On July 26th, 2002 Abrams delivered the first draft of a screenplay titled simply Superman.
Ive read both of Abrams drafts of the project, and theyre a lot of fun.
Once those projects fell apart, Warner Bros. opted for a different take on the mythology.
Two, as a matter of fact.
One was the project that were discussing here.
Why reinvigorate one franchise when you’ve got the option to do two at once, right?
These incidents of Abrams over-explaining are peppered throughout the draft.
Ty-Zor is, essentially, General Zod…but instead of a mere rival, hes Supermans angrier cousin.
Jonathan Kent drops dead of a heart-attack when news of Clarks first excursion as Superman reaches him.
Of course, Ty-Zor finds his way to Earth, and the expected mayhem ensues.
And, lets just say that the controversial ending ofMan of Steelhad some precedent here, as well.
If you found AbramsStar Trekfilms too subtle, then you would likely have been in heaven watching hisSuperman.
Wait…that sounds familiar.
And then, of course, theres the other matter that made waves when this draft leaked.
Its a bit much.
Heres the thing: whenFlybyworks, itreallycooks.
Only here, there are no cats stuck in trees.
There are significant pacing issues in the first draft, particularly in the last act.
It feels like these events take place in the time it takes to read them.
THEN its on to the big battle.
So, how close did we come to actually seeingSuperman: Flybyon the big screen?
Pretty close, it would seem.
Other directors were approached, but Ratner and McG did the most work by far on the project.
you might see a clay sculpture of a Ty-Zor design from Eddie Yang of the Stan Winston Studio righthere.
Casting was well under way, as well.
And what about Superman?
Ironically, we liked Henry Cavill a lot, but we hadnt cast him yet.
A photo of Henry Cavill from his screentest showing him in a Superman costumehas surfaced.
At the time of the second draft, Cavill would have been 20 years old.
Test footage was reportedly shot with Cavill, Jason Behr, Michael Cassidy, andSupernaturals Jared Padalecki.
Ashton Kutcher screentested for the role.
There were disturbing rumors that Warner Bros. wanted Justin Timberlake to wear the cape.
There were others, too.
Casting a Kryptonian is an arduous process.
The studio preferred Josh Hartnett.
Nobody got what they wanted.
Bomer eventually joined the DC Universe as Negative Man on the brilliantDoom PatrolTV series, though.
How did a film likeSuperman: Flybyget so far into the process and never materialize?
Money, of course.
There is one major element ofFlybywhich did eventually make it to the screen inSuperman Returns.
