There’s no denying that the only major Superman villains to have gotten any limelight in the movies are Lex Luthor and General Zod. But given the opportunity, Superman helmer Zack Snyder would have introduced a different and more significant villain from the comics that would have changed the trajectory of his Man of Steel sequel.
Renowned filmmaker Zack Snyder noted spending countless hours percolating ideas for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Among all the important details surrounding the project, Snyder mentioned discussing the idea of introducing a great antagonist for his second comic-book movie that majorly focused on the villain.
Zack Snyder Wanted a Classic Villain for Superman
After his blockbuster hit Man of Steel movie in 2013, Zack Snyder began planning for a sequel to that storyline. Willing to focus mainly on the antagonist this time, the filmmaker claimed to spend a lot of time thinking about ideas for an iconic Superman villain. Snyder wanted someone who would be able to follow in General Zod’s footsteps from Henry Cavill’s first instalment.
This planning took place before Zack Snyder decided to have Superman and Batman fight in his sequel to Man of Steel. Speaking with EW in the 2015 Comic-Con Preview issue, the filmmaker thus noted percolating ideas for his second comic book movie, where he would focus on the Superman villain. That’s when he decided to come up with a classic antagonist from the comics to change the trajectory of his film.
“I remember we were talking about, ‘What’s the next Âvillain?’. We can’t do another alien invasion.’ Brainiac was definitely down the road. Metallo, I think, was going to be the main bad guy of this movie.”
Zack Snyder mentioned skipping through ideas and villains from the Superman comics to figure out the best-suited villain for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Eventually, the filmmaker claimed to settle down on the cyborg Metallo, who he believed would have been a classic Superman villain.
Zack Snyder Almost Introduced Metallo in Batman v Superman
Zack Snyder purposefully confessed his ideas about introducing Metallo as the classic villain for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Considering the supervillain is primarily made of metal, the character would have been an interesting choice for the film. Snyder, therefore, admitted to almost introducing Metallo as the main villain in the film before things changed and the spotlight went to Lex Luthor.
“I said, ‘What about at the end of the movie we do a scene where there’s a crate full of kryptonite delivered to Wayne Manor,’”
The acclaimed filmmaker mentioned discussing his ideas with his fellow DC movie bigwigs, Christoper Nolan and David Goyer. But surprisingly, no one encouraged his plans. Zack Snyder recalled how Nolan and Goyer went numb after learning about his idea. “Everyone was like… ‘Okay.’ Once you say it out loud, it’s a problem because you can’t unsay it.” Snyder stated.
Feeling withdrawn by the lack of encouragement, Zack Snyder noted giving up on the idea of introducing Metallo. However, introducing the character as the main antagonist would have undoubtedly shifted people’s attention from the obvious villains to less significant ones.
Additionally, Snyder’s introduction of Metallo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, would have paved DCEU’s path for a cyborg storyline, much like MCU’s hit Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Unfortunately, Lex Luthor became the main villain, played by Jesse Eisenberg. “We did talk about Lex right away, I think Lex was always on the books,” Synder admitted, shifting his focus to the obvious choice of villain with less risk for his 2016 movie.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is available on Max.
