Zack Snyder has started to foster speculation that apparently already exists about a potential Man of Steel franchise. The Watchmen and 300 director, currently preparing for what could potentially be the biggest movie of the summer, has been at the centre of speculation that a potential series is on the cards, akin to Christopher Nolan’s Batman series.
He fanned the flames of speculation, stating during post-production that:
“We didn’t design the movie like Batman [i.e. as a trilogy] but I don’t think anybody would say you design a Superman movie as a one-off.”
If Man of Steel is a success then of course it will become a franchise, just like every other popular movie becomes a franchise. Arguably, finances contribute more towards a film’s franchise potential more than story. For example, the 2012 film John Carter was planned as an extensive series of movies but bombed so comprehensively that any talk of a follow-up was quickly shelved.
But let’s face facts – it’s unlikely that Man of Steel will be quite as bad as John Carter. It currently only exists to the general public as a trailer and it’s already better. If the film is a critical success, why shouldn’t there be more of them? Everyone was sad to see the end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but that’s not out of allegiance to the character, that’s due to a love of great cinema. If Man of Steel is great, and could be convincingly great across multiple films, then there’s no reason why a franchise shouldn’t be on the cards. This throws up a whole host of potential villains for Superman to battle, in all sorts of locations.
Man of Steel is released on June 14th, which we should all go and see before we start dreaming of sequels and threequels. Only then can we begin pestering Zack Snyder about Man of Steel II: Back in the Steel and Man of Steel III: Even Steelier.
