Superman will go global in the next movie and David Goyer on the massive collateral damage in Man of Steel

June 17th 2013, 10:35am

MAN OF STEEL had a huge opening weekend (even if it wasn't loved by every critic) and Warner Bros. must be pretty happy with how well it has performed so far. Granted the movie has some solid competition coming up and it'll be interesting to see if the film has some legs to it but so far it looks like MAN OF STEEL is a big hit.

Which of course means there's going to be plenty of rumors and speculations coming up about a sequel and JUSTICE LEAGUE. The Wall Street Journal is already reporting that a knowledgeable source has told them that a sequel to MAN OF STEEL could be in theaters as fast as next year and JUSTICE LEAGUE might be out in 2015.

But lets focus on sequel news that actually involves someone in the film, like director Zack Snyder. In an interview on BBC Radio 4 Film Programme (transcriptions courtesy of Bleeding Cool) Snyder said that while Superman is very much an American character because of how powerful he is he can't just protect Americans and that would be explored in the sequel:

Francine Stock: I’ll tell you something about General Zod. General Zod gets gloablisation, doesn’t he? Because when he arrives on Earth he sends out his message in all the languages of the world, so it is a sort of United Colours of Benetton kind of thing, “It’s all over” … but Superman, he’s just for America.

Zack Snyder: Yeah. 100%… that was always a thing that would be in the evolution of Superman. He has no choice but to become global.

FS: That would be the sequel.

ZS: Knock on wood. That literally has to happen. But for me I was really interested in – and maybe it’s because Barack Obama’s president now – it’s okay for Superman to be American. He’s quintessentially an American creature and creation. I wanted to pay homage to the superhero as coming from the heartland of America, and the “Why?” of that. I was really interested in just how American he was, and I think in the best possible way, the Kevin Costner cornfield kind of way. Which is why I really wanted Kevin and Diane Lane to play those parts [Ma and Pa Kent] because they really represent a believable America but an America that is also… we do it in the most realistic way we can but still all of the icons are very much represented in a way that I don’t know exists for real. But you want it to. Like a Norman Rockwell documentary… handheld Norman Rockwell.

It makes sense to me and it seems like a logical step forwards for the sequel. Superman loves the country he was raised in but he is Earth's protector and not just America's bodyguard. I wonder if Superman and American politicians will end up clashing over different principles and values in the sequel besides diving deeper into how the character is viewed on a global scale.

A lot of people have been critical about the level of destruction in MAN OF STEEL and how there would be a lot of innocent people dead because of a fist fight between two Gods. It's a fair argument but in an interview with Bleeding Cool writer David Goyer says that he expected some fans to be upset with the collateral damage and discussed why he felt it was necessary:

One of the things we were hoping to depict is that Superman is not a god. We say he’s a god-like figure but he’s not omnipotent. Even in the comic books he cannot save everyone. I think people die [in Metropolis]. Clearly hundreds if not thousands of people have died while the gravity machines are going off. There were probably even people who died in Smallville.

When you’re dealing with a threat like this, there will be collateral damage. This is something that hadn’t been depicted in comic book films is what it would be like if these powerful figures did clash, if The Hulk and Thor fought, people would probably die. Particularly in this case where Zod and the Kryptonians really don’t care if people die. I think people died and I’m sure that upsets some people.

We knew that people would be upset by some of the choices we make. We got some grief when we did Batman Begins. Now people think what we did was great but when Batman Begins first came out, people were upset by some of the choices we made.

While it doesn't bother me I can see why fans might not be happy with the loss of innocent lives. I do think that there's a very good chance that it'll be further explored in the sequels especially if a certain Mr. Lex Luthor isn't happy about the destruction of his city.

Speaking of collateral damage check out this video of what it would be like if Superman actually punched you. Spoiler: it doesn't end well.