While J.J. Abrams might be co-writing a new Spider-Man series for Marvel, it won't be the first time he's worked on a project involving one of comics' greatest heroes.In the early 2000s, Abrams penned the script for a Superman film called Superman: Flyby, which ultimately never happened for a variety of reasons. However, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey posted some storyboards from the project on Twitter yesterday and gave fans a glimpse of what could have been.
The storyboards depict Superman flying over the Earth and chasing another flying character through a city. Ramsey, who worked as a storyboard artist before directing, recalls having fun on the never-produced project.
While it's not totally clear who Superman's chasing, that character was probably another Kryptonian. The film would've reportedly retraced Superman's origin and focused on him coming to terms with his unparalleled powers. After revealing his alien nature, he would've encountered Ty-Zor and three other Kryptonian foes.
Directors Brett Ratner and MCG were both attached to the project at various stages, and a slew of actors including Josh Hartnett, Jude law, Paul Walker, Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer and Jared Padalecki were reportedly considered for the role. Long before he became the DC Extended Universe's Man of Steel, Henry Cavill was reportedly considered as a candidate for Superman in Flyby.
After director Bryan Singer was brought on to the project in 2004, the film morphed into Superman Returns, which was ultimately released in 2006 and starred Brandon Routh as Superman.