Updated: David Goyer Writing “Action-Packed” ‘The Man Of Steel’ & ‘Batman 3’

According to Latino Review, scooper Nikki Finke got it wrong. The site is reporting that David Goyer didn’t leave the ailing ABC show “Fast Forward” to write “Batman 3,” but to write the Superman reboot now tentatively titled, “The Man Of Steel.”

According to their source, Legendary Pictures honcho Thomas Tull grew tired of all the “discussions” and reached out to Goyer personally. Goyer apparently is looking to bring the celebrated John Byrne vision of Superman to the big screen, and Tull likes the idea.

Bryne’s Superman story is quite different than what most of America is familiar with. According to Wikipedia, in Bryne’s story Clark Kent has “a more aggressive and extroverted personality than previously depicted.” Most significantly, Clark Kent doesn’t become Superman until he’s an adult, and his parents live to see his accomplishments. He maintains his secret identity from the public by “[vibrating] his face via his super speed in order to blur his image to photographers.” And, what about the Fortress Of Solitude or Krypto? They don’t exist in this version [ed. read these as a kid, they were aces, though the “aggressive” Clark Kent is a bit overstated from what we remember. Perhaps its more accurate to say he wasn’t such an overt, clumsy nerd as depicted by Christopher Reeves. Byrne’s version was just more realistic — Supes wasn’t totally invulnerable, which made his battles more interesting — and stripped the Superman mythos of silly things like Superboy, Krypto the dog, etc.].

If this is true, it is definitely a brand new direction for the superhero and one that actually sounds quite fascinating. Frankly, the project sounds like exactly the kind of drastic reworking Christopher Nolan would have approved — rumors attaching him to the film in a godfather capacity were later denied by none other than a D.C. Comics president). And with Goyer’s involvement and history with the director, we think it’s only a matter of time before Nolan is officially announced as being back in whatever mentor/godfather/overseer role that was leaked before. And while talk on “Batman 3” is quiet for now, we’re pretty certain Goyer will put his in-demand pen to work on that film once he’s finished with “The Man Of Steel.”

As for casting and directors, the source on this says Nicolas Cage and Brandon Routh will not suit up and Bryan Singer is not expected to return, which is no major surprise. Perhaps they should consult our list of possible directors for some ideas.

Update: AICN says this news is premature (and all the geek sites will be jockeying for authority position on this one). They write, “I just got off the phone with Thomas Tull at Legendary Pictures who told me that the story that appeared over on LATINO REVIEW just frankly isn’t true. Tull has not unilaterally hired Goyer to come in and write the new SUPERMAN. He loves Goyer, but frankly – the project isn’t at the Script stage yet. Seems Nolan is still hatching some ideas. But he just wanted me to pass on that they have the highest enthusiasm for this project, but the story on Latino just isn’t accurate.” Hitflix pours some cold water on Latino Review’s report as well.

Update 2: After all is said and done, it appears that Latino Review’s original piece was correct and perhaps the denials came from those not wanting the true cat out of the bag? Who knows, but Variety has updated their story and they say that Goyer is in negotiations to write the new “Superman” script that would be action-packed and center on a story with the villains Brainiac and Lex Luthor (confirming Latino Review’s original report). The trade also says that Goyer and Jonathan “Jonah” Nolan are in fact writing the next iteration of “Batman” movies (i.e. “Batman 3” or “The Dark Knight 2” whatever you want to call it, though this contradicts LR who said Nikki Finke was wrong, got all that?). The idea is based on the writer’s pitch and it’s possible he could eventually end up helping another writer develop the final script, as he did with “The Dark Knight.” Routh and Singer are still not expected to return. HeatVision says it’s early days and “no dealmaking has taken place; only meetings are happening at this stage,” but at least this confirms the news is simply not just made up.