Christopher McQuarrie, director of this summer’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, has indicated in a fan Q&A on Twitter that he’d be up for helming Man of Steel 2. When asked if he’d “consider directing the next Superman film,” he responded, “they know where to find me.”
Indeed they do. In fact, Warner Bros. knows exactly where to find McQuarrie, after they presumably spent much of 2017 pleading with him to allow Henry Cavill’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout character to shave off his moustache before the extensive Justice League reshoots.
He and Paramount refused to, of course, resulting in the uncanny valley CGI face’d Superman that turned out to be a relatively minor contribution to Justice League‘s suckage. Still, studio executives are famous for the zen ability not to hold illogical grudges for years and years, so I’m sure they’ll be eager to wipe the slate clean and invite McQuarrie over to take on a (presumably clean-shaven) Superman film, right?
Whether McQuarrie directs or not, Cavill’s future as the iconic hero is currently up in the air. In the run-up to 2013’s Man of Steel, the actor signed a four-film contract to play the role. After Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, we only have one more to go, and it’s all but confirmed that Cavill’s Supes will appear in the upcoming Shazam! Beyond that things are hazy, and they aren’t helped by the catastrophic failure of Justice League throwing the future of the DCEU as a whole into question.
Despite this, it seems as if Man of Steel 2 is theoretically going ahead, with Cavill reportedly looking to renew his contract, beginning with another solo Superman adventure. If and when that does happen, McQuarrie would be a solid choice of director. He’s got rigorous action chops, a great visual eye and the sense of scale you need to make a film like this work.
It’s all pie in the sky thinking at the moment, but frankly, Warner Bros. needs an injection of new creative talent right now, don’t you think?
