Somebody just convinced me that Man of Steel is a bad Superman film...

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

I was talking to an IMDb message board user by the name of pannicatack and he or she said that Man of Steel is a bad Superman film because it couldn't decide if it wanted to be an uplifting story or a tragedy.

And I said, "Don't you think that was the tone the WB was going for, when they were setting up their shared cinematic universe?"

And he/she said, "Maybe, but I have to question Warner Bros. for showcasing Superman to a whole new generation of viewers in a downer movie like Man of Steel."

And then he/she asked me "If I had a friend who knew nothing about Superman but the basics, alien from another planet, he can fly and lift things, also can shoot lasers out of his eyes, and green space rocks can hurt him. He never saw the Smallville TV show. He never saw the Christopher Reeve Superman films. Never read any of the comics. How would I introduce him to the Superman character proper? Would I really recommend Man of Steel to him?"

And the answer is, "no." I would not introduce him to Superman by recommending Man of Steel. And I said, "The only thing I could think of that's a good introduction to Superman is the 1996 Superman: The Animated Series. But I said that, not everybody likes animation. Or even takes it seriously as an art-form. But then I go on to say that Superman: The Animated Series did a better job at introducing people to "The Man of Steel" than Zack Snyder ever did."

[Ayen]

This guy didn't happen to be Doug or Rob Walker, by chance?

Might not be a good introduction, but I still enjoy it as a movie. At least Superman actually got to punch something this time.

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

This guy didn't happen to be Doug or Rob Walker, by chance?

Might not be a good introduction, but I still enjoy it as a movie. At least Superman actually got to punch something this time.

I don't think it was Doug or Rob Walker. But anyway I still enjoy Man of Steel as a plain old movie but even I can admit that it's not the best place to start if you're not familiar with Superman. I think The Animated Series is the best place to start if you're a new Superman fan...And if you don't mind the cartoony animation style. The same thing goes for Batman, if you know somebody who's not familiar with Batman, I'd make him or her start with The Animated Series and then go on to The Dark Knight Trilogy.

[Shauna]

Lucky you'll be hard pressed to find someone not familiar with Superman.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Lucky you'll be hard pressed to find someone not familiar with Superman.

This.

Sure, there's probably a few out there, but almost everyone who knows anything about Superman, but hasn't actually read the comics or seen a lot of the shows, still knows half of the character mythos is the "paladin/Boy Scout" aspect.

I think even the average viewer will understand the new idea of the "fallen hero/dark paladin" angle they're going for.