Christopher McQuarrie shares Superman and Green Lantern movie ideas that he once envisioned but never brought to life, providing new details about his unproduced DC scripts while promoting his latest film. These ambitious concepts illuminate what could have been major shifts in the on-screen futures of Superman and Green Lantern.
McQuarrie’s Vision for Superman Explored Untapped Emotions
While presenting Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Christopher McQuarrie discussed the origin and tone of his Man of Steel 2 pitch on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, sharing thoughts previously unknown to the public. He emphasized that the beginning of his Superman film would have provided a deep emotional insight into the character, introducing the hero in a cinematic sequence reminiscent of Pixar’s style and exploring Superman’s fears in a powerful, silent narrative.
“The first five minutes of my Superman movie… imagine a [Pixar’s] Up sequence with no dialogue… after which you knew exactly what made Superman tick and exactly what Superman was most afraid of… it would have been epic. The scale of the movie would have been absolutely extraordinary,”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
McQuarrie also planned to reflect the optimism and spirit that Richard Donner famously brought to the original Superman film, while vowing not to directly imitate Donner or John Williams’ iconic score.
“I don’t think you need to live in the shadow of Donner’s Superman. I don’t think you need to live in the shadow of John Williams’ score. But you do need to recognize that that movie captured better than any other… the heart of that character,”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
Addressing obstacles, McQuarrie believed Superman’s greatest challenge came from within, positioning the character’s internal conflicts as core to the narrative.
“Superman’s greatest obstacle is himself. Followed potentially by Green Lantern,”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
Directorial Approach to Green Lantern’s Unique Challenges
Initially invited by Warner Bros. to helm a Green Lantern movie, McQuarrie tackled the challenge of portraying Hal Jordan, a hero left in creative uncertainty after the underperformance of the Ryan Reynolds-led film directed by Martin Campbell. Recognizing the difficulty in writing a compelling Green Lantern—whose abilities rival Superman’s—McQuarrie sought to create a character whose powers came with clear, dramatic limitations.
“Green Lantern’s a tough one… The power is very challenging, and I cracked it… It was fun… Watching him learn how to use that power… and giving that power a flaw, so that it was not pure invincibility…”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
The heart of his Green Lantern concept revolved around the ring’s finite battery, a device that introduced tension and urgency by forcing the character to confront the limitations of seemingly boundless power.
“The whole concept of Green Lantern is the ring has to be recharged. Yes, you have infinite power, but you only have so much battery life, and that can run out at inconvenient times. That for me solved the whole Green Lantern problem… How do you give that character tension and stakes, and also how do you do it with Superman?”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
Henry Cavill’s Interest and the Abandoned Crossover Potential
The director noted that Henry Cavill, who previously worked with McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible – Fallout and portrayed Superman on screen, was enthusiastic about these plans. Cavill’s willingness to revisit Superman with a new, more optimistic perspective aligned well with McQuarrie’s vision for uniting Superman and Green Lantern.
“Henry had a take on that, and I suddenly realized how these two characters had amazing similarities, which also allowed for amazing conflict and an amazing universe-expanding resolution,”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
Although McQuarrie left the project after Warner Bros. declined his ideas, and Cavill eventually departed the Superman role post-Black Adam, the director remains convinced that his take on Superman and Green Lantern is viable.
“It’s all right there, guys. It’s all right there, just sitting there waiting for somebody to make [it],”
—Christopher McQuarrie, Director.
What Lies Ahead for Superman and Green Lantern in Film
With James Gunn set to inject a fresh sense of hope into the DC cinematic universe, speculation continues among audiences about whether McQuarrie’s ambitious vision could be revived under new leadership. While fans missed seeing Christopher McQuarrie’s Superman and Green Lantern on the big screen, the director’s detailed concepts remain a reference for how these stories might be reimagined in the future, holding potential for transformative storytelling that connects both classic and modern interpretations of these iconic heroes.
