Warner Bros. heads the DC Comics movie division and manages the DC Extended Universe banner that has been, more or less, going in the right direction. But there have been past projects involving premium DC heroes that no one knows about. Had these projects ever become a reality then things would have been quite different?
Superman Lives
Tim Burton is a guy that gets things done. When it comes to reboots, this guy is a beast. He successfully directed reboots Dark Shadows, Planet of the Apes and Alice in Wonderland. But even Tim Burton failed to resurrect the dead Superman Lives project. Nicholas Cage would have been Superman who would die fighting Doomsday and be resurrected later using Kryptonian technology.
Justice League: Mortal
When Marvel announced it plans for the MCU, WB thought about beating Marvel in its own game. DC Films announced Justice League: Mortal starring DC’s premium League member. But after the 2007-2008 Writers’ Strike and the Dark Knight Trilogy making a shitload of money, WB focused more on Solo movies.
Green Lantern 2
The 2012 Green Lantern movie was supposed to be DC’s answer to Marvel’s Iron Man. But the movie was a buttload of crap. Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan would have been the first entry into DC’s extended universe. Angela Bassett played Amanda Waller. She would have played a similar role to Nick Fury in The Avengers, helping get the heroes together under one roof. Suffice it to say, the sequel never happened.
A Lobo Movie
In 2009, Guy Ritchie was hired to write the script for a Lobo movie. The movie would have seen the main man heading to Earth and working with a young girl to get his bounties. Ritchie bailed on the Project later. In 2016, Jason Fuchs took on the almost dead project and rewrote it completely. It is to be Rated R like Deadpool and have a different story. There is still hope for Lobo!!
Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max
David Goyer essayed the idea for this movie. It would have seen Green Arrow being incarcerated in the World’s most secure prison along with the rest of the Super Villains of the DC universe. The plot would involve Oliver Queen plotting his escape from the prison with the help of other villains like Luthor and the Riddler. The story was pretty cool but it never happened.
Superman: Flyby
Superman: Flyby would have been headed by J.J Abrams and the script was absolutely crazy. Krypton never exploded in this version. Instead, Clark was sent to Earth to escape his uncle. Clark was prophesized to become the new ruler of Krypton and Clark’s uncle, the current ruler did not want that. He sends an entire Kryptonian armada to Earth to capture Clark. The movie would see Superman dying and coming back to life (he dies a lot in the movies).
Batman Beyond
When the Batman Beyond animated series launched in 1999, WB loved the concept so much that they hired a director Boaz Yakin to help write a story with the Show’s co-creater Paul Dini. But the studio was already working on a reboot of the Batman franchise at the time. Dini was assured both projects won’t cross paths but they did. Even the Batman Beyond TV show was canceled soon after.
A Jack Black Green Lantern movie
Wait What!!! When Warner Bros. asked legendary comedy king Robert Smigel to write a Green Lantern Story starring none other than Green Lantern, fans went nuts. The concept was that since Green Lantern, as a character did not need to have abs or a perfect body but just owning the ring, why not add some comedy to it and spice it up? The movie never happened as the fans cried serious foul.
Batman: Year One
In the early 2000s, WB was desperately searching for a viable script for a reboot of the Batman Franchise. They were so impressed with the comic book arc ‘Batman: Year one’ that they even hired the arc’s writer Frank Miller to write the story for a movie. Batman was now a Taxi Driver before he became Batman. Thankfully, WB went with Nolan’s take and the rest is history.
Plastic Man
Plastic Man has always been played as a second fiddle to DC Comics’ writers. The character is an interesting one but has stayed criminally underused. Before their more dramatic debut into the world of Hollywood, Lily and Lana Wachowski once dabbled with the idea of a Plastic Man movie. The movie would have a story that goes like this – Ralph Dibny is a staunch environmentalist until his powers turn his entire body (even his own urine) non-biodegradable.
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