Even the most avid DC Universe fans have to admit that, so far, the franchise has been a mixed bag. At one end are solid and powerful solo stories like The Batman and Wonder Woman; at the other, the disordered mess that was the 2016 Suicide Squad. The first Man of Steel probably falls somewhere in the middle, a unique and interesting take on Superman with a lot of things to like, but ultimately a movie that failed one of the most crucial elements in superhero stories. Now that Man of Steel 2 appears to be officially in the works, it has the opportunity to do what the original never did - build itself around a strong theme.

What exactly does a solid theme look like in a superhero movie? In order to work, a film's theme has to tie into its central conflict. In superhero movies, this usually takes the form of a villain bent on domination or destruction, like Wonder Woman's Ares (David Thewlis), who wants to destroy humanity because he doesn't believe they deserve the world given to them by the gods. Diana (Gal Gadot), on the other hand, is naive and optimistic, having lived her sheltered life on Themyscira, and she believes that humans are inherently good. But when she sees the atrocities humans commit against each other, she wavers in this belief. In the end, it's Steve Trevor's (Chris Pine) selfless sacrifice that convinces her that while humanity is indeed flawed, it's worth fighting for. "It's not about deserve," she tells Ares during their fight, "it's about what you believe. And I believe in love." It's a simple, powerful message with a clear throughline from Diana's internal struggle to the final conflict.

Amy Adams and Henry Cavill as Lois Lane and Superman in Man of Steel
Image via Warner Bros.

A Chance for a More Hopeful Superman

Like Wonder Woman, previous iterations of Superman have usually centered themselves around simple, positive themes: hope, optimism, and of course, truth, justice, and the American way. In the earlier comics, the Christopher Reeve films, and most TV versions, Clark uses his powers to protect humanity because he feels like one of us, just a wholesome Kansas boy who happens to be able to fly. Zack Snyder's take on Superman was a departure, focusing instead on his status as an outsider and his difficulty fitting in; Henry Cavill, though, has hinted that Superman's next appearance will return to a more traditional, positive tone. So, how might a new solo Superman film reconcile Clark's feeling of being an outsider with the "joyful" tone that we see in more traditional Superman stories?

The answer, of course, is Lois Lane. Amy Adams' Lois - more than Clark's parents, fellow heroes, Daily Planet colleagues, or anyone else - is his connection to humanity. The beginning of Justice League sets this up clearly in the cell phone footage taken by kids, where they ask Superman his favorite thing about Earth. He smiles wistfully to himself, and the footage cuts off before he answers, but we know he's thinking of Lois. Man of Steel teases this too, but, like many of the things it sets up, it never pays it off. When young Clark's powers manifest and overwhelm him, Martha (Diane Lane) advises him to "make the world small," and this could have been a good tie-in to Clark's connection to Lois later in the movie. The sequel has another chance to pay off this setup: to Clark, Lois is the world, and when he feels overwhelmed by the burdens put on him, and disconnected from humanity, he makes the world small - he thinks of Lois.

RELATED: How 'Man of Steel' Failed Its Most Important Storytelling Element

Superman Has Always Been About Sacrifice

Lois can be an effective vehicle for themes of connection, but also for themes of selflessness and sacrifice. Movies like to turn Superman into Jesus, but this version of Superman has already given his own life to save humanity once. What, then, does he have left to sacrifice? His mother, and Lois. Clark already experienced a major loss as a young man when his father sacrificed himself to protect Clark's identity, and it turned him into a purposeless wanderer, at least until he found a replacement father in an ancient Kryptonian ship. What would the loss of Martha or Lois do to him? How would he find the strength to carry on? Where would he find his connection to humanity without Lois? What lessons could he learn about grief and resilience?

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel
Image Via Warner Bros.

Another interesting possibility is a scenario in which Clark has to choose between saving someone he loves or saving a large group of people. It might be a little cliché (Batman has already done something similar twice), but it would work perfectly with the theme of selflessness. (For the record, I'm not rooting for Clark's mother or Lois Lane to be killed off. But if the next Superman movie wants to explore themes of sacrifice, this has to be a possibility.)

Alternatively, Henry Cavill's cameo in the mid-credits scene of Black Adam teased the idea that the two of them could square off at some point, and this would be an excellent opportunity to tie in Black Adam's theme about the ethics of killing. Superman was forced to murder Zod with his bare hands at the end of Man of Steel, and it clearly hurt him to do so. If Clark and Adam faced each other with this question hanging in the balance, Clark would have to answer for his actions in his earlier film. This could not only serve as a strong theme for the sequel but would also redeem the lack of payoff to this theme in the original.

Although a villain is usually a requirement in superhero movies these days, a more optimistic Superman film would also benefit from scenes of Clark saving people from natural disasters or accidents. This would fit well with themes of hope and idealism, themes for which Superman has stood for years. We haven't seen many of these types of scenes thus far in the DCEU, but they used to be common in Superman films of the past. The scene in Superman Returns where Clark catches a crashing plane and lands it gently on a baseball diamond in front of a cheering crowd is a perfect example. It's gratuitous in that it doesn't have much to do with the plot, but it has everything to do with the theme of that film: the world needs heroes.

With over 80 years of comics history to draw from, not to mention the option to write new, original stories, DC Studios has limitless possibilities for establishing both internal and external conflicts for Kal-El, and drawing strong themes from those conflicts. Let's hope that with new chairs and CEOs at DC and likely a new director at the helm, Man of Steel's sequel will build the kind of grounded and compelling theme that its hero--and its audience--deserve.