There has been a lot of talk recently about a new "Superman" movie that Warner Bros. hopes to start working on soon. "Batman" is currently being filmed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) and I'm sure that movie is going to be pretty outstanding.

But I'm pretty nervous about a "Superman" type of movie. Of all the comic book characters, "Superman" is by far the most iconic. To make a movie about "Superman," I feel that someone needs to approach the material with as much reverence and respect as someone approaching an adaptation of Homer's "Illiad" or Shakespeare's "Hamlet." All comic book movies really hang in the balance of being completely kick ass, or being complete cheese factory. Everything from the costumes, to the villains have to be handled with such a high degree of skill, that it's not that surprising that there are so many awful comic book movies out there.

Although I may end up eating these words, I think that the X-Men movies are about as great of a comic book adaptation as we're likely to see in movie form. As a villain, you just can't get any better than Ian McKellan's Magneto. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are so good in their parts, that they really never even come close to walking that line of cheese or not. Their performances and their characters are pure bread and butter. Jackman's Wolverine and every other character in X-Men do walk that line. Sometime's they rock it hard core, other times not so much.

But I just get nervous about a "Superman" adaptation. I think that with the names they have throwing around, it has a high possibility of being a cheese fest. "Superman" is a character that is filled with the greatest themes of politics, humanity, mixed with superhuman strength.

Superman is one of those characters that possesses in him the possibility to end pretty much every war or human tragedy that there is. He can move mountains, plug volcanoes, defeat dictators, feed starving countries, and leap tall buildings. But he doesn't do all of that because he understands that it's a fine balance between doing what he can, and doing too much. If he does too much, then he realizes that humans won't be able to figure out their own problems and will end up relying too much on him to fix the wrongs of the world.

Sounds cheesy writing about it, but there are some really great things that can be done with this character. Anyone who doubts that need only look at the artwork of Alex Ross. Alex Ross is a genius painter who has drawn some really outstanding portraits of all of the superheroes. If you even have the slightest interest in superheroes, artwork, or mythology, then I recommend any of Alex Ross's books. You won't be disappointed.

matt out