Matthew Vaughn’s recent Happy Sad Confused podcast interview is the gift that keeps giving. The filmmaker took time from promoting his upcoming comedy spy film Argylle to give his takes on all things pop culture.
We recently reported Vaughn’s thoughts on the Star Wars franchise, but he also had some feelings on Superman – more specifically, his plans for his once-planned Superman film trilogy. Over a decade ago, years before Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Vaughn pitched a much different tone to what we eventually got, going back to the days of Richard Donner’s Superman.
“I think Donner nailed it. ‘Wonder Woman‘ worked very well because it was basically a Donner/Superman film but reimagined as Wonder Woman. I would’ve done a modern version of Donner,” says Vaughn. He gives a clue about how he’d handle the story: “Our big idea was that Krypton doesn’t blow up. It does eventually. The dad was right, but he got his timing wrong. When Superman is grown up, suddenly, there’s a mass exodus, and all hell breaks loose. That was our main idea.”
As for his casting, Vaughn didn’t give away all his picks but did find a spot for his frequent collaborator, Taron Egerton. “He’d be better as Lex Luthor. He’d be an amazing Luthor. He shouldn’t be Wolverine,” adding to the long fan-casted Egerton for Wolverine debate. “I don’t think he’s right for it. You got to really go back to the comic. Hugh is brilliant as Wolverine, but I’d go back to what the comics are… [he’s] small, grizzly, tough guy. Hugh has made it so iconic that if you go into that version… no. Taron would make an amazing, intelligent villain.”
It seems Matthew Vaughn is still up for a DC film. Let’s see if James Gunn wants to use Vaughn’s ideas. Meanwhile, Vaughn’s next film Argylle is heading to cinemas next year; check out the official trailer below…
Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), an introverted spy novelist who seldom leaves her home, is drawn into the real world of espionage when the plots of her books get a little too close to the activities of a sinister underground syndicate. When Aiden (Sam Rockwell), a spy, shows up to save her (he says) from being kidnapped or killed (or both), Elly and her beloved cat Alfie are plunged into a covert world where nothing, and no one, is what it seems.
Argylle features an ensemble cast that includes Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Argylle is scheduled to be released in the United States on February 2, 2024, by Universal Pictures theatrically and on Apple TV+ at an undetermined date.
