I’ll be honest.  When the news broke that Henry Cavill had been cast as Clark Kent/Superman, I said, “Who?”  I have never seen the Tudors, or anything else he’s been in, for that matter.

If I can be shallow for a moment–and I can because it’s my column–he has the look.  Give the boy a shave, an appropriate haircut, and some specs and he could very easily be Clark Kent.  Take off the specs and put the spit curl into effect and he’s Superman.  And for all our sakes, let’s hope that he’s able to learn a Midwestern accent. (And yes, people from the Midwest have an accent.)

When it comes to Cavill, I’m willing to give Christopher Nolan and Zach Snyder the benefit of the doubt.  For now.

I want so bad to be excited for this movie. I want to geek out about it.  I want to have faith that this is going to be an interpretation that isn’t going to leave a sour taste in my mouth.  So…I decided to make a short list of things I feel need to be present for this movie to be a success.

1.  Cavill actually wearing the suit. Over the last couple months, particularly since Snyder was named director, there has been much murmuring over the idea that Superman might be CGI.  Doing such a thing would broaden the choice when it came to Clark Kent, because the actor wouldn’t be wearing the suit.

Not a good idea.

Sure, they did something similar with Ryan Reynolds for Green Lantern.  And it’s obvious that CGI has been used for Spiderman and I’m sure every superhero movie at some point.  My beef is that Superman is a character from extraordinary beginnings who can complete extraordinary feats.  With such a character, a certain amount of believability needs to be present.  I need to see Cavill (as Superman) flying at some point.  I need that close up of his face as the wind whips through his hair.  I need to see him punch someone and know that he wished the criminal would have surrendered without a fight.  Most of all, I need to feel an emotional attachment to the character when he’s being Superman.

2. Update, but don’t make him unrecognizable

I’m troubled when I hear all the big Hollywood types talk about how Superman is such a hard sell because people can’t relate, or some mumbo jumbo like that.  Some rumors have said that David Goyer’s script shares some elements with Mark Waid’s Birthright story.  I can get on board with that, as long as it doesn’t involve “soul vision.”

And with Cavill being on the shorter side when it comes to men who’ve portrayed the Man of Steel (he’s only 6’1″), I can also see the story involving some plot points from JMS’s Earth One.  What I liked most about Earth One was that JMS updated the story without losing the essence of who Clark Kent is.  I enjoy the internal struggle of “what do I do with these powers?” and “who am I?”  Yes, yes, yes.  Gimme.

3. Lois Lane

I’ll say it only once.  A Superman movie needs Lois Lane.  When it comes to finding someone to play such an important character, I hope the people in charge choose carefully.  One reason I find it difficult to watch Superman Returns is because of Kate Bosworth.  Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s a wonderful actress.  But she’s not Lois Lane.  And to be fair, she was only acting off the material she was given.  Since when is Lois Lane a moody, emo wannabe?  The spark that made Lois such a great reporter was gone.  And–well, that’s another column altogether.

Personally, I’m on the Rachel McAdams bandwagon.  If I can’t have Erica Durance (who has said she wouldn’t do it without Tom Welling because he’s “her Superman”), then I would want someone like McAdams who is versatile and honestly looks like she could take a punch, set her jaw, and swing right back.

4. A villain other than Luthor. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lex Luthor and I loved Kevin Spacey as him in Superman Returns.  But Superman has a plethora of worthwhile villains to choose from, so why not take advantage of them?  The latest rumor, which appeared on LatinoReview late last week, was that Zod and Ursa were going to be the villains.  Okay, but we’ve seen them before, even if it’s been 30 years since Superman II.

Give me some Brainiac, darn it!  I would love to see a Brainiac much like how the character was portrayed on Smallville.  Here was this guy who knew a great deal about Clark and was able to give him background on his home planet that no one else could.  Brainiac lured him into a false sense of security only to turn on him, which was the plan all along.

Extra credit points if Brainiac has a gallery of bottled cities.

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