Good news, DC! Although the last Superman movie underperformed, the Batman movies have been doing great. So you’ve decided to give the director of said Batman films creative control over the next cinematic outing for the Man of Steel. And this time, he’s going to be fighting Brainiac!
Wait a minute…Is it 2010, or 1996?
That’s right, certain aspects of the next Superman movie are surprisingly reminiscent of the failed project “Superman Lives.” Kevin Smith’s script would loosely adapt the “Death and Return of Superman” storyline from the comics, and introduce Brainiac as the main villain. Due to his enormous success with the Batman franchise Warner Brothers chose Tim Burton to direct. Nick Cage was set to star, and even costume tested. They also wanted Kevin Spacey for Lex Luthor. Kevin Smith’s choice for Jimmy? Chris Rock. Also Michael Keaton would have a cameo.
Needless to say, things did not pan out. Tim Burton went on to direct “Sleepy Hollow.” The franchise he started died. Nick Cage named his son Kal-El and would go on to play Ghost Rider. And Kevin Smith has never stopped complaining about the spider fight executives insisted he put in the script.
Nor was this the first time Brainiac was proposed as the villain. Cary Bates script for “Superman V,” starring Christopher Reeve, would involve Brainiac and Kandor. It also wouldn’t be made.
It wasn’t the first time either. As far back as “Superman III,” there were initial plans to use Brainiac. And if you think about it, the big bad was a supercomputer. The idea was that Richard Pryor’s bumbling Gus Gorman was just a disguise used by Brainiac to infiltrate.
This didn’t pan out.
So what’s the lesson? That Brainiac can’t be adapted? Not really, just that it hasn’t happened before, and many have tried. Also, making Christopher Nolan the “godfather of the Superman reboot” seems an awful lot like making Tim Burton director of “Superman Lives.” How did that turn out?