Today, I had a wonderful opportunity to talk to a fellow science-fiction writer, someone that is working on his next screenplay, and he has had an incredible amount of success in the past.
We got to talking about what it takes to blow audiences away, and how to bridge the gap of getting the audience to suspend their belief system.
Specifically we got on the topic of comic book genres of superheroes.
Indeed, I explained to him that when many of these comic books were written none of the technology we have today existed, and so when the superhero uses some sort of technology, it is very similar to what already is being used, and while it makes it believable, it doesn't make it extraordinary.
Still, the mixing and matching of today's science with these old comic book genres gives us a chance to experiment with new concepts and ideas and take it all to the next level.
After all, today we have robotic drones, holographic imagery, 3-D printing, incredible biotech, fancy new materials on the horizon, and even supercomputers.
All of these things should be worked into the storyline even if the original comic book had left them out because that technology didn't exist to that degree back in the day it was written or wasn't even imagined.
We also got to talking about how it might be fun to put Superman into a wind tunnel to help better streamline his suit.
In other words, help our superhero friends do even more of what they do better with the latest and greatest future technologies.
Some would say that Superman is so highly advanced, that humans could never figure out how to make his system any better.
But that's not true as we improve upon nature all the time, even if much of our technology is bio inspired.
For instance, there is no bird on the planet which has evolved enough to fly as fast as an SR-71, but that didn't stop American scientist from designing the perfect fuselage and wing to do just that given enough horsepower.
The popular Hollywood movies series Iron Man does just that, and I believe that movie series is successful because it merges the comic book superhero of the past with leading and cutting-edge technology of the present, and it takes that trend line into the near future.
Moviegoers can't get enough, and this is what I would like to have all young film making screenwriters consider.
Think on it.