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| Superman Lives (1997) costume test, Nicholas Cage |
Man of Steel is a blockbuster hit, but not all superhero movies go as planned. For every Superman (1978) there’s a Superman Lives that never gets off the ground. Here now are the best, and worst, Superman movies that never got made.
Disclaimer: Since these films were in development, the final film might have been completely different from what we know.
Superman and the Secret Planet (1957)
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| Adventures of Superman (1952), George Reeves and Phyllis Coates |
Written by Unknown
Starring George Reeves
Directed by Undetermined
Villain(s): Kryptonians
Plot:
Superman goes to look for the missing President of the United States
and discovers he’s been kidnapped by aliens on a floating planet in
space made of Kryptonite.
For More: Read a comic based on the unproduced script.
Superman V (1989)
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| Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) , Christopher Reeve |
Written by Undetermined
Starring Christopher Reeve
Directed by Undetermined
Plot: Unknown, but it was to be recycled from 45 minutes of footage cut from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
For More: SupermanSupersite has a short piece on the history of the film.
Superman: the New Movie also known as Young Superman (1989)
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| The Adventures of Superboy (1988), Gerard Christopher Source |
Written by Undetermined
Starring Gerard Christopher
Directed by Undetermined
Plot: Unknown. Possibly based on the popular Superboy television series
Superman: Reborn (1991)
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| Superman (1978) , Christopher Reeve |
Written by Ilya Salkind, Cary Bates and Mark Jones
Starring Christopher Reeve
Directed by Albert Pyun
Villain(s): Brainiac
Plot: Brainiac comes to Earth and shrinks Metropolis for his
interplanetary collection of miniaturized cities in bottles. Superman
is trapped inside the bottle and Brainiac shrinks himself to fight
him. The two battle and it looks like Brainiac has killed Superman. His
“atoms” are sucked into a nearby bottle-city of Kandor containing the
last of the Kryptonians. He is “reborn” powerless and is rehabilitated
as a Kryptonian before escaping and fighting Brainiac.
For More: Watch the fan trailer for Superman Reborn using the cast of Smallville.
Superman Reborn (1993)
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| Superman II (1981) , Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder |
Written by Jonathan Lemkin, Gregory Poirier
Starring Undetermined
Directed by Undetermined
Villain(s): Brainiac, Doomday
Plot: Lois Lane and Clark are having relationship problems when Brainiac
creates an intergalactic fighter, named Doomsday, with Kryptonite
blood. The two fight to the death. As Superman is dying he tells Lois
how much he loves her and his “life force” enters Lois. She is pregnant
with Superman’s “soul” and gives birth to a child that ages 21 years in
three weeks before she dies. The reborn Superman wears a “power suit” that mimics his
superpowers to defeat Brainiac.
For More: Find what would have happened if Superman Reborn had been made.
Superman Lives (1997)
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| Superman Lives (1997) costume test, Nicholas Cage |
Written by Kevin Smith, Wesley Strick, William Wisher Jr.
Starring Undetermined (Ben Affleck, Nicholas Cage, Will Smith)
Directed by Tim Burton
Villain(s): Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Doomsday
Plot: Brainiac blocks the sun to render Superman powerless in his fight
against Doomsday. Superman is killed and Brainiac takes over
Metropolis. Superman is brought back to life by the Kryptonian robot,
Eradicator, and he goes to fight Doomsday. Since he’s powerless,
he wears a suit made from the Eradicator to fight Brainiac and his
giant spider till he gets his powers back.
For More: See the Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for the documentary The Death of Superman Lives
Superman: The Man of Steel
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| Smallville (2009), Brian Austin Green |
Written by Alex Ford
Starring: Undetermined
Directed by Undetermined
Villain(s): Lex Luthor, Metallo
Plot: The film centers on businessman Lex Luthor and a battle to the
death with Superman and Metallo in Metropolis. The script features
cameos by Wonder Woman and references to the Justice League, Dan
Turpin, Ron Troupe, Cat Grant, Lana Lang, and others.
For More: Read the script at Superman Homepage
Unnamed Superman Movie
Written by Keith Giffen
Starring: Undetermined
Directed by Undetermined
Villain(s): Lobo, Space Mafia
Plot: An interstellar Mafia hires Lobo to kill Superman.
For More: Read more about it at Ain’t It Cool News
Batman vs. Superman (2002)
Written by Akiva Goldsman
Starring: Josh Hartnett
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Villain(s): Lex Luthor, Joker
Plot:
Bruce Wayne is retired after
five-years. Dick Grayson, Alfred
Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon are all dead. Meanwhile, Clark Kent
and Lois Lane are divorced and he’s fallen on hard times.
Bruce is getting married to Elizabeth Miller and Clark is his best man.
Bruce decides to put back on the Batsuit after the Joker hunts the
couple down on their honeymoon and kills Elizabeth. Meanwhile, while
hiding in Smallville, Clark begins a romance with Lana Lang. Bruce
blames Clark for Elizabeth’s death and the two fight. It turns out that
Lex Luthor is behind the whole thing and Batman and Superman join
forces to fight him.
For More:
Read the script online at GeekTyrant
Superman: Flyby (2004)
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| Superman: Flyby (2004) Costume Concept Art |
Written by J.J. Abrams
Starring Undetermined (Josh Hartnett, Jude Law, Tom Welling, Ashton Kutcher, Brendan Fraser, Matthew Bomer)
Directed by Undetermined (Bryan Singer, Brett Ratner, McG)
Villain(s): Brainiac, Doomsday
Plot:
Jor-El is in prison after a civil war on Krypton between himself and his evil
brother Kata-Zor. Krypton is destroyed, but not before Kal-El is launched into space and is
adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent on Earth. Lois Lane is intent on
exposing a government agent obsessed with UFOs named Lex Luthor. Superman reveals himself to the world. Kryptonians, including Kata-Zor’s
son Ty-Zor, come to fight him. Superman is killed and visits Jor-El in
“heaven” since his father committed suicide in prison. Returning from the dead, Superman
defeats the Kryptonians and the film ends with a cliff-hanger of
Superman flying off to Krypton.
For More:
See More Superman Flyby concept art at Film Sketchr
Superman Returns II (2009)
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| Superman Returns (2006), Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth |
Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Starring Brandon Routh
Directed by Bryan Singer / Undetermined
Villain(s): Other Kryptonians, Brainiac, Bizarro
Plot: Unknown. The movie could have possibly featured Kryptonian colonists coming to Earth and, after adjusting to their new powers, turning evil.
For More:
Read an interview with proposed writer Dougherty
Which Superman movie are you sorry never got made? Which one are you glad never made it to the screen?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37014 ">11 Comments
Those might all have sucked. It's always hard to tell until you see the finished product.
For the love of Pete! I never knew there were so many. I wouldn't have minded the one with Lobo as long as he wasn't the New 52 variety.
Ha! Totally assumed once one of those things got going that they finished. I have a hard time appreciating any superman post Christopher Reeve for no rational reason except that it was a small window for me that I was all that interested. I like my superheroes with more angst.
JJ Abrams was working on one?
Of all of those, I'm most grateful the one with Nicholas Cage never happened.
i would have loved to have seen everyone of those… i think i would have liked to seen the return 2. fix the mistakes from the first… Brandon did a great job… sadly it was in that film.
I had no idea.
Looking at some of the celeb names, they don't seem like the right fit. Then again, I always picture Christopher Reeve as the ultimate Superman.
For the most part it's safe to say that most of those not seeing the light of day is probably for the best.
I love Nicolas Cage but not as superman – never. Christopher Reeve, was a great superman, but the material sucked!
I've actually read the Flyby script, just amazing. It was way better than Superman Returns, but i'm glad that i got Man of steel.
Nick Cage is a good actor, but he's no Superman. I can't even believe that was an option. Glad it never came to fruition.
I really wanted to see will smith as a superman jejeje LOL