Zack Snyder's Superman to be a true franchise relaunch

After the lukewarm response to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, it should come as no surprise that Warner Brothers, Snyder, and Christopher Nolan would want to start completely fresh. Singer's film was designed as a sortof Superman 1.5, and I think one of the many problems it had was trying too hard to fit into that very dated world established by Richard Donner in 1978.  In speaking with the LA Times, Snyder makes it clear that his vision for the Man of Steel will be completely free from any other we've seen previously...

Snyder: Literally, the one thing that everyone can start to think about is that we’re making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there’s been no other Superman movies. If you look at  ‘Batman Begins,’ there’s that structure, there’s the canon that we know about and respect but on other hand there’s this approach that pre-supposes that there haven’t been any other movies.  In every aspect of design and of story, the whole thing is very much from that perspective of respect the canon but don’t be a slave to the movies.

A smart move. Gettin as much distance from 'Returns' is smart, and gives the opportunity to spin the character in a whole new direction. With Cavill as the lead, this Superman should be faster and more action oriented than any we've seen before. I'm not all that interested in walking through his origin story again, but if it's done in a cool way I can handle it.

Snyder doesnt' reveal much else in the interview. He praises the hell out of Christopher Nolan, and basically says the entire production has been "awesome". Yet there's still one bit I don't quite agree with...

Snyder: You know that if you do Superman right — or at least if you do him with respect — you know you end up with something great…. [but] in some ways [beyond] that is virgin territory. No one knows what that is. In some ways Superman is the most recognizable superhero on the planet but also the most unknown. Just what he can be? People have preconceived ideas about him but probably all of them are wrong.

I think we know exactly who Superman is, and what literally dozens of different creators have been trying to do is re-invent him. Superman is almost too familiar, too recognizable. It's become impossible to do anything shocking with him. So what others have done is try to twist him into what they think he should be. To modernize him. To make him more "pro-active". It's hardly "virgin territory". Maybe it is if your only exposure to Superman is through movies. As much as I love Snyder, I hope he doesn't go overboard in trying to get away from Singer's retro version.