“Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk”: Before Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel, Legendary DC Writer Demanded 2006 Brandon Routh Movie Be Wiped Out of Continuity

"Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk": Before Henry Cavill's Man of Steel, Legendary DC Writer Demanded 2006 Brandon Routh Movie Be Wiped Out of Continuity
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Before Zack Snyder kickstarted his DCEU with a grim and more grounded take on the Man of Steel with Henry Cavill, there were reported plans of a sequel to 2006’s Superman Returns, which was eventually scrapped. Following the release of 2006’s Superman Returns, which comprised Brandon Routh in the iconic role, it didn’t pull off the big box office numbers and over the years it has kind of lost into obscurity.

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Reflecting on the film, legendary DC comic book writer Grant Morrison later expressed his disappointment with Brandon Routh’s movie. And following his disappointment, Morrison expressed his desire to witness a full reboot in the following years, which was indeed the case.

Also read: Man of Steel: Henry Cavill Starved Himself from 5000 to 1500 Calories Per Day for 6 Weeks, Achieved Nigh Impossible 7% Body Fat for Superman Abs

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Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison demanded a reboot after the failure of Superman Returns

Following the underwhelming performance of Superman Returns at the box office, Grant Morrison later spoke out about his distaste for the movie and explained his reasoning for its failure. After listing the various problems he had with the movie’s overall approach to the mythos of Superman, Grant Morrison expressed that the studios should move forward and consider doing a reboot.  Although there were plans for a sequel, Morrison explained that DC should treat the movie like Ang Lee’s Hulk and redo the story just like Marvel did with MCU’s The Incredible Hulk. Morrison said,

“I told them, it’s not that bad. Just treat ‘Superman Returns’ as the Ang Lee ‘Hulk.'”

However, even though Morrison’s desire to witness a new take on Clark Kent’s story was fulfilled in the following years, the comic book writer wasn’t pleased by the grim approach of Snyder.

Also read: “We have some incredible choices”: James Gunn Promises Next Superman Actor Will Be a Homerun Despite Henry Cavill’s Painful Goodbye

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Superman Returns (2006)
Superman Returns (2006)

Zack Snyder’s grim and dark approach to Superman didn’t sit well with Grant Morrison

Zack Snyder’s take on Kal-L is controversial for a lot of reasons and even though fans have adored Henry Cavill’s performance, making his story more grim and dark didn’t sit well with everyone. And it seems, Grant Morrison seems to share a similar perspective and despite commending Henry Cavill’s performance, he shared his distaste for Zack Snyder’s take on the character. Following Snyder’s approach, Morrison explained his doubts about the concept of Superman killing by stating,

“I’m not sure about the killing thing… There is a certain demand for it, but I just keep wondering why people insist that this is the sort of thing we’d all do if we were in Superman’s place and had to make the tough decision and we’d kill Zod. Would we? Very few of us have ever killed anything. What is this weird bloodlust in watching our superheroes kill the villains?”

Also read: “Man of Steel will define Superman for our time”: Christopher Nolan Kneels to Zack Snyder’s 2013 Magnum Opus, Called Henry Cavill Movie a Cinematic Milestone

Henry Cavill in Man of Steel (2013)
Henry Cavill in Man of Steel (2013)

However, it appears that Grant Morrison would finally be able to witness a truthful adaptation of the character in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy, which will bring the character back to its roots.

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Man of Steel is available to stream on HBO Max.

Source: Mtv.com

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Written by Santanu Roy

Articles Published: 1402

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1000 articles.