How Would You Reboot Your Favorite Universe?

With Marvel soon to be entering the reboot business, and DC hopefully rebooting out of their current mess before I'm dead, I'm wondering how YOU would reboot your favorite fictional universe. Be it from a game, movie, tv series, comic, whatever. Maybe it doesn't NEED a reboot, but if it did, what are the essentials you'd want to emphasize or re-create?

Next week on the podcast I'm going to talk about how I think Superman could be fixed, so I won't go into that here, but if I were to reboot the DC Universe, I would make the horrible financial decision to start incredibly slow, and publish just SUperman, then Batman, anhd slowly, organically, populate the universe with characters. In a sense, represent the publishing history of the DCU but compressed into 5 years or so. The result would hopefully be a more streamlined universe with a handful of characters that are more easily distinguishable for their differences. (And maybe throw in a few HEROES, just to mix things up. "C'mon, Kal. Just ONE smile for the camera? Okay, you're scaring my baby, now.")

I would also make sure that only Geoff Johns and Gail Simone were allowed to write books, and serve as editors for each other's work... ;-)

One I am becoming increasingly terrified of is this Babylon 5 reboot they're talking about. I haven't liked the trajectory of the creator's current writing career (J. Michael Straczynski). I loved the original show and I think they should just leave well enough alone.

Now, I would love for them to reboot Mystery Science Theater 3000. I think if done right, they could make an incredible space comedy show.

I'd like to see a Hitchhiker's Guide movie that doesn't totally butcher Douglas Adams' best lines and use all the ideas he rejected as filler.

It probably wouldn't be so much a reboot as a sequel to the original TV series, maybe a quick precis of how things got to where they got to, and pick up the story with the third book (or the second radio series, even though that doesn't really fit the continuity of the books). And the visual style of the 1994 illustrated version.

Obviously, since the movie we did get spent 20 years in development hell and Douglas had to die before it got made, I think it's fairly safe to say another movie being made is infinitely improbable.

UKSteve wrote:I'd like to see a Hitchhiker's Guide movie that doesn't totally butcher Douglas Adams' best lines and use all the ideas he rejected as filler.

For the love of everything... YES!

Robotech...
I'd reboot it as a more serious (I'd say "adult", but that has other connotations) series of films. Pacific Rim, for all its faults showed that giant robot action movies can really be visually appealing these days.
I'd make Roy Fokker the hero, with his arc being the first film. Next you could switch to the perspective of the Zentraedi, and finish the trilogy with a cataclysmic space battle for the ages.
I'd leave out the prepubescent singing sensation altogether.

mikel.withers wrote:Robotech...
I'd reboot it as a more serious (I'd say "adult", but that has other connotations) series of films. Pacific Rim, for all its faults showed that giant robot action movies can really be visually appealing these days.
I'd make Roy Fokker the hero, with his arc being the first film. Next you could switch to the perspective of the Zentraedi, and finish the trilogy with a cataclysmic space battle for the ages.
I'd leave out the prepubescent singing sensation altogether.

So crazy, I've just been feeling an itch to get back into some "giant-mech anime"! Never watched Robotech. Gundam Wing is nearly my only exposure to the setting. I wasn't a fan of Pacific Rim, but I could DEFINITELY go for more live-action giant mech movies! And yes, serious! A tough trick with the premise, but I would LOOOOVE that!

mikel.withers wrote:Robotech...
I'd reboot it as a more serious (I'd say "adult", but that has other connotations) series of films.

Exactly my feelings, but about the Japanese anime Gatchaman (my Precious)! Also known as Battle of the Planets (BotP) waaaaaay back then, in the States.
More 3D characterization, and make the team members equally as valuable and skilled as the leader; make their friendship & the way they relate to eachoter more grown-up (or: have the characters be adults instead of teens); loose the ridiculous R2D2 rip-off in the BotP version - and add some 21st century CGI animation!

Also: yes, reboot DC please. Frankly, I'd love for them to go straight back to pre-New 52. And:
* Please fire Gail Simone. Or at least get her back to her writing quality of years ago, like when she did her 2010 Birds of Prey run.
* Hire some stunningly great artists, like Clayton Crain and Esad Ribic. And throw a lot more work to Kenneth Rocafort.
* And get Geoff Johns back on Green Lantern already.

ComiKate wrote:
* Please fire Gail Simone. Or at least get her back to her writing quality of years ago, like when she did her 2010 Birds of Prey run.

Oh no! Has she lost her touch? I read about the first 6 issues of her New 52 Batgirl and really enjoyed them. Also really loved her work on Secret Six before that. (Can't remember if I have any of her Birds Of Prey.) What has changed about her writing that's turning you off?

I loved Birds of Prey, strong female characters, well-written adventures.
I don't know Secret Six so I can't say anything about that.
I have read N52 Batgirl, and thought she missed the mark almost from #1. A whining, insecure Batgirl, with none of her previous Oracle smarts, I hated it. I kept reading in hopes that Simone would give her a growth arc and that she would overcome her difficulties eventually. This didn't happen though and I was so relieved when they replaced Simone with a new writer (was it #16? Can't remember exactly), and the tone of the book changed immediately in its favor. I was very happy to get a less whiny, less insecure and more optimistic Batgirl back. But then they brought Simone back after only a couple of issues and the drama started again. That's when I quit the series altogether, disappointed.

Maybe her recent work has improved again, but for the moment she remains very low on my list of 'authors to try again'.

ComiKate wrote:
Exactly my feelings, but about the Japanese anime Gatchaman (my Precious)! Also known as Battle of the Planets (BotP) waaaaaay back then, in the States.
More 3D characterization, and make the team members equally as valuable and skilled as the leader; make their friendship & the way they relate to eachoter more grown-up (or: have the characters be adults instead of teens); loose the ridiculous R2D2 rip-off in the BotP version - and add some 21st century CGI animation!

I loved Battle of the Planets when I was a kid! No reboot needed for me though, I should probably just track down Gatchaman and check out the unsterilised version

ComiKate wrote:
I have read N52 Batgirl, and thought she missed the mark almost from #1. A whining, insecure Batgirl, with none of her previous Oracle smarts, I hated it.

I remember it was controversial for her to get her legs back and go back to being Batgirl instead of Oracle. Personally, I prefer both Superman and Batman to be the only version of their "brands" (No superboy, supergirl, Batwoman, etc.). I'm curious if you prefer Barbara as Oracle or Batgirl. Not in terms of what the stories have been, but on a pure conceptual level do you prefer one over the other?

Although I liked what Simone did with Batgirl, I DO think I might prefer Barbara Gordon as Oracle. A much cooler concept IMHO. I prefer "Batgirl" to be a part of her history, rather than her current status quo. What do you think?

Okay, I finally indulged in a full-on rant about Superman and how to make him the most interesting, relatable character in comics while being more true than ever to his essence. I'm not bold enough to send DC a link to this, but I'm just bold enough to post it here despite already posting it two other places... ;-)

UKSteve wrote:

ComiKate wrote:
Exactly my feelings, but about the Japanese anime Gatchaman (my Precious)! Also known as Battle of the Planets (BotP) waaaaaay back then, in the States.
More 3D characterization, and make the team members equally as valuable and skilled as the leader; make their friendship & the way they relate to eachoter more grown-up (or: have the characters be adults instead of teens); loose the ridiculous R2D2 rip-off in the BotP version - and add some 21st century CGI animation!

I loved Battle of the Planets when I was a kid! No reboot needed for me though, I should probably just track down Gatchaman and check out the unsterilised version

Well, the unsterilized version is very… Japanese shall we say. Sometimes they relate to eachother in very non-western ways, especially between Ken and Jun. There's an episode where he actually slaps her in the face for having been a victim to their enemies and almost killed. Also, there's an exaggerated idolization of Ken as the lead character, imo. Sometimes you wonder why the other team members are even there. Jo is supposed to be the marksman (among other things) but it's often Ken who hits the mark when it's most crucial, while Jo misses. Very exasperating. Jun is a strong female character, esp. for it being a seventies series, but she's still very 2D. Ryu and Jinpei are all but invisible as far as individuality is concerned. It's as if the creators did not want viewers to dwell too long on any character but Ken.

I guess, in my ideal fantasy rebooted version, they would be a more well-balanced team with more well-balanced characters . And with 21st century gadgets & villains!

Paeter wrote:I'm curious if you prefer Barbara as Oracle or Batgirl. Not in terms of what the stories have been, but on a pure conceptual level do you prefer one over the other?

Although I liked what Simone did with Batgirl, I DO think I might prefer Barbara Gordon as Oracle. A much cooler concept IMHO. I prefer "Batgirl" to be a part of her history, rather than her current status quo. What do you think?

I first "met" Barbara as Oracle, since I'm a fairly new comic reader (approx. 3 years). I remember thinking "gosh, I wish she became Batgirl again, that would be so much cooler" . Simply because her adventures lacked some serious physical action - however understandable. Of course I only know Oracle from Simone's Birds of Prey so I haven't got a real elaborate knowledge/experience. And Simone really wrote her very awesome, she even had Oracle defend herself with some escrima sticks while in her wheelchair, which was totally awesome.

I would have loved to read an awesome story of Oracle regaining her walking abilities and becoming Batgirl again, while retaining her experiences, memories, knowledge and skills of Oracle. But the N52 Batgirl seriously messed that cool concept up, imho.

I'm not against other iterations of cool characters in principle - as long as they're 3D enough, character-wise and skill-wise. And since this turns out to be too big of a challenge most of the time (although I really do like Superman's dog Krypto), I agree with you Paeter, that most alternative iterations are totally redundant.

Paeter wrote:Okay, I finally indulged in a full-on rant about Superman and how to make him the most interesting, relatable character in comics while being more true than ever to his essence. I'm not bold enough to send DC a link to this, but I'm just bold enough to post it here despite already posting it two other places... ;-)

Agree!
Although not sure about smelly-breath-Clark... (ew!)

[quote="ComiKate"]

Paeter wrote:
Agree!
Although not sure about smelly-breath-Clark... (ew!)

Yes, it's a big sacrifice for him... and everyone he knows. He'd probably have to always keep some garlic on hand when changing back to Clark. (Good thing he pops a super powerful breath mint every time he changes into Superman!)