Hollywood film director Bryan Singer’s name is predominantly (and preferably) associated with launching the X-MEN franchise back in 2000, before making its sequel X-MEN 2 and returning for this years upcoming X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. However it’s sometimes forgotten that Singer directed the disappointing SUPERMAN RETURNS, which hit theatres the summer of 2006 and received an incredibly lukewarm response from fans and critics.
After almost eight years, disappointingly sparse appearances from Brandon Routh and a very successful Superman reboot in the form of last years MAN OF STEEL, audiences have seemingly forgotten about Singer’s failed but admirable attempt at re-launching the franchise. Now in a revealing interview Singer has spoken about his opinions on Zack Snyder’s MAN OF STEEL and why he didn’t cast Henry Cavill in SUPERMAN RETURNS despite the fact that he auditioned for the part. He also addresses what he would change about SUPERMAN RETURNS if he could and what he would have done with his unmade sequel. You can read the interview below:
When asked about his opinion on MAN OF STEEL.
‘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’.
Singer was then asked why he chose to cast Brandon Routh over Henry Cavill.
‘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 then gave his thoughts on how he would do his film differently if he had the chance.
‘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’.
And finally what Singer had planned for his doomed sequel and why it failed to make it into production.
‘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’.
‘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’.
Although it would have been interesting to see what Singer had in store for Brandon Routh’s Superman in his sequel, I think things worked out for the best. After all, despite some controversial elements of MAN OF STEEL, it performed significantly better than its predecessor at the box office and pleased many more fans and general moviegoers. You can catch Singer’s next film X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST on 22nd May and Superman’s next adventure BATMAN VS SUPERMAN on 6th May 2016.
Source: Empire Magazine
