Yesterday, reports surfaced that Warner Bros. has now put Man of Steel 2 into active development. While the 2013 Superman reboot retroactively serves as the beginning of the DC Extended Universe, upon release, WB subsequently began expanding said universe with little hope that another standalone Superman movie would be coming anytime soon. But then Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice happened, after which WB went through some internal restructuring that saw DC Comics COO Geoff Johns appointed as the head of the newly created DC Films division, ushering in new leadership for the DC movies to come.
If one were to connect the dots, one might surmise that once Johns stepped up, it was suggested that Warner Bros. attempt to move forward with another standalone Superman film in the hopes of crafting a more successful adaptation of the iconic character. Man of Steel was a success, mind you, but didn’t reach the heights of Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, which may or may not have been one of the reasons why the follow-up became Batman v Superman and not Man of Steel 2.
However, with word now rumbling that Man of Steel 2 may be getting off the ground at some point in the relatively near future, it’s time to think about who may be spearheading this sequel. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder is currently busy shooting Justice League and one imagines he may have had his fill of the DCEU by the time Man of Steel 2 gets off the ground, which opens up the possibility to have a different filmmaker come in and put his or her own spin on the character.
So, who should it be? We here at Collider have put together a poll of some potential candidates, and we’d like to hear from you, dear readers. Who do you want to see at the helm of a new Superman movie? Someone with a lot of experience? A fresh face? Someone well versed in the action realm? Someone with more character-centric sensibilities? This list of candidates hopefully covers many of the bases and casts as wide a net as possible, but is by no means a complete and final list. Below I’ve provided a brief dossier of sorts on the filmmakers we’ve chosen, so let your voice be heard in the poll and sound off with justification in the comments section.
Josh Trank – Fantastic Four, Chronicle
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road, Babe: Pig in the City
Brad Bird – The Incredibles, Tomorrowland
Matthew Vaughn – Kick Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service
Susanne Bier – The Night Manager
Michelle MacLaren – Breaking Bad
Lorene Scafaria – Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Joss Whedon – The Avengers, Serenity
Bennett Miller – Moneyball, Foxcatcher
Phil Lord and Chris Miller – The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street
Francis Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I Am Legend
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty, Point Break
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Alex Garland – Ex Machina
Denis Villeneuve – Sicario, Prisoners
Pete Docter – Up, Inside Out
Jeff Nichols – Mud, Midnight Special
Drew Goddard – The Cabin in the Woods
Jonathan Levine – Warm Bodies, The Night Before
Christopher McQuarrie – Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher
Jennifer Kent – The Babadook
Steven Soderbergh – Ocean’s Eleven, The Knick
Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer – Stranger Things
David Michôd — The Rover, Animal Kingdom
Cary Fukunaga - True Detective, Beasts of No Nation
F. Gary Gray — The Italian Job, Straight Outta Compton
Zack Snyder — Man of Steel, 300