And so it goes. Yet another name has cropped up for the “Superman: The Man Of Steel” directing gig, and this time it’s none other than Darren Aronofsky.
The filmmaker — who was linked earlier this year as a contender for “Wolverine 2” — has, according to the LA Times, discussed the job with Christopher Nolan, who is godfathering and mentoring the entire project for Warner Bros. & Legendary Pictures (his brother Jonah Nolan and “The Dark Knight” scribe David S. Goyer have been working on the script). Now, before everyone’s brains explode, let’s evaluate this for a moment.
Aronofsky has another potential Oscar vehicle in “Black Swan” and should it pick up steam and awards through the fall, he will be in an even stronger position to continue making films based on his own, original ideas. Would he really want to jump from personal projects to a big studio tentpole that will not only be overseen by Nolan, but have input from DC and Warner Bros.? Somehow, we doubt it.
The flipside to that argument comes from a recent interview with MTV in which he said, “Even though I’ve been attached to all these comic book [movies], I never really was a comic book kid growing up. I didn’t really have comic books. I didn’t really know who ‘Wolverine’ was until I met Hugh Jackman and got to know it.” “Of course, I grew up with Batman and Superman and Spider-Man a little bit, but I’m not the biggest comic book fan, even though I’ve been attached to a lot of them,” Aronofsky added. “It would be fun to do one, [but] it’s just finding the right situation, the right project.”
So is this the right project? Or just Nolan running through this list of dream candidates to see if any of them will bite? Time will tell and while its a match made in heaven on paper, Aronofksy’s been attached to comic book properties before, and they’ve never borne fruit largely for the reasons he’s explained above. Will he take the meeting with Nolan? Hell yeah, but it remains to be seen if anything comes of it and we’re pretty skeptical that it will.
The previously reported names of Tony Scott, “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves, Jonathan Liebesman (of the upcoming “Battle: Los Angeles”), “Moon” helmer Duncan Jones and Zack Snyder seem more in the wheelhouse of what Warner Bros will be going for. Up and comers with a distinctive style and handle on elaborate effects (ok, Tony Scott is the lone exception to this, but unlike a lot of established directors on the block, he wouldn’t have any problem jumping to a tentpole film) that will also carry some geek cred.