Summary
- Matthew Vaughn reveals his rejected Superman trilogy pitch, which would have had a very different storyline from previous Superman movies.
- Vaughn and Mark Millar's big idea was that Krypton wouldn't blow up, and the main storyline would involve a mass exodus and chaos when Superman is grown up.
- The main villains in their trilogy would have been Braniac, Zod, and Luthor. Warner Bros. was not interested in their pitch, and the project never moved forward.
Matthew Vaughn reveals details from his rejected Superman trilogy pitch. James Gunn is currently rebooting the hero for the new DC Universe with Superman: Legacy, but years before Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, another exciting Superman project could have happened. While Gunn's Superman: Legacy will take the character in a more comic book-accurate direction, and Snyder's Man of Steel featured a darker take on Superman, Vaughn's plans for the hero hinged on another factor — the state of Krypton.
Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Vaughn detailed his original Superman movie plans with comic book creator Mark Millar.
According to the director, his Superman trilogy would have been very different from all Superman movies, as Vaughn revealed that he and Millar's "big idea was that Krypton doesn’t blow up." Vaughn also revealed who were the main villains planned for his trilogy, saying, "Braniac, Zod, and Luthor." In the end, Warner Bros. passed on the pitch. Check out the full quote below:
"VAUGHN: Mark and I sat down and plotted out a three-film trilogy, pitched it to Warner Bros. before ‘Man of Steel’… we pitched how to do a trilogy of Superman movies, and Warners said they weren’t interested. That’s as far as it went.
I think Donner nailed it. 'Wonder Woman’ worked very well because it was basically a Donner/Superman film but reimagined as Wonder Woman. I would’ve done a modern version of Donner. Our big idea was that Krypton doesn’t blow up. It does eventually. The dad was right, but he got his timing wrong. When Superman is grown up, suddenly there’s a mass exodus and all hell breaks loose. That was our main idea.
HOROWITZ: Who was your main villain?
VAUGHN: Brainiac, Zod, and Luthor. Luthor was the main villain until Krypton explodes, and then…
HOROWITZ: …It escalates, and you get some Kryptonians?
VAUGHN: Yeah, exactly.