Man of Steel in Blue Tights

There are two comic book superheroes I like the most: Superman and Spider-man. For Spider-man, I’ve even read the first issues of adventures over at Marvel. I wish I had asked my grand-uncle to let me have those comic books for they were just stacked in some dingy old wooden box with old magazines and newspapers. But alas! I lack the foresight that those old comic books are such gems. I like Superman because I’ve read the DC comic books, borrowed from friends, about him. And, of course, who could ever forget those Christopher Reeves films that brought the movie industry to whole new level in terms of special effects? When I’ve heard the news that Superman is going to die in comics, I huddled with my college friends just to see that funeral artwork. Man it was awesome!

After two great Spider-man movies (starring my favourite actor Tobey Maguire), we’ll again see the flight of the Man of Steel (or hunky alien) in Superman Returns. I’ve seen the trailer, and it’s brilliant. You’ll hear the familiar voice of Marlon Brando as Jor-El. I now wonder what they are going to tackle in this film. On the trailer, you’ll see that we’re going back to the time when the young Kal-El was discovered by the Kent’s after a meteor shower, and back when the young Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) discovers his supernatural abilities. Is it going to be similar to the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeves? The storyline from the official website doesn’t say so. It is pretty obvious that they took off from where the last film left off. Maybe after years of absence, superman got a facelift.

Bryan Singer, who brought us the first two great film adaptations of another set of comic book heroes The X-men, directed this new film; he opted not to direct the third instalment of the X-men franchise to give new life to the most beloved superhero. We’ll see an even prettier Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) and probably a nastier Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey).

Superman Returns opens on 30^th of June 2006.