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A live-action Superman: Red Son? Count us in!
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00:00When you think of superheroes, chances are it won't take long before your mind automatically
00:04goes to Superman.
00:06Yes, The Last Son of Krypton has had a difficult and often strained relationship with the big
00:10screen, from the insult that was Superman IV The Quest for Peace, to the will they, won't
00:16they storyline surrounding Henry Cavill's future in the DCEU.
00:19For everything that Supes has brought to the big screen over the years, however, there
00:23have been some seriously tantalizing projects that never saw the light of day, but when
00:28you look at some of the Superman movies that did see the light of day, you have to question
00:32how these didn't.
00:33With that in mind, I'm Adam from WhatCulture and here are 10 true stories of the best Superman
00:38movies never made.
00:4010.
00:41Superman V It's a tale as old as time that a popular movie
00:45franchise eventually outstays its welcome, though today his on-screen career has seen
00:50a mixed reception to say the least.
00:52Superman the Movie in 1978 was a beloved flick that still stands up today.
00:57Three sequels later, however, the same thing can't be said.
01:01Superman IV The Quest for Peace is one of the most unpopular comic book movies of all time,
01:06and it makes sense that this was where the franchise ended.
01:10This almost wasn't the case, however, as there were plans for a Superman V at one time.
01:15Even after a fourth installment in the franchise that Christopher Reeve was vocally unhappy with,
01:20there were talks to bring the actor back as Clark Kent.
01:23The script was written by former franchise producer Ilya Salkin and would have seen the
01:27Man of Steel die in Reborn again, before capping off his time as the hero with a proposal to
01:32Lois Lane.
01:34Reportedly, Reeve was in discussions to return to the role that had defined so much of his
01:38career.
01:39But unfortunately, the project never really got off the ground.
01:42Superman V was ultimately never made, allowing no redemption for Superman IV's mistakes.
01:48Number 9 Kevin Smith's Superman Lives Kevin Smith is one of those people that is synonymous
01:53with comic books and their entire culture.
01:56He embraces the role of being a nerd, and with projects like Mallrats, Clerks, and Jay
02:01and Silent Bob under his belt, he has become an incredibly popular figure.
02:05Coming off the back of his success with Mallrats, Smith was so offended by Gregory Poirier's
02:10Superman Reborn script, he began his own rewrite that would become Superman Lives.
02:15Just before the actor took up the cowl of Batman, if this idea ever came into fruition, it would
02:20have been Ben Affleck as the Man of Steel.
02:23Smith was writing his Superman part specifically for his Mallrats colleague, in a story that
02:27would have taken inspiration from the classic Death of Superman arc.
02:31Once in development however, things infamously broke down between Smith and producer John
02:36Peters, largely over casting.
02:38While Smith was dead set on Ben Affleck, the studio wanted to cast Sean Penn, in what would
02:43have been a darker version of the character, not too dissimilar to how Zack Schneider brought
02:48the Man of Steel to life.
02:50While this style certainly has its fans, it has largely divided the fandom since the DCEU's
02:55inception, and it's hard to imagine Smith's passion for the character wouldn't have brought
02:59something far more enjoyable to the table.
03:02Number 8 Tim Burton's Superman Lives
03:05In the midst of production nightmares, with Warner Bros looking to change just too much about
03:10Smith's movie, the legendary producer left the project.
03:14After being offered to multiple directors, Tim Burton was eventually hired to helm the
03:18movie after his work on Batman.
03:20There were two major decisions made that would ultimately ensure that there was nothing left
03:24of Kevin Smith's vision for the project.
03:27The first was the casting of Nicolas Cage in the titular role, not even close to the actor
03:32the part had been specifically written for, and the second was Tim Burton ordering a complete
03:37rewrite of the script by writer Wesley Strick.
03:40There were further rewrites still, this time by Dan Gilroy, who penned The Bourne Legacy
03:44and Kong Skull Island many years later, before the whole thing ultimately fell apart.
03:50Concerns over the script and the budget, particularly at a time when Warner Bros had seen some disappointments
03:55at the box office, were what led to the movie's cancellation.
03:59Reports are unclear as to how final the news of the movie's halt in production was, but Tim Burton
04:04moved on to direct Sleepy Hollow with Christopher Walken, ironically the man once touted to
04:09play Brainiac in the film, and Cage left live-action Superman behind completely.
04:14This was the final curtain on one of the more bizarre developmental hells in Hollywood memory.
04:19Number 7.
04:20A Cameo in Gotham
04:22After the Superman franchise fizzled out with the ill-advised Superman 4 The Quest for Peace
04:26in 1987, Batman's Hollywood star was just about to rise.
04:31The Dark Knight's 1989 outing would soon go on to change the entire comic book movie landscape,
04:36and Christopher Reeve had the idea to bring the Man of Steel along for the ride.
04:41This would have been little more than a cameo in Tim Burton's movie, something that may
04:45be commonplace in the shared universe-heavy Hollywood culture today, but would have been
04:49mind-blowing over 30 years ago.
04:52The idea was simply that Batman needed some assistance fighting crime on the streets of Gotham, and
04:57even though Superman wouldn't have stayed around for very long, a scene shared between
05:00Reeve and Keaton would have acknowledged that both lived in the same universe.
05:05Tonally, Reeve's Superman just wouldn't have fit in with Burton and Keaton's version
05:09of Batman in Gotham, but this would have been a fun moment that could have genuinely opened
05:14up so many opportunities not only for Warner Bros and DC, but for the entire comic book movie
05:19industry.
05:20Number 6.
05:21A Green Lantern Tie-In
05:23On paper, bringing Batman together on screen with Superman should have been an iconic moment,
05:28and a license to print money for Warner Bros in the way that the Avengers was for Marvel
05:32Studios.
05:33Unfortunately, however, the studio somehow fumbled the first on-screen meeting between arguably
05:38the two most popular superheroes of all time.
05:41Could the Man of Steel had more success had he crossed paths with a different DC character
05:46instead?
05:46The DC Universe is a big place, and Batman isn't the only character with ties to Superman.
05:52What about the Green Lantern?
05:54And no, not the Ryan Reynolds version.
05:57Details are scarce on this project, with the majority of the information coming from the
06:01Twitter account of Mission Impossible Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie.
06:05There had been rumours that McQuarrie had been involved with the development of a Green
06:09Lantern movie, but things actually ran deeper than this.
06:12The movie would have been tied into a Man of Steel 2 pitch that he and Henry Cavill were
06:17working on together, seemingly picking up after the Green Lantern Corps were teased in
06:21Justice League, though there were no takers for the pitch.
06:24Even with this little information, it seems as though McQuarrie and Cavill were putting
06:28more thought into building a shared universe than Warner Bros ever did.
06:33Number 5.
06:34Matthew Vaughn's Trilogy
06:352008 was a big year in terms of comic book movies.
06:39Hellboy 2 The Golden Army released, but was dwarfed in terms of importance and quality
06:44by two of the biggest comic book movies in history.
06:47The Dark Knight, arguably one of the greatest superhero movies of all time, and Iron Man,
06:52kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe and changing the game forever.
06:56This was also the time in which Matthew Vaughn was looking to enter the world of Superman.
07:01The director is best known for the likes of Kick-Ass, X- First Class, and Kingsman The Secret
07:06Service, all wonderful movies based on the pages of comic books.
07:10But before any of them were ever released, the director was planning a Superman trilogy
07:15with frequent collaborator Mark Miller.
07:17The first of the movies would have focused more on Jor-El and the destruction of Krypton,
07:21and would have made a huge change to the lore of Superman which could have potentially been
07:26the difference between its success and its failure.
07:29In this story, the cataclysmic end of Kal-El's home would have taken place many years later than
07:34traditional, allowing the hero to grow up on his home planet and slowly get to know Earth
07:39from afar.
07:40A different and potentially controversial take on the Man of Steel, but Miller's philosophy
07:45that you have to feel good coming out of a Superman movie makes this feel like a missed
07:49opportunity.
07:504.
07:51Superman Flyby Even in spite of the whole scale changes being made
07:55to DC on the big screen thanks to James Gunn and Peter Safran, by all reports the J.J.
08:01Abrams current Superman project is still in the works.
08:05This however, is not the first time Abrams has toyed with the character.
08:09After the quest for peace in 1987, it was clear to everyone that something needed to change
08:14for the Man of Steel on screen.
08:16This would have been putting it lightly in terms of J.J. Abrams' Superman flyby script, as
08:21he chopped and changed some of the most sacred parts of Clark Kent's origin.
08:26Said script, in which Jor-El would have been Kryptonian royalty and Lex Luthor, a CIA agent
08:31that could fly, famously leaked onto the internet and was treated with harsh criticism.
08:36That being said however, the movie was put into development, but like so many over the
08:41years, suffered in developmental hell thanks to personnel changes and multiple rewrites.
08:47Would Flyby have been loyal to Superman's traditional comic book roots?
08:51Probably not.
08:52However, it would have at least taken the Man of Steel in a new direction, something that
08:56was sorely needed at the time.
08:58And with early noughties megastars like Ashton Kutcher, Brendan Fraser and even a young Henry
09:03Cavill being eyed for the role, this had potential.
09:073.
09:08Batman v Superman Ever since 2016, you hear the words Batman v Superman
09:13and you can't help but wince.
09:16Everything from the utter waste of Batman's DCEU introduction, the poor story, Jesse Eisenberg's,
09:20Lex Luthor and the whole Martha scene are reason enough to want to forget the movie ever happened,
09:28but there was a time that fans could have had a much different movie.
09:31That's certainly not to say that the Batman v Superman script, penned by Akiva Goldsman,
09:36was anything close to perfect, but there was enough in there to produce something different,
09:41and at least interesting.
09:42The script had its fair share of issues, which is rightfully or wrongfully to be expected
09:48coming from the writer of both Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, but let's focus on
09:52what would have made this a better movie than what we got in 2016.
09:56The story certainly would have been unique to say the least.
09:59Middle aged Batman, played by Colin Farrell no less, had already lost Alfred, Jim Gordon,
10:05and Dick Grayson, and eventually saw his wife killed seemingly by the same criminal which
10:10Superman, played by Jude Law, had failed to apprehend.
10:13Thus began their battle.
10:15It's the bones of an admittedly convoluted story, but throw in the fact that the Joker
10:20was behind everything and you have the potential for a compelling movie.
10:24Who wouldn't have taken the gamble of picking something like this over the hot mess that was
10:28Batman v Superman?
10:302.
10:31Superman Red Sun The issue that many reboots have, particularly
10:35when it comes to the realms of the comic book movie world, is that all too often the same
10:39stories are told and retold.
10:42That's one thing that would not have been said about Jordan Vogt-Roberts' Superman pitch.
10:46Everyone seems to love the death of Superman, but what about Superman Red Sun?
10:51The essence of the story is simple.
10:53Instead of crashing down in the good old US of A, Kal-El touched down in the Soviet Union.
10:58While changing the history of Superman can be flirting with fan backlash, this comes straight
11:03out of Mark Miller's incredibly popular 2003 miniseries.
11:07Like many of the entries on this list, this pitch from the Kong Skull Island director came
11:11at a time when the DC ship needed steadying.
11:14Vogue Roberts' idea, however, was to essentially produce Red Sun outside of the confines of the
11:19DCEU as a completely separate timeline.
11:22At the risk of audiences being unprepared for multiple versions of DC characters when the
11:27studio seemingly couldn't even get one version right, it would have been worth the potential
11:32gain.
11:33A completely different view on the Superman mythos, while staying true to the pages of
11:36the comics, would have been something that everyone could have agreed on.
11:41Number 1.
11:42Crisis on Infinite Earths
11:43Even at its very best, the DCEU was a hot mess.
11:47Tonally, the franchise has historically been all over the place.
11:51The characters simply haven't worked, and for a long time, no one knew what was going on
11:55with several big characters.
11:57At the other end of the spectrum are DC's TV shows, with the Arrowverse boasting multiple
12:02popular properties, successfully intertwining with the epitome being the epic crisis on Infinite
12:07Earths event.
12:08Had former DC president Walter Hamada had his way, fans could have seen something similar
12:13to this on the big screen.
12:14The current plan to clean up the DCEU mess before moving into the DCU is to use the Flash,
12:20but Hamada's plan was to adapt Crisis on Infinite Earths with Henry Cavill's Superman at the
12:25forefront.
12:26This could have acted as a soft reboot of sorts, much like how it streamlined several
12:30messy timelines in the comics, keeping the popular Man of Steel in the picture.
12:35Even if this would have been Cavill's swan song as Superman, before ushering in any of
12:39the version Warner Brothers wanted to introduce, this would have been far better than bringing
12:42him back for a post-credits scene, only to clarify that he wouldn't have a role in
12:46the franchise moving forward.
12:48Could this have been as close to an Infinity War or an Endgame as DC could have hoped for?
12:54And as always, please do let us know what you think of our list in the comments down below,
12:58and also let us know which is your favourite Superman moment from TV, film or comics?
13:03Oof, shirtless Henry Cavill anyone?
13:06If you want to follow me on socials, I am at strawn87 on Twitter and on Instagram, come
13:11and say hello to me on there.
13:13Thank you for watching everybody, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and until next
13:15time, take care.
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