David Goyer Talks the Impact of 'Man of Steel' on 'Justice League', Plus Deleted Scenes

It's been suggested in the past that Zack Snyder and David Goyer's Man of Steel would somehow lead into an "Avengers" style shared cinematic universe. From a creative and financial perspective that would make the most sense if Warner Bros. wants to be on the same playing field as Marvel. That would have to include a Justice League movie at some point in the future, but right now it sounds like it will follow the Man of Steel sequel, which Snyder and Goyer are definitely coming back for.

Our friend Brendon Connelly over at Bleeding Cool caught up with Goyer and he talked about how Man of Steel could be the catalyst for the formation of the Justice League...

David Goyer: It is our intention that, in success, this would be the zero issue and from this point onward, possible films could expand into a shared universe. In our world, the Man of Steel world, Zack has gone on record saying that we’re implying there are other superheroes in this world. But I don’t know that they’ve come forward yet. The idea is that Superman is the first one. There might be people helping people, but not in costumes, and that Superman comes forward and announces himself to the world. In him announcing himself, he’s the one that changes things. 

Bleeding Cool: You’re positing a cause and effect? 

David Goyer: Yes, yes absolutely, in our mind. 

Bleeding Cool: And so now, Bruce Wayne will feel alright in his ears, where he might not have dressed up like that before. Is that the kind of thinking? 

David Goyer: Well, yes… there’s definitely… I don’t want to get too in depth. Obviously, Zack and I have had conversations… but there would be a cause and effect. And that would extend to the collateral damage that happened, and to what other countries feel about the fact Superman calls America his home. Man of Steel doesn’t exist in a vaccum.

Goyer is clearly keeping any information he and Snyder have shared close to the vest, as expected, but it's pretty clear that the two of them have already given it a lot of thought. Whatever those future plans may be, it won't involve Christopher Nolan's version of Batman, as they've previously stated that The Dark Knight trilogy is something completely separate, which means the chances of seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robin/Batman are pretty slim. 

Goyer also went on to discuss what was ultimately cut out of Man of Steel. He says that it was roughly 75% to 80% of what was in his first draft, but he did make note of two scenes that were cut for various reasons. One that was actually filmed but deleted involved the Kents dealing with baby Kal-El's superhuman senses...

Goyer: There was a little scene in which Jonathan and Martha take a baby Kal to a paediatrician because he’s starting to experience these changes. They do a hearing test on him where they’re dialling up these sounds and baby Kal screams and it blows out all the windows. It was a funny scene but after the armageddon on Krypton – originally we went from that to baby Kal to the fishing trawler – it just felt weird. We didn’t need it. Tonally it felt off.

The other scene, which never made it in front of cameras, involved a show of force in a foreign land by Kryptonians Faora (Antje Traue) and the gigantic NamEk...

Goyer: Believe it or not there was another action scene – we didn’t film it. After Zod first announces himself [the Krpytonians] provide a demonstration of their might. They drop Faora into Shanghai and NamEk, who is the big eight foot tall guy who doesn’t speak, they drop him another foreign city.
It was another five pages of crazy Kryptonian destruction. We didn’t need it. We knew that, my god, there’s already a lot of action.

Probably a wise decision. The first battle with Faora and NamEk is a stunner, largely because we weren't expecting that level of devastation. To foreshadow it probably would have ruined its shock value.