WB Pictures Group President Jeffrey Robinov told the Wall Street Journal that when it comes to their new superhero films, they're "going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it." Now, I'm all for rebooting Superman -- Superman Returns was awful, and it needed several things, including a villain, a plot and a flamethrower. But darkness? Wasn't Returns pretty dark already? Didn't it have Clark Kent abandon Lois for years in a search for the remains of his dead home planet? Didn't he leave her pregnant, forcing her to raise a child on her own? Didn't Kevin Spacey sadistically beat Superman while he was weakened by Kryptonite? The 1970s and '80s Superman films, while slightly hokey, all had their dark moments, and Bryan Singer's ode to them was arguably darker than all four of them put together. It was also incredibly stupid. So perhaps the answer isn't darkness, but intelligence?

The $317 million-grossing Iron Man wasn't dark, although it certainly had dark moments. Ditto Incredible Hulk and all three Spider-Man movies. This proves that a movie doesn't have to be dark to be successful, just moderately well-made. (Spider-Man 3 being the exception that proves the rule.) Granted, Dark Knight was very successful, but the performances, the quality of the filmmaking, Heath Ledger's death and the success of Batman Begins had a lot to say about that -- the movie was only dark because it happened to be about Batman. Although if the casting rumors are true -- that Cher is playing Catwoman in the third movie -- then the movie may want to go even darker. And I mean literally darker. Just keep the lights off, all the time.