‘Man of Steel’ Was Meant to Be First Part of Five Chapter Story

Director Zack Snyder is credited with kicking off the cinematic universe based on DC Comics characters with his Superman story, Man of Steel.

Many fans have been clamoring for a sequel to that movie, putting Clark Kent back in the spotlight for his own adventure, but DC animation director and storyboard artist Jay Oliva recently offered a good reason why Man of Steel 2 has yet to happen.

While responding to fans on Twitter wondering about the sequel’s potential status, Oliva responded that Snyder had a very specific plan in place for his superhero film franchise.

“Man of Steel was never meant to have a sequel because it was supposed to be chapter 1 of a 5 chapter story. Notice how [Batman v Superman] follows exactly after [Man of Steel]? It’s like book two of Harry Potter,” Oliva wrote.

Oliva worked with Snyder as a storyboard artist for his DC Films projects, and has directed animated movies such as Justice League Dark and The Flashpoint Paradox.

Another fan followed up for clarification, referring to Justice League Part 1 & 2 as the third and fourth chapters of the story, which Oliva confirmed. This was the plan before the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, when Warner Bros.’ slate included Snyder’s two-part Justice League epic.

Of course, fans know how all of those plans have changed over the years, partially due to the poor reception and box office performance of Batman v Superman.

Snyder stepped away from his directing duties on Justice League, though he still received sole credit, after suffering a family tragedy during the production. He was replaced by Joss Whedon, who also rewrote large swaths of the script and oversaw extensive reshoots.

The movie, which released in November, was among the lowest grossing movies from the current DC cinematic universe, and was widely considered a misfire among Warner Bros. executives. What was meant to be a cinematic event that unified the company’s most popular superheroes on the big screen for the first time, ended up getting trounced by Marvel Studios’ own Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther.

In the wake of his apparent split with Warner Bros., Snyder has been opening up about his discarded plans for the future of the DC Films universe, even explaining how certain events from his movies would have paid off in the future.

It’s obvious that Snyder had a grand design for telling an epic story. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like his ideas will ever see the light of day.

Justice League is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.