News culture “There’s no way you’re going to do that” Christopher Nolan was against this scene that changed Superman forever
In 2013, Man of Steel was released, the foundation stone for the DCEU laid by Zack Snyder. A film that gives darkness to the character of Superman, previously the epitome of the flawless hero. A controversial decision since the beginning of the project, which Christopher Nolan himself initially rejected.
The cornerstone of the DCEU
Shortly after the success of The Dark Knight trilogy, Warner Bros. decided to take a new path with the adaptations of DC Comics and respond to Marvel with the creation of the DCEU. Initially, the first project is entrusted to Zack Snyder, who must bring Superman back man of Steel
Obviously ambitious project, man of Steel The film divided critics upon its release, but still managed to gross almost $668 million at the box office. A real success that will then set the tone for all future productions. Originally, however, the film could have been completely different as Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer explained upon release in 2013.
A darkness that is difficult to accept
From the beginning of the film, Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer wanted to give greater meaning to the values of this aspiring hero. In man of SteelClark Kent isn’t quite Superman yet when he discovers his powers, his origins and his motivations. The director and his screenwriter therefore wanted to make an impression and explain Superman’s aversion to murder. To do this he had to kill someone: Zod, the big villain of the film. However, Warner and Christopher Nolan, the feature film’s producer at the time, did not like this idea.
I thought, “I really feel like we need to kill Zod, and I feel like Superman needs to kill him.” For me, it was explained like this: If this really is an origin story, his aversion to murder is unexplained. It’s just in his DNA. I thought if we put him in an impossible situation and forced him to do it, it would work. I also thought that would explain why he wouldn’t kill again after that. (…) – Zack Snyder.
(…) We started talking to people in DC and asked, “Can Superman kill anyone?” and they initially told us “impossible.” But what if he had no choice? Originally, Chris (Nolan) didn’t even want us to write this, but Zack and I said, “We think we can find a way to convince you.” So I came up with this idea of heat images and these people coming up preparing for death, back, and I wrote the sequence and gave it to Chris and he said, “Okay, you convinced me.” (…) – David S. Goyer.
A winning choice that convinced the producers but also the audience. The film’s darkness and Zack Snyder’s vision will have influenced the entire DCEU, at least until the end of the filmmaker’s involvement. And from this moment we also notice the decline of the DC cinematic universe, as it has lost that uniqueness that allowed it to stand out from the Marvel cinematic universe.
