Matthew Vaughn in talks to direct Man of Steel 2

After Zack Snyder called the shots on ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and the upcoming ‘Justice League,’ it looks like there’s a new director in the frame for Superman’s next solo movie.

According to Collider, Warner Bros and DC are pressing on with a second ‘Man of Steel’ movie starring Henry Cavill, and they want British director Matthew Vaughn to take the helm.

The report claims that Vaughn – currently at work on spy sequel ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ – has already had “preliminary conversations” with the studio regarding the project, and it is stressed that things are not yet in “in the deal-making stage.” Intriguingly, it is also reported that “if Vaughn for some reason doesn’t direct ‘Man of Steel 2,’ Warner Bros. still wants him to helm another superhero movie in the DCEU.”

Should this prove fruitful, it could be an interesting development both for the DC Extended Universe and for Vaughn himself. The director has done plenty of comic book-related work with ‘Kick-Ass,’ ‘X-Men: First Class’ and the ‘Kingsman’ movies, and notoriously came close to directing 2005’s ‘X-Men 3: The Last Stand’ – perhaps ironically as the initial replacement for Bryan Singer, who abandoned the X-movies to direct ‘Superman Returns.’ (The troubled 20th Century Fox sequel was ultimately directed by Brett Ratner.)

It’s also worth noting that Vaughn and his frequent collaborator Mark Millar (the comic book creator behind ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘Kingsman’) previously pitched their take on ‘Superman’ to Warner Bros and DC in 2010, but were passed over in favour of Christopher Nolan and David Goyer’s pitch, which ultimately became 2013’s ‘Man of Steel.’

However, with Vaughn’s comic book movie cred having gone up considerably in the years since, he could be just what DC need. Their films to date have been widely criticised for being too downbeat, whereas Vaughn’s work is renowned for being bright, well-paced and fun, typically with a razor-sharp sense of humour. These are all things a ‘Man of Steel’ sequel might very well benefit from.

In 2010, Vaughn when discussing the then-in-development ‘Man of Steel’ told MTV: “I just hope they don’t make it too serious. I think that’s the one thing not to do with Superman, trying to do the serious ‘The Dark Knight’ version. Superman is about colour and fun, or it should be, for me.”

Whether or not Vaughn even wants the job anymore remains to be seen. He has also for some time been linked to a new take on ‘Flash Gordon,’ although there’s been no news on that front for a while. We might also note that ‘Mad Max’ series director George Miller has previously been linked to ‘Man of Steel 2.’

In the meantime, Vaughn’s next movie ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ is due in cinemas 29 September – whilst the DCEU continues with ‘Wonder Woman’ on 2 June, followed by ‘Justice League’ on 17 November.

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