With Zack Snyders Superman Man of Steel slated for a 2012 release the rumours have hit the web that General Zod will once again be the villain. Zack Snyder today debunked it saying that it is nothing but a rumor and they have not yet selected a villain. This leads me to my list of what I think are 5 villains for the upcoming Superman Man of Steel movie that would make it a fantastic experience for comic book and movie fans. Superman Man of Steel has the opportunity to be the biggest comic book movie franchise yet with not just Zack Snyder directing but Batman Begins/Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan producing and David s. Goyer working on the script with Chris Nolans brother. The potential is immense and for my liking here are 5 villains that I hope they consider for Superman Man of Steel.
#5: General Zod: General Zod although only a rumor at this point would make for a great villain. It would bring back great nostalgia to the earlier movies where Zod and his gang gave Superman a run for his money. If brought up to the times and with Zack Snyder’s distinct visual style General Zod would be a worthy villain… again.
#4: Mr Mxyzptlk: He appeared in Superman Volume 1 Issue #30 and is an ‘imp’ that originally came to earth to take over the planet only to bang heads with the man of steel. He quickly decided that rather than taking over the planet it was much more fun to cause havoc in Metropolis pulling pranks on Superman and just causing general mayhem. A villain from the 5th dimension he is one of my favourite characters that Superman has ever gone toe to toe with. Mr Mxyzptlk would be a tough villain for Zack Snyder to work with because of the ‘cheesy’ nature of the villain but I am sure Zack is up for the challenge.
#3: Lex Luthor: I really did not like the way that Lex Luthor was played out in Superman Returns. For me he was just not dark enough and diabolical enough. To me Lex Luthor has always been a powerful and evil man who uses his money and influence to not just take over Metropolis but destroy Superman. Lex Luthor was played by Gene Hackman in the 1978 Superman movie and by Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns but both times the role for me was not dark enough. If Christopher Nolan who is producing could do like we saw with the Joker in Dark Knight with Lex Luthor he could have a real success bringing this character back as a villain.
#2: Red Kryptonite Superman: Red Kryptonite throughout the comics has alot of different effects on Superman from making his hair grow to turning him into a telepath but the best was in Issue #303 where Red Kryptonite turns him into the monster known as ‘The Drang’. This is the least likely route that they will take the story but it would be one of the darkest possible paths. The united states army ends up taking on SuperMan as ‘The Drang Monster’. Another good option for Red Kryptonite which could play into Lex Luthor appearing as well would be Lex Luthor giving Superman the Red Kryptonite and go the route of Action Comics #293 where Superman turns into an irresponsible mess and Clark Kent is forced to contend with his new alter ego doing things he would never normally do as protector of Metropolis.
#1 – Doomsday: Without a doubt the absolute best route to take the new Superman Man of Steel films would be the Doomsday route. Zack Snyder with producer Christopher Nolan could build it into a three picture arc with the final outcome being just as it was in the comics with Superman saving the day.. but also being destroyed. This would cause a lot of problems for the studio from a movie franchise stand point but it would also without question make Superman Man Of Steel the most successful and profitable comic book franchise ever. Bold statement but don’t you agree?
