Long before his days of directing
Star Wars films, J.J. Abrams penned a script for one of DC's most iconic heroes.
Superman: Flyby was a fascinating origin story with a targeted summer 2004 release date that would ultimately never make it to the big screen.
Pre-production drama, including disagreements over who should star as the titular hero, ultimately led to the films demise. But as with all canceled projects, Abrams' concept forever remains an intriguing "what could have been."
It's been nearly 20 years since Abrams first handed in the script for
Superman: Flyby, and over the years details regarding its zany plot of have been made public. Now, we've got some brand new storyboards to go along with what we know about the film. The new images arrive courtesy of
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey, who actually worked as a storyboard artist on
Superman: Flyby.
In the world of
Superman: Flyby, the villainous Ty-Zor — son of Kata-Zor, Jor-El's corrupt brother — is sent to Earth to defeat Kal-El. The storyboards that Ramsey shared seemingly depict the intense battle between Superman and his cousin Ty-Zor.
Ramsey
clarified that the storyboards were drawn during Brett Ratner's time in the director's chair, before he ultimately stepped away from the project in March 2003. However, Ramsey revealed that
"there was a long stretch where there was NO director and we all just went rogue."
McG was Ratner's eventual replacement, but disagreements between him and Warner Bros. led to his departure as well. Eventually, Warner Bros. brought on Bryan Singer in 2004 and the end result was the completely different
Superman Returns, which released in 2006.
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