Matthew Vaughn is no stranger to superhero movies, having entered the genre with 2010’s Kick-Ass, then delivered X-Men: First Class the year after (he was also once set to helm X-Men: The Last Stand, but walked away from it). However, the man who’s helmed all three movies in the Kingsman franchise (which is also inspired from comic book source material) has yet to leave his stamp on the DC Comics space, although it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. There was a time when Vaughn “plotted out” a Superman film trilogy, and had it moved forward, we would’ve seen the Man of Steel’s origin story changed in a major way.
During his visit to Happy Sad Confused to talk about his career, Vaughn was asked by host Josh Horowitz if it was true he’d once been lined up to direct Man of Steel 2, which was reported in March 2017. The filmmaker debunked this rumor, but did reveal that prior to Man of Steel being greenlit, he and comic book writer Mark Millar had crafted their own cinematic Superman saga. He started off by saying:
Mark and I sat down and we plotted out a three [film] trilogy, pitched it to Warners… before Man of Steel… so we pitched how to do a trilogy of Superman movies, Warners said they weren’t interested. That’s as far as it went.
Warner Bros. Pictures started taking pitches from various talent for a Superman reboot in June 2008, two years after Superman Returns came out and failed to receive a sequel, and one month ahead of The Dark Knight’s monumental theatrical run. So at this point in his career, Layer Cake and Stardust were the only movies Vaughn had directed, though that was enough to get his foot in the door. Alas, his and Millar’s idea was one of many that WB would turn down before settling on Man of Steel, which starred Henry Cavill as the title protagonist and launched the DC Extended Universe.
So how would Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar have drastically shaken up the Superman mythology with this film trilogy. Well, the man known as both Kal-El and Clark Kent wouldn’t have left Krypton as an infant, but well into adulthood. As Vaughn explained after Josh Horowitz inquired about if his Superman vision would have been more similar to the Richard Donner-helmed movies:
I think Donner nailed it. Wonder Woman worked very well because it was basically a Donner/Superman film but reimagined as Wonder Woman. I would’ve done a modern version of Donner. Our big idea was that Krypton doesn’t blow up. It does eventually. The dad was right, but he got his timing wrong. When Superman is grown up, suddenly there’s a mass exodus and all hell breaks loose. That was our main idea.
Having Superman only arrive on Earth as an adult following Krypton’s delayed destruction definitely would have been a major change, as traditionally the Kryptonian powerhouse is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, and doesn’t learn about his alien heritage until well into his teens. Granted, going off this tidbit of information, it doesn’t sound quite as wild as what Darren Aronofsky planned for his film adaptation of Batman: Year One that also didn’t happen, but still, I’d be curious to see how Vaughn and Millar would have depicted Superman building a love and appreciation for Earth in such a short span of time rather than across his adolescence.
While Matthew Vaughn’s Superman trilogy never became a reality, moviegoers can look forward to another reboot of the popular DC Comics superhero in summer 2025: the James Gunn-written and directed Superman: Legacy, which will see David Corenswet putting on the red cape. Meanwhile, Vaughn’s next movie, Argylle, hits theaters on February 2, 2024, and will be released to Apple TV+ subscribers at a later date.
