After years of speaking on the failed 1990s Superman film Superman Lives, Kevin Smith found and shared his Warner Bros. pitch on his podcast, Fatman Beyond.
Smith brought up Superman Lives during a recent episode of Fatman Beyond. "I've been cleaning my office and I found some sh*t and I just wanted to share this with you all," Smith said. "This is from Warner Bros. and it's from, I don't know if you can see the date there, the date is May 15th of 1996. What I hold in my hand is a 24-year-old Warner Bros. letter, may I read it to you?"
Smith went on to read the letter from Warner Bros. The studio expressed interest in Smith's pitch, speaking of "the rebirth of a hero" by "taking the world's most famous superhero into the 21st century." Warner Bros. even sent him a collection of Superman comics, as they wanted further discussion with him.
Smith also read the pitch itself, below.
Alienated from the world he protects, convinced his relationship with Lois Lane is doomed, Superman is suddenly defeated and left for dead by the villain Brainiac, an intergalactic genius intent upon collecting the best DNA in the universe,'" the pitch reads. "'Superman is secretly nursed back to health by his mentor Cadmus only to discover he has lost his superpowers. As Lois mourns the loss of her love and Brainiac frantically searches for Superman's body, the Man of Steel returns disguised using as a high-tech bodysuit to fight while he attempts to regain his superpowers. While battling Brainiac's henchmen Parasite and Banshee, Superman rediscovers his powers and his love for Lois Lane. In a final showdown, Superman destroys Brainiac and saves the world that he has come to call home.
After he finished reading, Smith talked about what he had done in the years since the failed film. "This is how I get to that f**king Superman story," Smith joked. "This is literally the path where it begins ... the document that led to that other, to my f**king Superman story. Me writing Superman and then nothing happening with it and then me telling that story for the next 20 f**king years."
The Smith-penned Superman Lives was intended to be the rebirth of DC Comics' most famous superhero, with Tim Burton set to direct and Jon Peters as producer. Nicholas Cage was expected to play the Man of Steel, as shown in the 2015 documentary The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?
Smith's next film Killroy Was Here will be released in 2021.
Source: YouTube via Comic Book