IAR: To begin with, youve previously stated that your original concept for Man of Steel was exploring mans first contact with an alien and a boy growing up with two fathers. Can you talk about the themes that you wanted to explore with your screenplay and the process of developing the story with Christopher Nolan to reboot the franchise?
David S. Goyer: Yea. I cant say much about that other than Superman is an incredibly well known iconic figure and I think my challenge was to try to figure that out. To a certain extent he is sort of cinematically frozen in amber, I mean a lot of people when they think of Superman they think of the (
Richard)
Donner films, and its been thirty-five years or so since the first
Donner film came out. Its been a long time and the world has moved on. I loved those movies and my goal was to figure out away to recontextualize him perhaps and figure out how to make him relatable. I thought, even though he is inhuman and he is an alien, if I can find a way to humanize him then hopefully I will have done my job and people will care about him. He is a tough character because he is invulnerable so you have to give him emotional vulnerabilities and hopefully that way he can become more accessible to the audience.
Since you have been a comic book writer and have worked on comic book adapted movies for so long, did you feel that your extensive knowledge of comic book folklore and the mythology of this character helped you in writing the screenplay?
Goyer: It did help! Although, writing
Batman Begins, even
Da Vincis Demons, and now Superman, I mean yes, I would go to the comic books but I would also call from a lot of sources that dont have anything to do with comic books. I read a lot of mythic poems and versus for Superman,
Beowulf and
Gilgamesh, hero legends and things like that. Not just comic books.
Did you have a lot of involvement with director Zack Snyder during production?
Goyer: Yea, I was involved a lot. I was on the set about half the time. We kind of overlapped with
Da Vincis Demons but I would come and go. I love
Zack to death and hes a blast to work with.
When you were on set and saw Henry Cavill in the iconic Superman suit for the first time, what was your initial reaction?
Goyer: Henry is also a really nice guy and its not always that way. I was like, holy crap thats Superman! I mean I tell my sons that I work with Superman and Batman. I went and visited the set with my six year-old and I timed it so that Henry was in the suit. We showed up and he was like, Wow, you do work with Superman! So I got a lot of cred with my kids for that.
What did you think about Snyders choice to cast Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, making him the first African American to ever play the role in a live-action film, and the online controversy that it sparked with the fans?
Goyer: I thought it was an awesome choice. I think that it is silly that
people are like, You cant have a black guy named White. But Im like, well what about
Barry White? I thought that was stupid. You just want to get the best actor.
There have been rumors that the Jimmy Olsen character has been changed to a female, can you address that issue?
Goyer: I cant comment on that.
Can you talk about your decision to not include Lex Luthor in Man of Steel?
Goyer: I dont think anyone has ever confirmed that we havent included him.
Have you planned Man of Steel as a trilogy, and if not, do you currently have ideas for future sequels?
Goyer: I havent planned a trilogy. That I sort of took from
Chris (
Nolan). He always says, Put everything you have in this film and worry about the sequel once the movie is done.
As a fan of the source material, are there classic characters from the Superman mythology that you would like to introduce in possible sequels?
Goyer: Sure, but I wont say who they are.
Do you want to keep that a secret for now?
Goyer:
The Wonder Twins.
http://www.iamrogue.com/news/interv...he-invisible-man-and-the-legacy-of-blade.html