As recently as a year ago, Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn was rumored to be in talks to direct Man of Steel 2. However, in an interview with Polygon for Rocketman — which he produced, and stars Kingsman’s Taron Egerton — Vaughn said the film was “officially” no longer happening. The update affirms the report that Henry Cavill is no longer part of Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films’ future film plans.
As the filmmaker explained, the pitch he’d presented with Mark Millar (whose comics Kick-Ass and The Secret Service Vaughn adapted into films) just didn’t fly. Millar has described how, in 2008, he and Vaughn pitched WB on a Superman film — the first in a proposed trilogy — that was “a massive, uplifting, hopeful thing,” but further details about the pair’s vision have been sparse. As Vaughn tells it, his Man of Steel 2 would have lifted many of the same ideas.
Speaking to Polygon, Vaughn revealed that the first film in the proposed trilogy was meant to take place almost entirely on Krypton, and focus on Jor-El and the impending explosion of Krypton. Though the alien planet would still face destruction, Vaughn and Millar’s take would have the event take place much later in the timeline, allowing Superman to grow up on his home planet and gradually become familiar with Earth, maturing into an adult before having to reckon with his loyalty to both planets.
Though the negotiations Vaughn was reportedly in have since dissipated, the filmmaker didn’t entirely rule out the possibility of returning to the DC universe. “It’d be hard to say no,” he said, of being offered the opportunity to helm a new Superman film.
Rocketman hits theaters on May 31.