Superman Returns: The Novel

Last week I finished reading the novel Superman Returns by Marv Wolfman. I've always read the novels of my favorite movies. I find sometimes this really gives an interesting addition to the film.

There were some great stuff added to the novel which didn't appear in the film. This could be considered spoiler material if you still haven't seen the film and don't want to know anything. If this is the case then stop reading now.

By far the most interesting different between the novel and movie is Superman's trip to the planet Krypton. This was definitely the biggest disappointment of the movie for me. I was really looking forward to seeing how today's modern technology would be improving on the design of Krypton we were introduced to in 1978. The book did two great things with this part of the story. The first was simply the description of Krypton's history and architecture. The second was Superman's near fatal escape from the planet of his birth. A scene with Superman's ship being bombarded by kryptonite and he rockets to escape the dead planet would have been just incredible to see on the big screen.

Another very interesting point of the novel was the fact that Lex Luthor was responsible for leaking the information that Krypton had been found and that there were evidence of life on it. I thought this was a great way to show Lex's influence even while in jail and his desire take out Superman no matter what.

The biggest disappointment of the novel was in regards to Lois Lane's son, Jason White. In the movie we learn that he is actually the son of Superman. When I first learned this I didn't like the idea, however it did start growing on me. I was really hoping that the book would explore this part of the story even further. I was quite surprised that not a single reference to Jason's true origin was given! Absolutely nothing! Now... is this because the book was released before the movie so they didn't want to give away such a big plot point? Is this because this was changed in the movie at the last minute? This was a MAJOR bummer for me. I love when books fill out the story and add to it... not take away.

So, Superman Returns was a nice addition to a Supes fan like myself. Now I can't wait for the DVD! Maybe we'll get those Krypton scenes on that!

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