It's only Tuesday, but it's looking like Superman week. If you don't already know, the big news of yesterday was that 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder has been chosen to direct the Superman reboot based on a script by David S. Goyer and under the oversight of Christopher Nolan. With that news came a bevy of other stories, including the reveal that General Zod will be the film's main villain and that it is unlikely that Brandon Routh will return for the role. Now it's day two and the stories keep on coming.
In their article reporting that Darren Aronofsky is in negotiations to direct Wolverine 2, Vulture has released some fairly important details, namely a one-sentence plot synopsis and the reasoning behind Snyder's selection.
First up, the plot details. When mentioning that Aronofsky was briefly talked about for the Superman directing job, the article reads that the film will see "Clark Kent [as] a journalist traveling the world trying to decide if he should, in fact, even become Superman." While vague and sourceless, it does bring up two questions: 1) can that storyline provide more action than the lackluster Superman Returns and 2) The word "become" suggests that the film may take place before Superman puts on the tights for the first time, suggesting that we might need to get ready for an origin story.
Sadly, the second bit of news is quite disheartening. According to the magazine, the reason why Snyder was chosen to direct the film - and why Aronofsky was considered - is because Warner Bros. doesn't like Goyer's script, calling it "rushed" and "still a bit of a mess." The studio believes that Snyder can take on the project and not need months to figure it all out. The reason for the pressure comes from the fact that a new Superman movie needs to be in production by 2011 or they can be subject to legal action from the heirs of the hero's creators.
When Snyder was first named the director of the project, I thought it was a great plan. While Snyder has a fantastic vision, where he gets lost occasionally is in the story, but most figured that it wouldn't be a problem with the team behind The Dark Knight. By choosing someone like Snyder, I was happy with the idea of him getting the lion's share of control, but that was largely based on the idea that the film had a solid script. If that's not the case, this movie might be in trouble. Now is as good a time as any for Nolan to exercise those "Godfather" rights that Warner Bros. extended to him, get his hands dirty, and make sure that this reboot is done right.
