As most may know by now, Tim Burton was supposed to follow up his 1989 phenomenon Batman and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns, with Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel.
However, despite years of development, and leaked footage of Cage trying on his super-suit, the project was scrapped by Warner Bros.
However, Superman Lives lived again in a small way, with a cameo of a computer-generated Cage as the costumed hero in a multiverse-rending scene in The Flash.
In fact, every actor who played the Last Son of Krypton was portrayed in the scene, in a wink to the fans. But Burton wasn’t a fan of the scene.
While Burton says he doesn’t have “regrets” of his own movie being shelved, he has quite a few about the CG scene that used his would-be star.
“[I]t goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio,” Burton tells Variety. “They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it.”
He adds, “Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
To The Independent, Burton says, “I can’t describe the feeling it gives you. It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul."”
The Wednesday director and producer continues, “It takes something from your soul or psyche; that is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”
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