The Story Behind the 2002 Batman Versus Superman Movie That Never Got Made

Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in ‘Batman v Superman’ (Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This week sees two superheroes battle for the first time in a live-action movie in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The pair have been friends, and occasional enemies, in comics and cartoons for a long time, but director Zack Snyder’s film — which launched a new extended DC Comics Universe — is the first time that they’ve fought in a film. But that battle royale very nearly happened in a very different form over a decade ago.

In the early ‘00s, both the Batman and Superman franchises were essentially dead. Joel Schumacher’s campy, cartoonish Batman & Robin had been toxically received by critics and fans, while Tim Burton’s attempt to return the last son of Krypton to the screen with a film called Superman Lives — which would have starred Nicolas Cage — fell apart over budgetary concerns and behind-the-scenes clashes.

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Nevertheless, new Warner Bros. boss Alan Horn was determined to revive two of the studio’s greatest assets. Quiz Show writer Paul Attanasio had written a Superman script, while future Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky was developing a gritty Caped Crusader origin story called Batman: Year One. But then a new idea arrived, courtesy of Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker, which would reintroduce both characters to new generation in one movie. The project was swiftly prioritized, and studio favorite Wolfgang Petersen, who’d recently had a hit with The Perfect Storm, was hired to direct.

Walker’s concept — codenamed Asylum, but often referred to as Batman Vs. Superman — was set after both heroes had been active for a while and had long been friends. (His idea was later revised by, of all people, Batman & Robin writer Akiva Goldsman — a widely available script dated June 2002 is credited to both of them.) Commissioner Gordon, Alfred and Robin are all dead, as is the Joker; Bruce Wayne has long since retired, while Clark Kent is getting divorced from Lois Lane, who’s never seen in the script.

In an opening sequence that’s unpleasantly reminiscent of the then-recent 9/11 attacks, Superman saves Metropolis from a masked terrorist, only for the terrorist to blast him with Kryptonite and get away. Soon after, Clark serves as best man at Bruce’s wedding to a woman called Elizabeth, but days later, she’s killed on their honeymoon, seemingly by the same terrorist.

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Devastated, Bruce tells Clark that he holds him responsible. Bruce begins to investigate the murder (for all of the script’s faults, it’s better than any filmed attempt at capturing the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ side of Batman’s character), soon discovering that a mysteriously resurrected Joker is behind the violence. In the end, Batman attempts to kill the Joker in Metropolis, while Superman vows to stop him. The two battle, ending in a bloody tie, before it’s revealed that Lex Luthor is behind the whole plot.

Now, to be fair, this was an early draft, but it’s decidedly lacking in the form it survives in. It’s certainly an improvement on the Schumacher Batman films, but the script was slackly paced, often silly, and crucially, never finds a particularly convincing reason for the heroes to be battling each other. Perhaps most importantly, it’s rather empty thematically, especially when compared to the more recent Christopher Nolan and Snyder films.

Petersen moved ahead with the project, and a 2004 release date was set. Entertainment Weekly reported that Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Colin Farrell, James Franco, Jude Law and Paul Walker were in the frame for one of the two leads. (Years later, Petersen also confirmed to MTV that he’d considered Josh Hartnett and future Batman Christian Bale as Superman.) And then, suddenly, the project was scrapped.

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As the New York Times would later report, future Star Wars helmer J.J. Abrams (then known only as the creator of the TV series Felicity and Alias) had been developing a solo Superman script known as Superman: Flyby, a bold reinvention of the character’s mythos. Warner Bros. head Horn loved the script, and Abrams argued that releasing a team-up movie first “was akin to releasing a movie like When Harry Divorced Sally before When Harry Met Sally.”

A battle ensued between Horn and veteran producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who favored Batman Vs. Superman. In the end, 10 Warners executives were given both scripts and asked to vote on which movie should go ahead. They picked the Superman solo movie. Ironically, even that didn’t go ahead, at least in its original form: Bryan Singer would redevelop the project into what would become 2006’s Superman Returns.

In the aftermath, Petersen moved on to swords-and-sandals epic Troy for the same studio (only after future Bat-director Christopher Nolan turned it down). Meanwhile, writer Goldsman tipped his hat to the aborted project in another blockbuster: 2007’s post-apocalyptic epic I Am Legend, which he produced, includes a billboard for a Batman Vs. Superman movie in Times Square. Fortunately for us, the world didn’t have to end before we’d get a chance to actually see Batman and Superman together on the big-screen.

Watch a primer on the comic-book origins of ‘Batman v Superman:’