4) Superman: Flyby – J.J. Abrams
There was a time before Superman Returns when DC and Warner were desperately trying to relaunch their superhero films. And because Superman is one of their most valuable assets, a new movie about the Kryptonian-sent-to-Earth was among the priorities. And so, there were multiple proposed projects, and pretty much everyone in Hollywood was rumoured to play the titular character at some point or another.
At this point in time, J.J. Abrams was one of the people trying to get Warner the story they were so desperately searching for. And from how the eventual script turned out to be, he didn’t do a too bad of a job.
Focusing on Supes’ life from a super-strong baby to eventually wearing the iconic red-and-blue tights, the script has him facing off against everyone’s favourite bold-genius Lex Luthor and battling it out with a fellow Kryptonian, Ty-Zor. All in all, the script is solid and very, very Man of Steel-esque.
Despite the quality, the script wasn’t produced, because Bryan Singer was chosen to direct – and with him came new writers. Thus, the story was reinvented once more, the product being Superman Returns. Though, you can still spot a couple features from Abrams’ Flyby in that movie.
There are actually a couple different versions of J.J.’s Superman floating around the Web, but the one you should be looking for is that dated October 24, 2003. Or “Octorber,” as it says on the script.
Hey, no one’s perfect.