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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

David S. Goyer, screenwriter for Man of Steeltook to Reddit’s r/IAmA subreddit last night to discuss the high stakes facing DC’s Superman reboot. Unlike other celebrities who treat Reddit’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread as an online press conference and push their projects without personality, Goyer demonstrated an actual understanding of Reddit’s community and the DC fandom with engaging—and even snarky—answers. When some Redditors teased him about whether he could dodge any questions about the rumored Justice League adaptation, he responded, “Dude, I can dodge Justice League until the end of this AMA.”

But Reddit eventually wore him down.

You know it’s gonna be a good AMA when this is the answer he gives to the debate of Batman vs. Blade:

“Batman would kick the shit out of Blade. I mean, come on. Given a head start and some planning, Batman might even be able to take down Superman. Seriously, are you REALLY asking that question?????”

Despite basically everyone’s fears that director Zack Snyder will screw up Man of Steel, Goyer is enthusiastic about the final product. Like, to an extent that doesn’t sound like studio PR:

“Zack did an incredible job on MOS. Chris[topher Nolan] and I were both blown away by what he did. I am very proud to be associated with what he’s come up with.”

Man of Steel David S. Goyer Reddit AMA best answers Justice League movie Zack Snyder Christopher Nolan Wonder Woman movie

That said, he acknowledged the monumental pressure on this movie to succeed, following the Dark Knight trilogy (which he developed the story for) and Marvel’s The Avengers:

“Sure, there’s a ton of pressure surrounding Man of Steel. WB has a lot riding on it – not just the Superman franchise, but the future of DC movies. More importantly, I think Zack, myself, Henry [Cavill] — we just really want to give the fans the Superman film they deserve. The kind of Superman film I dreamed about making since I saw the first [Richard] Donner film. I HOPE people like it as much as we do. Knock on wood.”

As for comics influences, Goyer said that they drew from writer/artist John Byrne’s rebooting of the Krypton mythos in 1986. Alan Moore’s contributions to the canon (Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?) also played a part, as did Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns’ work.

Redditors wanted to know how Goyer would approach certain members of the Justice League if they were to get individual movies. I like the way he addressed Wonder Woman, because he touched upon the current issues but also pointed out how far we’ve come since Batman Begins in 2005:

“I think Wonder Woman is a very difficult character to crack. More difficult than Superman, who is also more difficult than Batman. Also, a lot of people in Hollywood believe that it’s hard to do a big action movie with a female lead. I happen to disagree with that. But that tends to be the prevailing wisdom. Hopefully, that’ll change in the next few years. Who should play [her]? No idea…”

 

As for how he would do Green Lantern?

“Better.”

Finally, he could avoid the Justice League elephant in the room no longer. It seems to be only a matter of time, since DC saw how successful The Avengers was for Marvel. Of course, that all depends on getting the right cast and crew. Goyer wouldn’t confirm rumors that he and Nolan would team up on the movie, but he did offer this:

“In order for a Justice League film to happen, MOS has to be successful. That’s up to you guys and about 80 million other people. ;)”

As a bonus, he also mentioned his unfilmed Neil Gaiman adaptation! When asked about his best screenplay that hasn’t been turned into a movie yet, he mentioned this interesting little project:

“I think my best unfilmed script so far is my adaptation of Murder Mysteries, the Neil Gaiman story. So far, it’s been tough to get the financing because it’s ‘arty’, but also requires at least $40 million or so. Fingers crossed we’ll get there soon.”

As far as I’m concerned, Goyer can come back to Reddit anytime. Hopefully he’ll do another AMA before Man of Steel’s release on June 14th, and maybe drag Nolan and/or Snyder along with him.


Natalie Zutter is a playwright, foodie, and pop culture blogger. Her writing has appeared on BlackBook, Ology, Bookish, and Crushable, where she discusses celebrity culture alongside internet memes (or vice versa). Weekly you can find her calling in to the Hunger Games Fireside Chat podcast, reviewing new releases at Movie Mezzanine, and on Twitter.

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