Superman Returns 2

[Chaos]

People who don't read the comics

I don't read the comics, not many of them anyway

Since you HAVE READ SOME OF THE COMICS, your ability to name Superman villains proves nothing.

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

Lex Luthor is the only Superman villain that EVERYBODY knows. People who don't read the comics can't name ANY other Superman villain. Hence, as Junkyard said, Lex is all we're EVER going to get.

yeah, kinda like how the Joker is the only Batman villain EVERYONE knows

[BBQ Platypus]

I really don't think that argument is valid.  I mean, nobody (and I mean LITERALLY nobody) had ever heard of Iron Monger, and yet Iron Man made over $300 million domestically.  The studio will find that if you make a GOOD movie, people may actually (gasp!) WANT to see it!  If they make a crappy movie, fewer people will go.  Granted, that's not always true, but it's a good reason why Spider-Man 3 made less than both of its predecessors.  It also explains why Superman Returns barely made back its budget in the domestic market.

[Raven]

People who don't read the comics

I don't read the comics, not many of them anyway

Since you HAVE READ SOME OF THE COMICS, your ability to name Superman villains proves nothing.

I haven't read any comics.  Lex is the only one I know aside from Zod.  I didn't even recognize any of the 5 Swordking even after I read them.  There are no other commonly know Superman villians.  I know a bunch of the Batman villians and a lot of the X-men (I didn't watch the cartoon either).  I agree with Platypus that it probably doesn't matter, but I also see why the studio is choosing to go this route.  At least it's not gonna be Superman IV again.

[Chaos]

Yes, perhaps it would be more accurate to say "everybody knows Lex" than to say "nobody knows any others." Certainly some people might now some of the others, but I think you'd be very hard pressed to find ANYONE who lives in the United States and speaks English who hasn't heard of Lex Luthor. I'm sure if you went to Zimbabwe you could track someone down, but you get my point.

[Imrahil]

Yeah, I really think that it's okay to just introduce a villain in the story. It's ok.

[Junkyard]

Seconded. I think people may just be able to handle a villain who's power isn't just reflective glare.

[Bob]

Lex Luthor is the only Superman villain that EVERYBODY knows. People who don't read the comics can't name ANY other Superman villain. Hence, as Junkyard said, Lex is all we're EVER going to get.

*Ahem*

I don't read the comics, not many of them anyway, but I can name at least five Superman Villains.

1. Parasite
2. Toyman
3. Solomon Grundy
4. Prankster
5. Mister Myxyzpyxlx

OK, I KNOW I horribly misspelled that last one, but I believe I've made my point that Luthor isn't the only well known Superman villain

Wow, I have only barely heard of the last one.   

Solomon Grundy?    Doesn't he play left tackle for the Bears?

Seriously, I will NOT accept a villian named Solomon Grundy.   

[gbeenie]

Lex Luthor is the only Superman villain that EVERYBODY knows. People who don't read the comics can't name ANY other Superman villain. Hence, as Junkyard said, Lex is all we're EVER going to get.

*Ahem*

I don't read the comics, not many of them anyway, but I can name at least five Superman Villains.

1. Parasite
2. Toyman
3. Solomon Grundy
4. Prankster
5. Mister Myxyzpyxlx

OK, I KNOW I horribly misspelled that last one, but I believe I've made my point that Luthor isn't the only well known Superman villain

Wow, I have only barely heard of the last one.   

Solomon Grundy?    Doesn't he play left tackle for the Bears?

Seriously, I will NOT accept a villian named Solomon Grundy.   

But... but... he was born on a Monday...

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

see, now I thought Solomon Grundy was a Batman villain, as for Mxyzptlk, all I know about him is that he was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, and saying his name backwards will send him to Jeopardy.......... or something

[Imrahil]

I thought Grundy was a batman villain too.

[Chaos]

He's kind of a crossover villain, he's shown up in at least 3 or 4 superhero storylines. He originated in Green Lantern, but has shown up in Batman and Superman as well. Possibly Captain America as well, I'm not sure on that one.

[Junkyard]

In the current continuity, Grundy comes from the swamps outside of Gotham. Whenever he gets "killed," that's where he's reborn.

The fact is, because he's big and mean, he's a good Batman villain, and because he's composed partially of wood, he's a good villain for Golden Age Green Lantern. But he's not in Superman's class. Men made out of swamp muck don't hold their own too well against a man who can fire lasers from his eyes.


.... Krishna, I'm such a nerd.

[Imrahil]

Isn't Bizarro Superman pretty well known?

[Chaos]

Yeah, I don't know anything about the current continuity. The only comics I ever read with regularity were the Batman comics, which I stopped reading shortly after Nightfall, due to money constraints and the rapid onset of puberty and other, more important uses for my time. I briefly started reading Superman two months into the Death of Superman series when I heard about what was happening in there (I still have the full set in plastic), and kept it up through the Reign of the Supermen saga and his eventual rebirth, then I gave up on those, too.

I never read any of the other superhero comics., although I have done a LITTLE bit of reading about the various comics over the years, so I know at least the basics of the various storylines. I've never been a big fan of comics - too little material with too much of a gap in between each new installment. And the pictures in my head were always WAY better than the pictures some guy drew, so I usually stuck to regular books and let my imagination be the visual aid.