Over the years, fans have been asking themselves what could have happened if ‘Man of Steel’ had taken a different path. However, now Zack Snyder has provided a preview of the sequel that could have been.
And his vision sounds like a cosmic escalation worthy of Superman’s mythos.
DC Almost Delivered A True ‘Man of Steel 2‘
In an interview on Happy Sad Confused, Snyder affirmed that ‘Man of Steel 2’ was not a mere speculation. There were real plans. His vision? An independent Superman film about one of the most powerful villains of the character: Brainiac. Brainiac would not have been just a lateral threat. He would have been the event.
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According to Snyder, the concept was to create a timeline with ‘Man of Steel’ and then spin off into a real Superman sequel, one that made Brainiac the main villain. “We absolutely did. My plan was to hopefully have this sort of established timeline we could branch off and go do this Brainiac movie that would have like a Superman/Brainiac solo concept,” he shared.
Brainiac is not just another super-powered villain in comic lore. He is an alien mind preoccupied with gathering and storing civilizations, and tends to make entire cities, like Kandor, his trophies. Such a scale would have taken Henry Cavill’s Superman into very personal territory. Brainiac is the embodiment of lost knowledge, technological superiority, and existential threat of Krypton all in one.
It would not have been merely a battle; it would’ve been a struggle with history. Rather, the DCEU shifted to ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, which introduced Ben Affleck as Batman and took the universe laterally instead of vertically. The solo arc of Superman was incorporated into a bigger crossover machine. To certain fans, that change still hurts.
Brainiac’s Future Lives On In James Gunn’s New DCU
Ironically, the villain Snyder envisioned is now going to theaters, but not in his universe. ‘Man of Tomorrow’ will introduce Brainiac to the rebooted DCU in 2027, under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
David Corenswet will return as Superman, and Brainiac is said to be a major threat alongside Lex Luthor. Something poetic in that. Snyder’s vision lives on, despite the change in the timeline.
In case you missed it: James Gunn Sets The Record Straight On DC’s Batman Plans
A single strategic shift changed the whole course of the DCEU. A solo cosmic sequel was transformed into a shared-universe confrontation. Would a Brainiac-centered Man of Steel 2 have changed DC’s destiny? It’s impossible to know.
However, just thinking of Cavill’s Superman confronting a cold, calculating alien mind, instead of a divided world, is enough to make fans question what might’ve been possible.
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