Director Bryan Singer, who will be giving us X-Men: Days of Future Past in a few months, spoke to Empire in a recent interview, and revealed what he’s plans were for the Super Man Returns Sequel, and how we almost had a Superman Returns Sequel with Darkseid in it.
Remember the horrible 2006 Superman movie ‘Superman Returns’ with Brandon Routh? Bryan Singer directed that, and he was on schedule to do the sequel, which was eventually handed to Zack Snyder who gave us Man of Steel. But prior to Zack coming on board, Singer had plans to make an earth-destroying sequel with Darkseid in it! Apart from Apocalypse being in the next X-Men movie, seeing Darkseid must be a close second price for us! To put it mildly, Darkseid is F*^&ing awesome!
Singer spoke about his Superman Returns days:
“Half of that I understand and half of it I never will. It was a movie made for a certain kind of audience. Perhaps more of a female audience. It wasn’t what it needed to be, I guess. I think I could lop the first quarter off and start the movie a bit more aggressively and maybe find a way to start the movie with the jet disaster sequence or something. I could have grabbed the audience a little more quickly. I don’t know what would have helped. Probably nothing. If I could go again, I would do an origin. I would reboot it.”
In addition, he mentions that “Man of Steel” was the title he was thinking of using for his sequel to Superman Returns and says the film’s villain would have been Darkseid.
“That was the title. Actually, my buddy, one of my two best friends, came up with that…We did explore it a little. Just hammering out ideas. I think Darkseid was going to be the villain. It was pretty world-destroying, actually.”
Singer also added why this film never got made, saying, like many films, it just went away.
“I ended up having the opportunity to go and make Valkyrie, and I think the studio lost interest at that point. I can’t say it was all the studio’s fault and I can’t say it was all my fault. It just fizzled out.”
Darkseid laying down the Smacketh on Batman
Run Superman Run! Darkseid made Superman his B*&th once.
Here’s the 101 on Darkseid
Darkseid is one of the most powerful and evil characters in the DC Universe. Not to be confused with Thanos or Apocalypse, Apocalypse and Thanos is Marvel and Darkseid is DC.
Is there any Superhero with a darker and more evil character inspiration than Darkseid? According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modeled Darkseid on Adolf Hitler with ruling like that of a Nazi Germany. Like Hitler, Darkseid is a jackboot-wearing megalomaniac and warmongerer who, in fascist style, sees every citizen as an extension of the state and himself. His society is highly militant, with children being indoctrinated from a young age (à la Hitler Youth) to be warlike and utterly loyal to him.
History – Darkseid is the evil, undisputed ruler of the planet Apokolips. He attempted to take over Earth, at first via Intergang and its boss, Bruno Mannheim. This led to an eventual invasion of Metropolis, which was only stopped when Orion showed up with the army of New Genesis. Orion declared Earth would be under New Genesis’ protection, barring him from invading the planet again. He nurtured a grudge against Superman, and would use him for his second attack on Earth
Powers
- Unique Physiology: Darkseid’s overbearing size, gravely voice and granite-like skin give him a fierce countenance.
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- Accelerated Healing: Injuring Darkseid is an almost impossible feat, though he can get hurt, and when he does, he, depending on the damage, can heal/ recover from his wounds, often at an accelerated rate.
- Omega Beams: Originally, Darkseid projected spurts or pulses of flame beams from his eyes. Later, upon his emergence with Brainiac, he shoots more of laser-like beams, of which prove devastating and chaotic. The properties of the Omega Beams change according to Darkseid’s needs. Sometimes they take the form of concussive bolts of energy. Other times, they may manifest as lethal disintegration rays.
- Immortality: It is believed that Darkseid is an ancient being, possibly several millennia-old. His body does not suffer the rigors of disease or the normal cellular mitosis that comes with age.
- Invulnerability: Darkseid is well-nigh invulnerable and can withstand nearly any physical threat. This is not to suggest that Darkseid cannot be injured however. Sufficient physical force, such as a full-powered punch from Superman, will weaken and even injure Darkseid, though he has been known to recover from such damage extremely quickly.
- Superhuman Stamina: Darkseid can operate with maximum efficiency for an undetermined period of time without rest or the need for sleep.
- Superhuman Strength: Darkseid is one of the strongest beings in the galaxy, but his strength levels is shown to be lower than Superman.
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect
Basically Darkseid cannot be beaten. Seeing Darkseid in a movie will be spectacular and a dream come true! Are we too optimistic to think that it can still happen? Just like Avengers is keeping the door open for Thanos, and X-Men is finally bringing Apocalypse in, DC can just as well include Darkseid?
