Man Of Steel 2: 8 Comic Book Storylines That Must Be Adapted
4. For The Man Who Has Everything
In comic book supremo Alan Moore’s seminal one-off story For The Man Who Has Everything, Superman is attacked by the dream-inducing Black Mercy, and loses himself in an imaginary world where Krypton was never destroyed. In the real world, it is revealed that the alien tyrant Mongul is responsible and Batman and Wonder Woman have to work to stop him and free Superman.
On the one hand, For The Man Who Has Everything probably wouldn’t be suitable for a movie-long adaptation – dream worlds are all right if you’re making Inception, but DC would no doubt balk at the idea of having their hero sleep through the whole runtime. Instead, then, this could form a part of the film. Much like how the core idea of The Death of Superman inspired the third act of BvS (though hopefully it would be a lot better than that).
Just before the movie’s big climax, the villain of the piece – could be Mongul, could be anyone - would set the Black Mercy on Superman to get him out the way. However, Supes would then have to reject his heart's desire and return to the waking world to save the day. If handled correctly, it could make for a moving yet triumphant sequence.
This would allow the film to return to the fascinating Kryptonian setting from Man of Steel – not to mention giving us more of Russell Crowe as Jor-El – with possible roles for Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot as well. And it would give Alan Moore another adaptation of his work to disown. Everyone’s a winner.