Once upon a time, a young JJ Abrams had penned a script for Warner Brothers under the working title of Superman: Flyby. In a team before properties like Mission Impossible III or Lost ended up changing his career, Warner Bros. ultimately decided to pass on the project, which was first handed in as early as July 2002. Fast forward nearly 20 years later and the shelved film is back in the limelight thanks to newly-surfaced storyboards from the development phase.

Shared by (at the time) storyboard artist Peter Ramsey — who was one of the three directors on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — the artwork shows just about what you'd expect from a Superman film: Kal-El zooming around cities and the world.

Some storyboards from a version of SUPERMAN written by JJ Abrams way way back in the day. Never made, but I had fun. #storyboards #Superman pic.twitter.com/NidTQM3c6u — Peter Ramsey (@pramsey342) June 21, 2019

In a weird twist of fate, Abrams' production company Bad Robot is reportedly closing in on a massive deal with Warner Brothers, which has lead some to speculate that the fan-favorite filmmaker could end up being an architect for the studio's fledgling DC Extended Universe. On this week's Fatman Beyond podcast with Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin, the latter pointed out Abrams' impending deal.

“Suddenly you have J.J. Abrams, the foundry of remaking IP, of overseeing massive universes of characters, and Warner Brothers, who currently has nobody overseeing the DC Universe... that is just conjecture, but it would not surprise me one whit if it was like, ‘Hey man, you know who’s awesome at doing his thing? That guy. You know what we have that needs doing? Those guys,’” Bernardin said. “And he’d be fantastic.”

What other DC characters would you like to see JJ Abrams get his hands on now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Upcoming DC movies include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.