Superman kicked off the DC Extended Universe with Man of Steel in 2013, and despite meeting an unfortunate demise during Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice last year, he'll be back to being an important player in this world when he returns in Justice League. Following that, Superman's next appearance hasn't officially been confirmed yet, although one of the many DC projects in development right now is Man of Steel 2. While it remains to be seen whether another Superman solo adventure will arrive before Justice League 2, news just broke that Warner Bros is looking at Matthew Vaughn to direct the sequel.
According to Collider, Matthew Vaughn of Kingsman: The Secret Service fame is Warner Bros' top choice right now to direct Man of Steel 2, thus succeeding Zack Snyder. "Preliminary conversations" have reportedly begun, though this doesn't necessarily mean that Vaughn will sign on for the project. It was also mentioned that even if Vaughn doesn't want to helm Man of Steel 2, Warner Bros still wants him for another one of their superhero movies, so Warner Bros sounds especially eager to bring him aboard to their franchise in some capacity. Of course, this wouldn't be Vaughn's first time in the world of cinematic superheroes, as he previously directed Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, as well as produced Kick-Ass 2 and the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot.
Back in 2010 when Matthew Vaughn was promoting Kick-Ass and had just been hired for X-Men: First Class, he said that we'd "crossed the Rubicon with superhero films," and that we soon wouldn't see much more of them. Seven years later, that genre is more popular than ever, and now he's being considered for Man of Steel 2. Sometimes life can be ironic. While it remains to be seen whether or not Vaughn will take the Man of Steel 2 job, we may already have an idea of what kind of touch he would bring to the movie. Two years ago, Vaughn stated his belief that people were tired of the Christopher Nolan "dark, bleak style of superhero escapism," and would prefer fun with these kinds of movies, pointing to Guardians of the Galaxy as an example. Keeping that in mind, along with his past credits, if Vaughn ends up directing Man of Steel 2, perhaps we can expect a story not nearly as dark and heavy as Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.
While we wait for more updates on what's in store for Man of Steel 2, you can look forward to seeing Superman back in action when Justice League is released on November 17. Meanwhile, Matthew Vaughn's next comic book movie contribution will be Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which arrives on October 6.
