8 Superman Supporting Characters That We Need To See In His Next Movie

When Warner Bros. announced the slate for their DC Films Universe, the long rumoured Man of Steel sequel wasn't among them, though a press release promised that another solo adventure for Superman was in the works. Seeing as Batman also didn't get a firm date, it appears as if the studio is waiting to see how well Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice does before giving either of these heroes another solo adventure on the big screen. Man of Steel did fairly well both critically and commercially though, so you have to believe that he'll get the chance to shine by himself again at some point down the line. Of course, with Henry Cavill (and Zack Snyder) locked into two Justice League movies, there may be quite a wait, especially after rumours of Mad Max: Fury Road director taking the helm amounted to nothing. When Superman does get his sequel though, which characters from the comic books should join him? While we've already met familiar faces like Martha Kent, Lois Lane, and Perry White, there are still a lot of great supporting characters who could have a huge impact on the way the hero's story plays out moving forward. Here, you will find eight of characters who we'd love to see in Supes' next solo outing. Some are more likely to appear than others, but we hope that eventually they'll all make their way to the big screen. Honourable Mention: Batman Yes, these two are about to share a movie of their own, but Batman and Superman being a constant presence in each other's lives should continue to be a big part of their respective stories moving forward. With the heroes set to put their differences aside to form the Justice League, a rematch is probably off the cards, but another team-up would certainly be possible, and using their respective solo outing to build up to that would be great for fans and makes perfect business sense for Warner Bros. So, why not have Bruce Wayne show up at The Daily Planet or Superman arriving in Gotham City to ask for the Caped Crusader's advice? After all, stuff like this is what a shared universe is meant for, and the Man of Steel sequel should definitely take advantage of that. 8) Maggie Sawyer The military factored into Man of Steel in a big way, and it seems as if the government will have an equally pivotal role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice as they look to make Superman answer for his actions in Metropolis. It would be a nice change of pace then for his next movie to put the spotlight on the city's police department and how they go about handling having this hero - and his villains - in their midst. Captain Maggie Sawyer was introduced as the head of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, a branch dedicated to handling super-powered menaces when Superman is unavailable. Openly gay, Maggie is in a relationship with Batwoman, and if her introduction in the sequel were to lead to that also playing out here, it could open up a lot of interesting possibilities. 7) Sam Lane In case it wasn't already obvious from the name, General Sam Lane is the father of Lois Lane. Man of Steel was a pretty busy movie, so it's easy enough to understand why he wasn't included there, but it would be foolish of Warner Bros. not to use him somewhere down the line. Sam and Lois have a complicated relationship, and he's not a fan of either Clark Kent or Superman. In fact, his actions have bordered on the point of villainy a number of times in the past when he's come up with various schemes to take down the superhero. Like Lex Luthor, Sam is convinced that the alien poses a threat to Earth, and even if a movie doesn't go down that route, seeing him insert himself into the lives of Lois and Clark now that they're living together would make for a great subplot. 6) Lana Lang Those of you who watched Smallville will no doubt be very familiar with Lana Lang. Clark Kent's first love before he moved to Metropolis and became Superman, she's one of only a handful of people who know his secret, and they've had a very interesting and complicated relationship over the years. Lana has actually served in a number of roles in the DC Comics Universe, at one point becoming CEO of LexCorp and even suiting up as a costumed hero during the Silver Age. While bringing "Insect Queen" to the big screen is far from a priority, it would be fun to see Lana make her presence felt in Metropolis, possibly leading to some sort of love triangle situation and really putting Clark's relationship - which so far is going a little too perfectly - with Lois to the test. 5) Superboy Like most DC Comics characters, there have been many different versions of Superboy over the years. Some have been younger versions of Clark Kent, while others have been clones or hailed from alternate realities, but utilizing this character in the movie could work really well (especially with rumours of Cyborg solo outing becoming a Teen Titans spinoff). Seeing as Lex Luthor will be playing around with the corpse of General Zod in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Kon-El/Connor Kent version - who was a hybrid of Lex ad Clark's human/Kryptonian cloned DNA and created to be the ultimate living weapon - would perhaps work best. It would also shake up Superman's life in a big way, especially if he has to take this youngster under his wing. 4) Cat Grant Cat Grant has been making her presence felt in the Supergirl TV show, but it's worth noting that the version there is very different to her comic book counterpart - so she could very easily also make her presence felt on the big screen. The head of the Entertainment and Arts section of the Daily Planet, Cat is extremely flirty and sexual, and just so happens to have a thing for Clark Kent. Extremely provocative, she doesn't hesitate to flaunt her newly augmented breasts in front of the reporter and the two even dated for a short time before he realized that Lois was the one he should be with. Throwing this sort of spanner into their relationship would be a lot different to what we're used to seeing in these movies, while Cat's tragic past could also come into play. 3) Steel Does Metropolis have room for another superhero? While he was originally introduced following the Death of Superman story arc, Steel's origin story could very easily be changed to make him one of the people who were no doubt inspired by the Man of Steel's heroic actions when he saved the city. After all, seeing him fighting side by side with his idol against a major new threat would make for very fun viewing. The New 52 comics portrayed him as being under the employ of General Sam Lane, creating this armoured suit for someone to use to take down Superman. However, he quickly realised the error of his ways and stole it to help the hero fight Brainiac, and that too has a lot of cinematic potential. Handle Steel the right way, and Warner Bros. could even give him a spinoff. 2) Supergirl A prequel comic for Man of Steel revealed that Supergirl actually arrived on Earth thousands of years before Superman in that crashed ship he discovered, which massively complicates her introduction in a future movie (though there are those who believe she may have ties to Wonder Woman). The studio is unlikely to be beholden to a piece of barely seen tie-in material like that, so they could very well find a way of bringing Supergirl into this world, especially as she too would be a prime candidate for that rumoured Teen Titans spinoff. There's obviously a great TV Supergirl currently around in the form of Melissa Benoist, but if there's going to be two versons of The Flash, there can surely be two Supergirls, right? 1) Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen being left out of Man of Steel was a surprise, so adding Clark Kent's best friend - and Superman's close ally - to these movies is a must. If rumours are to be believed, Scoot McNairy is going to be playing a Jimmy who was badly injured in the battle of Metropolis and lost his legs, and that would certainly be a very interesting direction to take things in (especially as he apparently defends the hero despite what happened to him). If true, then his appearance in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice shouldn't be a one off; instead, future Superman movies should be exploring the development of their friendship and Clark's guilt for Jimmy's injury. Even if none of that is accurate, we still have to see the intrepid photographer somewhere soon...