Zack Snyder will be calling the shots when the Man of Steel takes flight again in 2012.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have hired the director of 300, Watchmen and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole to helm the Superman reboot which is expected to begin production next year. Snyder beat out Ben Affleck, Tony Scott, Matt Reeves and Darren Aronofsky for the coveted job.
The story by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer is being kept under wraps but has been confirmed to be unrelated to 2006’s Superman Returns. Brandon Routh is out and a new actor will be chosen to wear the iconic outfit.
Buried within THR’s report of Snyder’s hiring is the first evidence of who Superman will be battling in the film. With little fanfare they wrote, “Goyer is writing the script, which is rumored to have, like Superman Returns, a Richard Donner Superman connection. In the movie’s case, it’s a villain connection: General Zod.” In addition to giving Superman fits in Superman 2, a younger version of General Zod has appeared in several episodes of Smallville. Warner Bros. has yet to comment on Zod’s potential appearance in the film.
Pending litigation with Superman heirs Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel have forced Warner Bros. to fast track the new film into production by 2011 else risk the potential of losing copyrights under dispute.
Snyder is now wrapping up work on Suckerpunch which hits theaters on March 25, 2011. Once that is complete, he will move directly into Superman where the project is already “moving quick” per his remarks made yesterday to THR.
