Cinephiles are aware that J.J. Abrams will significantly impact DC Films’ cinematic future via his Bad Robot production studio. However, many wonder if he will be directing. Abrams confirmed that he isn’t interested in directing a DC movie himself. Abrams and Bad Robot will produce an upcoming reboot of the Superman film franchise, with Ta-Nehisi Coates writing a story about a Black Clark Kent. In some new comments provided to Collider, Abrams says that after spending years working on Star Trek and Star Wars, he’s passing on directing another pre-existing property like Superman or another DC Comics hero to focus on original ideas. Abrams says,
“I know that Hollywood is a place where it used to be that people would be inspired by something that they would see or an old film or a show or something and think, ‘Oh, here’s my response to that. Here’s a version of that that.’ It’s become a place where, more often than not, you see something and people get inspired by it and go, ‘Let’s redo that exact thing.’ I feel like, as someone who started writing in television and telling original stories on film and in TV, it is something that I really do miss. The few things that I’m working on now, as a writer, are original ideas. I just feel, as a director, I really would love to have my next projects be things that didn’t pre-exist me necessarily.”
According to reports, this new Superman movie won’t be a part of the DC Extended Universe. Instead, it will be a singular story set as a 20th-century period piece following the life of Superman.
