While we're nearly a month gone from Man of Steel's cinematic release, it seems there's still plenty to talk about. In fact, from the sound of things, lots of people have been asking Russell Crowe (Jor-El) about the possibility of a film focusing solely on Krypton! How many people? Enough of them for Crowe to feel he needed to address the issue in a tweet:
A lot of you are asking about a KRYPTON prequel, if that's something you feel strongly about let @Legendary pictures know your thoughts
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) July 5, 2013
But that's not all! Empirehas a pretty hefty feature with screenwriter David Goyer and director Zack Snyder where they talk about possible sequels, as well as things that didn't quite make the cut for Man of Steel...including the prospect of more Krypton!
"The first draft actually had more even on Krypton," says Snyder, "The destruction of Krypton was crazy and we linearised that because it was like the birth and then all of these flashbacks within flashbacks and the timing of Zod’s approach. There was a bigger battle that I had designed on the landing platform and we shot some of it, but for budgetary reasons it got smaller and smaller and then it got to the point where I was just like, ‘Let’s just have the battle inside.’"
On the question of why Superman didn't spend more time engaged in smaller tasks before the big battle with Zod, Goyer had this to say:
"This is a movie where the world learns that he exists and he decides to assume the mantle of Superman, so by the end of the film when he has that scene with General Swanwick, in our minds, the world has only been aware of Superman a month, or three weeks or something. That montage that you’re talking about can’t really happen yet. Presumably it would happen in another film or in between the next film."
And, perhaps most importantly to fans, Goyer reiterated quite strongly his feelings about the wider DC Universe within Man of Steel. "This is just, sort of, y’know, ground zero for...a greater DC universe. This is a shared universe so we’re saying yes, Lex Luthor exists in this world, Bruce Wayne exists in this world. We mentioned S.T.A.R. Labs and so the intention is, if the film is well received, that this would be the starting point for introducing other characters and ultimately, obviously Warner Bros. hopes there will be a Justice League film and perhaps you might start seeing other characters appearing in each other’s films."
But it's this last quote from Goyer which might be the most revealing! "I think in some ways they’re interested in going perhaps the opposite direction that Marvel has done which may be to do a group film and then spin off."
Go read the whole thing at Empire, as it's pretty juicy!