Which scrapped Superman film would you have been most interested in?

[Dispenser Of Truth]

During the Great Superman Drought of 1987-2006, there were plenty of attempts to revive the Man of Steel that never really came to light, and other plans that fell through as well. Based on what we know, which would you have been most interested in seeing?

1. The Original Superman III: Ilya Salkind's initial treatment for Superman III had Supergirl being raised by Brainiac, who eventually wants to marry her, because I guess the Westermarck effect doesn't exist in Coulans. Coming to Earth, she instead falls in love with Superman, with the feeling being mutual (Salkind even notes that there's a scene where they make sure they're not related), and Brainiac comes to Earth to try and steal her back. Also there's time travel back to the middle ages so Superman and Brainiac could duel on horseback, and Mxyzptlk shows up basically out of nowhere as co-villain for some reason, with plans for either the ending of III or Superman IV to cover the wedding of Superman and Supergirl. Here's a link to a copy of his treatment.

2. Superman V/Superman Reborn: Co-written by Ilya Salkind, Cary Bates and Mark Jones after the rights reverted to the Salkind brothers from Cannon Films - the visionaries behind Superman IV - it's known that they completed two drafts of this script (one of which is readable here). It would have seen Reeve reprising his role for a confrontation with Brainiac in which Superman dies in battle (years before the actual big Death of Superman), only to be revived in Kandor and given an opportunity to connect with his Kryptonian roots while recuperating for his final showdown with the villain.

3. Superman Reborn: Having gone through a handful of drafts under Jonathan Lemkin and Gregory Poirer, plans included the likes of Superman dying and being reborn/growing back to normal in 3 weeks through the virgin birth of Lois Lane, going to a psychiatrist about his relationship troubles with Lois (and after that last plot point, I get where he's coming from), and being killed by a Kryptonite-blooded Doomsday before being resurrected by Cadmus (an alien, not the organization) to battle Brainiac and regain his powers through mastering the mental discipline of "Phin-Yar", the true source of his abilities. Parasite and Silver Banshee may also have appeared.

4. Superman Lives: You know about this one. Everyone knows about this one. Nic Cage, Tim Burton, Kevin Smith, the giant spider, Christopher Walken as Brainiac, all that. If you don't - and really, even if you do - I can't recommend enough checking out the documentary The Death of Superman Lives, chronicling the rise and fall of this truly astonishing dream of producer/noted madman Jon Peters.

5. Batman vs. Superman: The more things change, eh? Planned to be directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by Akiva Goldsman, it was set in a near future where pretty much everything's gone to hell (Dick Grayson, Jim Gordon and Alfred are all dead, Bruce is retired and Lois is divorcing Clark), and Bruce Wayne wakes up the morning after his wedding to find his new wife dead courtesy of the Joker. Superman (who's starting to strike up a new relationship with Lana) has to stop Batman from killing his old enemy, with Lex Luthor of course having plans behind the scenes. There were talks of Josh Hartnett playing Superman, but the main candidate was in fact Christian Bale, who was simultaneously being considered for Darren Aronofsky's aborted Batman: Year One. That Goldsman was involved in both this and I Am Legend is in fact the reason for the Superman Vs. Batman poster appearing in that movie. Here's the script for those interested; it's frankly pretty bad, but there's enough crazy stuff in there for it to be worth a look-see.

6. Superman: Flyby: JJ Abrams' proposed Superman reboot (I haven't seen the new Star Wars yet, but that's what prompted this) in which Superman must battle a Kryptonian army attacking the Earth led by his cousin Ty-Zor, I don't think this gets enough credit relative to Superman Lives in terms of being the craziest one that very nearly happened. Some bullet points: Krypton lives with Kal-El being sent to Earth to fulfill his destiny as a chosen one, Clark has PTSD and panic attacks from accidentally nearly killing a guy who tried to rape his mom when he was six (consequentially, the nervous Clark Kent act is actually his real personality in here, with Superman being pretty much 100% an act on his part until near the end), the Superman costume is alive, Clark's poop is maybe radioactive, Jimmy is the most astonishingly stereotypical gay guy imaginable (at one point in the movie while sobbing, he notes "Guys, this is so heartbreaking, I feel, like, hormonal--"), Superman dies but then Jor-El kills himself to go meet Superman in Heaven to tell him to come back to life so Superman does, and Luthor turns out to be a Kryptonian sleeper agent, because of course he does, with Superman going to spend the next movie on Krypton with presumably no powers. Henry Cavill was in talks to play Superman (there's actually a photo of his screentest floating around the internet that's not hard to find) along with the likes of Jared Padalecki, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake and Josh Harnett, with Matt Bomer apparently the final choice. Anthony Hopkins was apparently going to play Jor-El with Robert Downey Jr. or Johnny Depp as Lex Luthor, Shia LaBeouf as Jimmy Olsen, and Scarlett Johannson or Selma Blair as Lois Lane, with either McG or Brett Ratner directing. Here's one draft I've seen, here's another.

7. Superman: The Man of Steel (Superman Returns sequel): Pretty much the only concrete things we know about this are the title and that Singer's said he would've wanted Darkseid as the villain. One rumored plan had Brainiac as the villain posing as a Kryptonian savior of the Earth handling the 'real' problems before being revealed as intending to destroy the world, culminating in, I **** you not, Brainiac possessing Superman's son Jason and Superman being forced to break his kid's neck to save the day. This proposed plot may be entirely made up, but I prefer to believe every word of it, because that is hilarious.

Pick your poison!

EDIT, thanks to Myskin reminding me

8. Superman (Mark Millar/Matthew Vaughn): Millar's proposed Superman trilogy, filmed in unison in the same manner as Lord of the Rings, would've begun 1,000 years before the death of Krypton, and ended 5 billion years in the future with Superman dying peacefully as the last man in the world as the sun goes red and swallows the Earth, telling the ultimate story of Superman's life. He ended up disqualified due to his official ties to Marvel, but he had planned on Matthew Vaughn directing, and has repeatedly noted he one day intends to adapt the story as an OGN.

[Sacred Knight]

The original treatment for III. They all sound absolutely horrendous, but the idea of Superman fighting on horseback in the middle ages is hilarious. Tis only a flesh wound!

[Dispenser Of Truth]

The original treatment for III. They all sound absolutely horrendous, but the idea of Superman fighting on horseback in the middle ages is hilarious. Tis only a flesh wound!

It definitely sounded Silver Agey as heck, in both the best and worst ways. I'm personally expecting a pretty significant victory for Superman V, since that had Cary Bates' involvement, would've had Reeve, and we know basically nothing about it so it's the least worst by default.

[Last Son of Krypton]

I'd like to see Superman Lives mostly for Burton's involvement.

[Myskin]

None of the above. They all seem rather crappy projects (except for Burton's one, maybe).
My choice would fall on Millar and Vaughan's trilogy.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

None of the above. They all seem rather crappy projects (except for Burton's one, maybe).
My choice would fall on Millar and Vaughan's trilogy.

Oh my god, obviously. I'll add that to the above. Mods, can you please put the Millar/Vaughan Superman in the poll?

Edit: Thanks!

[Superlad93]

Okay there are three answers to this question:

1. Superman Lives: Would've been an amazing roller coaster ride of imagination and originality (Burton's). That description of Superman's "teddy bear" still makes me a little misty eyed even now.

2. Superman: Flyby: There is no telling what sort of money I'd have been willing to pay to see a film director convincingly sell me on super poop, radioactive no less.

3. The Mark Millar/Matthew Vaughn: This is pretty much the correct answer. For goodness sake they were going to make the Godfather but with Superman. It's just about all I want from a Superman movie.


The real correct answer: Superman Reborn: The film that has the audacity and sheer size of testicles to sit there, with a straight face, and tell me that not only is Superman Jesus but he's also gonna pork Mary at the end of it, is going to get my money no matter what. Words fail me with this movie.

[Robotman]

whatever all of these screen writers were smoking it seriously needs to be outlawed. in what kind of fever dreams did these people come up with these insane ideas?!? the fans who still hate MoS should thank their lucky stars none of these abominations ever got made.

if i had to choose i'd go with Superman Lives just to see Walken as Brainiac. "Sopa-Maan, I Brainiac will shrink yua plan-et."



and apparently Doomsday had a huge gun and a second face growing out of his back.


http://io9.gizmodo.com/5981002/proof...he-dark-knight

i have no idea what they were going for with this script. it's pretty clear Burton was still in his Mars Attacks phase as this thing reeks of camp.

[Sacred Knight]

The Abrams project was so off in so many ways but I think if you just gave him a library of Superman comics to read, then had him try again, he'd come up with something better. Look at Star Wars; when he's learned about a franchise and a mythology he can spin some good stuff. This reads as if he just didn't have much knowledge of Superman outside of general awareness.

[superduperman]

All of these sound just awful. What is wrong with WB that they can't just do a straight up adaptation of Superman? Why not do an adaptation of Morrison's first Action arc? Superman's a mysterious vigilante that runs around Metropolis stopping crimes and then Brainiac attacks Earth and takes half the city and Superman has to save it and that's how he learns he can fly. Or an adaptation of Birthright. Birthright to me is the definitive Superman movie. That Abrams version makes me a little worried about Star Wars now.

[Jon Clark]

The sheer similarity of Superman in both version of MOS snapping a neck makes it my obvious choice. If the sequel had Superman kill Jason in that manner, it might have been a big enough box-office bomb to drive the idea of Superman killing from the table in future.

[Hilden B. Lade]

Would George Miller's Justice League movie be enough to count as an aborted Supes film, on the flimsy basis that Superman is in it, who would've been played by DJ Cotrona (?????)

Because given all we've heard about these cancelled superhero projects, I feel as if it's the one that would've needed the least amount of bleach afterwards, since some of these sound like they'd be impossible to get through even while drunk riffing (even if GM's movie could've also gone horribly wrong, judging by some of the statements that its would've-been cast have made)

[DrNewGod]

Jeezuz! What an utter horror show. I didn't vote as a means of selecting "None of the Above. At Any Freaking Cost Whatsoever!"

If there were a way to wipe these from all records to ensure no future producer ever comes across one in a drug-addled state, declares it a brilliant idea, and then is arrogantly unwilling to back off the development after sobering up, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Would George Miller's Justice League movie be enough to count as an aborted Supes film, on the flimsy basis that Superman is in it, who would've been played by DJ Cotrona (?????)

I considered it (why did I remember that but not the Millar movie? Nuts), but yeah, I didn't consider it a "Superman movie" as such. And yes, my impression is that it would have gone pretty horribly wrong from what I've heard.

[Götterdämmerung]

I am more than satisfied and happy with Man of Steel, I love that movie! And "Dawn of Justice" sounds pretty freaking killer. I'd LOVE to see a big screen, live action Justice League. So that's the sequel I want.

However, I'm guessing it would have been unintentionally hilarious to see Cage as Super...uh, dude? A receding hairline Superman...wow.