Holy cow, Comic-Con International was FULL of movie news this past weekend! Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Hunger Games; it was a madhouse of movie news, spoilers and trailers! We haven’t seen a lot of those trailers yet, but the descriptions online have been stunning. Us movie geeks are in for a good couple of years. But I think the biggest, coolest surprise announcement was that the sequel to Man of Steel is going to be a team-up between Superman and Batman!

And even though I didn’t like Man of Steel, I’m nothing if not a sucker, and I can appreciate the wonderful excitement of a Batman/Superman team-up movie just as much as the next guy! I’m not made of stone, people!

2015 is gonna be a wild year

Meanwhile, the Justice League movie has been pushed back to 2017, if it even happens. Frequent readers of my site might remember that I had absolutely no confidence in DC and Warner Bros. to make a Justice League movie by 2015. But that didn’t stop me from making a list similar to this one, and a Batman/Superman team-up was my #4 choice for what I’d want to see in a Justice League movie. So seeing DC simply do this film first is a very cool turn of events. It fills me with…something close to hope. But DC has messed up their superhero movies before. I didn’t like Superman Returns, I didn’t like Man of Steel and I didn’t like Green Lantern. So if DC wants to finally make me happy (and I’m sure they do), here are my six suggestions for the Batman/Supermean movie.

6. Bruce Wayne and Lois Lane sitting in a tree

At least she’s doing it for the right reasons

All the best superhero movies are steeped in romantic drama. It just makes for a better movie. And while Superman may have got the girl at the end of Man of Steel, who says he gets to keep her? I would hope this movie brings in both Batman and Bruce Wayne, so why not give Wayne a reason to interact with Lois Lane and sweep her off her feet? Maybe he visits the Daily Planet. Or maybe she just has an interview with him about something. His thoughts on costumed superheroes, perhaps? Or his donation of a new bat exhibit for the Metropolis Zoo? However it’s done, just bring Bruce and Lois together and let the romantic sparks fly. She’ll probably choose Clark again in the end, but they could get a lot of mileage out of a love triangle.

5. Villain: Lex Luthor

Your real concern is excess pocket lint

Lex Luthor as the villain of the Man of Steel sequel was probably always going to be a given, but I really want to just come out and say it anyway. Of all the things wrong with Man of Steel, I think it was fantastic in setting up Lex Luthor without even mentioning him (except for that one little Easter Egg). In a Man of Steel sequel, Lex Luthor would represent all of us who were dismayed and alarmed that Superman would not only kill, but also cause billions of dollars worth of property damage. If we completely ignore all of Lex’s land claim schemes from the previous movies, Lex Luthor’s evil stems from the basic idea that he thinks Superman is completely wrong for planet Earth. Lex Luthor, in a way, would represent all of us who hated Superman’s character in Man of Steel, and who better for Superman to beat up?

Lex doesn’t want some alien from another planet coming to Earth and disrupting the natural order of humanity. This alien comes to Earth, and because of him, millions are dead and Metropolis is in ruins. This alien comes to Earth and starts saving people, and suddenly humanity stops trying to save itself or better itself. Humanity is more than happy to just shout, “Save me, Superman” and let the alien make things better. This is why Lex Luthor hates Superman so much, and Man of Steel gave us a Superman that’s easy to hate .

So not only would Lex be the perfect villain in a Man of Steel sequel, he’d also be perfect for a Batman/Superman team-up film. Lex challenges Superman as a villain, and he challenges Bruce Wayne as a fellow rich businessman. There are so many connections to exploit to bring Batman and Superman together. Granted, there wouldn’t be much of a fight, since Lex doesn’t have any powers, so maybe throw in some other villains like Joker, Parasite or, I dunno, the Riddler? Have Lex hire a bunch of other villains to serve as his henchmen.

4. Less CGI destruction

What the heck is even happening here?

This was my number one complaint with Man of Steel, and despite the film’s success, I stand by my claim that the movie was just a big, CGI mess. So I hope beyond hope that director Zack Snyder fixes it with the sequel. Man of Steel was a mindless, Transformers-like mash of boring, pointless, CGI explosions. I want that to stop. Pacific Rim was all about giant CGI fight scenes, but in Pacific Rim you could tell what was happening and you cared about the characters. Man of Steel was just ugly spaceships smashing and exploding, with a random assortment of Kryptonians getting knocked around. The CGI in Man of Steel was atrocious.

3. Skip the Batman origin story

Technically, so are Robin’s

Everybody in the world already knows Batman. You don’t need to repeat or even reenact his origin story. Maybe, just maybe, when Superman finds out that he’s Bruce Wayne, you could have Superman spout a line like, “You’re that guy who’s parents were killed”, but that should be it! Don’t make this Batman Begins 2, Featuring Superman.

And while we’re on the subject, everybody has to accept the fact that Christian Bale is not going to return to play Batman. Christopher Nolan may be involved in this project, but it’s not going to be a continuation for the Dark Knight trilogy, no matter how awesome that would be. I’m comfortable with this fact. They’re going to get a new actor and create a new Batman, and that’s fine. Though personally, I think they should use the Dark Knight Batman as inspiration. Keep the gruff voice, the dark costume and the gritty demeanor. Make it seem like he’s the same Batman from the Dark Knight trilogy so that the movies can all flow together. Just because the Dark Knight trilogy is over doesn’t mean that character can’t live on in spirit.

And definitely keep it Bruce Wayne behind the mask. Leave the John Blake stuff to the trilogy.

2. An original story

Maybe one in which they are bullies

Batman and Superman have been teaming up since before many of us were born. There have been decades worth of comics and hours upon hours of cartoons featuring the two heroes joining forces to fight evil. Batman and Superman teaming up is as popular as breathing.

But under no circumstances should Zack Snyder try to adapt any of those team-ups into his movie. I want to see a new, original story to introduce their team-up and friendship into this new Man of Steel world he’s created. I don’t care how many issues of World’s Finest exist, or how many times DC reboots the Batman/Superman comic, I want to see something new and unique to this movie. Man of Steel followed certain parts of Superman’s origin, but a lot of it was a new take on the classic tale by Snyder. I want to see the same thing for this movie. Though we’ll probably get the same cliched stuff, like the two heroes fighting each other first, then teaming up to take on the real villain.

Speaking of the two heroes fighting each other first…

1. Batman wins

Because of course

I want to see the climactic battle of The Dark Knight Returns. When Snyder announced the new movie at Comic-Con, he had one of the actors take the stage and read the classic line from the Frank Miller masterpiece where Batman tells Superman, “I want you to remember the one man who beat you.” Snyder said his movie is not going to be an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, but he’s going to use it as inspiration, and I am totally behind that idea. The battle at the end between the two heroes is legendary, and if they can capture even a fraction of that energy, this movie should be good. And just like in the comic, I want Batman to defeat Superman.

Going off my Lex Luthor ideas from earlier, Luthor may be the man who hates Superman more, but I want Batman to be the man who actually beats him. Batman could start the film just like Lex: afraid of Superman and the destruction he brings. So Batman, being the most Batman person in the world, cooks up an ingenious plan to take down the Man of Steel, when even someone as strong as General Zod failed.

Because Batman is just better than Superman. Afterwards, they can team up. But first, Batman wins.

Honorable Mention: Robin

Obviously. You knew this was coming.

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What do you want to see in the Batman/Superman sequel? Any stories you’d like to see adapted? Should they mention other members of the Justice League? Let me know in the comments!