Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel is responsible for giving us one of the best versions of Superman in live-action. However, it is sheer bad luck for us that we did not get to cherish the experience for long. While Cavill’s casting was much talked about due to his perfection in the role, Zack Snyder’s direction also welcomed much discussion.
Despite poor reviews by the critics, the fans heaped the movie with praise for both Henry Cavill’s performance and Zack Snyder’s direction. Interestingly, Zack Snyder was not the only director considered for Man of Steel. Before Zack Snyder, directors like Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis, Ben Affleck, Matt Reeves, and Tony Scott were also considered.
Precisely nine directors were listed by producer Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer as the captain of Man of Steel before the Sucker Punch filmmaker seized the opportunity.
If not Zack Snyder, who would have helmed Man of Steel?
Man of Steel was the first venture that kickstarted the much anticipated DCEU. The superhero universe, designed to rival the highly successful MCU did not enjoy enough fame. However, there were notable plans regarding the superhero universe. When The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan got attached to the project, he and David S. Goyer listed nine prominent directors for the film.
During the making of the movie, Deadline reported that Guillermo del Toro, Ben Affleck, Robert Zemeckis, Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Liebesman, Matt Reeves, and Tony Scott were all considered to helm the project.
Many of the names also went on to have primary positions in DC’s future. While Ben Affleck became DCEU’s Batman, Matt Reeves led Robert Pattinson’s The Batman.
Before Zack Snyder was confirmed, most directors passed on the project due to their prior commitments. The Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis said about the project to MTV News– “I passed on that faster than a speeding bullet”. Ultimately, the Inception director and David S. Goyer were left with Zack Snyder and Tony Scott as the top two choices for the film.
Also Read: Brendan Fraser Didn’t Want Man of Steel Role for the Same Reason That Made Henry Cavill Famous
Was Tony Scott one of the favorites to helm Man of Steel?
Out of all the potential choices, it finally came down to two filmmakers to helm Man of Steel, Zack Snyder and Tony Scott. The late director who helmed Top Gun was a potential choice for the Superman reboot.
During a conversation with Josh Horowitz in the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the writer David S. Goyer explained the development process of the movie. Besides praising Zack Snyder as the perfect choice for the Superman movie, he admitted to being interested in watching a version of Man of Steel by Ridley Scott’s late brother.
“What’s interesting in the Elseworlds version of what could have been is, Chris had already met with Tony Scott, so there’s a version of a Tony Scott Man of Steel in some parallel universe. I think Tony Scott doesn’t get as much credit as he should be given, because he was an equally phenomenal director as his brother, and that’s a movie I would have liked to have seen.”
Even though Zack Snyder’s vision could not come to fruition in the failed DCEU, it started with significant potential. Some action sequences from Man of Steel are still deemed iconic and far better than many of the DC projects we have gotten lately. Now it will be seen how James Gunn has envisioned the character with David Corenswet as our new Last Son of Krypton.
