10 Things Man Of Steel 2 Needs To Be Great
4. Color And Light
On a formal level, Superman needs color and light to succeed in film. He is the embodiment of hope and justice in the world, so his film needs to be colorful in order for that to work.
Snyder was clearly going for a story about how Superman would operate in today's America when making the first Man of Steel, but perhaps got a little too carried away with all of the on-the-nose desaturation. Grey and cold color tones worked for Nolan in his Dark Knight films because that's exactly what Batman is but Superman is all about warmth and color, even when he's facing a cold and dark world. Which is why desaturating Superman's suit colors to little more than different shades of grey is an absolute insult to the character.
Even Tim Burton, the master of all things macabre, knew this. During pre-production of his ill-fated Superman Lives, Burton was adamant that all of the film be full of color and sunlight, referring to its aesthetic as the exact opposite of his 1989 Batman film.
Color and light are key elements of Superman's character and he's been without them for long enough. And it just so happens that they are also key elements of film. If anything, Superman should be one of the most cinematic characters in history, everything about him lends itself to film. Utilizing this, Man of Steel 2 would be able to establish an entirely new aesthetic for itself and present a more interesting picture of the Man of Tommorrow.