Did Death of Superman Survive its Animated Adaptation?

Welcome to a special edition of Adventure(s) Time, a look back on the history of beloved animated adaptations of comic properties. This week, we're going to be doing something a bit different; to acknowledge ten years of DC's animated direct-to-video films, we're examining the first release Superman: Doomsday, and the ambitious, thousand page-plus storyline that inspired its plot.

Released in 2007, following the cancellation of Justice League Unlimited (the final edition of the DC Animated Universe canon), the film was conceived as a way to keep producer Bruce Timm and his talented crew of animators busy on new DC projects. The studio and DC Comics were both excited at the prospect of doing direct adaptations of popular DC story arcs as animated films, pairing well-respected animators with stories that had taken on legendary status over the years. One of the earliest stories presented to Timm was the best-selling 1992 "Death of Superman" storyline...and he balked. As he reveals in the audio commentary, Timm initially had no interest in the story, and had convinced co-writer Duane Capizzi to work with him on pitching other ideas for the initial DC animated release.

During that meeting, however, they did begin to toss around ways to possibly make the complicated Death/Return saga work as a singular story, and eventually hit upon some ideas that they liked. DC was surely thrilled with this, given that the storyline was not only a top-seller, but also the template for how Superman stories were told in the 1990s -- sweeping sagas and high concepts, dramatized over the course of every Superman title for numerous months.

The early 2000s saw a new editorial team move away from this approach, as the internal enthusiasm for this era waned; declining sales in the late 1990s and a Wizard magazine article that eviscerated the current status quo of Superman titles likely contributed to this sentiment. The attitude had vacillated once more by 2007, however, with "Death of Superman" and its sequels regaining some respect. Somehow, this behemoth of a story was going to become a seventy-five minute film.

Different Supermen: Connor Kent, Cyborg Superman, Steel, Eradicator

When re-examining the initial story, Timm and Capizzi felt Lex Luthor had been given an unusually small role in such an important Superman event. Existing in a cloned body, passing himself off as his own son, attempting to romance the protoplasmic version of Supergirl, and sporting an impressive mane of fiery red hair...the early 1990s Lex Luthor was certainly not the general public's perception of the legendary villain. He's also not involved with the appearance of the Doomsday monster, and doesn't have much to do with any of the four replacement Supermen who appear after the hero's demise.

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Doomsday attempts to address many of these issues, with the discovery of banished intergalactic war machine Doomsday coming directly from one of Lex's commercial operations, and with Lex creating his own replacement Superman after his rival's demise. Lex's motivations for this are a bit muddy; in some scenes he wants a Superman of his own to control, in others he seems to recognize the importance of Superman's role in Metropolis, and in others Lex just wants a living Superman doll to beat up at times. All of these ideas have potential, and granting Superman's greatest foe a larger part in the events makes perfect sense, there's just no space in the movie to do anything with them.

The compressed nature of the storytelling is a consistent problem with the film. The initial "Death of Superman" storyline had several months to sell the menace of the approaching Doomsday, while its follow-up "Funeral for a Friend" gave the Man of Steel a lengthy send-off, dramatising how the world reacts to losing the hero, the creators doing everything in their power to convince the reading public that Superman was indeed dead. Then, there was "Reign of the Supermen", another ambitious arc that presented four potential Supermen, each story hinting in some way that its star was indeed a reincarnation of the fallen hero. This ended with none of the four Supermen being legitimate, the real Superman's revival, and eventually, a prestige-format rematch with Doomsday.

The movie skips over much of this, providing no real origin for Doomsday (and no rematch for Superman), only one replacement Superman who is revealed as a fraud a few minutes after he appears, and a rushed, unsatisfying explanation for why Superman never died in the first place. Essentially, it's the story of Superman being beaten up badly, the public believing him dead, Superman getting better a few minutes later and everything going back to normal; the only real evolution occurs in a Superman/Lois romantic subplot. And even this feels awkward, given that the story hinges on Superman beginning a sexual relationship with Lois without revealing his secret identity to her. That...does not sound like Superman.

The Wrap-Up

Design-y

Even though the animators' history with the DCAU was used as a selling point for the new line of DVDs, the edict was always to create stories independent of the existing animated canon. This meant new actors, background theories, and character designs. Even though Bruce Timm had already acknowledged that his initial Superman design from 1996 was a challenge, he was open to trying yet again for an all-new look for the character. This Superman is thicker and sturdier, with perhaps a small Ed McGuinness influence, but the extraneous rendering on his face is simply distracting. Adding chin detail lines and bizarrely prominent cheek bones to Superman was a surprise, given that Bruce Timm had already stated his regret for his Season One Justice League redesign of Superman...which featured rendering and cheekbone lines the design just didn't need.

And speaking of cheekbones, the new-look Lex Luthor is given a skinnier, slightly inhuman appearance...and a set of cheekbones that somehow extend from his chin to his scalp. The killer Doomsday is impressive, though, blending the Justice League design with more inspiration from the comics. And this incarnation of Lois Lane is a darned cute "Timm-girl" design, the only other visual revamp competitive with an existing DCAU look. The challenge faced by Timm and his crew on the film was finding an entirely new look for these characters, while staying true to the design sense Timm had already developed during his years in animation. (It's not as if they were paying Bruce Timm not to draw like Bruce Timm.) Eventually, the DCAU-esque designs of these films were largely abandoned, with the movies taking on more of a modern anime look.

One irritating aspect of these designs is the adamance in not giving Superman his trademark cape emblem. Timm argued when designing Superman: The Animated Series that it would've been too difficult to animate, which is likely true for an ongoing series. This is only a one-shot deal, however, and the image of Superman's tattered cape being turned into a battle-ravaged flag, the S-emblem honoring the hero after this horrific battle, is the iconic image from this storyline. Eliminating the emblem for the movie ruins that shot.

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Hey, I Know that Voice

Differentiating the film from the existing cartoons also required recasting all of the roles, an act viewed as a necessary evil at the time. Firefly star Adam Baldwin provides a credible Superman, but lacks the warmth Tim Daly brought to the role (and while Daly's replacement George Newbern was occasionally stiff, he still sounded more comfortable in the part than Baldwin.) James Marsters' take on Lex Luthor is fine for this interpretation of the character, who's all about intellect over brawn, but he just sounds weak and uncharismatic when compared to Clancy Brown. Replacing Dana Delany, who brought an amazing amount of character to Lois Lane, would've been difficult for any actress. The casting of Anne Heche is certainly different, so different any direct comparison would be pointless. Just judged on her own moments, though, Heche's voice is so quirky and wobbly, it's difficult to think of her as the no-nonsense Lois.

A surprising cameo by director Kevin Smith shouldn't be forgotten. When the cloned Superman trashes the Toyman's mechanical spider, Smith is in the crowd, mocking the events. This is a nod to Smith's attempt to write a live-action version of this story, and the Hollywood producer who was obsessed with the thought of Superman facing a gigantic spider monster.

Not Approved By Broadcast Standards & Practices

As revealed in the audio commentary, the higher-ups didn't feel that earlier drafts were PG-13 enough, so the producers decided to ramp up the violence by having Lex Luthor murder his aide Mercy Graves out of spite. Timm acknowledges that this was "purely gratuitous."

Battle of the Battles to the Death

While the film hits the basic beats of the initial work, it lacks much of the emotional impact. Superman doesn't just "get better" in the comics; he's revived because his adopted father Jonathan helped to pull him away from the afterlife during his own near-death experience, weeks before faux-Superman the Eradicator had a change of heart, learned the value of heroism, and used Kryptonian technology as a one-time "Get out of Death" card for Superman. Eliminating these characters drastically changes the story; not only are fans not treated to a true adaptation, but much of the heart of the original work is missing.

Even as the comics were criticized for being crassly commercial, they were written by talented, skilled professionals like Roger Stern and Louise Simonson. Far from perfect comics, but they do feel like genuine Superman stories, existing to not only sell comics but make an actual point. The creative justification of the "Death" storyline and its follow-ups was to reassert Superman's role in the modern landscape of less-than-heroic superheroes. The movie lacks that context, and doesn't create anything to take its place.

However, it's worth noting that Doomsday does improve on the original work in some ways. Lex Luthor's increased role makes sense, and the confrontation with Doomsday is staged at night in this story, a vast visual improvement. A common fan complaint about Superman's lengthy fight against Doomsday was that it almost entirely consisted of punches, with Superman barely using any of his other powers against the monster. The movie deals with this immediately, with Superman using his freeze breath attack at the start of the fight, only to discover it doesn't work. And the fisticuffs that do occur actually feel as if some thought went into them, with the producers drawing upon the epic battles of their Justice League Unlimited series. Another gripe asked why didn't Superman just fly Doomsday into space and get rid of him; that thought is addressed here, and it actually leads to Superman's victory against the beast, replacing the gigantic punch that dropped Doomsday in the comics.

In the end, Doomsday comes across as an odd alternate reality episode of Superman: The Animated Series. One that allowed more violence, occasional swearing, and hints of sexuality. The action is there, the overall production is high-quality, but as an adaptation of the most ambitious Superman storyline ever told, the film is lacking.

Perhaps that sentiment exists within Warner Brothers, given that the story is getting a second animated adaptation in 2018 and 2019. Current plans are for The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen to be released as separate films, providing the creators more space to truly flesh out the complex narrative. Going back to this well again is a debatable move, but recent years have shown an increased reverence for the initial storyline within Warners/DC. Not only was it a key point in the Dawn of Justice and Justice League films, but even the official introduction of the Watchmen cast into the DC Universe apparently now hinges on "Death of Superman." For a story that many fans, even some DC staffers, just wanted to forget, it's certainly proven oddly durable.

That's all for now. If you have any episodes of an animated series or movie you'd like to see paired with its tie-in comic, just leave a comment or contact me on Twitter.