Bryan Singer talks Man of Steel, and the planned Superman Returns sequel that never was

It’s no secret that 2013′s Man of Steel was one of the most divisive movies in recent memory.  Everyone from fans to critics to directors offered their view on the movie. But someone we didn’t hear from was Superman Returns director Bryan Singer.

In a recent interview with Empire, although he called the subject tough, he shared his thoughts:

“I am in awe of the world building and the scope of that picture. It’s tough for me. I’m not a critic and it starts to get into a weird thing where one director is talking about another director. I know how hard it is to make a movie, especially one of these movies and especially a Superman movie, and there was so much I was impressed with in that movie. There were things I might have done a little differently just because of the way I view the character. Don’t misinterpret that as me not liking something.”

Henry Cavill also came up since the actor was also up for the role of Superman in Singer’s movie:

“I think Henry Cavill is great. I knew Henry. He and I were friends years ago. Oddly enough, the reason I didn’t cast him was because I was making a sequel to Christopher Reeve and I wanted somebody who embodied Reeve more.”

Singer also spoke about the reactions to Superman Returns, and in retrospect what he might have done differently:

“Half of that I understand and half of it I never will. It was a movie made for a certain kind of audience. Perhaps more of a female audience. It wasn’t what it needed to be, I guess. I think I could lop the first quarter off and start the movie a bit more aggressively and maybe find a way to start the movie with the jet disaster sequence or something. I could have grabbed the audience a little more quickly. I don’t know what would have helped. Probably nothing. If I could go again, I would do an origin. I would reboot it.” 

He also mentions that Man of Steel was the title he was thinking of using for his sequel to Superman Returns, whose villain would have been Darkseid:

“That was the title. Actually, my buddy, one of my two best friends, came up with that…We did explore it a little. Just hammering out ideas. I think Darkseid was going to be the villain. It was pretty world-destroying, actually.”

Singer also added why this film never got made, saying it just went away:

“I ended up having the opportunity to go and make Valkyrie, and I think the studio lost interest at that point. I can’t say it was all the studio’s fault and I can’t say it was all my fault. It just fizzled out.”

Source: Empire