Rumor: ‘Man of Steel 2’ Eyes ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Director

George Miller pulled off nothing short of a miracle with Mad Max: Fury Road, taking $150 million off to the desert and returning with a powerful, visually sublime action film that is rightfully being hailed by many as one of the best in years — if not decades. While we wait to find out if Miller’s proposed sequel will be given the green light, a new rumor indicates that he may be in line to direct a different sequel for Warner Bros.

This rumor comes from a slightly odd but not totally unbelievable place: John Schnepp, the director of the documentary The Death of Superman Lives, appeared on Popcorn Talk (via Latino Review), where he claimed that Miller is “doing” Man of Steel 2. Schnepp’s doc explored Tim Burton’s famously unmade Superman film, Superman Lives, which would have starred Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. Miller is also the subject of an upcoming documentary about his own unmade DC film, Justice League.

It’s quite possible that Schnepp made a decent amount of WB-related contacts during his research into Superman Lives, and it’s possible that he’s heard something viable — although how viable it is remains unclear.

On the one hand, I can see Miller wanting to make a DC film to make up for the one that got away, but on the other hand…why would George Miller want to make a sequel to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, of all things he could possibly do in the DC universe? Obviously, take this rumor with a grain of salt for the moment, but although Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t exactly explode at the box office, it did make a huge impression with audiences and critics, so putting someone as visionary as Miller in charge of a DC movie isn’t an absurd idea.

And with Snyder busy on both Justice League films and Ben Affleck reportedly set for a new Batman trilogy, they may need someone strong in the director’s chair for Man of Steel 2. WB has yet to announce a release date for the sequel, though it is definitely part of their plan. The film likely wouldn’t hit until sometime between 2018 and 2020, though, which would give Miller more than enough time to figure it out.

Miller already has a concept for a sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road titled The Wasteland, and there’s been talk of a Furiosa spinoff starring Charlize Theron — though neither film has been made official, and Theron herself has repeatedly said that she hasn’t signed on for further sequels.

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