In order to distance themselves away from the Donner movies, they also need to come up with a whole new theme music. John Williams' theme for Superman is one of my favourites, but just like the Nolan movies had a new Batman theme, this reboot needs to have its own original Superman theme.
And yes they could re-establish the origin story.
Unnecessary many might say, then how can we expect audience to connect with the character and his universe.
Lot of hardcore fans assume everybody knows about Superman. Yes lot of people do, but many of the current younger generation know him as that superhero who can fly and wears underwear over his pants. These people don't know about the 4 Donner movies nor do they watch Smallville. They don't know who is Jor-El nor anything about the Kent family.
WB needs this movie to be a hit, a BIG hit. It needs to appeal to US audience, it needs to appeal to audience worldwide.
With a origin story they can establish a fresh mythology, which will be connected through more movies to a form a trilogy.
Just because we know the world of Superman, doesn't mean everybody else does. The last origin movie was in 1978. And when this movie releases in 2012 it will be 34 years since then.
My favourite superhero is and has always been Spider-Man since I was 5 years old. But Superman is still the ultimate superhero and as a kid I have been a fan of the character since I saw Christopher Reeve immortalize the role through the Donner movies. And I really want this movie to do well and connect to the audience. So I do hope they establish a origin story, at least as a short recap in the beginning if not during the whole movie.
