Man of Steel was released in 2013, and it still generates a lot of discussion among comic book fans. Clark Kent letting his father die is a big point of contention, as is the destruction that was caused to Metropolis when Superman battled General Zod. However, by far the biggest talking point is the moment the hero stopped Zod by breaking his neck. 

When Cinema Blend caught up with Michael Shannon to discuss his role in the DC Extended Universe, the actor made it clear that he completely understands why Superman had to make that decision. 

“No, I didn’t think there was any other way to end it, really,” Shannon replied when asked if he thought Zod’s death was unnecessary. “I mean, Zod says it’s either me or you. I’m not gonna let you survive. I will kill you, unless you kill me. And that seemed sufficiently Greek to me, you know?”

The actor would go on to explain that he’s not someone who asks for changes to be made to the scripts of movies he’s working on, and Zod’s demise wasn’t something that bothered him. 

“I’ve seen other actors that feel more comfortable kind of going in and screwing around with the script and the story,” he explained. “But I’ve never felt real comfortable with that unless there’s something that’s just glaringly nonsensical. I kinda keep my mouth shut, because I’m not a writer. I can’t write a screenplay to save my life. So I have a lot of respect for the script and, and I only go off it if I’m encouraged to by the director.”

These comments are unlikely to change the minds of those who didn’t like seeing Superman take the villain’s life, but it’s an interesting take on what happened, and one that does make sense.

What do you guys think? 

To check out some game-changing, unused concept art from
the DC Extended Universe, click on the “Next” button below!
 

10. Scarecrow Joins Task Force X

A piece of concept art from extremely early on in the development of Suicide Squad, this reveals that Scarecrow was set to assemble alongside the rest of Task Force X. Considering the fact that David Ayer’s 2016 movie mostly focused on Batman’s villains, that’s not overly surprising!

This take on the villain from Ed Natividad is a grounded and appropriately sinister interpretation of the fear-inducing bad guy, and seeing what he brought to the table would have been a lot of fun.

However, as Task Force X ended up battling mindless monsters, there’s really not much someone with the power to instil fear in his foes with a toxic gas could do here to make much of a difference! 
 

9. The Mean Streets Of Krypton

Man of Steel explored Kypton in a way no other Superman movie had up until that point, but this concept art reveals that we could have seen even more of Kal-El’s home planet back in 2013.

While we got to see the upper echelons of Krypton as we followed characters like Jor-El and General Zod, it seems like Zack Snyder considered taking us down to the streets as well. These formidable looking soldiers were the planet’s police force, and likely meant to show us that things for the regular people on the planet really weren’t that great as things started falling apart around them. 

The visuals here are really something else, and a version of Man of Steel where we learned just how dire things had become on Krypton would be no bad thing…clearly, there wasn’t time! 
 

8. Steppenwolf’s Original Arrival On Earth

Suicide Squad director David Ayer has confirmed that Parademons were originally going to be part of Enchantress’ army, and we now know that her plan was set to involve bringing Steppenwolf to Earth via Boom Tube. She must have crossed paths with him and Darkseid thousands of years prior, and bringing them back would have no doubt been advantageous to the ancient villain somehow.

This movie bringing Steppenwolf to Earth would have been the perfect way of setting up the events of Justice League and helped make the DC Extended Universe feel even more connected. 

Why Warner Bros. decided not to head down this route is unclear, but Suicide Squad could have ended up feeling vastly more important, while also delivering a jaw-dropping twist reveal!
 

7. Metallo

Director Zack Snyder had a lot of ambitious plans for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the introduction of Metallo was among them. Believe it or not, this was the original plan for Wallace Keefe, the Wayne Industries employee who lost his legs during the events of Man of Steel.

As exciting as that might have been to see, this would have been one villain too many for the already very busy movie, and this design really doesn’t work particularly well. 

Instead of getting his legs back, he’s wearing a Kryptonite-powered flight suit with two ridiculously massive guns for arms. Seeing Superman go toe to toe with the formidable baddie wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world, but it might have run the risk of being a tad too goofy.
 

6. The Joker Lends Enhantress A Helping Hand

In an earlier version of Suicide Squad, the plan was for The Joker to turn on Harley Quinn and throw her from that helicopter to her death (rather than her safety). Behind the scenes photos and even the trailer confirmed that the Clown Prince of Crime would have appeared during the final battle, but this artwork shows the villain aligned with Enchantress.

Considering the fact she was essentially offering to grant wishes, it makes sense he would battle Task Force X alongside her, especially if that meant getting Harley back under his control.

Scared that moviegoers would reject such a dark take on their relationship, though, Warner Bros. ordered reshoots, but it is cool to see what might have been thanks to this piece of concept art. 
 

5. A Fiery Final Battle

If you were disappointed with the CGI Ares in Wonder Woman, chances are this won’t be something you’re overly excited about. However, the ancient Greek God being a being made entirely of fire makes for one hell of a visual, and could have led to an even better final battle here. 

Whether visual effects were capable of pulling something like this off in an effective manner is hard to say, this final fight being a little less generic certainly wouldn’t have been a bad thing. 

As it stands, it was still pretty exciting, but this is way better. The God of War being a fiery being feels appropriate, and it’s hard not to wonder how Diana Prince might ended up overcoming him.
 

4. A Brand New Batcycle

Say what you will about Ben Affleck’s take on Batman (his use of guns in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was definitely controversial), but he had a cool suit and some great weapons. 

His vehicles were also pretty impressive, and after seeing the Batmobile, Flying Fox, and Batwing all in action, Justice League very nearly introduced the Caped Crusader’s brand new Batcycle. 

Instead of wheels, this is more akin to a hovercraft. Needless to say, seeing Batman racing through the battlefield on this might have led to some seriously cool action sequences in the ensemble.
 

3. The Doomsday We All Wanted

As divisive as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might have been, there’s one thing every fan can agree on: Doomsday looked nothing short of terrible! Considering the fact Zack Snyder is a huge comic book fan, we have no idea what he was thinking with this redesign, but concept art Jerad S.Marantz has shared some far superior earlier designs.

Like the one above, they’re all comic accurate and definitely want fans expect from Doomsday. 

As it stands, he ended up looking like one of the cave trolls from The Lord of the Rings, and that’s a huge blunder on Snyder’s part. A completely comic accurate Doomsday wouldn’t have necessarily made the movie any better, but the final battle certainly would have benefited from a visual standpoint.
 

2. Darkseid’s Larger Role In Justice League

In the version of Justice League released by Warner Bros. (which was subject to extensive reshoots courtesy of Joss Whedon), Darkseid was nowhere to be seen. He was referenced, but that was it, and plans for him to make a physical appearance ended up being scrapped. 

Zack Snyder has confirmed that the villain was going to appear both in those flashbacks and at the end of the Boom Tube which Steppenwolf opened during the final battle. 

In this concept art, we get to see Darkside in the distant past, and Snyder has since said that Uxas was, “Searching for something that would make him unbeatable.” In other words, he wanted to get his hands on the Mother Boxes which would help make him damn near unstoppable.
 

1. The Joker And The Batman

Batman’s cameo appearance in Suicide Squad was a lot of fun, but not having the Caped Crusader cross paths with The Joker was a huge blunder (we’re also not sure when that meeting was being saved for). However, this concept art reveals that the two very nearly did cross paths. 

As you can see above, the original plan was for the Clown Prince of Crime to wait for the Dark Knight in his Batmobile, and while this was likely from an early stage in development, it’s hard not to get excited thinking about how an exchange like this between the characters would play out.

This is a really cool visual, and one that could have created a truly memorable meeting in the DCEU. 
 

Love them or hate them, both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi received extremely positive reviews from critics (they scored 93% and 91% on Rotten Tomatoes), while a lot of fans did actually enjoy them. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, on the other hand, has 52%, appears to be incredibly divisive, and actually ended up underperforming at the box office. 

Since its release, the backlash from fans has been significant, and it’s clear that a lot of them simply didn’t appreciate the way the Skywalker Saga wrapped up. That was despite a great deal of fan-service from director J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Chris Terrio, and it probably doesn’t help that original helmer Colin Trevorrow’s ideas leaked online and, well, were much better! 

Now, Daisy Ridley has opened up about the response, and it sounds like it hasn’t been easy. 
 

“It’s changed film by film honestly, like 98% it’s so amazing, this last film it was really tricky. January was not that nice. It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we’d sort of been shown the first time around, I was like ‘Where’s the love gone?’ I watched the documentary, the making-of, this week, and it’s so filled with love; and I think it’s that tricky thing of when you’re part of something that is so filled with love and then people…You know, everyone’s entitled to not like something but it feels like it’s changed slightly. I think in general that’s because social media and what have you.”

There’s certainly a lot of very toxic fans out there, but the response to The Rise of Skywalker really can’t be blamed on them, especially when it’s clear from the reviews that this film split opinions right down the middle. Some loved it, of course, but the finale simply didn’t live up to what came before and, in the eyes of many, wasn’t the ending this beloved series of films deserved.

What are your thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker?

For more details about Colin Trevorrow’s Duel
of the Fates, click on the “Next” button below!
 

Rey’s “Boomerang” Lightsaber

The opening of the movie is very much the same but the Resistance can no longer communicate with the rest of the Galaxy as the First Order has found a way to block their transmissions. 

The plan is still to attack the the planet – likely Coruscant – which the villains use as their base but it’s now “the Jedi Spire of Osis” that Rey needs to reach in order to send out a message to the rest of the Galaxy rather than the old Jedi Temple. Kylo Ren, meanwhile, is on a mission to kill Rey so that he can finally fully embrace the Dark Side. 

Talking of Rey, she’s created her own double-sided lightsaber which “works like a boomerang.”

The Knights Of Ren Get Names…And A Sinister Rival To Kylo Ren

The Knights of Ren board a ship called the “Knife 9” in this version of the movie and the biggest difference is that they also get names and personalities! One of them is revealed to be a woman who, like Darth Maul, is from Dathomir. 

With Kylo Ren off on his own mission, she’s in charge and even General Hux reports to her. Why is this important? Well, we’ll get to that later in this post but she doubts Kylo’s ability to usher in a new era of darkness for her and this group.

C-3PO Is Going…Senile?!

We don’t currently have a lot of details on this point but in Trevorrow’s version of Episode IX, C-3PO would have begun “showing his age.” Whether that means physically or mentally isn’t clear but this subplot being used for comedic effect seems likely and Threepio is always good for some laughs.
 

Kylo Ren’s New Mission

In this version of the movie, Kylo Ren wasn’t going to track down an ancient Sith Master and would have instead just been trying to find that tomb with a weapon which would ensure his victory. 

However, rather than a hologram of Emperor Palpatine, it would have been Darth Plagueis and upon watching his message, the Supreme Leader’s face would have once again been left scarred after being hit with red Force lighting due to the fact he isn’t a true Sith/entirely one with the Dark Side.

On the verge of death, Kylo would have been saved by some of the planet’s locals and been moved by their selflessness, a sign that this version would have been on the path to redemption. 
 

General Leia’s Death

The previous Duel of the Fates draft was turned in a week before Carrie Fisher’s death so some changes obviously had to be made for this version. In this screenplay, the Resistance would have had to flee from the First Order and Leia would have been badly injured in the melee. 

She gives Rey one last message before dying and fading into the Force, while an enraged Kylo Ren also feels his mother’s death but is calmed by the aliens who have nursed him back to health.
 

The Millennium Falcon Crashes

Pursued by the Knights of Ren, Poe Dameron pushes the Millennium Falcon too hard as they try to make their escape and it crashes into a frozen ocean. The ship begins to sink and after Rey uses her lightsaber to save them from drowning, she swims back to retrieve the ancient Jedi texts from inside.
 

Kylo Ren’s New Mask

Kylo Ren is in a bad way and seemingly relying on droids to keep him alive after being badly burned and scarred by that Force lightning. Sollony notices that he’s found the Sith Holocron they were looking for and points out that he now needs to sever his connections with both Luke Skywalker and Rey in order to clear his path to the Dark Side. 

Donning “a new, more savage” mask which is said to be similar in appearance to Darth Vader, Ren now knows what he must do.
 

Finn Meets A Fellow Stormtrooper

Finn’s subplot remains largely unchanged but he does come to blows with a First Order Stormtrooper whose helmet falls off as they fight. He tells him to remember his past before being taken by the First Order and tells him to get a name and a cause that’s actually worth fighting for. 

He later takes the name “Rafe” and joins our heroes during the movie’s final battle. 

There’s also a throwback to Rian Johnson introducing those Force Sensitive children at the end of The Last Jedi as a kid is shown with a Rey doll, clearly inspired by the reputation she’s gained in the Galaxy.
 

Purple Lightning

Much of the movie deals with Rey coming to terms with some of her darker impulses and anger about her past, something that comes to a head when she battles the Knights of Ren. 

In a moment of pure rage, she kills one of them with purple lightning that explodes from her fingertips. Rey makes Poe and Chewie leave her so she can tackle what comes next alone. 

Rey Goes Full Jedi

Deciding that she needs to face Kylo Ren and end this, Rey goes full on Jedi (with a robe and everything). Luke warns her that he can feel her anger building and reveals that the Knights of Ren are indeed some of his former students who Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren managed to turn to the Dark Side.

They’re both heading for the Spire that can be used to send out a message to the Galaxy and it’s there that Kylo seems to believe he will find a weapon capable of ending the Resistance for good.
 

Lando Calrissian Returns

This time, it’s Poe and Chewbacca who track down Lando and it’s revealed that the former captain of the Millennium Falcon once flew with Poe’s mother (something we’ve seen in Marvel’s tie-in comics). Lando refuses to help the Resistance in this draft too and Poe leaves by telling him that when his mom always said about him was right.

Clearly, that strikes a chord with Lando because just as things are looking bleak for the Resistance during the final battle, he returns with thousands of ships in toe.
 

Kylo Ren Vs. Rey

It’s the big Kylo Ren vs. Rey battle but there’s no vampire-like Force powers this time. He is still blamed for murdering her parents but it sounds like it was actually Snoke in this version. 

While this is happening, Sollony finally gets her hands on the Sith Holocron and unleashes the “Dark Power” within. Unlike Kylo Ren, it doesn’t hurt her because she’s fully embraced the Dark.
 

Sollony Strikes

Rey has a chance to kill Kylo but chooses to forgive him and pleads with the Supreme Leader to bring Ben Solo back. Before he can reply, Sollony grabs him and she’s now too powerful for them both. 

Kylo saves her from being crushed by rubble and she splits her double-sided lightsaber with him so they can fight this Knight of Ren. Kylo sacrifices himself by taking a blow that was meant for Rey and she unleashes her own Dark Side in a bid to finish the powered up Knight once and for all. 

After sharing a look of love, Kylo dies in Rey’s arms but reveals her name: Rey Solana.
 

Rey’s Message

Despite being “almost dead,” Rey climbs the Jedi spire and manages to send a message out to the Galaxy. Revealing her full name, she tells them that hope is not lost. 

It’s at this point in the screenplay that Rey is healed by those Force Ghosts we mentioned in our last breakdown and with the Dark Side defeated, the Light again rises. 
 

The End

During the closing few minutes, Chewbacca finally gets a medal while everyone wonders whether Rey really has gone. Finn is reading a story to a group of young kids and they ask him that very question; he says that he believes that she’s alive because of the Force (a hint, perhaps, that he’s also Force sensitive). 

Lando has a moment with Threepio as R2-D2 comes back online and it’s him who gets to see their memories whereas it was Leia in the earlier version of the screenplay. 

Poe and Chewie find a beacon on a planet that may lead them to Rey while we watch the Jedi pull the Millennium Falcon out of the ocean before turning around to teach kids in her own Jedi school.