Superman Returns Director Bryan Singer Wishes He Rebooted Franchise

[Alex Co]

Superman Returns Director Bryan Singer Wishes He Rebooted Franchise

Bryan Singer mentions if he could do it again, Superman Returns would have been an origin story and he also wanted Darkseid in the sequel.

In the latest issue of Empire magazine, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Superman Returns director Bryan Singer was asked to weigh in on what went wrong in his vision of the Man of Steel. Singer states he thinks it was made for a "certain" kind of audience and that if he could do it again, he'd do an origin story and reboot the film franchise instead of picking up where the Christopher Reeve flicks left off.

Half of that I understand and half of it I never will...It was a movie made for a certain kind of audience. Perhaps more of a female audience. It wasn't what it needed to be, I guess. I think I could lop the first quarter off and start the movie a bit more aggressively and maybe find a way to start the movie with the jet disaster sequence or something. I could have grabbed the audience a little more quickly. I don'y know what would have helped. Probably nothing. If I could go again, I would do an origin. I would reboot it.

In the same interview, Singer also revealed that for the shelved sequel, it was to be titled Man of Steel, too, which he claimed his buddy thought of, and Darkseid would have been the main baddie.

We did explore it a little. Just hammering out ideas. I think Darkseid was going to be the villain. It was pretty world-destroying, actually.

Finally, when asked why the director didn't continue with the follow up film, he says, "I ended up having the opportunity to go and make Valkyrie, and I think the studio lost interest at that point," and adds, "I can't say it was all the studio's fault and I can't say it was all my fault. It just fizzled out."

Would you have been on board a Superman Returns sequel starring Darkseid or should we be thankful Zack Snyder's Man of Steel took its place?

Speaking of the next Superman film, Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons has been cast to play Lex Luthor and Alfred [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131876-Jesse-Eisenberg-Cast-as-Lex-Luthor-Jeremy-Irons-as-Alfred-in-Man-of-Steel-Sequel] respectively in the tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman movie.

Source: ComicBookMovie [http://www.empireonline.com/]

Permalink

 

[erbkaiser]

Superman Returns doesn't deserve all the hatred it gets. It was boring sure, but at least it showed Superman right, as a hero, and not a mopey git who lets a city be destroyed and then murders someone.

I for one would have liked to see what Singer could have done with Supes if he had had the chance to be free of having to stay in canon with Donner's movies.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I really don't think Superman Returns deserves to be on all those "Worst Superhero movies of all time" lists.

I'm not trying to say its great, it felt more like a love letter to the Donner movies than its own film, I thought Brandon Routh did a decent job as Superman, and I thought Kevin Spacey was a really great Lex.

 

[Khymerion]

He went on to make far better movies, namely the aforementioned Valkyrie, so he made out pretty good in the deal so I am okay with not having a tame, less then exciting version of Darksied rolled out. He really does do far better with drama than he does with fantasy/superheroes.

It is sad that he wanted to do an origin story. We don't need origin stories for iconic characters who have been part of the culture for longer than all but the oldest of fans have been alive.

 

[gorfias]

Superman Returns doesn't deserve all the hatred it gets. It was boring sure, but at least it showed Superman right, as a hero, and not a mopey git who lets a city be destroyed and then murders someone.

I for one would have liked to see what Singer could have done with Supes if he had had the chance to be free of having to stay in canon with Donner's movies.

Singer still got Superman wrong. Rather than be the ultimate immigrant from the American mid-west, he was an alien pretending to be a human being. This is not Donner's Superman.

In the 1st Reeves movie, Superman talks about the safety of flying trying to impress a pretty woman with his knowledge. It's cute. When he does it again in this, you can almost hear Marv the Martian asking himself "bzzzt argh, what would a human say in this situation?!?!?" It is downright creepy.

You are correct that Man of Steel is all over the place.

He hits a good note when he tells the General he is from Kansas, but it is too little too late. This mopey loner Superman sucks too.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Oh Bryan Singer...don't do that. You didn't just make one of my favorite Superhero movies with Superman Returns but one of my favorite movies of all time. Don't go throwing it under the buss.

 

[Vivi22]

who lets a city be destroyed

I'm not sure what people expected would happen if two Kryptonians got in a fight.

and then murders someone.

Killing someone who is trying to kill you is self defense, not murder. Killing someone who's stated goal, and only reason for living, is the extinction of the human race is a public service.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Superman Returns sucked, it was boring and nothing happened. Even this version of Superman was a creepy stalker spying on Lois. Not watched Man of Steel yet, so cant comment on that yet. Good Returns didnt get a sequel, cant use Darkseid that quick, even Avengers waited till Avengers 3 before using Thanos.

I think the issue for me is im sick of Lex Luthor. Look at Bats vs Supes....again its Lex as the enemy. Cant we use one of Supermans other roster of enemies now. I know Lex is his major enemy but wouldnt fans of Superman want Brainiac? Or anyone else for that matter.

 

[teamcharlie]

This is one time I wish Warner Bros. had out-and-out cribbed from Marvel's playbook and cast somebody like Chris Evans as supes. That guy can sell the doofy super-powered boy scout act without making it cloying. Otherwise, rooting for Superman is like rooting for Cobra Kai: he's the big, white, pretty man who so outmatches his opponents that it's just sad to watch him try to fight somebody.

 

[Trishbot]

I haven't seen the "real" Superman in film in a LONG time. Man of Steel's "Ooops, there goes another building full of people" Superman is mopey, vindictive, violent, and fairly charmless. Superman Return's "spy on my ex-girlfriend" stalker Superman is a deadbeat dad that impregnated a woman, erased her memory of the deed, then fled for 7 years without paying a cent in child support, all to come back and barge into their lives again like he belongs.

And then there was Superman III and IV....

I feel like playing Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero". At this point, Marvel's Captain America acts more like Superman than Superman himself does - a moral paragon struggling to find his place in a strange world that he doesn't fit into.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Superman Returns is probably my favorite of the bunch, if only because it preserved some of the goofiness of the originals, while doing a good job of showing off what Superman does best. However, I do feel that it was somehow limited by its insistence on acting as a followup to the older movies. At the same time, I do feel that a sequel could have had potential, though he kind of wrote himself into a corner with the "Son of Superman" thing.

I haven't actually seen Man of Steel yet, but the grimdark "Dark Knight" visuals don't really work for me, at least from what I've seen on the previews. I'll have to give it a chance at some point.

 

[Alarien]

Is what Bryan Singer says even relevant? I mean, sure he isn't Brett Ratner, but I actually can't stand the way he treated X-Men either. So, Superman Returns... Xmen movies that should have been called "Wolverine (ohandsomeXmentooIguess)", and err... what else exactly?

I'd just as soon he had nothing to do with any further comic/geek culture movies.

 

[Loonyyy]

I feel like playing Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero". At this point, Marvel's Captain America acts more like Superman than Superman himself does - a moral paragon struggling to find his place in a strange world that he doesn't fit into.

I'd hope Superman would be capable of not acting like a dick for the entirety of the Avengers. I was holding out for Cap to make the heroic sacrifice he kept badgering Stark about, because at least then he'd be dead and shut the hell up.

 

[Crimsonmonkeywar]

I'm not a fan of 'boy-scout' Superman, and Superman Returns came across like a Leave it to Beaver movie in where Theodore had made a 'very poor' decision during last years prom with the senior news editor his sophomore year. I prefer Man of Steel's Superman, it feels more grounded to me. Though I don't enjoy any other Superman(save from the animated series) hints why it's polarized fans

 

[Trishbot]

I'd hope Superman would be capable of not acting like a dick for the entirety of the Avengers. I was holding out for Cap to make the heroic sacrifice he kept badgering Stark about, because at least then he'd be dead and shut the hell up.

But then we wouldn't get The Winter Soldier, and that looks awesome.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Can we just skip the reboot movie and go straight to Darkseid? Honestly, everyone knows Superman's origin story now. Just like everyone knows Batman's and Spiderman's. I'm glad he didn't reboot it, but I wish he had just jumped straight into the sequel he was thinking about. That would have been good.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

who lets a city be destroyed

I'm not sure what people expected would happen if two Kryptonians got in a fight.

This statement always makes me laugh. People expected Superman to take the fight to a place where hundreds of thousands of people would not be killed. Like almost every other time he's fought Kryptonians or other aliens of equal strength in other movies, shows and comics. Superman's very nature would have him weeping after literally throwing a Kryptonian into a house that he told people to hide safely in.(The Smallville fight).

People expected Superman to act like Superman. As it stands barring the fight with Doomsday, the fight in Man of Steel's Metropolis was only time where Superman directly is responsible for such a large amount of human death. What makes it worse is he didn't really care afterwards. If he had realized or acknowledged the fact that him throwing a guy through a skyscraper and thus killing at least a couple thousand people was wrong in the movie, I think people would have an easier time with Man of Steel.

 

[Loonyyy]

I'd hope Superman would be capable of not acting like a dick for the entirety of the Avengers. I was holding out for Cap to make the heroic sacrifice he kept badgering Stark about, because at least then he'd be dead and shut the hell up.

But then we wouldn't get The Winter Soldier, and that looks awesome.

True. I'm looking forward to that one a lot.

 

[ellers07]

While I didn't hate Superman Returns, it certainly wasn't a good movie. I'm glad it didn't continue.

I realize I'm in the minority when I say this, but I really think Man of Steel is the best Superman so far. I enjoy Donner's, but they are awfully campy and cheesy.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Superman returns was near perfect that's pretty much how the first superman movie should be, its a bit slow paced, then with the next film you can do all the super sayian BS. LOL