Have a Super Tuesday, everyone!

Fans show their love of their favorite things in a variety of ways – and, arguably, one of the most impressive ways is by producing “fan films” that tell a story about the heroes and villains they love to watch.

Productions can range from studio-quality to something that more resembles a community theater production. But they’re all alike in one way – they wouldn’t exist without the abundant love fans have for the stories, characters and franchises that inspire them.

I’ve had the good fortune to meet some industry pros through my involvement in fan films. I’ve also met some interesting … um … “characters” (that might be the best way to put it. I may share those stories down the road, but not today.

Today, we go up, up and away with Superman

This Superman short just appeared online in December of 2022. Made with Real Engine 5, it’s not like any other Superman fan film I’ve seen.

I’ve selected some fun Superman-related fan films to share today. The first (featured at the top of this post) is a really impressive short film made with Real Engine 5. It’s very lifelike and works like a video game cutscene.

Other than Supes, there’s very little human figure-work in the video – which is probably for the best. It’s hard work animating humans and making them look like they’re not computer-generated figures. (The guys at Corrider Crew do a great job of explaining the “Uncanny Valley” affect in this video.)

One way around that problem is to use actual humans in your short film – and the Bat-In-The-Sun guys do an amazing job with the superhero/sci-fi genres in this regard. Check out this video that imagines what would happen if the dark lord of the Sith (Darth Vader) met the World’s Finest (Superman and Batman).

By taking Superman and Batman to a galaxy far, far away, the filmmakers have an opportunity to make something special that doesn’t have to adhere too closely to the established rules of the universe where DC’s heroes are currently living. The costumes, acting, casting, sets … all of it is first-rate in this short.

And if you don’t like the way this one ends, the folks at Bat-in-the-Sun made a second version where the other “team” wins the contest.

But let’s bring things back to Earth.

Throwing back to an earlier day

One way to make the story of superheroes work – and not date themselves in the process – is to put those heroes in another time. Since the superhero comics burst onto the scene at the end of the Great Depression (1938), I tend to prefer an early 20th Century feel to superhero dramas I see on the screen. That’s why, for my money, my favorite MCU and DCU films are CAPTAIN AMERICA; THE FIRST AVENGER and WONDER WOMAN, respectively.

Fans can use that trick as well – and sometimes they really go all-in on the nostalgia of it all. I love what this fan did with Supergirl by casting back in the 1920s.

Of course, as cool and nostalgic as the images are, the method of story telling allows the filmmakers to focus on producing authentic-looking visuals and just share bits and pieces of a larger story. Is there a larger story that backs up this short film? In my experience, the answer is “probably not.”

Fans are, for the most part, okay with that though. If you read the comments on the video, you’ll see fans encouraging the filmmaker to keep making more videos and pining for Hollywood to make these fan-creations come to life. Of course, there are a host of legal problems with that suggestion – but that’s a post for another day.

Filmmakers can continue to play the nostalgia card, however, by falling back on a different media that works really well with superhero stories – and Superman stories, in particular (imho). Check out this 2D animated short from Robb Pratt …

Now, I particularly love this one and his Bizarro short films – as far as Superman projects go. But these films are old projects and it looks like Robb eventually pursued a more ambitious project around Flash Gordon (another personal favorite of mine) about seven years ago, and then his own series, Carman. Robb now works for Disney (at least according to his website) as an animator.

The animation adventure doesn’t end there, folks

Think that 2D animation was pretty amazing – you’re going to love this work by animator Paul B. Frieling at Lazy Droid Studio. If you’re at all familiar with the Tim Burton version of Superman that never got made (Jon Schnepp produced a documentary about Superman Lives), you need to check this trailer out.

This trailer dropped on YouTube on December 20, 2022. I so hope Paul is able to make this happen.

After all these years, I’m still all-in on Nic Cage as Superman. It’s weird, I know, but then again, I don’t take comic book movies too seriously.

Sometimes, the passion just wins out

Remember how I said that sometimes, these fan projects more closely resemble community theater than studio-quality entertainment? JUSTICE LEAGUE: SILVER is an example of that. It’s cringe-worthy. Sometimes really cringe-worthy. But the love of the heroes and the stories the fans want to tell make it possible to sit through thirteen minutes of what we have here.

It’s honest and it’s heartfelt. It might not be very good, but you have to respect the passion.

And Starro. Everyone has to respect Starro.

Just remember, forty years ago, this is what passed for a live, Justice League adventure produced by Hollywood. Yikes …

Have a great Tuesday, everybody.