Editorial Staff
While quite a few of us here at Moviehole actually really liked 2006’s “Superman Returns” (was it not am enjoyable and sweet movie?), one can’t argue that it wasn’t one big homage to Richard Donner’s Man of Steel movie and – maybe even more so, since Brandon Routh seems to be almost impersonating the late actor rather than offering up his own spin on the iconic character – Christopher Reeve’s incarnation of the comic book legend. Director Bryan Singer won’t argue that either, telling Empire Magazine that – in retrospect – he should’ve probably rebooted the series rather than a film that followed the events of the other “Superman” movies.
Singer also agrees that the script did probably put a little much emphasis on the romantic side of Superman’s life, when it should’ve encompassed more action and adventure. But as a ‘chick flick’, he believes it works well.
“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’t know what would have helped. Probably nothing. If I could go again, I would do an origin. I would reboot it.”
After “Superman Returns” didn’t generate the kind of profit Warner Bros had hoped for, and considering the backlash against the film by fans, the studio opted to reboot the franchise – bringing Zack Snyder in to rework the Superman mythology with 2013’s “Man of Steel”.
Singer says “Man of Steel” was actually the title he had in mind for his “Superman Returns” sequel.
“My buddy, one of my two best friends, came up with that”, he tells Empire.
As opposed to General Zod, Singer’s “Man of Steel” would’ve seen Kal-El butting heads with Darkseid.
“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.”
Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Of the film that took that place of his sequel idea, Singer says Henry Cavill was the highlight.
“I think Henry Cavill is great. I knew Henry. He and I were friends years ago. Oddly enough, the reason I didn’t cast him [in Superman Returns] was because I was making a sequel to Christopher Reeve and I wanted somebody who embodied Reeve more.”
The “X-Men : Days of Future Past” director says he liked the film, but it’s natural he would’ve done some things differently (sounds like he didn’t like the fact that Snyder had Superman ‘kill’ a guy in the movie).
“There were things I might have done a little differently just because of the way I view the character. Don’t misinterpret that as me not liking something. It’s not ‘Bryan Singer’s review of Man Of Steel’!”
Wonder what Singer thinks of Jesse Eisenberg being cast as Lex Luthor in the “Man of Steel” sequel?
