The JJ Abrams Superman script

[Gabe99]

From AICN Sep 23, 2002:
AICN EXCLUSIVE! Moriarty's Review Of JJ ABRAMS SUPERMAN Script!! - YOU’LL BELIEVE A FRANCHISE CAN SUCK!!

Originally Posted by Moriarty

I can understand your curiosity. I know that when I opened the envelope that was on the doorstep of the Labs on Friday morning and I realized I was holding the JJ Abrams draft of the upcoming SUPERMAN film for Warner Bros, I was immediately forced to walk inside, sit down, and start reading. I took the script with me to a screening and kept reading until the lights went down, then started reading again in the car on the way home. I read the script twice, cover to cover, and then I started calling friends. Guys who are Superman freaks. We went over the details of the thing, and I ran certain story points by them to see if I was crazy. I think that, based on what I hear from certain inside sources, what I read is still very much a document in transition.


Good god, I hope so, because right now, it’s a disaster of nearly epic proportions.


Marvel seems to get it. Avi Arad didn’t even start in the film business, but he’s got the right idea. Hire people who have a real passion for the source material. Get out of their way creatively. Support them with the right technical teams. SPIDER-MAN and the BLADE films work incredibly well, in my opinion, and DAREDEVIL looks to me like another home run. I’m as open minded about HULK as I can be, and I’m greatly encouraged by what Michael France had to say about the film in an excellent recent interview by Steve Persall of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, because I trust France’s judgement. His FANTASTIC FOUR script remains one of the best superhero scripts never produced, and if he’s excited about what Ang Lee is doing with HULK, then I am, too.


Michael Chabon on SPIDER-MAN 2, the excellent script for X-MEN 2 and the great things I’m hearing from the set... all of this is incredibly encouraging. All of this makes me trust Kevin Feige more and more. Marvel is earning the sort of corporate trust that Pixar has, where no matter what I hear about a film ahead of time, I’m willing to stay open-minded. I’m willing to trust that they know how to bring these characters to life.

From AICN Sep 26, 2002:
Want to talk to J.J. Abrams about his... um... SUPERMAN thing Moriarty Reviewed' or Ratner' Click Here To Find Out How!

Originally Posted by Harry

Now, you might be asking yourself what possible reason could there be for such a radical change to the character, origin and simple basic character beats as can be found in the draft of SUPERMAN that JJ Abrams has made. Well, there is all sorts of speculation. Stupidity. Dropped as a child. Mental Illness. Arrogance. The typical labels we love to throw at Hollywood, but as Deep Throat once told Robert Redford, Follow The Money.


Sometimes on projects, if a creative exec or screenwriter or actor contributes a basic change to an existing character, they get a percentage of the merchandizing of that character. Ask Jon Peters and Jack Nicholson about "Jack Napier / The Joker" and the money they reaped from that basic change. The sculpted Batman armor black. Who got kick backs from these basic creative elements from the original BATMAN? Why would you push to put SUPERMAN in a black costume Mr Peters back in the days of Kevin Smith? Why the Giant Spider and the Polar Bears? Could it be that those "intellectual contributions" carry a certain amount of filthy lucre value?


Why radically change Lex Luthor's origin... give him superpowers? Why create all this Krypton stuff? Toys. T-shirts. Calendars. PJs. Shampoo dispensers. Getting a piece of all of that adds up to a great deal of money for the folks that pull the strings on projects like SUPERMAN where merchandizing is king. This is the key reason behind most of the changes in the characters and stories you love from the past. All for the love of money... Not to serve the story.

Ever wonder why Jack Napier didn't become part of official D.C. Joker lore? Why he kept his costume the way it was in his books? Why these different universes from Animated to Television to Comics to Screen are all so radically different? Yup - it has a lot to do with proprietary intellectual material as added by folks with a hankering for good ol pie.

[Gabe99]

From MTV 10/26/09:
EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams Says Returning To Superman 'Would Be A Blast'

Originally Posted by Caleb Goellner

The last time J.J. Abrams had the Man of Steel on his mind, things didn't exactly work out as planned, but given his resilient career in television and film since 2002, the creator is in a better position than ever to make a hypothetical return to the property. However, despite the support of high-profile fans such as filmmaker Kevin Smith and many in the fan community, at this point, nothing is officially moving forward with Abrams' version of Superman.

"No one has talked to me about it," Abrams told MTV News. "Obviously I’m sure Warner Brothers has a plan for what they want to do."

"Writing that script was a long process," he explained. "It was a very passionate character for me. As a kid growing up it meant a lot to me. It would be wonderful and fun to see that brought back. I don’t know what Warners is thinking or what their plan is. It would be a blast."

Though the "Lost" co-creator and "Star Trek" director's first crack at scripting the Last Son of Krypton received mixed reviews from fans, it still has its supporters in Hollywood. Brendan Fraser, who actually suited up for a screen test for what would have been a Brett Ratner-directed film, has only praised what would have been. Abrams himself explained that while that particular draft didn't see the light of day, there's still a version of the script he'd enjoy he could envision being produced.

"That version of the movie—the one that was reviewed and vilified—was actually not the latest draft we had at the time and we worked on it well after that. I do think there’s a version of that movie that could be really fun to see," said Abrams. "You never really know. Everything happens for a reason."

From WIRED MAGAZINE 04.20.09 : 17.05
J.J. Abrams on the Magic of Mystery

In my profession, this mentality is illustrated by the spoiler: that piece of information meant to be kept secret, like the end of a movie or TV show or novel. Spoilers give fans the answers they want, the resolution they crave. As an avid fan of movies and TV myself, I completely understand the desire to find out behind-the-scenes details in a nanosecond. Which, given technology, is often how long it takes—to the frustration of the storytellers. Efforts to gather this intel and the attempts to plug leaks create an ongoing battle between filmmakers and the very fans they are dying to entertain and impress. But the real damage isn't so much that the secret gets out. It's that the experience is destroyed. The illusion is diminished. Which may not matter to some. But then what's the point of actually seeing that movie or episode? How does knowing the twist before you walk into the theater—or what that island is really about before you watch the finale—make for a richer viewing experience? It's telling that the very term itself—spoiler—has become synonymous with "cool info you can get before the other guy." What no one remembers is that it literally means "to damage irreparably; to ruin." Spoilers make no bones about destroying the intended experience—and somehow that has become, for many, the preferred choice.

In some cases, spoilers don't just prevent the intended experience of something, they prevent the very existence of it. Case in point: I had spent close to two years working on a version of a Superman script for Warner Bros. Then an early draft was leaked, reviewed, and spectacularly decimated on a Web site that I still adore and read daily. It wasn't just that the review was bad. Which it was. I mean, like, kraptastically bad. And probably deserved (I'm the idiot who made Lex Luthor a Kryptonian). What was so depressing wasn't just that the thing being reviewed was an old version of a work in progress. What killed me was that the reviewer—and then readers of that reviewer—weren't just judging my writing. They were judging the movie. A movie that was barely in preproduction and many drafts away from final. A film that ultimately never got made—in small part because that review, and subsequent posts, made studio decision makers nervous. The fact is, that Superman film might have been awful. Or it could have been something else. We'll never know.

Brett Ratner On The J.J. Abrams’ Superman That Might Have Been

Published by Jennifer Vineyard on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 12:25 pm.

Once upon a time, Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner swapped movies – Brett got the third “X-Men” and Bryan got “Superman,” which in his hands was “Superman Returns” starring Brandon Routh. We all know how that turned out.

But what would have happened if Ratner had continued along his merry way and done the “Superman” he wanted? What would it have been about? Brendan Fraser, who saw the script written by J.J. Abrams, was impressed. So was Ratner, who filled us in on the storyline and casting plans.

“The original movie I was going to be a part of,” Ratner said, “took place on Krypton for about half of the movie. So it was much more otherworldly, and much darker, because there was a civil war on Krypton. You’d get more of the history.”

“The Death of Superman” and the art of Alex Ross.

“That wasn’t just darker, but cooler, in my mind,” Ratner said. “That was what we were going to model the visuals after. When you have to translate it to a cinematic world, it’s a whole different animal, and he’s one of the best Superman artists I’ve ever seen.”

If it’s as dark as Warner Bros. wants for their reboot of Superman, Ratner still has a shot at making it: “Maybe we can go back to it one day,” he said.

But sorry, Brendan Fraser, that’s not a shot for you, too. “I definitely agreed with Bryan Singer that you need an unknown actor,” Ratner said. “I was going to surround Superman with known actors, but it’s important to get an unknown. I love Tom Cruise, but to have someone like him who you see as Tom Cruise would be a mistake.”

source: MTV

[Gabe99]

From the Superman Homepage:
“Superman” Script Review: The JJ Abrams Edition

Action Comics" #18

[Zionite1]

CLD Someone PM me the 2nd draft of the Superman flyby script?Would be really Greatful

[BH/HHH]

Originally Posted by Zionite1

CLD Someone PM me the 2nd draft of the Superman flyby script?Would be really Greatful

I didn't know there was one

[Lead Cenobite]

Originally Posted by Gabe99

From the Superman Homepage:
“Superman” Script Review: The JJ Abrams Edition

Action Comics" #18

It kinda bugs me when people complain about the classic Clark Kent/Superman dynamic being used (like the script review complains about Lois being in love with Superman and not Clark). It just seems like people are so expectant that any adaptation follow Byrne. It's not as if the rest of the script really sticks to much of anything from the established mythos, if I were him I'd be pleased that it got one thing straight from the comics.

[Gabe99]

SUPERMAN: JJ Abrams Talks the Man of Steel – From the Archives

Both Superman and JJ Abrams are in the news for, respectively, Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness, so it somehow seemed appropriate to dip into the archives and retrieve this interview conducted by MGN editor Ed Gross. Taking place while Abrams’ Alias was in production, the subject is his screenplay for Superman, which was going to be directed by McG and star anyone from Matthew Bomer to Brendan Fraser to Henry Cavill. No great reveals here – even back then Abrams was very much into secrecy mode – but it does convey his hopes for the character and the film, which ultimately fell apart before Bryan Singer took over with 2006′s Superman Returns.

MEDIA GEEK NETWORK: The real question, of course, is how you came to be signed on as the writer of the new Superman film.

ABRAMS: Pretty simple, really. They approached me about doing the movie. I took a meeting. For me, I miss doing movies. I love doing TV, but I wanted to do another film. What’s been nice is working with producers with incredible records, like Jerry Bruckheimer and my idols. What’s wonderful about working on Superman is that as a kid I was the biggest fan. My three and a half year old son goes to bed almost every night wearing a Superman shirt. I couldn’t pass it up.

MEDIA GEEK NETWORK: What’s the approach to the material?

ABRAMS: What’s nice is that after a lot of years of trying to get this going and not succeeding, everyone’s coming at it with a very fresh, open mind. What’s exciting for me is that we’ve got some incredible, really big ideas that go beyond just the one story we’re telling. Alias has actually been an amazing training ground for me. In this Superman we’re talking a lot about where he’s come from and where he’s going. I can’t talk about specifics, but I can tell you that there are a lot of exciting, big ideas. I think it’s Superman for everyone and not just for people who already know the character. It’s for the uninitiated.

MEDIA GEEK NETWORK: Do you feel the first two Christopher Reeve films are a tremendous shadow to overcome, or do you basically just ignore them?

ABRAMS: I think it’s really a question of embracing what has come before it. This, in many ways, is a retelling of Superman. They did four of those movies, then they did Supergirl — you have to start fresh. I don’t think this should be looked at as the fifth sequel.

MEDIA GEEK NETWORK: From what I’ve gathered from people I’ve spoken to in the past, producer Jon Peters isn’t much of a fan of the Superman costume or the image of Superman flying. This, of course, begs the question: why bother making a Superman movie?

ABRAMS: It’s safe to say that if Superman doesn’t fly, it would be a disappointment. I do think that we’re approaching this in a very fresh way, but there are certain things that people have come to realize are important. You have to have the costume and you want to do a Superman movie that will be so satisfying. I’m so sick of going to big blockbuster movies and leaving feeling like I died a little bit, like, “Oh my God, how disappointing was that?” What’s so exciting for us is that we’re approaching this thing knowing and feeling the kind of movie that as kids we used to see. I feel that we’re going to try as hard as we can to make this a satisfying experience.

[BH/HHH]

So has anyone actually read the 3rd draft?

[MrSupermanNoHer]

I'm only basing this off the first draft, but "Superman Flyby" appears to have been a somewhat shameless amalgam of the Donner films and three film franchises that were big at the time it was written: "Star Wars Episode 1", "The Matrix" and Bryan Singer's "X-Men." It straight up ripped-off many visual elements of "Phantom Menace" (war machines terrorizing an edenic planet) and "Matrix" (Superman fights the villains kung-fu style in mid-air) and also borrowed "X-Men"'s "superhero as closeted gay teen" analogy (IMO "Flyby" was actually more explicit than "X-Men" in regard to this theme.) It also recycled several elements from "Superman 1" including the rescue of Air Force One and Superman and Lois's first interview/date/flight.

It was a terrible script and allegedly the reason it was leaked to AICN was because a Warner exec who was actually a Superman fan was horrified that they were going to make it. Additionally one must keep in mind the two auteurs Warner had hired to make the film, Brett Ratner and McG. Take a look at where they place on the "Hack Director Venn Diagram" below:

[Gabe99]

From The Superman Homepage:
January 31, 2013: Never-Made "Flyby" Movie Script by JJ Abrams

Originally Posted by Steve Younis

On the back of the Wesley Strick script we posted yesterday, the Superman Homepage has now received a copy of the "Flyby" script written by JJ Abrams for the aborted Superman project.

This is not the 2002 first draft from July 26, 2002 that we've had available on this website for a few years now. This is a draft specifically titled "Flyby" which is dated October 24, 2003, but which is obviously an updated version of the same story from that earlier 2002 draft featuring the Kryptonian villain named Ty-Zor.

[BH/HHH]

So is that draft the one Ratner was going to shoot? And then McG?

I know when Ratner was on it he wanted Matthew Bomer for Supernan and he'd locked in Anthony Hopkins. But it fell through cause the studio wanted Brendan Fraser right?

Then the McG version had Henry Cavill cast but no one else, or is that wrong? I know he left cause he didn't want to fly to Australia and ultimately we got Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.

[batman strikes]

The 2003 draft was the one Ratner was going to shoot and he wanted Matt Bomer to play Superman. McG was going to film the third draft and some of it was rewritten by Josh Schwartz of O.C. Fan. Of course everyone knows that McG had cast Henry Cavill in the role of Superman.

[BH/HHH]

I'm about halfway through this draft, I actually didn't know that the Air Force one scene that was used in Superman Returns its pretty much identical except this script injected abit if humour in that scene.

There is definite stuff wrong with it mid, Krypton doesn't explode, a dying Kryptonian somehow manages to pass over his advanced knowledge to Lex just by touching him, sone if the dialogue is awful and just like Supernan Returns I think this script gets Lois totally wrong she comes across a smartass and a ***** at times. It also features an attempted rape scene and Supernan seemingly getting over his Fathers death really quickly because he can't stop thinking about Lois.

Still though I think it would have been better than SRs. I even can forgive Krypton not exploding as I feel they wanted to try to do one thing different. Although I will say that I still feel SRs was a blessing in disguise, we could have gotten Flyby, it might have been a flop and Henry Cavill would've already played the part thus missing out on Man of Steel. If it had still happened in a similar way that is.

Originally Posted by batman strikes

The 2003 draft was the one Ratner was going to shoot and he wanted Matt Bomer to play Superman. McG was going to film the third draft and some of it was rewritten by Josh Schwartz of O.C. Fan. Of course everyone knows that McG had cast Henry Cavill in the role of Superman.

Ahh cheers mate

[BH/HHH]

I've just finished this, it's beyond awful, in addition to what I've listed above there's some even worse moments towards the end. The worst has to be Jor el whose still alive on Krypton sense g that his son has perished so he basically meditates and joins Kal El in what must be heaven or near heaven. He basically his life so Kal El can return from the dead and at the sane time gives him all his knowledge. I was just like how ridiculous is this?

Add to that the fact that Superman basically kills the villain, the script basically says he's clever in the way he kills him so it's not like did it on purpose (obviously not in those words).

Lastly what bothered me wasthe fact these Kryptionians are so hellbent in killing Superman, he's stuck on another works just leave him there.

I said above I'd have preferred this to Superman Returns but I was dead wrong.

[MrSupermanNoHer]

This draft is dated October 2003, so it would have been used by McG, not Ratner (he had left the project in March.)

Cavill was under consideration but no one had been cast at the time of McG's departure.

[BH/HHH]

Originally Posted by MrSupermanNoHer

This draft is dated October 2003, so it would have been used by McG, not Ratner (he had left the project in March.)

Cavill was under consideration but no one had been cast at the time of McG's departure.

McG stated that he had cast him

[MrSupermanNoHer]

There's one interview where McG says he cast him, but officially no one was cast (ie the studio signed off on it) by the time he was fired.

[mercureyx]

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/t...y-cavills.html

[Robin91939]

Just read the script and it was a fun read, but I was very, very happy after finishing that it was unproduced.

The script has good ideas. And isn't terrible. I just don't think I would want to see this film, or it's potential sequel that would see Superman BACK ON KRYPTON fighting a civil war.

I don't like the whole:

- Jor-El kills himself through sheer will and gives his life-force to a dead Kal-El to bring him back from the dead.

- In the "29 Years Earlier" bit, Clark is about 8 and hits a baseball that lands near a "40ish" Lex Luthor. So Lex is 70ish during the current portion of the story? Did the encounter with the Kryptonian soldier effect his aging process? This is never stated and was just weird.

- I wasn't a fan of the villain. (This is a thing that I feel about Man Of Steel as well, no matter how stoked I am for the film, I really want a non-Kryptonian villain from the comics. IE: Brainiac, Parasite, Mongul, Lobo, etc).

- Jonathan Kent's death came quick and was quickly forgotten.

- And the serendipity of Clark meeting Lois at such a young age and then them ending up being the love of each others life... It works in the context of Smallville for the purposes of the show, but not so much for me in a film.



Again... This sounds like I didn't like it. But I did. It was a fun read. I just am glad that we are getting something else that seems a little more traditional.... Like -- I need Krypton to blow up. Superman has to be as much "Krypton's Last Son" as possible.

-R

[bapi]

I read Abrams' second draft and it has some good moments. I think the second half was rushed a Clark - Lois relationship would deserve more space but with McG, Moritz producing and Cavill, Depp, Scarlett and LaBeouf... yeah, I think it would be a really good summer movie.


However I think they used some scenes/ideas/elements in Smallville and Superman Returns and based on trailers David Goyer read Abrams' work too, I think.

[Wargod]

The thrid draft of the J.J. Abrams script, or you could almost call it the Josh Schwartz script.

Schwartz was the creator of The O.C. and a huge comic book lover. I just thought that while the concepts for the movie are entirely different, you can see some of this scripts influences in Superman Returns. From what I have been told, this script was originally offered to Bryan Singer, but obviously he did his own thing story wise. Anyway, here we go....

- Lex Luthor obtaining Kryptonian technology was a major storyline in the script. Fresh out of college, Luthor was driving cross country for his first job in Metropolis working at some local industrial coroporation, and while stopped in Smallville, witnessed the crashing of Superman's ship. After the Kents scooped up baby Clark as in every other incarnation, Lex found the ship and stole it for himself before Johnathan could return to secure it. This plays into the Kents telling Clark to never use his powers no matter what, and to proceed living like a normal human being, as they know there is someone out there who would be able to identify him. They don't put the fear of god into about his powers like the first draft, but it's made clear they want Clark to live like a normal human being. But anyway, Lex takes the ship, figures out how to adapt the Kryptonian technology, and then buys out his boss and turns the Metropolis Corporation into the Billion dollar company known as Lexcorp, which specializes in military arms development, sonar tech, news forms of stealth flight, etc etc. Not to mention he basically buys the city of Metropolis, including the Daily Planet. There are some funny lines with Perry White and Lois Lane concerning that fact. Lex would then use the Kryptonian technology to call upon the surving Kryptonians to come to Earth and defeat Superman. On a side note, the Lex in this script was a damn creep. Very unnerving almost. Before witnessing the rocket ship crash in Smallville, lex is pulled off to the side of the road, basically writing down notes for his own Mein Kampf. I geuss Luthor has some grand, Hitler like plan that would have played out over the course of the franchise. I really liked how Lex was done here. More on that Later.

- The plane sequence in Superman Returns was basically taken right out of the script. As described in the novel and from all the images and previews Ive seen, it is honestly a shot for shot copy, which isn't a bad thing. The plane sequence in the script was the one of the most stunning visuals Ive ever had in my head, and it should be know different in Superman Returns.

- Superman flying above the world and listening to people's problems, then flying around doing Super deeds was in the script, and might I say one of the best parts about it. Might not be shot for shot, but the idea's came for the scene in Superman Returns came from this script it would seem.

- The heavy emphasis on the romance was there, although with obviously WAAYYYY different storylines. It was the traditional Superman/Clark/Lois triangle, which wasn't a bad thing, not that the Superman Returns love story is bad either.

- The idea of going back to Krypton, with the difference being that in Flyby Superman leaves for Krypton at the end of the film.

With this being said, it looks like Singer took some of the best concepts from this script and then combined them with his idea of vague history. While this script was amazing when it was pure Superman, it also had it's fair share of groans. Alot was changed about Krypton, first and foremost bieng that JOR-EL was the main villian, and it was he who blew up Krypton and reduced it to a giant chunk, while Lara sent Kal-El to Earth for the sole purpose of living a free life. Very Darth Vader like with Jor-El. Also, and your going to love this, Supermans has a half brother that was born to Jor-El and another kryptonian women, who of course is evil. This character basically took the place of Ty-Zor if your remember him. The prophecy is still there, but it actually is not about Superman. The prophecy is about some form of Ultimate Evil in the universe, basically being played up to be an intergalactic Satan, and I believe that it is implied to be Jor-El, but would have turned out to be Lex Luthor. The whole reason Superman goes back to Krypton is because he believes this ultimate evil is Jor-El and he must stop him, free the kryptonians, and protect Earth from another attack. They were really going for Jesus vs. Satan here by the end of the franchise.

You can truly see Schwartz influence with the character of Clark Kent. Instead of making him the stumblin, bumblin, fumblin, mumblin fool of old, Clark is a modern day nerd. Geeky and Sarcastic, this Clark made alot of comments that made me think Seth Cohen from the O.C. I will honestly say though that the interaction with Clark and Lois was funny as hell, and the best source of humor in the script, with Lois being the bossy ***** that she is. There were some very Luke Skywalker-esque moments with Clark while he was on the farm, I could just hear the Star Wars theme in my head. Also, Superman didn't die in this script when the other Kryptonians arrived, they placed him in some sort of paralysis and stuffed him away with the rocket ship that lara had sent him to Earth. After being stuffed away, a computer programming of Lara, think Bruce Timm Animated Series, melded with Superman's mind and told him everything, who he was, where he was from, the prophecy, everything, and then the ship freed him from the paralysis just in time to save the day. It was then that Superman took it upon himself to stop the prophecy.

Well, I would just like to say I am in no way endorsing this script, Im only passing along what I read and the influences I see. This movie would have been directed by a hack in McG and cast horribly, i.e. Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane because McG is an idiot.

I remember that scene, but it was in the god awful 1st draft of the film. The one I was reffering to was the 3rd and I belive final draft that had, for one, cut the cannister out thank god, and it was no longer Air Force One. It was the space shuttle plane seen in Returns, and the ripping off of the wing was there as well.

In the FINAL draft, yes, Smallville had an influence, the Kents were written just the same, he was in love with Lana, his powers slowly developed, etc etc. Smallville was basically used as a template for how he grew up.

However, there was never any Clark interaction and no Chloe.

Well actually in the final draft, Lex was very human, but he possessed Kryptonian technology after stealing Superman's rocket ship, Krypton explodes for the most part except for a chunk which evil Jor-El rules, and there is no Superman death scene.

I understand what your saying, and I agree with the point your getting across, but....

In the 3rd Abrams draft, there is NO prophecy concerning Superman. He is left out of the equation there. He was sent by Lara to Earth simply to live, nothing more and he chooses to become Superman and has zero knowledge of the ultimate evil at that point. Its toward the end of the script, before the final big showdown, that Superman finds this information and he then chooses to be the person to try and stop it, believing it to be evil Jor-El on Krypton, but in the end I belive it would have Luthor as he was almost Hitler like in the script but with Kryptonian technology. So the prophecy is not about Superman, he just decides to be the person to do something about it, and this is after he had already made his debut as Superman.

And in the 3rd draft, they fixed a major problem from the 1st draft and actually skipped ahead like 6-9 months after Superman debuted to the time when Lex summons the evil Kryptonians using the technology, so Superman would have been saving people that entire time, as well as romancing Lois Lane.

In the 3rd draft, the Air Force One scene was eliminated and replaced with the space shuttle.

To whoever said it wasn't very Superman like to walk past the President to check on Lois, that little problem was taken care of.

And most of the Krypton scenes were rewritten with Jor-El as the villian along with the half brother of Superman. And it was Lara and her father, the character Predius, who shipped baby Kal-El to Earth.

Many people fail to understand that this draft never got publically reviewed.

The suit in the can thing is gone completely. There is actually a scene where Clark tries on all kinds of different suits, including the traditional colored suit which he ends up picking, a black suit, and red/white/blue suit. Clark loves the red/white/blue suit, but in a funny scene doesn't want to ripoff Captain America, his favorite superhero growing up. And yes they do feature young Clark reading Captain America. Also, Clark used the S shield because he was wrapped up in a blanket with the embelem on it, and it was the only known thing he had from the world he came from.

Yes, Kata-Zor and Ty-Zor were gone, with Jor-El taking the place of main villian. But Jor-El also had another son, although it wasn't with Lara, giving Superman a half brother who was loyal to Jor-El. Basically took the place of Ty-Zor.

[batman strikes]

Originally Posted by Wargod

The thrid draft of the J.J. Abrams script, or you could almost call it the Josh Schwartz script.

Schwartz was the creator of The O.C. and a huge comic book lover. I just thought that while the concepts for the movie are entirely different, you can see some of this scripts influences in Superman Returns. From what I have been told, this script was originally offered to Bryan Singer, but obviously he did his own thing story wise. Anyway, here we go....

- Lex Luthor obtaining Kryptonian technology was a major storyline in the script. Fresh out of college, Luthor was driving cross country for his first job in Metropolis working at some local industrial coroporation, and while stopped in Smallville, witnessed the crashing of Superman's ship. After the Kents scooped up baby Clark as in every other incarnation, Lex found the ship and stole it for himself before Johnathan could return to secure it. This plays into the Kents telling Clark to never use his powers no matter what, and to proceed living like a normal human being, as they know there is someone out there who would be able to identify him. They don't put the fear of god into about his powers like the first draft, but it's made clear they want Clark to live like a normal human being. But anyway, Lex takes the ship, figures out how to adapt the Kryptonian technology, and then buys out his boss and turns the Metropolis Corporation into the Billion dollar company known as Lexcorp, which specializes in military arms development, sonar tech, news forms of stealth flight, etc etc. Not to mention he basically buys the city of Metropolis, including the Daily Planet. There are some funny lines with Perry White and Lois Lane concerning that fact. Lex would then use the Kryptonian technology to call upon the surving Kryptonians to come to Earth and defeat Superman. On a side note, the Lex in this script was a damn creep. Very unnerving almost. Before witnessing the rocket ship crash in Smallville, lex is pulled off to the side of the road, basically writing down notes for his own Mein Kampf. I geuss Luthor has some grand, Hitler like plan that would have played out over the course of the franchise. I really liked how Lex was done here. More on that Later.

- The plane sequence in Superman Returns was basically taken right out of the script. As described in the novel and from all the images and previews Ive seen, it is honestly a shot for shot copy, which isn't a bad thing. The plane sequence in the script was the one of the most stunning visuals Ive ever had in my head, and it should be know different in Superman Returns.

- Superman flying above the world and listening to people's problems, then flying around doing Super deeds was in the script, and might I say one of the best parts about it. Might not be shot for shot, but the idea's came for the scene in Superman Returns came from this script it would seem.

- The heavy emphasis on the romance was there, although with obviously WAAYYYY different storylines. It was the traditional Superman/Clark/Lois triangle, which wasn't a bad thing, not that the Superman Returns love story is bad either.

- The idea of going back to Krypton, with the difference being that in Flyby Superman leaves for Krypton at the end of the film.

With this being said, it looks like Singer took some of the best concepts from this script and then combined them with his idea of vague history. While this script was amazing when it was pure Superman, it also had it's fair share of groans. Alot was changed about Krypton, first and foremost bieng that JOR-EL was the main villian, and it was he who blew up Krypton and reduced it to a giant chunk, while Lara sent Kal-El to Earth for the sole purpose of living a free life. Very Darth Vader like with Jor-El. Also, and your going to love this, Supermans has a half brother that was born to Jor-El and another kryptonian women, who of course is evil. This character basically took the place of Ty-Zor if your remember him. The prophecy is still there, but it actually is not about Superman. The prophecy is about some form of Ultimate Evil in the universe, basically being played up to be an intergalactic Satan, and I believe that it is implied to be Jor-El, but would have turned out to be Lex Luthor. The whole reason Superman goes back to Krypton is because he believes this ultimate evil is Jor-El and he must stop him, free the kryptonians, and protect Earth from another attack. They were really going for Jesus vs. Satan here by the end of the franchise.

You can truly see Schwartz influence with the character of Clark Kent. Instead of making him the stumblin, bumblin, fumblin, mumblin fool of old, Clark is a modern day nerd. Geeky and Sarcastic, this Clark made alot of comments that made me think Seth Cohen from the O.C. I will honestly say though that the interaction with Clark and Lois was funny as hell, and the best source of humor in the script, with Lois being the bossy ***** that she is. There were some very Luke Skywalker-esque moments with Clark while he was on the farm, I could just hear the Star Wars theme in my head. Also, Superman didn't die in this script when the other Kryptonians arrived, they placed him in some sort of paralysis and stuffed him away with the rocket ship that lara had sent him to Earth. After being stuffed away, a computer programming of Lara, think Bruce Timm Animated Series, melded with Superman's mind and told him everything, who he was, where he was from, the prophecy, everything, and then the ship freed him from the paralysis just in time to save the day. It was then that Superman took it upon himself to stop the prophecy.

Well, I would just like to say I am in no way endorsing this script, Im only passing along what I read and the influences I see. This movie would have been directed by a hack in McG and cast horribly, i.e. Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane because McG is an idiot.

I remember that scene, but it was in the god awful 1st draft of the film. The one I was reffering to was the 3rd and I belive final draft that had, for one, cut the cannister out thank god, and it was no longer Air Force One. It was the space shuttle plane seen in Returns, and the ripping off of the wing was there as well.

In the FINAL draft, yes, Smallville had an influence, the Kents were written just the same, he was in love with Lana, his powers slowly developed, etc etc. Smallville was basically used as a template for how he grew up.

However, there was never any Clark interaction and no Chloe.

Well actually in the final draft, Lex was very human, but he possessed Kryptonian technology after stealing Superman's rocket ship, Krypton explodes for the most part except for a chunk which evil Jor-El rules, and there is no Superman death scene.

I understand what your saying, and I agree with the point your getting across, but....

In the 3rd Abrams draft, there is NO prophecy concerning Superman. He is left out of the equation there. He was sent by Lara to Earth simply to live, nothing more and he chooses to become Superman and has zero knowledge of the ultimate evil at that point. Its toward the end of the script, before the final big showdown, that Superman finds this information and he then chooses to be the person to try and stop it, believing it to be evil Jor-El on Krypton, but in the end I belive it would have Luthor as he was almost Hitler like in the script but with Kryptonian technology. So the prophecy is not about Superman, he just decides to be the person to do something about it, and this is after he had already made his debut as Superman.

And in the 3rd draft, they fixed a major problem from the 1st draft and actually skipped ahead like 6-9 months after Superman debuted to the time when Lex summons the evil Kryptonians using the technology, so Superman would have been saving people that entire time, as well as romancing Lois Lane.

In the 3rd draft, the Air Force One scene was eliminated and replaced with the space shuttle.

To whoever said it wasn't very Superman like to walk past the President to check on Lois, that little problem was taken care of.

And most of the Krypton scenes were rewritten with Jor-El as the villian along with the half brother of Superman. And it was Lara and her father, the character Predius, who shipped baby Kal-El to Earth.

Many people fail to understand that this draft never got publically reviewed.

The suit in the can thing is gone completely. There is actually a scene where Clark tries on all kinds of different suits, including the traditional colored suit which he ends up picking, a black suit, and red/white/blue suit. Clark loves the red/white/blue suit, but in a funny scene doesn't want to ripoff Captain America, his favorite superhero growing up. And yes they do feature young Clark reading Captain America. Also, Clark used the S shield because he was wrapped up in a blanket with the embelem on it, and it was the only known thing he had from the world he came from.

Yes, Kata-Zor and Ty-Zor were gone, with Jor-El taking the place of main villian. But Jor-El also had another son, although it wasn't with Lara, giving Superman a half brother who was loyal to Jor-El. Basically took the place of Ty-Zor.

How did you find out about this?

[Binker]

Yeah, that's my question too. I would love to have this script, along with Lives by Gilroy Draft 1.

[batman strikes]

Isn't the first draft of Gilroy on the internet? I know superman homepage had posted that along with William Wisher and a bunch of other scripts along time ago.

[Binker]

According to theMan-Bat: he has the Lives script by Gilroy written in February 1998, while September 1998 is what has been on the internet.