5 Things You May Not Know About 'Superman II,' 31 Years After It Hit Theaters

Features

by Oliver Lyttelton
April 19, 2012 1:58 PM
9 Comments

A little over a year from now, the most iconic comic character in history will be back on screens, courtesy of Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel." Seven years on from Bryan Singer's oft-derided "Superman Returns," it'll see "The Dark Knight" mastermind Christopher Nolan producing a new, seemingly darker take on the character, to be played by Henry Cavill with Michael Shannon as his Kryptonian nemesis, General Zod.

But Shannon will have big shoes to fill: the last time the character was on the big screen it was played by Terence Stamp in 1981's "Superman II," still seen by many fans as not only the best take on that character, but the best screen version of Superman to date. Which was impressive, considering it had about as troubled a production history as you could ask for, with two directors, production stretched over two years, and a recent, wildly different reissue of the film. It hit theaters 31 years ago today, and to commemmorate the occasion, we've rounded up five facts you may not be aware of regarding Richard Lester/Richard Donner's superhero epic.

1. The script originally included four Kryptonian villains, not three.
It's no surprise that for upcoming reboot "Man of Steel," Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and David Goyer have gone back to evil Kryptonian Zod as their villain: played by Terence Stamp, along with companions Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran), they are easily Clark Kent's most formidable big-screen foes to date. But there might have been more as the original script had called for a fourth villain, Jak-El, to be imprisoned in the phantom zone with the others. Described as "A psychopathic jokester, whose pranks and 'practical jokes' are only funny to him when they cause death and suffering to others," and clearly based on Batman villains The Joker and The Riddler, the character was removed before shooting. Probably a smart move, all in all.

2. Much of the film was reshot two years after it originally filmed, by a new director, Richard Lester.
After their success with "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers," producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind attempted to replicate the formula when they came to the world's most famous superhero: they'd shoot both "Superman" and "Superman II" back-to-back with the same cast and crew in one epic, nineteen-month production. However, for various reasons, filming was never quite completed on the second installment, and Donner and the Salkinds soon fell out publicly. The Salkinds felt their director had gone over budget, Donner felt the producers were trying to make the film campier, wanting co-producer Pierre Spengler removed. And it came to a head when they announced publicly they'd be excising Marlon Brando's scenes in the sequel (the actor had won the right to 11% of the films' gross if he appearered in it), without consulting Donner. The director left the production and was replaced by Richard Lester, who'd acted as a mediator on the original production. The British helmer (who was behind "A Hard Day's Night" and the 'Musketeer' movies) was barely aware of the character, and took an approach entirely different from Donner, choosing to reshoot the vast majority of footage. Because DoP Geoffrey Unsworth and designer John Barry had both passed away since the initial stage of prouduction, the director was able to alter the look of the film too. But he didn't get everything he wanted as Gene Hackman refused to return to reshoot his scenes as Lex Luthor. About 30% of the released cut was shot by Donner, the rest by Lester.

Features

More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., On This Day In Movie History, Man of Steel, Richard Donner, Richard Lester, 5 Things You Should Know

9 Comments

| Reply
Lynn | May 22, 2012 11:20 PMReply

This was boring! Nothing about the actors, if they got along?
alphabet | April 23, 2012 8:54 PMReply

Enjoyed this read.
Recently watched Donner's cut of Superman2 and thought it pretty lame.

There's a scene towards the end (in both versions i think) where Superman goes to pick on a dude who bullied Clark earlier in the film (when Supes/Clark had no powers). Superman would never do this - is so completely out of character as to be insulting. Superman is not about revenge, would never have the confidence issues that lead to picking-on a hapless human - let alone while dressed he's as Clark.

So yeah despite some love for it Superman 2 is kinda crap.
Stevo the Magnificent | May 21, 2012 9:28 PM

C'mon man, "pretty lame... kinda crap ", REALLY? If Richard Donner had returned in late 1978/early 1979 to finish off the second film, it would have been darker, more mythic, and epic in tone than Lester's (admittedly decent) version, and much for the better, in my opinion. That scene you refer to does indeed seem contrary to Superman's nature, he doesn't seek revenge, so you're probably right about that, but if the abusive punter who beats up Clark in the diner was seen to be also bullying the other customers, then Clark returning to the diner to deal with him later would make sense in that he's protecting the populace from a particularly nasty person, but I see your point, although it's not a major flaw or plot hole as far as I'm concerned...
Will Kane | April 19, 2012 8:26 PMReply

Enjoyed the article, but though based in the UK Richard Lester is American.
Michael Coate | April 19, 2012 6:03 PMReply

Never mind. I didn't realize you were referring to the film's UK release.
Michael Coate | April 19, 2012 4:37 PMReply

"It hit theaters 31 years ago today"...

Um, SUPERMAN II opened (in the U.S.) on *June* 19th, not April 19th.
gman | April 19, 2012 3:53 PMReply

lyttleton you are the best writer on playlist...love the essentials, write more of those please! :D
sp | April 19, 2012 2:13 PMReply

Playlist, I am loving these "5 Things You May Not Know " Series. Keep it up ! They are very informative.
Wash | April 19, 2012 2:57 PM

Ditto. I claim I know everything... and I only knew 1 of these 5. Well done.