In the wake of HBO Max’s cancellation of the Batgirl movie, it turns out that it wasn’t the only big budget DC project that got canned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Via Comic Book, Kevin Smith has revealed that his live-action DC project has been shut down as well. During the latest episode of Smith’s Hollywood Babble-On, he confirmed that the DC anthology series, Strange Adventures, was cancelled before Batgirl’s fate was made public. He also spoke at length about the Bizarro episode he co-wrote with Supergirl scribe Eric Carrasco.
As Smith explained it, Strange Adventures was envisioned as a showcase for lesser known DC characters like Ragman and Deadman. It was also budgeted at $16 million to $20 million per episode, which Smith was initially incredulous about. Regardless, he and Carrasco decided to write a story about The Daily Planet’s Jimmy Olsen and Perry White as they were taken to Bizarro World by Bizarro himself. Smith described it as the secret origin of Bizarro. And Superman was not going to appear for the vast majority of the episode.
The specific parts about the Bizarro story begin around the 6:50 mark.
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According to Smith, Bizarro wasn’t the classic version of the character at the beginning of his story. But as the episode progressed, he becomes more and more like that Bizarro, complete with an explanation for the backwards Superman “S” on his chest. Smith also revealed that the story ended on a redemptive note for Bizarro, with a semi-cameo from Superman himself. He added that Strange Adventures was killed by the new Warner Bros. Discovery regime, and he even revealed who he was pursuing to play Bizarro.
“I tell you all of this and the entire story just to tell you that the person who is — we didn’t lock it in, he wasn’t signed to a contract — but the person we were pursuing to play our Bizarro was Nicolas Cage.”
Cage was previously attached to play Superman when Tim Burton was going to direct Superman Lives in the late ’90s. But that film never came to fruition.
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Smith went on to speculate that the cancellation of Strange Adventures likely means that HBO Max’s Green Lantern series is also going to get the axe.
“I don’t know this for a fact, but I also haven’t heard anything about the Green Lantern series that they were supposedly doing,” said Smith. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a causality too. There were a lot of DC-oriented programs, because that’s what [the previous WB regime] was committed [to]… And this new guy [WBD CEO David Zaslav] is like ‘No, just for the movies. Nothing for HBO Max.'”
What do you think about Smith’s Bizarro story? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Strange Adventures
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