Warner Bros. Might Be Considering A Superman: Red Son Movie
Rumor has it that Warner Bros. is thinking about developing an alternate version of Superman.
Indie Wire reports that executives at the studio are looking into a live-action movie version of the 2003 comic book miniseries Superman: Red Son, which imagines a world in which Superman crash-landed in the middle of the Soviet Union and grew up in the U.S.S.R. instead of Kansas.
Of course, nothing is confirmed at all, but the story was prompted by an interesting Twitter conversation between Mark Millar, the writer of that series, and Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Apparently, Vogt-Roberts had pitched Warner Bros. on the idea a while back, and Millar said he'd heard that the studio is now kicking around the idea.
Check out the Twitter exchange below.
This thread is giving me tangential pangs of what-could-have-been for the version of Red Son I pitched that will sadly never get made. Oy.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) June 27, 2017
Did you hear WB pitching directors Red Son? Two diff pals in last 2 months. This truly is Putin's America.
— Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar) June 27, 2017
Wait, really? Because I pitched it to them months ago and was told no. It's the most punk rock thing the DCEU could do in my mind.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) June 27, 2017
I think it's necessary for the comic book movie as a whole to take a step beyond the shared universe by introducing one-off movies.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) June 27, 2017
I think we can sustain a "main shared universe" AND offshoots with alternate takes on characters & different actors existing simultaneously.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) June 27, 2017
When the internet caught wind of the possibility, Millar clarified the issue some to Den of Geek.
"Is this something they're genuinely planning? I have no idea", Millar said. "I've got pals at Warner Bros. but never discussed it with them. I think they're just going through their back catalogue of big books and hoping to lure in good directors as opposed to any particular interest in developing Red Son... There's always 50 conversations for every comic book movie that gets made and, as far as I know, this is something that is very much just at conversation stage."
Vogt-Roberts also said, "I have no idea if this is being developed. I pitched it to DC as something I 'want to do,' not something they pitched me."
At this point, it might be much ado about nothing. As Millar said, studios brainstorm lots of potential ideas, and a Red Son movie would definitely be a risk. Considering the trouble the DCEU has had getting on track (finally with Wonder Woman), the safe money would say this won't happen. But you never know.
While we wait to hear more, check out some of the most terrible things Superman has ever done.