X-Men: First Class and Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn is no longer attached to Man of Steel, the filmmaker confirmed during a new interview. Vaughn, one of the most in-demand filmmakers in Hollywood after Kingsman, had long been rumored for a potential follow-up to Zack Snyder’s movie, which gave Superman a brooding new origin and launched the DC movie universe back in 2013, but there had never been official confirmation that he was. Now that that shared universe is undergoing some radical changes and Henry Cavill may or may not even return to the role, Vaughn confirmed that whatever he might have done is no longer in the cards.
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Vaughn’s proposed movie would reportedly have used some of the same ideas that he pitched with Kick-Ass and Superman: Red Son comics writer Mark Millar back in 2008, including a heavy focus on Krypton. That movie is officially out of the question at this point, but Vaughn admits that it would be “hard to say no” to a serious offer to come direct a Superman film. Apparently in 2017, nearly a decade after being rejected on their first attempt, Vaughn asked Millar if he would be interested in pitching a Man of Steel 2 to DC, although Millar had licensed his Millarworld properties to Netflix and is now exclusive there.
Vaughn has previously described Richard Donner’s 1978 film Superman: The Movie as his platonic ideal of a Superman movie, and said that he would try to recreate that feeling of optimism and wonder if he were to take it on. That is, of course, a far cry from the deeply cynical Kick-Ass, the stylized throwback of X-Men: First Class, or the gleefully violent Kingsman, and would be a new color for Vaughn to paint with in his superhero films. His next film, the Taron Edgerton-starring Elton John biopic Rocketman, will be in theaters tomorrow and will be spectacularly colorful, detailing Elton John’s breakthrough years in psychadelic, period-appropriate style. His next film, Kingsman: the Great Game, is in production now.
Upcoming DC movies include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.
