This Cleveland Superman Movie Event ruined me for all other movies.
- Eric Halliday
- Jul 13
- 4 min read
It's not a great time for superhero movies. Marvel went a little over zealous for a while and sort of changed the way superhero films are done. I'll fully admit, I loved Thunderbolts but, after the most exciting film in the genre being a metaphor for depression, aging, and loneliness, I needed hope.
And while not all heroes were capes, I needed one with a massive red one. And then I got the call, a friend of mine who works for the excellent Party411 in Cleveland hit me up about an event they were hosting with the House of El podcast. A Superman movie premier that just so happened to also feature a recording of their podcast AND a visit by Brian Michael Bendis, one of my favorite comic writers of all time (and, as I later told him, my favorite character in Crossover). I was in.
I showed up at the historic Capitol Theatre (albeit very early) and chilled in the area as more and more people with S's on their chest started showing up.
When I got in, I was seated towards the center of the theater, which, working for a smaller publication is always fun at times like this because I feel like Becky in Hamilton as everyone figures out if they're supposed to know me. What I didn't expect was to sit almost right next to Brian Michael Bendis himself.
Behind me, sat several other writers from DC, including Gene Luen Yang who did the Superman Smashes the Klan book my kids have read a million times.
The film itself was absolutely incredible. For the first time in a long time a superhero film felt like not just something from a comic, but from the kind of comics we identify the character with. Supes wasn't brooding, he wasn't creepily peeping on his ex, he wasn't snapping necks. This was a Superman that wanted to solve problems without killing, he said "heck", he liked dorky music and was very ignorant to political events and the interwebs.
But most importantly, it was a movie that made me feel hope. As much as I love Marvel films, they're all filled with this rule that they're going to fail a lot. I loved Thunderbolts (as previously stated) but it makes every scene tense because you're like "I don't think they can do this" and then they fail. A lot.
Hell, Captain America Civil War was fun but it literally had you stuck with the knowledge that at least half the characters would lose no matter what.
But with Superman it wasn't like that. He inspires hope when done correctly. And, despite the incredible stakes he was faced with, I'd see someone in trouble and immediately think, "Superman will save you." The movie made me believe in him.
But here's where the event added to it. Watching it with Superman fans from Cleveland and sitting surrounded by DC folk had so many perks.
When the Superman logo first appeared there was cheering. When an iconic location from downtown Cleveland showed up there was whoops of excitement. Gasps as the Cleveland Public Library got ripped in half. When a building collapsed onto the Veterans Memorial Bridge I actually heard a full grown adult say "oh-no". We were watching our home getting defended and it felt wild.
And Brian Michael Bendis was being SUCH a fan boy during it too. It was amazing. He was telling us about the comic book store he used to work at in Cleveland, and what areas he used as inspiration for several of his works. It was cathartic in ways I'd never have imagined.
As the movie continued, and we watched Lex parallel many of the things going on today, a villain using social media bots to sway public opinion, or using a private jail system to detain anyone who so much as writes a blog about him, I didn't just see the effects it had on people in the movie, I saw the effects it had on people in the audience. Shoulders slumping, people suddenly sitting up right, the 12 or 13 times everyone in the crowd started cheering. It was serotonin, pure and simple.
Afterwards, the House of El recorded a podcast on the stage of the theater we had just watched the movie on. And with several DC people on their show, the topic didn't become their projects, their promotions, it was only about what they loved in that movie. These people, who have to deal with Superman every damn day, were in front of us, having metamorphosed into the children they once were talking about their excitement at seeing Krypto, or crying about a scene with the Kents.
Hell, even the afterparty at Superelectric Pinball Parlor next door, I played pinball with the DC folk and they just kept gushing about the movie. Into the night. I watched them praise the handling of Jimmy and Lois. I watched people lose their minds over the other characters that appeared. I got to hear Brian Michael Bendis talk to his son about the places that appeared in the movie and the memories he had tied to them.
Listen, I'm not a fool. I'll still go see a movie and enjoy it in the future. I will. But I also know that there couldn't possibly be an experience like this happening again because of just how important this movie is and was to the city of Cleveland and nerds like me that grew up here. Well done, to all involved.
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