Superman Returns was a frustrating movie for me to watch. Not the film itself – I thought that was quite brilliant. Instead it was the media surrounding the movie. Critics offered praise for the film but quickly turned their back on the film when its box-office draw wasn’t consistent with their reviews.
Despite a challenging run in theaters, the picture has earned its way to a sequel and recently writer Michael Dougherty offered Sci-Fi Wire a few hints at what we can expect from the sequel.
First of all: expect more action. While I enjoyed the dramatic storyline of Returns I have to agree that it needed more action to drive it. After all, this is a super hero story. According to Dougherty, director Bryan Singer wants to “Wrath of Khan it” which suggests a revenge driven storyline to me. The key phrase being tossed around is that this will be an “action-packed” film.
Secondly: another villain drawn from the comic book franchise… or more than one. Dougherty only offered a “maybe” when asked the question, and teased that Mr. Mxyzptlk would be making an appearance. I don’t expect that to be a serious answer, instead just a tease to Superman fans with the name of one of the Man of Steel’s most annoying antagonists. Hopefully Singer, Dougherty, and co-writer Dan Harris (who is also returning) won’t go too heavy on the villains though. The Batman franchise showed how off track a movie can go if it spreads itself too thin.
