The Untold Story Behind the Epic Superman Trilogy That Never Was
Experience the untold story of a failed Superman trilogy pitch before the Man of Steel's triumphant return in Man of Steel Brace yourself as James Gunn revitalizes the iconic superhero for the DCU in an epic reboot like never before
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 envisioned a unique concept where instead of Krypton exploding, the central plot focused on a tumultuous mass departure when Superman reaches adulthood. The primary antagonists in their trilogy were slated to be Braniac, Zod, and Luthor. However, Warner Bros. showed no interest in their proposal, resulting in the project stalling indefinitely.
Matthew Vaughn discussed his rejected Superman trilogy pitch during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz. The filmmaker, along with comic book creator Mark Millar, outlined their fascinating plans for a Superman movie long before Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and James Gunn's upcoming reboot titled Superman: Legacy for the new DC Universe.
According to the director, the Superman trilogy he envisioned would have featured a significant departure from the original storyline. Vaughn disclosed that he and Millar's concept involved Krypton not being destroyed. The complete quote can be seen below:
"VAUGHN: Mark and I collaborated on a three-film trilogy for Superman. We presented our pitch to Warner Bros. prior to ‘Man of Steel’... but unfortunately, they expressed no interest in our concept. That was the extent of it.
I personally believe that Donner's approach was spot-on. 'Wonder Woman' was highly successful because it essentially followed the formula of a Donner/Superman film, but with Wonder Woman as the central character. My vision was to create a modernized version of Donner's style. Our groundbreaking concept revolved around the notion that Krypton doesn't actually explode. It eventually does, but the timing is different than what was traditionally portrayed. As Superman reaches adulthood, there is a sudden mass exodus from Krypton, leading to chaos and upheaval. This formed the core of our idea."
HOROWITZ: Who was your main villain?
VAUGHN: Braniac, Zod, and Luthor."
Source: Happy Sad Confused podcast
