The future of Superman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is up in the air. While Henry Cavill is technically open to reprising the role, and WB is technically open to having him in it, the two camps are sparring over terms. The rumor is that Cavill will have a role in Shazam! 2 and maybe even Black Adam.
However, he was also supposed to be in Shazam! but that fell apart because of contract issues. There are currently no Superman projects in the works for the DCEU, but if Warner Brothers wants to revive the character, there are a number of great stories to choose from, but not all adapt well to the screen. Here are five stories that that should remain in the comics, along with five that are perfect for adapting to live action.
10 Leave In The Comics: Red Son
There's no doubt that Red Son is one of the best Superman stories ever told. It speculates what would happen if Kal'El had crashed in the Ukraine rather than in Kansas, becoming a champion of Soviet values rather than American ones. The story has interesting revisions of Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Lex Luthor, making it a fun read from its exciting premise to its final zinger in the last panel.
In the comics, it's possible to produce standalone books that don't fit with the main continuum, but with a film series that's already struggling to build a shared universe, parallel universe stories like Red Son are more trouble than they're worth. However, the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) does well with these, and has produced a full-length Red Son movie that's worth checking out.
9 Adapt: For The Man Who Has Everything
On the other hand, a great little story to adapt to live action would be Alan Moore's For the Man Who Has Everything, in which Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin visit Superman at the Fortress of Solitude on his birthday, bringing gifts they hope will make him happy. Unfortunately, Mongul got there first, with a present of his own, whose nature is what makes this such a powerful Superman story and should remain a surprise for anyone who hasn't read this delightful piece.
This short story could easily be adapted as part of a crossover, maybe even a Trinity event, highlighting the fraught friendships between the heroes (which was the best part of Justice League).
8 Leave In The Comics: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?
On the other hand, this Alan Moore story would make a terrible choice for adapting. The story is the original Death of Superman concept, but it takes a very different tack. An investigator is trying to delve into the exact circumstances that led to the Man of Steel's demise, and he comes to a very surprising conclusion.
This is a continuity-wrecking story, perfect for the rebooting of the DC universe before Crisis on Infinite Earths, but wouldn't help build the DCEU.
7 Adapt: Brainiac
If DCEU producers are looking for a compelling story that would make a great standalone movie, they should consider Brainiac. It sidesteps the issues surrounding Lex Luthor and Darkseid after the earlier movies, while using a classic Superman villain. Brainiac offers a suitable challenge for Superman, great opportunities for trading meaningful one-liners, huge effects sequences, and heart-stopping tension.
This arc was already adapted in the DCAU as Superman: Unbound, which offers a template that could be expanded and improved. A big challenge would be finding the right look and personality for Brainiac.
6 Leave In The Comics: All-Star Superman
Of all the recent Superman stories, there is none that is more purely joyful than All-Star Superman. The story succeeds in purifying Superman as a new savior, a secular Christ for all of humanity. It tells the story of Superman becoming supercharged with solar radiation so that his powers increase, but his being becomes unstable. Knowing that he is going to die, he decides to try to live his best life before he goes.
Like other stories about Superman's impending death, this story would be hard to fit into a continuum. Plus, this story is so pure and holistic that it's hard to take separate elements out of it in ways that would be meaningful in the context of a movie. That means it's best to leave this story in the comics where it belongs.
5 Adapt: What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, And The American Way?
What's So Funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way? is a single standalone comic from 2001. In it, Superman falls in popularity when a band of heroes calling themselves The Elite come on the scene. These heroes are fully prepared to kill villains and get seen as the kind of hero America needs, until Superman shows them how important it is for heroes to be governed by a strict code that protects the public.
This comic seeks to reassert the primacy of Superman in contrast to the wave of vicious vigilante heroes that dominated in the 1990s, but it could just as easily be aimed at the Superman we've seen in the DCEU so far. It could serve to help refresh his character without the need for a reboot. A DCAU adaptation as Superman vs. The Elite isn't bad, and can serve as a template.
4 Leave In The Comics: Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come tells the story of Superman's future, after he has stepped away from being a hero for a decade, allowing a new breed of violent heroes to take his place. When he is induced to come back and reform the Justice League, he has to fight against multiple forces that have taken advantage of the power vacuum left by his absence.
This is a classic story, one which highlights important moral issues about heroism and whether Superman's responsibility is to use his power or to not use it. However, it's also the kind of parallel narrative that the comics can tell, but are challenging for the movies.
3 Adapt: American Alien
American Alien is a series of comics about Superman's origins that fill in the story between his first arrival in Smallville and his appearance as Superman in Metropolis. It's told in a series of disconnected vignettes with a wide range of styles and tones.
The main reason to adapt this series into live action is that it can give Superman something he's been lacking in the DCEU: humanity. And because it's told in a series of unconnected vignettes, it's possible to intersperse a few of the stories into the framework of a larger narrative.
2 Leave In The Comics: Superman For All Seasons
Superman for All Seasons is a delightfully elegant conceit: a series of 4 Superman stories themed around the seasons. Each story is told from a different perspective: Jonathan Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Lana Lang. The emotions they feel about Superman blend nicely with the season they are set in, making for a compelling and satisfying narrative.
While these stories work well in the comics, they wouldn't adapt well to the screen, at least not the big screen. If there were an Arrowverse Superman series, this might adapt really well for an episode. But building a movie around this comic would be challenging and the result likely unsatisfying.
1 Adapt: Superman And The Legion of Super-Heroes
Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes is set 1000 years in the future where Superman's true origins have been obscured by time and manipulated by The Justice League of Earth, which claims he was human, but gave sanctuary to aliens on Earth. Present-day Superman travels to the future to battle for his legacy and tolerance for aliens.
Although the complicated story of the comics might need a bit of trimming to fit into a movie, the story could be successfully adapted to a compelling movie. And the theme is extremely important at a time when xenophobic rhetoric is becoming increasingly popular in western civilization