Darren Aronofsky ‘Absolutely’ Wanted To Direct ‘Man Of Steel’

Director Darren Aronofsky’s rained all over theaters this weekend, earning rave reviews and the top spot at the box-office during its first three days of release. The critically acclaimed filmmaker’s take on the biblical tale was long in the making, with Aronofsky once shopping “Noah” around as a graphic novel instead of as a big-budget blockbuster.

The “Noah” graphic novel isn’t Aronofsky’s first brush with the comic book world, either. Not long ago, before James Mangold came along, Aronofsky was set to claw into “The Wolverine,” which would have reunited him with his “The Fountain” star Hugh Jackman. For various reasons, Aronofsky and “Wolverine” never got off the ground.

“I loved the script and I thought the film came out great. I just had … it was a hard time in my life,” Aronofsky told MTV’s Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “It was complicated. I couldn’t leave New York for that long an amount of time. And, to be honest, the possibility of ‘Noah’ had started to emerge, and here was something I’d been thinking about for years. I was really excited by that.”

Another superhero project Aronofsky was once linked to: “Man of Steel,” last summer’s Superman reboot starring Henry Cavill. Director Zack Snyder ultimately landed that job, but Aronofsky said he would have “absolutely” taken the job under the right circumstances.

“Superman’s one of the holy grails. It’s Superman. It’s the best superhero,” he said. “Batman is great, of course, but it’s Superman. He’s the same level. That possibility was great.”

Aronofsky said he took “a few conversations” with “Man of Steel” producer Christopher Nolan and others at Warner Bros., before the job ultimately went to Snyder.

“I thought Zack was a great choice, and I loved his ‘Watchmen’ movie,” said Aronofsky. “I thought it was great. I thought that as a fan of the comic, you couldn’t hope for a better interpretation. I liked the orthodoxy of it.”

“It was interesting to add the pathos that they put into the character,” the “Noah” director added of how “Man of Steel” turned out. “It’s a hard one to do. You look at what Christopher Reeve did, and it was perfect, because it captured that ‘good old boy’ thing. But to try and redo that again and bring that for a modern audience is tough in a post-‘Batman’ and ‘Wolverine’ world. It’s hard to do that.”

Perhaps Aronofsky will get his shot at the superhero genre some day. For now, his newest effort, “Noah,” is sailing nationwide.

Do you want to see Aronofsky direct a superhero movie?