Several times during Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, particularly during the more heinously destructive sequences, it seemed like screenwriter David S. Goyer was more inspired by Rob Liefeld’s morally inept superhero Supreme than the Superman that everyone else grew up with. Snyder' flick made over $650 million, so it should surprise no one that Liefeld has been getting calls from Hollywood about securing the rights to his Supreme comic series. That is, unless your superpower is being surprised by everything.
Liefeld took to Twitter for a little humblebragging, saying that not just one but two studios had their literature departments call him about film rights to Supreme, all in the same week. Can we assume Fox, Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. aren’t involved, given their ties to the more marquee names of the comic world? Ponder that while taking a peek at Liefeld’s tweet.
Supreme, unlike most of the other ridiculously powerful cinematic superheroes, isn’t a part of either the Marvel or DC universes. The series began its life at Image Comics before Liefeld took it to a few other imprints, and then it wound up returning to Image just a few years ago. Can the world sustain an independent superhero franchise amid the pre-planned madness that DC and Marvel have cooked up for the next six years or so? You’re damned straight, assuming the studios choose the right story to tell.
When Liefeld started writing Supreme in the early 1990s, he basically presented a bizarro an alternate version of Superman to the world - one that was more akin to an egotistical dirty cop than the world’s most virtuous icon. Given his powers by a meteorite made of Supremium, Supreme has super strength, heat vision, the ability to fly, and just about everything else you’d expect. He fought Darius Dax, fought alongside his female counterpart Suprema, had a romantic eye for Diana Dane, and even had Radar the Hound Supreme as a sidekick.
But the series, and the hero himself, were completely reinvented by genius comic book writer Alan Moore, who took over the line in 1996. Moore’s run was shortlived, given the collapse of the comic’s publisher, but he turned the series into one full of humor and nuance, not only mirroring Superman stories in a fun way but also drawing upon other characters in comic history and going meta by turning Supreme’s alter ego into a comic book artist. He’s the Superman knockoff we need, and also the one we deserve, especially if Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice leaves a rubble-dust taste in everyone’s mouths.
Incidentally, when someone asked Liefeld whom he would cast as Supreme, this is what he had to say.
Are you guys excited about a Supreme movie? Are you prepared to hear Alan Moore bitch about it a lot? Hit the comments with your thoughts.
