The world of comic book characters from the pages of Marvel and DC Comics is what brings the surreal and vivid imagination of the masses to life with superheroes at the center stage. And among the numerous heroes we have seen over the years, Superman is undoubtedly the biggest and most popular one of them all with years of legacy behind him.
And one of the best iterations of the symbol of hope that the fans adored was Henry Cavill as Clark Kent in Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel. But before he had even conceptualized the idea of the superhero with a dark past, there had already been attempts made by Warner Bros to bring a dark and gritty Superman in the form of Nicolas Cage.
Nicolas Cage Could’ve Brought One Of The Darkest Superman To The Big Screen
Before the advent of Zack Snyder into the DCEU and the creation of his vision of Man Of Steel, Superman was a superhero that was portrayed as a larger-than-life individual who was far beyond humanity’s flaws and was the perfect being amongst men. But, the 2013 film showed us a Superman who had suffered more than every previous iteration and was more human than imaginable with some of the flaws still intact. But the idea of bringing the superhero with a dark past was something that had already been attempted in the past.
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With the now-canceled Superman Lives project undertaken by Warner Bros. in the past after the success of 1989’s Batman, Dan Gilroy, Wesley Strick, and many other directors were creating a script according to producer Jon Peters’ strict requirements. In this particular film, Nicolas Cage would’ve been cast as the superhero with a darker backstory compared to even Snyder’s. Here, after being sent to earth, the hero would’ve been left all alone with no one to guide him, which would’ve stolen his ability of human empathy and the meaning of humanity.
Apart from this, there was also the possibility of Sandra Bullock appearing as Lois Lane in the film. But due to several unforeseen and unfavorable outcomes in pre-production, along with the fact that Cage had become a pariah in the industry after his Academy Award win, the film was canceled just before it was about to start filming.
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What Is Next For Superman?
With the fall of the DCEU after the management shift within Warner Bros. Discovery, CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran made the executive decision to start fresh, which meant the expulsion of Henry Cavill as the Man Of Steel from the franchise. With new management also came a new vision for the superhero, which Gunn would be overseeing personally as he’s all set to direct the proposed Superman: Legacy in the future.
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Man Of Steel, streaming on HBO Max.
Source: ScreenRant
