Nic Cage's Superman Deserves To Fly In An Elseworlds Spin-Off (If Tim Burton Directs)

Superman has been around since 1938. During that time, he's undergone several transformations, but he's mostly been portrayed as a dark-haired, chisel-jawed hunk who epitomizes noble, stoic values. This Superman is favored in most movie and television adaptations, but it'd be interesting to see some weirder depictions of the character on the screen, particularly since the freedom of being an Elseworlds project means Cage's Kal-El wouldn't be the "primary" Superman (a role that goes to Gunn's own "Superman: Legacy" project). 

Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" would have given us an emo version of Krypton's favorite son, played by a moody Nic Cage with long hair. Prior to Burton and Cage's involvement with the unproduced project, Kevin Smith wrote a script based on "The Death of Superman" storyline, albeit with Brainiac fighting polar bears and Supes going up against a giant spider. Granted, Smith didn't want to include these scenes at all, but he had to adhere to the requirements of a producer who didn't understand the character. That said, who doesn't want to see a movie about DC characters taking on the fiercest killers in the animal kingdom?

At the same time, a Burton-directed "Superman" movie would be inherently interesting, even without polar bears and gargantuan arachnids causing havoc. His "Batman" and "Batman Returns" flicks have stood the test of time, and the continuing appreciation for both films shows that there's a fan base for Burton's brand of gothic superhero fare. This isn't some amateur filmmaker we're talking about — he's Tim freaking Burton. Throw in the might of Nic Cage and you have a recipe for success.