I Hate Jor-El

Chris over at the mighty Invincible Super-Blog said something along these lines last week. I'm going to echo it here: I really don't give a damn about Jor-El.

And though I've enjoyed most of what Geoff Johns has done, I'm exteremely wary about his teaming up with Richard Donner on Action. Because I really am not that big a fan of what Donner did.

Yes, I know that Superman: The Movie was the first real super-hero movie. But I have some serious issues with it. And foremost among them is exactly what Chris says: the constant, unending obsession with Jor-El and Krypton.

I mean, c'mon. At their worst the Kryptonians are "The Assholes of Space." And at their best they're arrogant bumblers. Hell, in the animated continuity they created a world-ravaging, evil artificial intelligence. Not the best idea anyone has ever had.

But the movies' ridiculous Krypton is just... Well, it's ridiculous. How could anyone possibly live in those giant, idiotic crystal structures? There aren't any chairs. And I'm pretty sure there aren't any toilets either. And they clearly can't lock the doors -- a fact that leads into the entire plot of Superman Returns.

And while I'm on that subject... I loved Superman Returns. I literally wept tears of joy about the fact that I was finally able to see a Superman movie on the big screen. But I really wish they'd broken completely with the previous films.

They didn't need to do an origin film, but there were a lot of unnecessary (in my view) nods to the Donner films (besides, this means I'll never see my brilliant trilogy of Superman films on the big screen). Let's hope Superman Returns Again Gives us some sort of real menace.

So in conclusion: can we stop talking about Jor-El and Krypton for awhile? I mean, we haven't heard Bruce Wayne angst this much about his parents in recent years. And he has a lot more cause for it than Superman...