Imagine Superman. Now imagine Superman portrayed by a long-haired Nicolas Cage in a role written by Kevin Smith and directed by Tim Burton. With Chris Rock co-starring as Jimmy Olsen.
What if I told you this movie was almost made? Now, to make things even crazier, what if I said it probably would have been good?
Well, according to Jon Schnepp, it probably would have been. And in his documentary The Death of ‘Superman Lives’: What Happened?, the director seeks the answer to his film’s title. Schnepp and producer Holly Payne discussed the documentary and the Superman movie that never was Thursday at New York Comic Con.
The unproduced film Superman Lives was an attempt in the late 1990s to revitalize the Man of Steel’s movie franchise that had been stuck in developmental hell. Superman was doing well on the small screen with the successful television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. And comic book sales had soared that decade due to the success of the “Death of Superman” story arc.
The media, unfamiliar with the classic comic-book trope of temporarily killing off popular characters — only to bring them back later — was shocked that DC would kill off its biggest franchise, and made the story into a bigger one than anyone could have expected. “The Death of Superman” comics sold incredibly well, largely due to the belief that Superman’s last story would one day be worth millions of dollars, just like Superman’s first story was. Warner Bros. saw dollar signs and hoped to adapt the story for the big screen.
The Superman movie franchise had been dormant since 1987’s awful Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. A new spin on the classic superhero was needed to rejuvenate the franchise. Producer Jon Peters looked to Kevin Smith, director of Clerks and noted comic book fan, to write the script. As Smith has explained in depth, the concept for the movie was already in Peters’ mind, and he was simply hired to flesh it out. Peters wanted Superman in an all-black suit, never taking flight, and fighting a giant spider in the film’s climax.
Despite the absurdity, Smith agreed to work within those terms, but he was handcuffed with more and more demands throughout the process. Peters wanted the supervillain Brainiac to have a marketable “space dog,” like Chewbacca, and demanded more action scenes, which would have led to a fight scene with polar bears.
Smith’s script, which has been posted online, is seen as the version that has the strongest basis in the source material despite Peters’ involvement. But the movie changed a bit with the addition of Burton as director. Burton wanted the film to contain his version of Superman. Smith left the project, but the new writers maintained much of what he wrote. Financial issues in the new drafts, however, prevented Warner Bros. from completing the film, and Burton left the project in 1998.
Since that time, the legend of Superman Lives has grown, especially after Smith’s hilarious comedy routines explaining the creative process behind the film. Most believe the film would have been an absolute disaster, but as Schnepp and Payne stated Thursday, that would not have necessarily been the case.
The movie would have offered a different take on the Man of Steel, emphasizing his alien nature and following Clark Kent in an existential journey. New villains would have been emphasized, including the perennial favorite, Brainiac, and the relative newcomer, Doomsday. The fight between the Kryptonian and his would-be killer would have been of an epic scale unseen in movies at the time. Cage was at the top of his game in the mid-90s and would give the character a different spin — unlike the line of pretty boys who continue to try and fill Christopher Reeve’s capable (and, admittedly, also pretty) shoes. A funeral scene would have brought into focus the importance of Superman to the world and would have included an inspiring cameo from Batman.
As can be seen in Schnepp’s documentary, the production design for the film was also impressive. Alien technology and a superhuman suit needed to be created from scratch. The results included a “resurrection suit,” utilizing LED lights, lasers, and fiber optics to create a multicolored outfit that could change its look depending on the situation. The iconic “S” shield would be usable as a weapon as well, which would come in handy when Supes had to take on the giant spider.
Speaking of that giant spider: Smith had written it as a “Thanagarian Snare Beast,” and it was Peters’ belief that it should be done as an homage to King Kong. The spider would have been an incredible challenge to the newly revitalized Superman, who was still struggling to regain his powers. The movie may not have been the conventional Superman film, but it would have been unique, philosophical, laced with strong science fiction, and with Smith’s script, likely pretty funny.
Schnepp’s new documentary seeks to further explore what the movie would have been and why it never came to be. The film includes interviews with those closest to the process, including Smith and Burton. Schnepp shared an extended 20-minute clip at NYCC, that will only be five minutes in the completed movie, about the creation of Superman’s suit, complete with concept art and video of the prototype in action.
See exclusive photos from the New York Comic Con panel, including concept art from Superman Lives.
Schnepp, who also directs Cartoon Network’s Metalocalypse, is crowdfunding the project and is still looking for some help finishing the film, which he hopes to release next year. Those who would like to contribute to the project can check out this site and add their name to the list of supporters who want to know, “What happened?”
View a trailer for the documentary here: