license. [29 December 1989]

Slater was asked about this incident during an appearance on Top Gear a few years ago. He attributed his reckless behaviour to a certain movie he'd just seen.

Around the 3:40 mark in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3bthY07BO8

Has anyone ever heard of these characters or are they completely made-up

There was a John Blake in the comics, but I seriously doubt its him...



Joker stealing a kid's report card is far too horrific for a PG-13 film.

Offhand, I can only think of one prominent character called Blake in the Batman comics and that's Thomas Blake, aka. Catman. Catman was obsessed with Selina Kyle/Catwoman and copied her MO in the perpetration of his own crimes (interestingly, he believed his suit granted him nine lives – a belief adopted by Burton's Kyle in the movie).



In recent years Catman has been depicted as more of an anti-hero/vigilante. During the Battle For the Cowl story arc he even teamed up with Bane to try and maintain order following Batman's alleged death.
   


If JGL's character is based on Thomas Blake, then maybe he's an ally of Catwoman or Bane who's gone undercover in the police department. Or perhaps the leaked storyline about other heroes stepping up to fill Batman's boots is true, and Blake will be one of them. Or maybe the earlier rumours about him playing Alberto Falcone are true, and he's infiltrated the police department under the guise of an honest cop in order to get close to Gordon. It's too early to tell at this stage.

As far as Miranda Tate goes – I'm pretty certain she's Talia in disguise. I expect she'll be a bit like Jezebel Jet from the Batman R.I.P. storyline – ostensibly a supportive confidante for Bruce Wayne, but in reality an agent of the Black Glove (or in this case, League of Shadows) who infiltrates his innermost defences as part of a wider scheme to destroy him. She'll appear misleadingly good natured – perhaps presenting herself to Bruce as a kind of second chance for him to have what he missed out on with Rachel – but will ultimately prove to be the architect of his downfall.

Then again, this plot twist seems way too obvious. Perhaps Tate is merely a red herring and it's actually Hathaway's Selina that'll turn out to be Talia. Either way, I don't recall there being a Miranda Tate in the comics. At least not off the top of my head.