Superheros

Superheros would be a 2032 American live-action/animated musical superhero fantasy comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who would also co-write the screenplay with David Callaham and Ryan Reynolds. Lord and Miller would also produce the film alongside Karen Gilchrist, Jeffrey Silver, Will Smith, and Reynolds. A co-production between Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lord Miller Productions, and Maximum Effort, the film would star Michael B. Jordan, Tika Sumpter, and the voices of Smith, Simone Missick, Reynolds, and Ben Schwartz. Kris Bowers would compose the film's score, and would co-write its songs alongside lyricist David Zipper.

Development on a Lord and Miller-directed superhero live-action/animated film would begin in early 2028, with Disney set to produce the project. Callaham would join the film as writer alongside Lord and Miller in mid-2028. Jorda, Smith and Reynolds would join the film as stars, with Reynolds and Smith also set to co-produce the film, in late 2028. Missick and Sumpter would join the film's cast in early 2029, while Schwartz would join the cast in mid-2029. Lord and Miller would develop the film as a "Shrek-like" satirical take on the superhero genre.

Superheros would be released on May 22, 2032, and would become a critical and commercial success, with critics praising the film for its writing, direction, take on the superhero genre, humor, animation, performances (particularly Jordan, Smith, Missick, Reynolds, and Schwartz'), songs, score, and action sequences. The film would earn 989 million dollars at the worldwide box office over a budget of 140 million dollars. The film would earn an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Synopsis
In a far away future, a young man named Richard has always wished to be a superhero like the ones he has watched on TV, but felt he couldn't be a hero, as he lacked any power to use agains evil, so he instead became a regular guy, with a wife named Daisy. However, the chance of being a hero Richard always wanted has finally come: It turns out the superhero cartoons he watched since he was a child are real and actually exist on a separate world, and the cartoons' main character, Captain Super, has come to Richard's dimension following a super villain named Battery, who plans to consume all energy in Richard's world in order to take over both dimensions. Captain Super now has to rely on Richard in order to adapt to the live-action land, but Richard only agrees to help him in return of being taught on how to be a hero. However, as they train to turn Richard into a hero, the two slowly come to realize what it truly means to be a superhero.

Cast

 * Michael B. Jordan as Richard, a failed superhero-wannabe who agrees to help Captain Super to defeat the evil Battery in exchange of becoming a superhero. Jordan would say that "while many mentees learn from their mentors, this is not that case". Co-director Christopher Miller would say that "Reynolds' performance really gives the character life more than the script itself". Jordan would describe him as "a downhearted guy with a dry and cynical sense of humor".
 * Tika Sumpter as Daisy, Richard's wife, who tries to help him and Captain Super in their adventure to stop Battery. Sumpter would say that Daisy "starts as a typical housewife, she becomes something more througth the film".

Voice cast

 * Will Smith as Captain Super, a superhero from a traditionally-animated dimension, who agrees to train Richard to be a superhero in exchange of help in defeating Battery. Co-director Phil Lord would say that teh writers "wanted to potray him as an archetype superhero, and as a guy who can handle anything except his current mission due to where it takes place, and mentoring". Smith would say that "he learns througth the film that being a mentor is ore than teaching things you know about". Andreas Deja would serve as Captain Super's supervising animator, drawing inspiration from his work in Hercules (1997) for the character's design.
 * Simone Missick as Vanessa, Captain Super's recurrent "damsel-in-distress", who is accidentally taken into the live-actin world by Captain Super and Battery. Missick would say that "Vanessa learns to be very independent" in the film. Mark Henn would serve as Vanessa's supervising animator.
 * Ryan Reynolds as Battery, a power-hungry mad scientist and Captain Super's archenemy, who aims to consume the electric energy of Richard's world in order to take over both dimensions. Eric Goldberg would serve as Battery's supervising animator.
 * Ben Schwartz as Backup, Battery's energetic teenager assistant and biggest fan. The character would be painted blue, a reference to several of Schwartz' vocal works. Dale Baer would serve as Backup's supervising animator.

Music
Kris Bowers would compose the film's score. Bowers would compose a film that "both has the film's parody superhero feel, the setting of the storym and the heart that lies inside the story". Bowers would compose a "lighthearted-but-downhearted" theme for Richard and "a John Williams-like superhero theme" for Captain Super. Bowers' theme for Vanessa would be "essentially an instrumental feminist anthem", and Daisy's theme would be " a combination of the themes of an action character and a home-loving one". Bowers would describe his theme for Battery as "a literal and methaphorical power-hungry theme", and would be inspired by Hans Zimmer's theme for Electro for Sony Pictures' The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).

Bowers would also write songs for the film alongside lyricist David Zippel, which would be performed by the film's cast. According to co-director Phil Lord, Bowers and Zippel would be hired to write the film's songs because "they wanted a soundtrack that could be half-Thor: Ragnarok and half-Hercules", the latter in which Zippel also served as lyricist. John Legend would perform a song for the film's end-credits.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 91%, with an average rating of 8/10, based on 227 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "Both light-hearted and heartfelt, Superheros is a wonderful comedy whose well-written script, enjoyable songs, hilarous humor, brilliant animation, and stelar performances help to make this film something more and deeper than a satirical superhero parody". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 79 out of 100, based on 49 reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Trivia

 * This would be Lord and Miller's first time directing a musical film.
 * According to producer Kristen Gilchrist, Lord and Miller would let the actors improvise heavily during production in order for them to "leave their marks on the characters".