The Big Picture
David S. Goyer has contributed significantly to the resurgence of comic book adaptations, including Blade, Dark Knight, and DC Extended Universe films. One of Goyer’s unproduced projects, Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max, would have featured Oliver Queen teaming up with supervillains to escape from prison. The downfall of Super Max can be attributed to the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Warner Bros.’ focused on Batman and Superman films, resulting in the development of Suicide Squad instead. Super Max elements were later incorporated into the TV show Arrow and other DC projects.
David S. Goyer might be the one screenwriter on the planet who’s contributed the most to the resurgence of the comic book adaptations. He wrote every film in the Blade trilogy, as well as helping shape the direction of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and the early DC Extended Universe with Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. He also helped develop Netflix’s adaption of the legendary Sandman comics and even penned a few comics himself — including a lengthy run on the Justice Society of America. Yet for all of his accomplishments, Goyer has been at the helm of several projects that never made it to fruition. A Green Lantern Corps movie he co-wrote with fellow Terminator: Dark Fate scribe Justin Rhodes never saw the light of day – though James Gunn & Peter Safran may be taking a similar route with the upcoming Lanterns show on Max. He departed a planned Masters of the Universe movie, which was one of many setbacks for the popular franchise’s return to the silver screen. For my money, the Goyer project that never saw the light of day – and should have — was Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max.
What Was ‘Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max’ About?
Image via DC Comics
Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max, initially titled Super Max, would have centered on Oliver Queen as he was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. In order to escape, the Emerald Archer would have to join forces with other supervillains. As if that wasn’t bad enough, most of those criminals happened to be there because of Queen! “We’ve populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe,” Goyer said when the project was first announced. “For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they’re all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that.””
That grounded tone extended to Queen, as well. “He’s Green Arrow for the first 10 minutes of the movie, and then he’s arrested and his secret identity is revealed,” Goyer said. Co-writer Justin Marks echoed the sentiment, pointing out how previous superhero stories had let audiences become familiar with the concept of the origin story. Marks would later talk about his ideas for the Super Max prison itself, as he felt that a prison built to contain superhuman threats should be able to counter those threats. As for what villains would have appeared in the film, Goyer listed off Lex Luthor and the Riddler, as well as the Tattooed Man.
The DC Extended Universe – Particularly The First ‘Suicide Squad’ Movie – Led To The Downfall of ‘Super Max’
Image via Warner Bros.
On paper, Super Max sounded like it had all the ingredients for a successful movie. A unique premise centered around a DC hero who wasn’t as mainstream as Batman or Superman from the co-writer of The Dark Knight sounds like a ticket to a greenlight. But that same year, Iron Man kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and Warner Bros, like every other studio, wanted a piece of the action. “I know Warner Brothers is having a big rethink about how they approach all their DC films,” Goyer said, while also mentioning that WB execs were interested in utilizing Super Max as one of those films. But the film eventually never came to pass, and Warner Bros. instead opted to make a Suicide Squad movie. Much like Super Max, Suicide Squad centers on a group of villains. But rather than breaking out of prison, they are sent on black ops missions with the chance to lessen their sentences. Ironically, Goyer and Marks’ script would have featured Amanda Waller – who is the mastermind behind the Squad – in a key role.
Ultimately, Goyer felt that the project was ahead of its time, particularly with how the current superhero movie landscape turned out. “It just didn’t have…it was ahead of its time, to be quite frank,” he said in an interview with Den of Geek in 2015. “The executive on it was really visionary but the higher-ups, none of whom are at Warner Bros anymore, just thought at the time, you know, we just want to make Batman and Superman movies. We don’t want to make any other characters.” It seemed like Super Max would join Superman Lives in the hall of fame for unmade DC adaptations…until years later, when it came to life in an unexpected fashion.
‘Arrow’ Adopted Elements of ‘Super Max’ For Its Penultimate Season
Image via The CW
Around the time that Goyer and Marks were developing Super Max, the CW saw the launch of Arrow. Starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, the show became a massive success for the network — eventually leading to a fleet of interconnected TV shows based on DC characters. The seventh season of Arrow actually featured a similar premise to Super Max, as following the fallout of the previous season Queen was sent to a maximum security prison to serve out a life sentence. In the process he had to contend with his fellow inmates including Brick (Vinnie Jones), Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White) and Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig). Arrow wasn’t the only DC show to utilize a similar premise: in its first season Young Justice had Superboy (Nolan North) and Miss Martian (Danica McKellar) disguise themselves as a pair of super criminals in order to uncover a criminal conspiracy. They wind up in Belle Reve, run by Amanda Waller. Even the Riddler makes an appearance, though he’s the butt of his fellow prisoners’ jokes.
Super Max showcases how Goyer was ahead of the curve when it came to superhero adapations by putting the focus on lesser known characters and leaning into the genre’s ability to adapt to any situation. While it may never see the light of day, its influence on some of DC’s projects cannot be denied.