Back in 2002, Warner Bros. almost went ahead with Superman: Flyby which was penned by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, Star Wars: Episode VII) and would have been directed by McG (Terminator Salvation).
From what we’ve learned about the movie, we think it was ultimately a good thing that the controversial superhero flick was never made, since it featured really dark and bizarre — even if they were at times fascinating — ideas that turned the Superman mythos on its head.
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Below are a couple of highlights we gleamed from the Official Comic Book Movie Podcast The Weekly Planet, which discusses Abrams’ Superman: Flyby.
- Superman: Flyby featured an origin story that had Krypton in the midst of a civil war.
- Jor-El had a corrupted brother and was at war with him.
- Kal-El’s dad specifically picked the Kents for his son.
- Superman is defeated and killed by four Kryptonians, including his own cousin, who knew ... Kryptonian kung fu. (You can blame that one on The Matrix.)
- Jor-El is still alive and Krypton has not exploded.
- Learning of his son’s death, Jor-El commits ritualistic suicide while in prison and meets up with Kal-El in Kryptonian Heaven.
- Kal-El is resurrected because he's the chosen one and returns to Earth to defeat the four Kryptonians who killed him -- having learned Kryptonian kung fu.
- The movie would've ended on a cliffhanger, with Superman going to Krypton.
- Earlier versions had Lex Luthor as a Kryptonian who could fly and also knew kung fu.
- In a throwback to the first Superman flick with Christopher Reeve, our Man of Steel circumnavigates around the globe to take out a MECH. (But why does he need to do that, really?)
- There’s a version of the script where Martha Kent is nearly raped by their landlord.
- Shia Laboeuf was approached to play Jimmy Olsen.
What do you guys think of Abrams' take on Superman with Superman: Flyby? Do you think we dodged a speeding bullet here?
(via Comic Book Movie)