Joe Cornish wants to reboot Superman franchise

British filmmaker Joe Cornish wants to direct a Superman film that puts a new spin on the character.

The director burst on to the scene after his debut feature, Attack the Block, attracted critical acclaim and made a star of its lead, John Boyega.

Following its success, he was offered control of several superhero franchises, but turned down producers as he didn’t feel ready for the responsibility - but he says he’d struggle to refuse the chance to put his own spin on Superman or Flash Gordon.

“I love Superman,” he told Cover Media at the premiere of his new film The Kid Who Would Be King. “Superman or Flash Gordon were the two… Those are the two big fantasy movies in terms of big escapist spectacle that I saw as a kid. The original Superman with Christopher Reeve. There’s something in me that thinks there’s a really amazing Superman movie that maybe hasn’t been made yet.”

Henry Cavill last starred as Superman in 2017’s Justice League, but Warner Bros. chiefs have not announced any future film, with rumours circulating that Henry could be following Batman actor Ben Affleck in leaving the role and DC Extended Universe films.

Although Attack the Block, about a teenage street gang forced to defend themselves from alien invaders, led to offers to direct superhero blockbusters and a screenwriting credit on Marvel’s Ant-Man, Joe decided not to accept.

“I was lucky enough to be approached about all sorts of different stuff, but I’d only done one little low budget movie and I thought I might be flying too close to the sun,” he confessed.