Superman is one of the most iconic superheroes. He stands for the Truth, Justice, and the American Way. He is one of the righteous and well-meaning characters in the superhero medium. He has been a trailblazer, being one of the first superheroes in comics, cartoons, live-action TV, and feature films. Superman is being rebooted by Guardians of the Galaxy’s director James Gunn.
Superman has also been in many unrealised projects. The most famous was Superman: Lives, which Tim Burton nearly made and would have starred Nicolas Cage. It was the subject of a documentary by Jon Schnepp, and Kevin Smith hilariously recounted his experience of working with Jon Peters. The other major Superman project that was developed in the late ‘90s/early 2000s was Superman vs. Batman, which was written by Seven’s Andrew Kevin Walker and Batman movie veteran Akiva Goldsman and had Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, Air Force One) attached as director. The unrealised Superman film I find to be the most fascinating is Superman: Flyby, and as I did previously with the unmade Halo movie, I will look at the unproduced screenplays and at what might have been.
After Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the Superman series was exiled to the Phantom Zone. The series was revisited in the mid-90s with the already mentioned Superman: Lives. Superman: Flyby was developed after the collapse of Superman: Lives. This film set out to be a reboot and reinterpretation of the Superman mythos, and the start of a trilogy of films. It was being developed during a revival in the superhero genre headed by Marvel properties, Blade, X-Men, and Spider-man, and a rise of trilogies in the form of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix.
J.J. Abrams was hired to script this new version of Superman. At the time, he was best known for the TV series Felicity. He wrote two drafts that are available online, with the first draft being the most infamous. This version was completed in July 2002.
Both versions of the screenplay open with a flashforward that shows Superman in a life-and-death fight with his battle-hardened cousin, Ty-Zor, which concludes with Superman seeing a horrific sight. Anyone who has seen Alias and Mission: Impossible III knows this was a writing technique favoured by Abrams. The screenplay then shifts to a prologue on Kypton at the end of a bloody civil war that ends with Jor-El getting overthrown by his brother Kata-Zor. Just before Jol-El is captured, he sends his wife off to join the resistance, and most importantly, sends his baby son, Kal-El, to Earth so he can fulfil a prophecy that would liberate Kypton from their new oppressors.
Kal-El is adopted by the Kents, who name the boy Clark. This farming couple struggled with their superpowered son, from him breaking their roof to changing his potent nappies. When Clark was six, he nearly kills the Kents’ landlord, who attempted to assault Martha sexually. This incident led to the Kents teaching their son restraint because of his powers, but it led to them turning their son into an introverted wimp and a lonely outsider. Clark was such an uncertain young man that during his final year of college, he still hadn’t yet picked a major, until he met a spunky freshman, Lois Lane.
Clark changes the trajectory of his life by becoming a journalist and gets a job at the Daily Planet. Lois Lane is the star reporter, and she’s investigating Lex Luthor, a CIA agent who investigates UFOs. Lois tricks Luthor with a UFO hoax, leading to Luthor getting fired. Due to the humiliation, Luthor takes reasonable action and tries to crash Air Force One so he can kill Lois. This leads to Clark finally donning his iconic costume and rescuing Lois, with the bonus of saving the President and everyone else on board. However, Superman’s rescue coincides with his adoptive father suffering a fatal heart attack.
Superman’s rescue mission gains the attention of Kata-Zor, and he sends a small force led by Ty-Zor to kill Kal-El. They make their presence felt by landing a large war machine in the middle of Washington D.C., and Superman was barely able to repel Ty-Zor and the Rouser war machine. Ty-Zor ends up allying with Luthor, with Luthor providing the bait (i.e., Lois) to kill Superman, and in exchange, Luthor would be made ruler of the Earth.
The deal between Ty-Zor and Luthor leads to the fight between Superman and Ty-Zor that causes global destruction. It ends with Superman discovering Lois trapped in a tank of water with Kryptonite. Superman dies saving Lois, resulting in Ty-Zor taking over Earth. However, Jor-El sacrifices himself so his son can be resurrected, leading to Clark reappearing during Superman’s funeral.
The resurrected Superman leads a fightback against Ty-Zor and his forces. Superman tricks Ty-Zor to the Arctic, where the nations of the world unite to attack Ty-Zor and his forces with Kryptonite weapons. When Ty-Zor’s defeated, Superman prepares to go to Krypton so he can fulfil the prophecy, but he has to defeat one final threat: Lux Luthor, who’s revealed to be a Kryptonian sleeper agent.
There’s a lot to unpack with the first draft of Superman: Flyby. Abrams took a lot of liberties with the source material, with Krypton not being destroyed, creating new villains for the film, the characterisation of Clark Kent, and turning Lex Luthor into a Kryptonian for a M. Night Shyamalan-style twist. Abrams seemed like he was trying to use Superman as a canvas for his own sci-fi fantasy epic. Abrams is known for being a big Star Wars fan, and the wider mythology in Superman: Flyby seemed more associated with Star Wars than DC. Ty-Zor was essentially a combination of General Zod and Darth Vader.
Ain’t It Cool News reviewed a leaked copy of the screenplay and slated it. The online reaction was harsh. If this version of Superman had been made, it would have been hated by fans because of all the changes. It was an ambitious screenplay with a wide scope: it would have been one of the most expensive films ever if it had been made. However, even with all the faults, the first draft of Superman: Flyby was a fun and engaging read. I recommend reading it, and it would be interesting to see it being adapted into a comic book/graphic novel.
A second draft was completed in October 2003. This version had the same story beats as the first draft, and it did correct some of the more controversial aspects. In this version of the screenplay, Lex Luthor is a school teacher and conspiracy theorist who ends up discovering a dying Kryptonian who performs a Vulcan Mind Meld on the madman. This leads to Luthor losing his head, but it has benefits. Luthor became a genius and a telecommunications tycoon. He wanted to control all of Earth’s communication networks, which made this version more prophetic than intended. Whilst Krypton wasn’t destroyed, the planet was in a much more perilous state than in the first draft. Clark’s characterisation was fixed; he was a nerdier character rather than a cowardly introvert. His only moment of doubt came when he put on his costume, which was understandable in the context of the screenplay. The cringy humour that was present in the first draft was mostly absent in the second draft.
The second draft was a much leaner experience. This was felt in the third act. There was only one confrontation between Superman and Ty-Zor, and the death and resurrection of Superman happened quicker. This tightened things up with the added benefit of being cheaper to film.
Superman: Flyby underwent a lot of development. Warner Brothers saw dollar signs because a trilogy of films could have been extremely lucrative because of the box office receipts, physical media sales, and merchandise. Two directors were attached to the film, Brett Ratner and McG. Both were seen as directional rising stars at the time since Ratner made the first two Rush Hour movies and Red Dragon, whilst McG was known for making music videos and the Charlie’s Angels movies. In retrospect, these seem like bad choices since Ratner was more of a workman director, and after the #MeToo movement he became persona non grata due to several allegations against him. McG’s work on the Charlie’s Angels movies was style over substance, and as his career progressed into making Netflix movies. J.J. Abrams also lobbied to direct Superman: Flyby, but he wasn’t considered because he was only known for his work on TV, although his work on the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises proved he was more than capable of handling visual effects-heavy films. Mission: Impossible III ended up being a safer debut film for Abrams.
Ratner struggled with the casting of Superman. Any actor who took the role would have been in the shadow of Christopher Reeve. Ashton Kutcher and Brendon Frasier were both offered the role and turned it down. Josh Hartnett was offered $100 million to play Superman in three movies. He turned it down, twice. Matt Bomer said he was offered the role by Ratner but lost it when Ratner left the project. Other actors to audition for the film were Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill, and they both ended up playing Superman in Superman Returns and Man of Steel, respectively. Christopher Reeve suggested Smallville star Tom Welling to play the Flyby version of Superman. It was reported back in 2003 that Ratner ended up in a screaming match with Superman: Flyby’s producers.
Under McG, Superman: Flyby did make some casting announcements. Scarlett Johansson was approached to play Lois Lane, and Robert Downey Jr. would have played Lex Luthor. This would have made the MCU different if Superman: Flyby had been made. Joel Edgerton was cast to play Ty-Zor, and Shia LaBeouf was approached to play Jimmy Olson. McG also brought in The O.C.’s Josh Schwartz to act as a script doctor.
McG left the project because he clashed with Warner Brothers over the shooting location. Warner Brothers wanted to shoot in Australia because of the tax breaks, whilst McG wanted to film in the United States or Canada. McG’s original explanation was that he felt a North American city couldn’t be replicated outside of the continent. McG also had a fear of flying, so travelling to Australia would have been difficult.
McG was replaced with Bryan Singer, which was considered a big coup for Warner Brothers because of his success on the X-Men movies. Singer threw out Abrams’ screenplay because it deviated too much from the source material. He started the film from scratch, bringing in his X-Men 2 writing team to write Superman Returns as a sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve films. However, there was one leftover from Superman: Flyby, the airplane rescue. In Superman Returns, the titular hero makes his appearance known by saving a plane from crashing. This was the highlight of Superman Returns since it was a sequence of excitement.
2013’s Man of Steel also had a little bit of Superman: Flyby’s DNA in it. The villains were Kyptonian, and they were searching for Superman because of his importance. In Man of Steel’s case, Superman had the genetic blueprint of all Kryptonians embedded in him. A small reference to Superman: Flyby involved a young Clark getting overwhelmed by his heightened senses. In Man of Steel, Martha Kent tells her son to concentrate on her voice, whilst in Superman: Flyby, Martha gave Clark lead-lined glasses.
The big question is, would Superman: Flyby have been a success? That’s debatable. The Spider-man movies of the early 2000s showed that superhero movies could be critical and financial successes. But it was the era when superhero films were still finding their feet. There were noble failures like Hulk, and absolute embarrassments, such as Catwoman. Even if everything went perfectly for Superman: Flyby, it would have been divisive because of all the changes that were made. It would have caused a massive online storm. Superman: Flyby would have made Man of Steel look like Superman: The Movie. Superman: Flyby would have been more exciting and action-packed than Superman Returns.
