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[KyoZz]

Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer recalls a baffling suggestion note from Warner after an early screening

Man of Steel may remain widely divisive nearly a decade after its 2013 release, but the pedigree of its storytellers, The Dark Knight Trilogy’s David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, is often obscured by the sizable shadow cast by director Zack Snyder.
But regardless of the creative team, for studio Warner Bros., the Henry Cavill-headlined Superman reboot’s primary purpose was to launch the Marvel-like continuity we now know as the DC Extended Universe.
With such high stakes, work on the film regularly came with suggestions via studio notes. Yet, Goyer’s recollection of one particular note is not only funny but will make you wonder if anyone’s paying attention.

Goyer, having come through for Warner as one of the storytellers behind Nolan’s supremely successful, Oscar-winning Batman efforts, had the material knowledge and gravitas for the job, and was quickly tapped to write the Man of Steel screenplay, with Nolan’s name touted as a story developer.
However, that didn’t stop Warner personnel from offering suggestions for the sake of suggestions.

Yet, one would think that providing feedback for this crucial Superman endeavor would, in the very least, necessitate knowing that Krypton was destroyed, especially since that galactic calamity played out in elaborately explosive form in the very footage the studios suits were shown.
Oddly enough, as the screenwriter recounts in a broad-topic THR interview, someone upstairs missed that tiny little detail.

“One note I got was on Man of Steel, where the ending involves Superman utilizing the pod that he arrived in as a child in order to bring down General Zod’s ship,” recalls Goyer.
“The note we got from the studio said, ‘You have to change that.’ We asked why. They said, ‘Because if Superman uses that pod and it’s destroyed while saving the city, how is he ever going to get back home to Krypton?’
There was just this long pause and we said, ‘Krypton blew up. You saw 30 minutes of it!’

Man of Steel: Warner Wanted This Hilarious Change

Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer recalls a baffling suggestion note from Warner after an early screening.

www.denofgeek.com

 

[DKehoe]

Reminds me of the Kevin Smith Superman story where Jon Peters, the producer on the Superman project he was working on, had no idea who Kal-El was or what a Kryptonian was

I realise there's a bunch of people mad at Smith just now, but it's such a great story that shows just how weird Hollywood is. If you've never heard it before check it out

 

[Ownage]

Nobody has ever said people are smart. We are all wise to remember this in life.

 

[ManaByte]

Superman writer David Goyer slams Martian Manhunter, calls She-Hulk a porn star

For a guy who writes movies based on comics, Goyer sure has a funny opinion of some of them -- and the people who read them.

www.syfy.com

 

[BouncyFrag]

Bruh...

 

[Umbasaborne]

These companies are run by dinosaurs wearing suits, they dont care about this “nerd shit” they only care that it makes money and how much focus groups like it.

 

[Kenpachii]

Ahhahaha

 

[BigBooper]

The biggest illusion I had as a kid was that most adults were competent.

 

[jason10mm]

The overlap of execs capable of running a Hollywood studio and fans of the origins of superman is probably zero.

I wouldn't hold it against them

 

[NoLootBoxDev]

As always executives show how competent they are.

 

[GeorgioCostanzaX]

These companies are run by dinosaurs wearing suits, they dont care about this “nerd shit” they only care that it makes money and how much focus groups like it.

A comic nerd like Feige is the only reason Marvel works and Star Wars hasn’t under Disney although I’m hoping Favreau and Filoni are going to change that with the films.

 

[FunkMiller]

This is why the DCEU fucking sucks.

Clueless people in charge.

 

[DeafTourette]

Just pathetic... Even someone who doesn't read the comics KNOWS supes is the last of his people and that his planet is gone.

 

[SirKicksalot]

Maybe the exec was thinking of the Reeves/Routh plot. I mean, Superman Returns because he was visiting Krypton's ruins.

 

[tsumake]

Just pathetic... Even someone who doesn't read the comics KNOWS supes is the last of his people and that his planet is gone.

What about supergirl et al.? I’m asking for canon’s sake, not a criticism.

 

[DeafTourette]

What about supergirl et al.? I’m asking for canon’s sake, not a criticism.

I think there's some who don't know that they're cousins. She also came from Krypton but some people think she's from another world other than Krypton.

 

[TaylorSwiftFan]

The overlap of execs capable of running a Hollywood studio and fans of the origins of superman is probably zero.

I wouldn't hold it against them

Except that they watched 30min of krypton getting destroyed earlier in the movie.

 

[Gp1]

Maybe the only DCEU decent movie. When DC was trying to create something not "Marvel."

Besides that, Henry Cavill doesn't even fit in that pod anymore.

 

[VulcanRaven]

Reminds me of the Kevin Smith Superman story where Jon Peters, the producer on the Superman project he was working on, had no idea who Kal-El was or what a Kryptonian was

I realise there's a bunch of people mad at Smith just now, but it's such a great story that shows just how weird Hollywood is. If you've never heard it before check it out

That guy he is talking about produced Man of Steel too.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

This is why the DCEU fucking sucks.

Clueless people in charge.

Let the broken clock be right twice a day then.
Between Joker, Reeve’s upcoming Batman, Flashpoint, Shazaam bringing in a bunch of cool new characters, and getting to see Snyder’s JL, all the freedom they are giving to James Gunn, I’m perfectly happy with them lately. Lots of variety in tone.
I’ve no interest in some of their projects, like BoP, but I feel like they get a bad wrap considering how much quality entertainment they end up putting out.

Joker is a big one for me. No one else was prepared to give us a film like that and look at the records it broke. That alone will open up a lot of doors for audiences like us. It’s the type or victory that is bigger than the film itself. You don’t have to like it to benefit from the effect it will have.


Worth noting that they’ve had big change ups in the upper brass over the last few years though, even if a lot of the projects were sort of in some type of limbo before the change-up.

 

[FunkMiller]

Let the broken clock be right twice a day then.
Between Joker, Reeve’s upcoming Batman, Flashpoint, Shazaam bringing in a bunch of cool new characters, and getting to see Snyder’s JL, all the freedom they are giving to James Gunn, I’m perfectly happy with them lately. Lots of variety in tone.
I’ve no interest in some of their projects, like BoP, but I feel like they get a bad wrap considering how much quality entertainment they end up putting out.

Joker is a big one for me. No one else was prepared to give us a film like that and look at the records it broke. That alone will open up a lot of doors for audiences like us. It’s the type or victory that is bigger than the film itself. You don’t have to like it to benefit from the effect it will have.


Worth noting that they’ve had big change ups in the upper brass over the last few years though, even if a lot of the projects were sort of in some type of limbo before the change-up.

Everything great is not DCEU. Everything mediocre and outright shit is.

 

[AJUMP23]

Lots of people want to hear themselves talk and feel like they contributed.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

Everything great is not DCEU. Everything mediocre and outright shit is.

Oh, you're speaking strictly to the shared universe they are, sort of, crafting. "DCEU", gotcha.

 

[DeafTourette]

Everything great is not DCEU. Everything mediocre and outright shit is.

SHAZAM, Black Adam, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, Flash... Those are all DCEU...

You can't say ALL of those are mediocre and crap...

 

[eyesabitdull]

You'd be surprised to hear what some Executive Producers of established companies and/or networks say in a production meeting, or throughout it's development.

But to be fair, in my experience, there some egregiously stupid remarks that make no sense, and some - though it may make little sense in the beginning, like casting choices made by the network utilizing a social media star - actually turn out to be a fair decision by the execs.

I'm nowhere surprised of this incident, but I am curious as to what was story justification to have Superman use his baby pod thing to go up against Zodd's ship. Seems like an actual smart move by the execs, just a poorly shitty excuse for the change that definitely came off the mouth of someone who was halfway uninterested in what they are watching.

Anyone who works in production, and/or specifically involved with video editing process, can tell you how ridiculous feedback received can be. Many times, a feedback can come to you and the immediate question is "did you not see the fucking movie, or something? It's literally explained if you just go to x timestamp until y timestamp."

Also, drafts. NOBODY EVER COMPREHENDS DRAFTS.

Write it across the dailies, write in the title, write in the email subject line, and some asshole will still bring up something that was obviously going to be fixed in the final draft.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

The biggest illusion I had as a kid was that most adults were competent.

Bro, 1000%.

 

[DKehoe]

That guy he is talking about produced Man of Steel too.

In another of those Evening With shows he gets asked if he ever heard about anyone reacting to the stories he's told about them. He said he got told that Prince got pissed off about Smith talking about him but that Jon Peters loved it

 

[MastaKiiLA]

This is why WB shouldn't have DC rights. It's just so obvious that they don't know what they're doing with the properties that aren't Batman and Wonder Woman, who were already put to screen decades ago. It's why they will continue to pump out a bajillion retreads of Batman and Joker, to pad out their countless failures with other IPs. Meanwhile, Disney+Marvel just released an epic with the least-super Infinity War Saga character, and continue to hit homeruns with each new TV show.

FML, I wish they'd have let Snyder finish his saga without interference. It was tonally distinct from the Marvel stuff, and he actually had a direction he wanted to take it. Even if you didn't love his style, he tried to provide a real alternative.

 

[Mohonky]

He's not going back to Krypton, he's getting asylum in Sweden, no need to go back.

 

[Toons]

Yea the guys an idiot. But I mean we've seen that Goyer doesnt have a much better understanding of the character either so he can share in some of that