𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘤𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝙈𝙖𝙣 𝙊𝙛 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙡 ~ 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴/𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥

Plot details here are based on interviews but add credence to the potential story McQuarrie pitched.

The rest‘s up to our imagination.

Before I begin, I just wanna clarify that this was merely a pitch and didn't go beyond that but it's very interesting and worth breaking down if we're simply talking story.

Also, Christopher McQuarrie is no stranger to superhero movies as he was an uncredited writer on X-Men (2000) and actually wrote an amazing, dark, Kurosawa-inspired draft of what became The Wolverine (2013) for Darren Aronofsky.

It all started on set of Mission: Impossible – Fallout when Henry Cavill struck up a friendship with Christopher McQuarrie and approached him about a Superman idea for a film which they both instantly clicked on.

This got them a meeting or (meetings) at Warner Bros. where Henry Cavill and McQuarrie came up with a detailed story pitch and idea to take to Warner Bros. a few months before Fallout was released for a Man Of Steel sequel.

Henry Cavill made it VERY clear many times he wanted this to be a Man Of Steel sequel and very much tied to it, unlike what James Gunn is doing with The Suicide Squad (2021) as a tonal relaunch/soft reboot to Suicide Squad (2016).

Henry Cavill confirmed talks at Warner Bros. for Man Of Steel 2 around April 2018 with WB.

1/2

Henry Cavill basically confirmed those talks happened with McQuarrie and was open to renewing his contract for more if things started happening.

2/2

Prior to the Superman conversations, Christopher McQuarrie was courted for a Green Lantern Corps movie by WB. When asked about it on Twitter, this is what he had to say.

1/2.

McQuarrie said he was going to a write a Green Lantern Corps screenplay— but not direct.

And it would have directly been tied with the Man Of Steel sequel he pitched with Henry.

2/2

Now onto the REALLY good stuff.

When Henry Cavill was asked if he could adapt any Superman story into a feature film, he immediately picked Superman: For Tomorrow.

1/3.

Superman: For Tomorrow by Brian Azzarello deals with Superman leaving very briefly in outer space to deal with the aftermath of an event called The Vanishing.

It is revealed that while off earth, about 2 million people just vanished.

Clark returning to earth sees this as a huge failure, as he believes he should have been there. Out of the two million lives gone, one of them included his wife, Lois Lane.

2/3

The story ultimately explores themes and meditation on some on the characteristics of Superman as a character, and what it means to be Superman at his most vulnerable.

3/3

Based on McQuarrie's comments when asked, I'm lead to believe this is the storyline that was being pitched.

This would have featured the return of Father Leone as seen from Man Of Steel (2013).

Superman would go to confide with him about his guilt and build a bond with him.

1/2

The story deals with Leone confiding with Superman about his cancer and both form a friendship as Superman deals with his loss (that is, until... Superman finds out what REALLY happened in the Vanishing).

2/2.

I’m lead to believe the antagonist would have been Brainiac based off Henry’s comments when asked about his ideal villain he’d wanna face in a Superman movie.

1/2

It's possible Brainiac would have been the cause of The Vanishing for McQuarrie's Man Of Steel sequel.

2/2.

Also, this is fun to mention. Henry Cavill said he inspired his look in Fallout by mercenary, Elias Orr. One of the key antagonists in the Superman: For Tomorrow book.

Unfortunately, WB at the time ghosted McQuarrie, opting to rather go with some strange idea of a Supergirl film opposed to Man Of Steel sequel.

1/3

This very much killed any enthusiasm in any idea of a Superman film from McQuarrie.

He signed on for two more Mission Impossible films opposed to working with WB on any projects he allegedly was attached to.

2/3

3/3.

The old regime.

This was a tumultuous time where there were reports Cavill was out, then not out but they had no plans for him, which was a nail on the coffin back then for any McQuarrie Superman film with Cavill.

Fast forward two years later, WB has had a few shake ups since then, and now the future of Henry Cavill’s Superman returning is looking brighter than ever.

Whatever the future holds, we will definitely see the return of Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League streaming on HBO Max in 2021.