Paula Weiman

And that's what sets a good retelling apart, regardless of genre: awareness of the source material, awareness of the adaptations that have come before, and awareness of which inspirations your audience will already be familiar with. /🧵

All in all, Superman does a good job of narrowing their target audience just enough (they're not really trying to appeal to anyone who isn't already interested in a superhero movie) that they can bring in a really wide swathe of superhero fans, whether those fans love the MCU or they're sick of it.

Even down to the mid- and post-credit scenes, which were cute but not hugely plot relevant (you can easily go into the inevitable sequel without knowing about these scenes). They're delivering on the elements that core MCU fans expect out of a movie, but decentering them.

The crucial difference in the humor is the framing. The snappy, sarcastic one-liners still land pretty well -- if that's what you want out of a superhero movie, they're present -- but they're spoken by side characters, often ones the audience is intended to find annoying.

We do get a bit of that from the Justice Gang. I don't know enough about MCU humor styles to make a fruitful comparison, but I can definitely make some connections between Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern) and Nathan Fillion (Captain Hammer).

Okay, so, the quips, the banter, that's always going to be different for Superman, who's typically characterized as an earnest all-American farm boy. He's not going to be edgy and he's not going to be funny, or at least it doesn't make sense for his dialogue to fit MCU humor.

On the one hand, that flouting of convention can feel refreshing. On the other, they can do that because their target audience (much like their in-universe general public) already knows superhero origin stories, and already knows Superman specifically.

The opening sequence handwaves most of what we've come to expect from a superhero reboot; instead of introducing the character from scratch, we get a couple of lines of text giving a very spare version of the origin story and one sentence explaining Superman has been on the public stage for 3 years.

Anyway, Superman was clearly created to appeal to a broad audience that encompasses both the die-hard and the very casual MCU audiences. They're playing with the conventions of the reboot because they're not trying to introduce Superman, the first superhero, to an audience who doesn't know him.

I'm closer to the second category, to be clear. I don't know a ton about the MCU, Marvel, or DC. I think the last one I saw was the Spiderman sequel. But I'm very familiar with MCU movie conventions because they've been pretty ubiquitous over the past decade -- the quips, the post credit scenes, etc

There are avid MCU fans who've watched every movie and know all the easter eggs and threads, and then there are folks who've seen a handful of MCU movies and didn't really follow the franchise, but still think of MCU for superhero movies because they made most of the recent hits.

Crucially, Superman (2025) is being released in the wake of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC isn't going for the EXACT same audience, but it's a pretty safe bet that the majority of the "people willing to pay money to see a superhero movie" crowd in 2025 are familiar with the MCU.

So, Superman is a DC superhero franchise. With a reboot of a character who's been retold so many times (and within a decade of the /last/ live-action reboot), how do you make your version stand out?

I saw the new Superman movie this week and what struck me most is how well the film knows its audience. (This is mostly going to be a craft thread, but spoilers to follow). 🧵/

oh I really like that sticker

"The university press is “concerned that the window may be closing” for making deals with AI modeling companies, Pope wrote, “so we need to move quickly.”

You know who urges you to make a "deal" quickly? Scamners.

a vanity plate that says “E BOOKS”

hell yeah

OK! So I read the first Murderbot story and began the second, and I have to say that I'm struck by the strange feeling that there are things the novella did better, AND things the show did better, which is an unusual judgement from me: 🧵

Definitely worth bingeing. The episodes are pretty short and some of them are more satisfying when you can sit for a few in a row

I am not very good at keeping up with TV shows while they air and I'm so happy that I can finally unblock all of the Murderbot stuff I hid to avoid spoilers. Loved the first season and I'm excited for season 2.

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I’m hiring an editorial assistant! Position will report to me and the director of our Graphic Novel program. You will get to work on childrens and our New Adult imprint. Apply here: jobs.jobvite.com/hachette-boo...

*crying in art director* Please please please let your #portfoliday gift to yourself be adding your contact info (email), portfolio (link), and NAME to your socials. Some of you are missing opportunities because we can't reach you!!!!! 🫣

Alt text. This is pretty awful, but probably what has to be done to preserve the service at all.

IMLS still has a chance- please make sure to show support.

fwiw, the H-Mart locations I frequent have had that sign up for ~6 months and have never complained when I shopped with a mask on. But it's really disheartening to see businesses posting mask bans.

My professional expertise isn't lit fic, but I know in other genres, people are always asking for stories that feel "fresh." I've been hearing the "divorced white man" stereotype in lit fic for over a decade. I imagine most "fresh" lit fic published in the last decade doesn't fit that description.

This may be a bias due to the circles I run in and what my friends are reading, but I encounter a lot more contemporary "sad girl lit fic" than "divorced white man" lit fic. Maybe someone is primarily publishing divorcé lit fic now, but it's not what I've seen generating buzz lately.

I'm noticing an increasing number of queries that have almost no information about the book but pages of bio or details about why an author wanted to write this story. This is not what we need a query letter for. And it might even mean that an agent doesn't bother to read your pages.

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I tend to ask folks what pronouns or terms I should use for them. Linguistically, it puts the onus on me and my behavior, which is really what I'm asking -- how do I respect you when speaking to or about you -- rather than a demand that they share a sometimes very personal truth about themselves.

And I know trans folks who prefer the narrative distance of "identify as" an alias because their ACTUAL identity is none of your business, total stranger/business associate/what are you, a cop?