2. Nuclear Man
OK, wait. I know what you're thinking, "WTF?!", and you're right! Look, we can go off on how bad Superman IV was, how poor financing of Superman's 1987 Quest for Peace sandbagged production and effects, or even that despite all these flaws, the fact it still somehow surpasses Superman III in terms of being a better CBM as well as an arguably overall better Superman story than many of its predecessors is a check or two in the film's lonely "pro" column. Needless to say, quite ironically, Supes' "Quest for Peace" often divides Superman purists. Either way, those arguments may all be valid, but the idea of creating a nuclear-powered super-being to contend with Superman, as topical as it was in the Reagan-era 80's of nuclear proliferation, it may hold even more resonance today. What with numerous rogue states or non-aligned nations all allegedly expanding nuclear capability and armament, this would be a reinvention thatcoukd "rip from the headlines". With governments of Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran all at apparently varying stages of nuclear development (potentially for weapon-use), it is clearly a global epidemic that someone like Superman would be called upon for assistance, but whether or not that call should come from a whiney fifth-grader named Jeremy again is entirely up for debate this time around. But what isn't is the epic awesomeness the character of Nuclear Man could bring, and the humungous threat he would pose to not just Superman but obviously the entire planet, is ripe for revision. I could already imagine a scenario where Nuclear Man is created by a state under pressure who, enduring devastatingly massive economic sanctions that has ravaged their economy, have nowhere else they think they can turn and put all of their effort into developing this new nuclear project to battle the imperial west, creating a political drama along with a global armed conflict would make for a captivating and modern version of Nuclear Man as an analogy for nuclear power and our reliance on it today as a theme to add to what could be mutually assured destruction in a MoS: part deuce. But, please, if you must go to the moo, leave Mariel Hemingway on Earth!
