AreSupermanfans overfed? Certainly! Over a dozen live-action and animated productions about the Kryptonian have been released since 2010. And there is more Kryptonite on the way. James Gunn’sSupermanis getting all the hype that a superhero movie of its caliber requires and, given the director’s track record, we have every reason to believe that the new Man of Steel will make Jor-El smile in the Fortress of Solitude.
Interestingly, many more Superman movies could have been made, but they were either canceled or left in production hell for a variety of reasons. The DC landscape would have had a very different look if some of these productions had been cooked to completion. After all, some of them had ambitious plots that could have taken fans far away from the Metropolis and Smallville comfort zones they are used to. But we won’t cry over the past. We’ll just wonder what could have been.
6’Superman: Flyby'
J.J. Abrams’Superman: Flybyhad a planned 2003 release date andhad quite the star-studded dream cast. Josh Harnett or Matt Bomer would play Superman, Robert Downey Jr. or Johnny Depp would shave their heads and become Lex Luthor, Ralph Fiennes would be Ty-Zor, Scarlett Johanson or Sophia Bush would portray Lois Lane, Christopher Walken would be Perry White, and Anthony Hopkins would be accorded the fitting role as Jor-El.
The film had a much darker plot,involving Clark hiding his identity from everyone, including his parents, causing them to fear he might kill them.Lex Luthor was different too, ashe was to be presented as a sinister CIA agent.
The Script’s Leak Didn’t Help
Abrams lobbied hard for the job, and he was certain he would get it ashe had consistently proven himself in both the film and TV arenas. But was he too ambitious? His screenplay was infamously leaked and eventually found its way online, wherevarious analysts criticized it for its dark tone.
Despite the widespread panning, Warner Bros. was optimistic about the film since the success of Sam Raimi’sSpider-Manproved thatmovie-goers still had a high appetite for superhero movies.Several directors were hired, only to drop out, many of them arguing thatit would be impossible to capture JJ Abrams’s story within a realistic budget.After much push-and-pull, the studio threw the film in the bin.
5’Batman vs Superman'
Way before Bruce and Clark got to argue about whose mother was called Martha in Zack Snyder’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there was an idea… an idea for Batman to retire after Robin’s death. The Joker would then kill Batman’s wife, forcing him to come out of retirement. However,this new version of Batman was no longer going to act nice,especiallyafter seeing yet another family member get murdered. He would toss his list of rules into the Bat-bin and begin killing. Obviously, Superman wouldn’t agree with the new approach, so… boom… smack… pow… until one of them is left standing.
Se7en‘s Andrew Kevin Walker was tasked with screenplay duties,Air Force One’s Wolfgang Peterson would direct andColin Farrell and Jude Law would play Batman and Superman respectively.
The Abandoned Fight Led to Better Things
The idea sure looks great, but we are glad the heavens preventing it because we might never have gotten to see Colin Farrell as the big bad Oz (Who in their right mind kills their sidekick?). In the end,it all came down to tone-related fears.
Warner Bros.felt that the dark story would not resonate with audiences in post-9/11 America.It was all for the best, as shortly after that, Christopher Nolan was hired to reboot Batman. Consequently, one ofthe greatest movie trilogies was born. Why was everyone so serious?
4’Superman Lives'
After the failure ofSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros, decided to take the Man of Steel on a different flight path. And what better way to make the character interesting again than toadapt the 1992 comic, “The Death of Superman,“whichhad proven controversial,l but sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Following his success with the Batman movie, Tim Burton was tapped to direct, andNicolas Cage — the most in-form actor in the 90s — was singled out as the perfect Clark Kent.After all, he was a big comic book fan.
The Ghosts of Budget Constraints
With a rumored cast that also consisted of Chris Rock and Sandra Bullock,Superman Liveswas bound for glory. However,the film would be expensive to produce, and Warner Bros. bank account didn’t look too good,following the failure ofBatman & Robin, The Postman, One Eight Seven, Sphere, Fire Down Below,andSteel.
A scene where Superman fights a giant spider was especially going to be super costlyas it required groundbreaking visuals. Ultimately,the film’s budget was reallocated toWild Wild West.Burton went on to direct the 1999 filmSleepy Hollow.Kevin Spacey, who had been cast as Lex Luthor, still saw his dream come true when he played the iconic villain inSuperman Returns.
3’Superman V'
Before the astronomical failureof Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Cannon Films planned to make a fifth film with Albert Pyun as director. However,the studio went bankrupt, resulting in the rights reverting back to Ilya and Alexander Salkind.Ilya Salkind penned the script with Superboy writers Cary Bates and Mark Jones in the early-1990s. The story had theMan of Steel dying and resurrecting in the bottled Krypton city of Kandor.The innovative script predated “The Death of Superman” storyline.
A Rough Journey That Was Eventually Abandoned
A script reading forSuperman Vhappened at The Broadwater Theater and the idea didn’t look bad. However, following the failure ofSuperman IV: Quest for Peace, it was wise to go in a new direction. More reports regarding the reason forSuperman V’s cancelation point to Christopher Reeve and the rest of the cast allegedlyrefusing to work on another Superman film. Additionally, Warner Bros. was keen on ensuring Cannon’s Superman rights weren’t renewed, so there was plenty of push and pull going on behind the scenes.
2’Superman Returns' Sequel
Bryan Singer’sSuperman Returnsmade Warner Bros. executives hopeful and plans for a franchise were crafted. In February 2006,only four months before the film’s release, the studio announced a sequel for 2009 with Singer and the rest of the cast members returning.The proposed script includedthe inclusion of Brainiac and Bizarro as additional villains,in line with the “New Krypton” landmass introduced in the first film.
Superman’s Money Was a Little Short
Critic reviews were great, butSuperman Returnswasn’t big business like Warner Bros. hoped.It only made 391 million worldwide, against a heavy $204 million budget. In comparison,Batman Begins, released a year earlier, made $374 million against a $150 million budget. Focus was thus shifted toThe Dark Knight,which was projected to make more money. And it sure did.
In August 2008, Warner Bros. President of Production Jeff Robinov opened up about Singer’s Superman:
“Superman Returns didn’t quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn’t position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all.”
A few years later, the studio releasedMan of Steel, asthe first film in an MCU-style cinematic universethat would be dubbed the DCEU. Regrettably, things didn’t work out.
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1’Superman Reborn'
After the success of “The Death of Superman” comic book storyline, Warner Bros. bought Superman’s film rights from Alexander Salkind in early 1993. The studio didn’t want to use theSuperman Vscript, so Jonathan Lemkin was hired to write a new story, withinstructions for it to be family-friendly and reliant on a vibrant MTV-style tone.
However, Lemkin wrote a bizarre story. TitledSuperman Reborn, the script had Clark Kent dying in the opening minutes. His life force would then jump into Lois,giving her a virgin pregnancy.Holy Mary!She’d thengive birth to a fast-growing child who would become the new Superman within three weeks.The Curious Case of Clark Kent?
The Lack of a Clear Direction
Warner Bros. did not like the screenplay, soscreenwriter Gregory Poirier did an extensive rewrite.His vision was much better. Poirier added several extra members ofthe Superman Rogues Gallery, namely including Silver Banshee, Brainiac, and Parasite — andhad Superman revived via a government project instead of the whole super baby angle.Still, producer Kevin Smith didn’t like the rewrite. Consequently, there was extra push and pull, causing the project to be abandoned for good.
