Plot Ideas you could run with for Man of Steel 2

My suggestion for a new Superman movie remains the same: A soft reboot with Project Cadmus as the villains. You start with a "Superman and Lois in Metropolis" status quo, the DNAliens show up as recurring strange supervillains that Superman beats but can never manage to lastingly capture. Investigation by the two of them turns up Project Cadmus, a rogue government agency with Luther-ties that is building superbeings from alien DNA. Lois gets captured, but manages to get a message out to expose the operation. Superman shows up, and has to fight Cadmus' ultimate weapon ( which is either Bizarro or Metallo, depending on preference ). The heroes win, partly by turning members of Cadmus who were not up for the whole "Anti-alien supervillainy" thing, and free the DNAliens from their control. The leadership of Cadmus gets thrown in one of those prison cells that gets locked inside another prison cell, while the rest of the organization is put on "parole", because Superman actually does acknowledge the need to prepare against alien threats. Just, less clone slavery and illegal experimentation.

End result: you have an ambiguous government science organization as supporting complication for the future, you have the DNAliens as friendlies that Superman needs to work on finding a new home long term, and you've got a couple new villains rotting in prison cells until someone decides they want to bust Westfield and Donovan out. You've also reintroduced both Superman and Lois Lane in their intended roles and styles. All without reusing any villains that have been massively overused.

 

I mean, sure. It just would depend on where you go with the second and succeeding movies. I suppose this would mean some kind of Luther cameo, because if Movie 1 is about "Repairing and reestablishing Superman and his setting and supporting cast", Movie 2 probably should be about doing the same for Luther. I just don't have any strong creative ideas for what to do with that, unlike the Cadmus plotline.

 

It’s simple.. we uhh, adapt Superman: Brainiac

 

The last thing I’d want for a Cavill-led sequel is another alien invasion.

Metallo. Toy Man. Parasite. Intergang. The Elite.

So many options for an Earth-based threat.

 

How anyone could want a villain besides Brainiac for MOS2 is a mystery to me. He is long overdue, and if we are lucky enough to get a sequel, it has to be Brainiac. I’ll be so disappointed otherwise. A Brainiac story doesn’t necessarily mean an invasion. You could do a story where Superman is trapped and depowered aboard his ship. Think Alien, and they could go for a Giger esque design for Brainy.

 

Really seems crazy that Brainiac STILL hasn’t appeared on film. He surely has to be next.

 

But aren’t most of these primarily space-based characters? Metallo is powered by kryptonite which is not earth-based, in most tellings of Parasite’s origin, he gets his powers of radioactive waste from outer space, and Intergang is only interesting because their threat comes from the fact that they are earth-based organized crime that is bank rolled by Apokolypse.

It really is hard to keep Supes from fighting someone with a relationship to space.

 

That’s all well and good, but at the end of the day John Corben and Rudy Jones are both human, despite whatever interactions with Kryptonite or alien goop that gives them their powers.

Bruno Mannheim, Morgan Edge, Whisper A’Daire etc. are humans trafficking Fourth World tech.

 

I get the distinction. That makes sense. From your list, I’d go with Intergang, but I fear that Snyder’s overly simplistic presentation of the Fourth World hurts the ability to pursue anyone related to those characters.

But I think that a properly-done Fourth World book that takes its cues more from the Kirby vision that presents Apokolypse as a sterile, nazi Germany type of planet as opposed to the Grant Morrison inspired hellscape, has such potential for brilliance. That type of imagining of the characters would fit well with a Darkseid who uses manipulative minions to surreptitiously fund organizations like Intergang in an effort to destroy earth from the inside. I’d much prefer that, along with colorful characters like Kanto, Vermin Vunderbaar and the Forever People as opposed to having Darkseid as a one dimensional space demon who tries to steamroll over planets.

 

If I could re-do BvS, I would have made the villains Lex, Deathstroke, and Metallo.

I love Metallo but I think we need Brainiac for this film. It’s time.

 

If I could re-do BvS, it wouldn’t be a versus film; it would be a World’s Finest film. And those villains would do nicely.

 

Aren’t Intergang in Black Adam? And Bruno is the main villain of S3 of S&L.

Brainiac or bust. I am open to some other supporting villains, but Brainiac is 100% necessary. But don’t take my word for it, hear it from the man himself why Brainiac should be the villain in MOS2.

 

I'm fine with doing a movie that focuses on Brainiac. He really is due for an appearance. But the only thing is that I'm less focused on the villain than the direction for Superman himself. Can't change how the character has been set up in previous movies. But really would like to get to a more optimistic interpretation of Superman. Having him be a beacon of hope without trying to just turn him into a Jesus reference. Let him be a hero darn it.

And since it looks like Cavill is thinking the same, I say yeah to both getting him back on the screen and letting him take on Braniac.

 

1. Soft reboot, ignoring everything from before.
2. Suit redesign. Brighter, bolder.
3. Allow Cavill some personality & warmth.
4. Play up Clark’s humanity, and minimise the Kal El stuff.
5. Brainiac as main and only villain.
6. Re-tool Zimmer’s theme to be brassier, bolder and more fanfare-ish.
7. Cast Matt Smith as Brainiac.
8. Profit.

 

There's a big difference between "has elements that are connected to space somehow" and "stars an alien invasion", is the thing. An Alien Invasion Story generally involves one or more space ships descending from the heavens delivering an invading army bent on conquest and destruction. The DC movies have absolutely played that plot out already, with both Man of Steel and Justice League revolving around such ( *technically* there are no ships in JL, but it otherwise plays to the tropes to a T ).

Whereas "A criminal gang uses alien tech" or "A rogue government agency clones alien DNA to create supervillains" or "A lone alien cyborg kidnaps someone for their menagerie" are not invasions, and so don't constitute the same storyline with the same story beats.

 

The way I'd do it, I wouldn't even show Brainiac or his ship till the end, so it's not really an alien invasion movie. Instead just have Metropolis mysteriously turn from night to day in an instant near the start of the film or something (the city being bottled up), as Supes and the citizens are trapped in the city together for months, an invisible wall surrounding the city (like the Truman Show), not understanding what's going on, as Supes is really put to the test with keeping hope in the city alive, connecting with the citizens, etc. (And maybe the only one who figures out what's goin on is Lex, who Supes needs to work with to break out).

I also think bottling up Metropolis could be interesting if it cuts them off from the internet, social media, etc, which the film could get into. Maybe in some ways, the people are better off. Maybe Clark starts to feel free from the constant negative chatter.

 

I wouldn’t completely ignore past events, I’d go The Suicide Squad route where there’s clearly history between some of the characters but past events aren’t shown, only briefly mentioned. Definitely concur on Brainiac being the main villain, but wouldn’t mind Metallo or Cyborg Superman being the muscle.

 

I want an Idris Elba as Bloodsport cameo