Last week darkhorizons.com (among some movie rumor sites) posted the rumored “short list” for the potential reboot of Superman that is being watched over by Dark Knight/Inception’s Christopher Nolan. I’ll post the article and then discuss the “short list”.

from darkhorizons.com:

“Superman” Directorial Candidates List

By Garth Franklin Friday September 24th 2010 11:20AM

Zack Snyder (“300,” “Watchmen”), Tony Scott (“Deja Vu,” “Unstoppable”), Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield,” “Let Me In”), Jonathan Liebesman (“Battle: Los Angeles,” “Darkness Falls”) and Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Source Code”) have made the short list of contenders to direct the reboot of the “Superman” franchise at Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures says Deadline.

Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are producing and essentially sheparding the new incarnation of The Man of Steel based on an idea of Nolan’s which David Goyer fleshed out into a full script.

Nolan has reportedly already started meeting with candidates and will submit his choice to the studio within the next few weeks.

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Not that I’m an expert at these choices, but I am not happy with any one of the rumored potential directors. I like “300” and “Watchmen” both. In fact, I’m thinking about getting “Watchmen” on Blu Ray. But I don’t think that Zack Snyder is the visionary that he’s being labeled as. What has he done that Robert Rodriguez hasn’t done while making “Sin City” honestly? With Tony Scott, I like a lot of his movies, but if you’ve seen any of his films recently they definitely have that 90’s action movie vibe. Not that that is a bad thing, but I just don’t see him directing a Superman movie. Matt Reeves may have done a lot with a little budget for Cloverfield and I know I saw the trailer for Let Me In (I think it has the girl that played Hit Girl in Kick Ass in it) but I don’t think he’s the one to work on this movie. And as for Jonathan Liebesman and Duncan Jones I don’t think either one of them is up for the challenge.

I really don’t want to disrespect anyone on this “short list” but I think that if this rumored list really is the list that Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas are looking at to direct the reboot of Superman, I think they should look again. There is no one on this list that has the visionary view of the world that Nolan has. I don’t think there is anyone that can take the difficult task of interpreting Superman for the big screen. Honestly, how many times has it been done correctly? Twice maybe? Superman and Superman II (and between you and me, I’m not a fan of the first Superman, I love Lex Luthor, but I think Superman needs to fight a super powered super villian). Ten or twelve years ago I would have said Michael Bay, but I think he would butcher the property. Aside from Nolan himself I don’t think there is anyone who could do this justice. That’s just my opinion.

UPDATED:

This just in, right before being published, Darkhorizons.com has the most recent update on potential candidates for the upcoming Superman reboot:

Affleck Out, Aronofsky In “Superman” Shuffle

By Garth Franklin Tuesday September 28th 2010 10:03AM

The online film world has gone insane over the past 24 hours with all sorts of talk, most of which being bullshit, about the potential candidates to direct Warners’ upcoming reboot of the “Superman” franchise which Chris Nolan (“Batman Begins”) will produce.

First came a Deadline report late last week that Tony Scott, Jonathan Liebesman, Duncan Jones, Matt Reeves and Zack Snyder had all made the shortlist.

Soon after doing press for “Let Me In”, Reeves told JoBlo he was surprised as anyone to hear the rumor that he’s a candidate, saying “I really have no idea if any of that is true.”

Then came talk via The L.A. Times that Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan,” “The Fountain”) had been in discussions. Soon after Moviehole added to the report saying Aronofsky has been in talks about the project for a while and the studio is keen on his “Black Swan” star Natalie Portman to play Lois Lane.

Also emerging today at Heat Vision was talk that actor-turned-filmmaker Ben Affleck, riding high on the critical and box-office success of “The Town”, met on the project last week about potentially helming it but ultimately turned it down.

So what does it all mean? Nothing for the moment. Early talks are likely underway with every major director available who has an interest and it’s likely no-one will be settled on for a while yet.

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Honestly, I don’t know what to think about the potential for Darren Aronofsky being the director of the next Superman movie. I wasn’t that keen when I heard he might be directing a reboot of Robocop. Aronofsky seems to play to the beat of his own drummer and just seems like a moody miserable person, if you were to see his personality through his movies. Nor do I think Natalie Portman is the right person to play Lois Lane. Wasn’t there an issue with Kate Bosworth playing Lois Lane, because she looked too young? Then again, this is a reboot, so, keeping a young cast might not be that bad. But I still don’t see Portman playing Lois Lane.

I also don’t think Ben Affleck is the right person for the job. Not for nothing, but he doesn’t have epic movie directing experience. I guess you could say that for a lot of directors who have been given high profile special effects heavy films as of late. But honestly, Warner Bros. should pay a little extra and get someone who has the grand scoop of a vision to put something amazing on the screen. Hell, I’d even sign Nolan up for it. He seems like a great candidate himself…