Superman adaptations

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This page gives an overview of the adaptations of the cartoon character Superman in other media. Films or series for cinema, television and radio, but also in video games, are taken into account. As a superhero, Superman is also an icon of pop culture , which has also found its way into modern art (e.g. Andy Warhol ) and music.

overview

Kirk Alyn , the first Superman actor
George Reeves , who starred in Supermans in Superman and the Mole Men
Christopher Reeve embodied Superman in the Superman hit series
Dean Cain , who played Supermans in the series Superman - The Adventures of Lois & Clark
Brandon Routh , who starred in Supermans in Superman Returns
Tom Welling , who plays Clark Kents on Smallville
Henry Cavill , who starred in Supermans in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Tyler Hoechlin , who starred in Supermans on Supergirl

Superman became such a great success that in addition to several comic series, he also appeared in radio play series ( The Adventures of Superman ) , films, cartoons and computer games. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this makes Superman the most portrayed superhero on television. Several other superheroes have emerged from the series, especially Superboy , Supergirl and Steel , which have also been made into films.

In 1986, comic book author John Byrne modernized the man of steel by recreating him as it were. Superman was deprived of many powers and made more human. Since this profound change called "Byrne Revamp" by Superman's, Clark Kent is seen as the actual character, while Superman is his secret identity: "Clark is what I am - Superman is what I can do" (TV series Superman - The Adventures by Lois & Clark ). Byrne wanted to humanize the hero and make it more tangible for the reader. In the course of the film Superman Returns there were more and more opposing representations, which again brought Superman as the actual character and Clark Kent as the disguise into focus.

Film and radio

After the animated series of 1941, Superman first came to American cinemas in 1948 with real actors as a serial Superman . In 15 episodes, each ending with a cliffhanger , with a total of 244 minutes playing time, lead actor Kirk Alyn fought against the baddies of the world as the first actor of the "Man of Steel". Despite the unconvincing flight scenes, the serial is considered one of the best because of its interestingly told story. Alyn repeated his role in the serial Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) in 15 episodes with 252 minutes playing time. In 1951, the film Superman and the Mole Men followed, which served as a pilot for the television series Adventures of Superman (1952-1958). In this, Superman was played by George Reeves .

In 1978, after many years of production, the film Superman was released . The director Richard Donner used many well-known actors such as Marlon Brando or Gene Hackman , but in the lead role the newcomer Christopher Reeve flew across the screen with a red cape and - in those days - revolutionary special effects . To this day, some of the flight scenes from this film are among the best. It was not for nothing that the film posters in front of the cinemas said “You will believe that humans can fly!”. In one scene during the train ride, the first "Superman" Kirk Alyn played a minor role as the father of Lois Lane .

The author Mario Puzo had provided so much material that it was enough for a second part, which shortly afterwards (1980) also attracted large numbers of visitors in the cinemas ( Superman II - Alone Against All ). This was followed by two sequels with Christopher Reeve, Superman III - The Steel Lightning (1983) and Superman IV - The World on the Abyss (1987). After the poor box office results from Superman IV, the series was ended. It was not until 2006 that the Warner Bros. film studio managed to stage another sequel with director Bryan Singer, which was again based on the first two films. The then unknown American series actor Brandon Routh received the title role for Superman Returns .

The producers of the first three Christopher Reeve films brought out a Superboy series in 1988 , which deals with the teenage adventures of the superhero. The series was a success but was discontinued in 1992 in favor of another real-life Superman series: Superman - The Adventures of Lois & Clark deals more with the relationship between Lois Lane and Clark Kent than the superhero adventures and translates the Superman myth into a romantic comedy . The series was a huge hit for the first three seasons. But after Lois and Clark got married, the series had lost its inner tension, the fourth season flopped and meant the end of the series.

2001 started the series Smallville , which dealt with Clark Kent's teenage years before he became Superman. His powers only develop in the course of the series, Clark does not initially wear a costume and in the course of the first seasons the series deals more with how Clark grows up and has to reconcile the everyday worries of a teenager with his great fate. Clark Kent later moves to Metropolis and begins working as a reporter alongside Lois Lane , whom he became engaged to last season. The series has ten seasons - a record on American television for a science fiction or fantasy series. The series was completed in 2011.

Superman appeared in the movies Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), all part of the DC Extended Universe . Since 2016, Superman can also be seen in the Arrowverse in the series Supergirl .

As a member of the Justice League of America , Superman can also be seen in their films and series (e.g. The Justice League ), as well as in films by other heroes such as Batman (e.g. Batman of the Future ).

cinemamovies

Year of production German title Original title Director actor annotation
1948 In the Black Spider's Web /
Death of the Black Spider 		Superman Spencer Gordon Bennet , Thomas Carr Kirk Alyn First real film Supermans
1950 did not show up Atom Man vs. Superman Spencer Gordon Bennet
1951 did not show up Superman and the Mole Men Lee Sholem George Reeves only in English with German subtitles
1978 Superman Superman Richard Donner Christopher Reeve Beginning of a movie series
1980 Superman II - Alone Against All Superman ii Richard Lester , Richard Donner (no mention)
1983 Superman III - The Steel Lightning Superman III Richard Lester
1987 Superman IV - The world on the brink Superman IV - The Quest for Peace Sidney J. Furie
2006 Superman Returns Superman Returns Bryan Singer Brandon Routh Superman Returns is linked to the events of Superman II - alone against all of
2013 Man of Steel Man of Steel Zack Snyder Henry Cavill Start of a new movie series
2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
2017 Justice League Justice League
2019 Shazam! Shazam! David F. Sandberg Ryan Handley Superman has a cameo at the end of the film, but his face is not shown

Cartoons

Year of production German title Original title Director Original speaker / German annotation
1998 The Batman / Superman Movie The Batman / Superman Movie: World'd Finest Tim Daly / Ingo Albrecht Edited from 3 series episodes
2006 Not published in Germany Superman: Brainiac Attacks /
2007 Not published in Germany Superman: Doomsday /
2008 Not published in Germany Justice League: The New Frontier / Superman minor character
2009 Superman / Batman: Public Enemies Superman / Batman: Public Enemies Tim Daly / Ingo Albrecht
2009 Not published in Germany Superman: Red Son / Motion comic
2010 Superman / Batman: Apocalypse Superman / Batman: Apocalypse Tim Daly / Sascha Rotermund
2010 Superman / Shazam !: The Return of Black Adam Superman / Shazam !: The Return of Black Adam /
2010 Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths / Superman minor character
2011 All-Star Superman All-Star Superman /
2012 Not published in Germany Superman vs. The elite /
2012 Not published in Germany Justice League: Doom /
2013 Batman - The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 Batman - The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 / Superman minor character
2013 LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Association Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite / Superman minor character
2013 Not published in Germany Superman: Unbound /
2013 Not published in Germany Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox / Superman minor character
2014 Not published in Germany Justice League: Was / Superman minor character
2014 Not published in Germany JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time / Superman minor character
2015 Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Justice League: Throne of Atlantis / Superman minor character
2015 LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League / Superman minor character
2015 Justice League: Gods and Monsters Justice League: Gods and Monsters / Superman minor character

Pilot films

The following films were intended as the start of a series, but were never continued:

Real series

Trick series

Radio series

Film adaptations of offshoots

Occasionally offshoots of the Superman series were filmed (films and series about Superboy are listed under Superman ):

musical

TV specials

Video games

The first Superman licensed game appeared in 1978 under the title Superman for the Atari 2600 . Superman was developed by the American developer Midway Games and was an action adventure that was controlled from the side-scroller perspective. Due to poor localization , some grammatical errors occurred in the game. In 1987 the platform Superman was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System . In the game, Clark Kent is controlled through countless missions and the existing attacks must be used against opponents.

By 1994, four more Superman licensed games for different consoles appeared (including Superman: The Man of Steel for the Sega Master System ). In 1994, SunSoft released the action game The Death and Return of Superman for Super Nintendo . The gameplay is similar to the Final Fight series, as the player controls one of five selectable characters (Superman, Steel, Eradicator, Cyborg or Superboy) through the side-scroller perspective and fights opponents in the process.

In 1999, the French publisher Titus Software released the action game Superman 64 for the Nintendo 64 . This game has a popular status in the video game industry as it was voted Worst Game Ever by many magazines and websites. Superman 64 was ranked 7th in Electronic Gaming Monthly , a video game magazine in the United States .

The French publisher Atari has been responsible for the video game implementation of the Superman license since 2002 . In 2002, two Superman licensed games were released for consoles: Superman: Man of Steel for the Xbox and Superman: Shadow of Apokolips for the PlayStation 2 . Superman: Shadow of Apokolips is one of the most popular Superman video games due to the cel shading graphics and the mission design.

In December 2006, Superman Returns , the official game for the movie, was released for Xbox 360 , PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS .

title Publication date Platform (s) editor
Superman 1978 Atari 2600 Atari
Superman: The Game 1985 Commodore 64 First Star Software
Superman 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System Kemco
Superman 1988 Arcade game Taito
Superman: Man of Steel 1988 Commodore 64 Tynesoft
Superman: The Man of Steel 1992 Sega Master System , Sega Mega Drive Virgin Interactive
Superman 1992 Sega Mega Drive SunSoft
The Death and Return of Superman 1994/1995 Super Nintendo , Sega Mega Drive SunSoft
Justice League Task Force 1995 Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive Acclaim Entertainment
The Multipath Adventures of Superman: Menace of Metallo 1999 Windows 95 Brilliant digital
Superman 64 1999 Nintendo 64 Titus software
Superman 2000 PlayStation Titus software
Justice League: Injustice for All 2002 Game Boy Advance Midway Games
Superman: Man of Steel 2002 Xbox Atari
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips 2002/2003 PlayStation 2 , GameCube Atari
Superman: Countdown to Apokolips 2003 Game Boy Advance Atari
Justice League: Chronicles 2003 Game Boy Advance Midway
Justice League Heroes 2006 Game Boy Advance, Playstation 2, PSP, DS, XBOX, Eidos
Superman Returns 2006 Xbox 360 , PlayStation 2 , Nintendo DS Electronic Arts

music

There are several songs that are named after the character or act by it, including each with Superman titled Songs of the Kinks , Eminem (see Superman (song) ) , Ronan Keating , Lazlo Bane (used as the theme song to the series Scrubs - The Beginners ), Pierre Medor , Shawn Desman , Daniel Küblböck , Skee-Lo and D'Mile , O Superman by Laurie Anderson , a My Superman song from the album "Awake and Breathe" by the British girl group B-Witched , a To be Superman -Song by Pam'n'Pat , the songs about Superman Kryptonite from the debut album "The Better Life" by the 3 Doors Down or Super-Duper-Man from the album "Fantastic" by the Danish group Toy-Box , as well the song Kryptonit by the German rapper MC Basstard from the album " Zwiespalt (Schwarz) ". In 1979 Luisa Fernandez had a big hit with "We All Love You Superman", of which there was also an Italian version called "Sei Il Piu 'Forte Superman".

In addition, the Indonesian punk rock band Superman Is Dead named itself after the hero or his death .

See also

Web links

Wikiquote: Superman  Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Illustration from Andy Warhol's Superman