Longtime fans of the DCEU are going to view J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Superman reboot with skepticism no matter what form it ends up taking, for no other reason than the fact that it’ll move the Big Blue Boy Scout one step further away from both the SnyderVerse and Henry Cavill. Indeed, even a cursory glance at social media makes it clear there are a lot of people out there happy to ignore whatever Bad Robot, Warner Bros. and DC Films come up with if it doesn’t involve their preferred star and/or mythology.
Plot details still remain scarce, but according to a new report, Abrams’ Superman pic isn’t going to be part of DCEU canon, and it might not be connected to any of the studio’s past, present or future films for that matter. The script isn’t due to be handed in until December, so it’s going to be a long time before we see the finished product and a lot could change between now and then, but The Hollywood Reporter intimates that the all-new Son of Krypton isn’t being designed with any connective tissue in mind.
Not only that, but it’s said to another retelling of the Man of Steel’s origins, which will draw inspiration from the very earliest days of the comic books and have a Kryptonian protagonist make his home on Earth, so it sounds as if there’s no intention on Coates’ part to completely reinvent the wheel with his screenplay.
In addition, one option under consideration is apparently for the Superman reboot to be a period piece set in the 20th Century. While that’s obviously pretty vague and it could take place anywhere between 1901 and 1999, the idea of a standalone blockbuster unfolding around the time the character made his comic book debut in 1938 would certainly be a new and interesting approach to the material.
