Director Christopher McQuarrie is open to helming Man of Steel 2 (or Green Lantern) for the DCEU, if the story for both hits just the right beats. The Mission: Impossible - Fallout director and writer has been at the top of many fans’ wish list for a DCEU movie. This isn’t just because the filmmaker has a pedigree for solid and lucrative action movies. McQuarrie has also established a working relationship with Henry Cavill, who plays Superman, in Fallout and he has expressed a desire to work with the actor again. In addition, since the face of Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise, has surfaced as a possible Green Lantern candidate in the DCEU, McQuarrie has also been attached to that potential DCEU film.
The reality of McQuarrie directing any DCEU movie, Man of Steel 2 or Green Lantern, is still a long ways off. Neither movie is even officially in the works over at Warner Bros.. Yet if the cards aligned, McQuarrie would be interested in helming the next chapter in DC’s cinematic universe.
In Screen Rant’s interview with McQuarrie for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, we asked him directly about the rumor that he’ll be behind Cavill’s second solo outing as Superman. McQuarrie gave a vague but still hopeful answer, responding:
Later in the interview ,we asked McQuarrie about the campaign from fans for Cruise to be the DCEU’s Green Lantern and if he would direct the star. This is because all but one of McQuarrie’s directed movies have starred Cruise. However, McQuarrie hedged his bets when it came to Cruise as a future member of the Green Lantern Corps. He answered:
To me, I’m interested in a good story. That’s really what it is. I mean, when Man of Steel came up, it was because somebody had asked me, did I want to work with Henry again? Which I would in a second. I go through the door that opens.
Ultimately, as hard as it is for McQuarrie to predict if Cruise will play a superhero, it’s equally hard to predict if McQuarrie will direct a superhero movie. All speculation about the director joining the pantheon of DCEU filmmakers should be taken with a generous grain of salt.
You know, I got to say, Tom and I have never talked about it. We always kind of talk about what we’re working on or what we’re talking about working on next. I think, again, I think if you show them a good story, I think if you showed him a really emotional story, I don’t think, you know, it’s, I can never predict. I can never predict what it is he’s going to be drawn to.
Even though McQuarrie is very open to the idea now, he has in the past he’s not at all interested in Star Wars or a superhero movie. (Although at the time he expressed his distaste for those projects, McQuarrie was referring more to the internet backlash that surrounds them.) The continuing discussion that McQuarrie might step into the director’s chair for Man of Steel 2, in particular, is promising. Yet even if McQuarrie is expressing that he’s open to the idea that isn’t anything solid. It’s certainly not a confirmation.
The only thing that is certain, is that if McQuarrie did get a chance to direct Man of Steel 2, it would be radically different and potentially much more gratifying movie than the first one. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel had a huge action set piece in the final act but it was otherwise a much more moody and contemplative Superman movie. It was a deconstruction, not a celebration, of the character.
On the other hand, the entirety of McQuarrie’s filmography has been all bombastic, daring and pulse-pounding thrillers. They have heart, charm and soul to them but they’re primarily fun rides. This move could be the direction that Superman needs in Man of Steel 2 or what would fit Green Lantern in his DCEU introduction.
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- Mission Impossible 6 Release Date: 2018-07-27
