Superman in Media - Part 2
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 09:47PM This is Part 2 of my look on Superman in Media and is part of my Superman Files. Part 1 can be found here.
DONNER TO THE PLATE
In 1973, producer Ilya Salkind figured that it was about time the Man of Steel starred in a feature live-action film. He and his brother Alexander became producers on the project and spent the next couple years going through different directors and story ideas. Screenwriters included David and Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, and Mario Puzo (who wrote the novel and screenplay The Godfather).
Eventually, Richard Donner was brought in as director, who had directd The Omen and had worked on television series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Wild Wild West, Get Smart and The Six Million Dollar Man. He also directed the famous Twilight Zone episode that starred William Shatner and a gremlin. In later years, Donner would direct films such as the first three Lethal Weapon films, Scrooged, Ladyhawke, Maverick, Conspiracy Theory and Goonies.
Although Donner wanted to make a family film, he felt that the script Warner Bros. had was too campy and talked down to the audience. He brought in his friend Tom Mankiewicz as creative consultant, reworking several parts of the story. Mankiewicz had worked on several James Bond films in the past, as well as TV specials with the Rat Pack.
Donner did not want to emulate the feel of George Reeves and Kirk Alyn. Whereas those had emphasized the heroic and larger-than-life nature of the character and had been intended mainly for a kid audience, Donner wanted a story that adults could also relate to and find hope in. Superman, he felt, was a very human character due to his upbringing as a Kansas farm boy, an upbringing which must have been difficult since he'd have to hide his gifts even from friends. Donner wanted the audience to identify with Clark Kent as a human being, as someone who wanted to belong and cared very deeply for those around him, before they ever saw him put on the famous costume. He wanted a hero who was relevant to modern society, someone people would wish actually existed.
In his research, Donner took interest in the trend of comics in the 1970s to paint Superman as an almost messianic figure. Around this time, we had stories that spoke of Superman's arrival on Earth as a matter of destiny and which revealed that even his name Kal-El had deeper meaning, as it was ancient Kryptonese for "star-child." Superman was also, historically, the first true super-hero and was the man behind which the other DC heroes rallied and against whom many modern heroes were still compared. Thus, Donner's film began by making Superman's escape from Krypton a Christ-like moment. This was made most clear when Jor-El spoke to his son before placing him in a rocket that looked like a shining star.
JOR-EL: "You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you. Even in the face of our death, the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel... all this, and more, I ... I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own and see my life through your eyes as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father the son ..."
Clark arrives on Earth and is raised by the Kents. He is troubled by having to keep his increasing powers secret as he grows older. Whereas before, the comics had always shown that Clark simply accepted that he had to keep his abilities secret, Donner's film showed a very understandable protest from the boy. He asked his father why he couldn't use his abilities to become a football star rather than simply hiding and being thought of as a weak nerd.
CLARK: "... every time I kick the football I can make a touchdown. Every time! I mean, is it showing off if somebody's doing the things he's capable of doing? Is a bird showing off when it flies?"
JONATHAN KENT: " ... When you first came to us, we thought people would come and take you away because, when they found out, you know, the things you could do ... and that worried us a lot. But then a man gets older, and he starts thinking differently and things get very clear. And one thing I do know, son, and that is you are here for a reason. I don't know whose reason, or whatever the reason is. Maybe it's because, uh ... I don't know. But I do know one thing. It's not to score touchdowns."
In the comics, Clark's parents had always died around the time he'd reached adulthood. Donner left Martha Kent alive but had Jonathan Kent die of a heart attack during Clark's senior year of high school. Clark was not only struck by the mortality of humans, but by his own limitations, realizing "All my power ... and I couldn't save him." This was a vital and surprising moment for audiences, as Superman's limitations were not normally focused on in live-action adaptations. To the general public, Superman was supposed to be the person who could save anyone.
Clark then traveled north and created the Fortress of Solitude. Here, the feeling of a Christ-like figure was repeated when an interactive hologram of Jor-El appeared in the Fortress, ready to spiritually guide his son into adulthood and help him learn how best to use his abilities. Jor-El said that it was Clark's duty to act as a protector and an inspiration to humanity.
JOR-EL: "They are a good people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show them the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you ... my only son."
The rest of the movie followed true to what many expected. After spending years in the Fortress, learning the history of the universe and advanced sciences, training in his abilities, Clark returned to the outside world, now acting like a mild-mannered, overly polite man, hiding his true power until he was needed. He began working at The Daily Planet, meeting the wordly Lois Lane and the wide-eyed Jimmy Olsen, and debuted before the public in a red and blue costume.
In the comics, it had been said for many years now that Clark himself had designed the costume and the "S-shield" which would stand for his alias. But in Donner's film, the S-shield was a Kryptonian symbol, apparently a symbol of the House of El. When Lois later met Clark in his costumed identity, she mistook the symbol for a stylized letter "S" and decided to name this impossibly powerful and noble hero "Superman."
Another major differences between the comics and this new film was that Lex Luthor was not a mad scientist nor had he known Clark as a teenager. This version of Lex was a clever and obviously incredibly gifted in science, but at heart he was a businessman after profit, running criminal operations from a secret lair beneath Metropolis. He did not meet Superman until they were both adults and, in the film, he never once met Clark Kent.
In the comics, Superman had only recently begun wondering if he helped humanity a little too much, making them too dependent on him as result. Donner's film took hold of this idea and one of Jor-El's major lessons for Clark was that, although he was allowed to help humanity, it was "forbidden" for him to "interfere with human history." So his father (or the hologram programmed to behave as his father would) was specifically telling him not to mess with politics or the social structure of Earth because he was a helper, not a god.
In the comics of the 1970s, Superman was still able to travel through time by flying beyond the speed of light and entering the timestream. In Donner's film, he had the same ability and so this was another reason Jor-El forbade him from interfering with history. He was supposed to avenge and protect, but not to alter reality to his whim.
Donner intended that Superman: The Movie and Superman II would really be one large two-part story. The Kryptonian villain General Zod and two of his followers would be sent into the Phantom Zone by Jor-El at the beginning of the first movie. We would then forget about them as we watched Jor-El's struggle to save his family, placing his only son in a rocket. As Kal-El's rocket is sent to Earth, the Phantom Zone crystal that acted as Zod's prison would be carried in its gravity wake and would be dragged into Earth's solar system. We would then see Kal-El growing up on Earth and finding his destiny, eventually clashing with Lex Luthor's schemes that threatened millions of lives simply so he possess an incredible financial empire and real estate monopoly. The film would end with Superman having to stop two missiles. One he would hurl into space, while the other would unfortunately reach its target, the San Adreas Fault. Superman would then use his powers to contain the damage as much a possible. A few lives would be lost, unavoidably, but the catastrophe Luthor had intended to create would never happen. Lois would be caught in this and Superman would just barely get to her in time, reviving her and displaying to us just how much he truly cared for this woman and just how human he really was, despite the costume and powers.
And then, as Luthor was sent to jail and Superman enjoyed his victory, we would see that elsewhere, the Phantom Zone crystal would be breached by the explosion of the missile Superman had hurled into outer space. Zod would be free and the film would end, setting it up for the sequel.
The second film would have Lois realize Superman's secret identity and eventually trick Clark into revealing himself to her. After spending time with her and finally opening up about his life, Superman would decide that he had done enough and should be rewarded with a human life, dedicating himself to one woman rather than a planet. But as he bathes himself in red sun energy (which, as in the comics, saps away his powers), Zod and his forces begin their attack on Earth. When Clark and Lois return to civilization, Zod has just taken the White House hostage and has declared that he wishes revenge on Kal-El, the son of his jailer. Clark would then return to the Fortress and use its very last power reserves to recharge his own Kryptonian cells, though this would mean that the simulation of his father would die in the process and would no longer be able to guide him or give him a sense of still having a tie to his true home.
With his powers back, Superman would then defeat Zod and his cronies and finally break his father's command of "not interfering with human history" by breaching the timestream and making it so that Zod's assault on Earth and all the lives he took never happened. As a result of this, of course, Lois would also forget the events of the past several days and Clark would now live with the knowledge that he simply couldn't be with her because he could never predict what catastrophe might occur or what enemy might show up that only Superman could fight.
This, of course, echoes the classic myth of a hero or god who gives up their power only to later realize that they are needed and that the needs of others must sometimes take precedence over personal desire. As much as Clark wanted to be simply live and love as a normal human, the fact that he had such powers and a moral upbringing that had taught him to share such gifts with the world rather than squander them meant that a commitment to one woman or a quiet life was impossible. Superman belonged to the world.
These two films had stories that were both epic and grounded in human emotions. The biggest problem was casting them. Gene Hackman agreed to be Lex Luthor but refused to shave his head or spend too much time in a skullcap. To imply his baldness, Donner had Luthor's hair change drastically in every scene, indicating that he was switching wigs regularly. Marlon Brando agreed to appear as Jor-El, but refused to memorize his lines and simply read off cue cards.
Lois Lane was tough to choose. Leslie Ann Warren (who had played Lois before), Susan Blakely, Stockard Channing and Anne Archer were all considered and all auditioned. In the end, Margot Kidder (Shoot the Sun Down) was selected. While she wasn't as well known or perhaps as drop-dead glamorous as some of the others, she brought a confidence and wit to the performance that Donner thought was perfect for the tough-as-nails reporter.
But what of Superman himself? The quest for the leading man was insane. Warren Beatty, James Caan, Paul Newman, Bruce Jenner, Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford were all considered for the part and all either turned it down or wanted too much money. Sylvester Stallone lobbied for the lead role but the studio didn't think he was right for the part. Eventually, Donner insisted that Superman be played by an unknown so that people would buy into the character. He felt that watching a big name such as Robert Redford in the role would prevent audiences from believing in Superman because they would look at him as Robert Reford in a costume and not as "Superman" or "Clark."
Things got so desperate that Alya Salkind even brought in his wife's dentist to audition just because she had remarked that he looked a little like Superman (which is also very telling of Salkind's "professionalism", which we will speak more of in a bit). But one guy stood out and kept coming out. A young man named Christopher Reeve. Initially dismissed based on his head-shot and the fact that he had only one film and one soap opera to his name, Reeve was finally brought in for casting and surprised everyone with his honest, grounded portrayal of Superman. According to everyone, the most shocking thing about Reeve's audition was that he didn't seem silly in the costume. He was so at ease, so relaxed, you couldn't help but take him seriously.
In later interviews, Reeve explained that he accomplished this by simply keeping it in his mind that Superman would not feel the need to prove that he was super to other people. He would be aware of his abilities used to them and therefore completely relaxed in his confidence when interacting with others. As Reeve explained it, he "let the costume do the acting" rather than constantly posing or speaking as if he were meant to be a larger than life character. Reeve believed that Superman would still think of himself as Clark and therefore he would not posture. This was not a costume, this was his uniform, a symbol of his heritage, and there was no need to feel self-conscious about it.
REEVE: "[At the screen test] they didn't have a wardrobe department yet so somebody went out ... and got a Superman costume, sort of off the rack ... I really looked kind of ridiculous ..."
DONNER: "But that's an amazing thing. He put on that silly little costume at that moment and he belonged in it. I mean, he brought that costume to life even as inappropriate as that particular one was. When he put it on, he became Superman ... I was so impressed with his ability as an actor ... He said he would [bulk up] and I believed him."
In a 1979 interview on "The Dinah Show", Christopher Reeve explained how he'd had to bulk up for the part.
REEVE: "They liked the idea of me for the part but ... I was very, very thin ... and Superman really looks like a large coat-hanger, very wide shoulders and a very narrow waist. So they said well, you know, we have fake muscles for you. And I said, you've gotta be kidding ... So I just simply put a poster on the wall of what the man's supposed to look like and went to the gym and worked out ... [You can build that kind of muscle] with the right state of mind and the right coach and the right discipline. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody unless they really had coaching ... I kept working out to the last day of shooting."
Here's a fun bit of trivia, by the way. Reeve's physical training coach was British athlete David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.
After being cast as Superman, Reeve delved into the history of the character, meeting with writers and editors at DC Comics and learning all he could about what made the hero tick. He also studied the various interpretations of Superman, not only in other media but also how the character had altered over time in the comics since his creation four decades before. Reeve believed this research was necessary in order to identify the core of the character, the elements that remained constant and which kept him interesting to readers over the years.
During an interview in 1984, Christopher Reeve explained the basic difference between himself and the 1950s portrayal by George Reeves was that George had played Superman as a noble alien champion who knew better than most humans. Reeve preferred a different take where Superman saw himself as an Earthman first since he had, after all, been raised in Kansas by humans and had almost no memory of Krypton.
CHRISTOPHER REEVE: "[Superman] feels that Earth is his home, that he's not a visitor from outer space ... My whole attitude was that Superman is in the background basically saying [to humanity], 'You guys figure it out, I'm not supposed to get involved here ... but if you really have a problem, I'll be there.' In the 50's ... You know, The Untouchables was playing ... post-World War II, the male image was different. John Wayne ... Kirk Douglas ... And they emphasized at that time, Superman the action hero as a crusader ... fighting for truth, justice and the American way."
In the same interview, Reeve spoke of how he felt actors needed to approach roles, especially large ones such as Superman.
CHRISTOPHER REEVE: "... What you really find in acting is the emotional trips you can go on. You get to travel as far as you're possibly able to imagine within yourself in reaching out to understand people. And that to me is a very worthwhile occupation. It's not that you're really playing the roles, the roles play you. You're real, a piece of writing is fiction. So you're already real. You're never going to play Hamlet, Hamlet's going to play you. It is your Hamlet. It's what you as a human being are able to imagine or understand about that character. So within every part, you take incredible, fantastic flights of imagination into yourself ... It's that process of discovery that makes you want to keep doing it ..."
The trick was to cast someone who could play Clark Kent as well as Superman. Christopher Reeve accomplished this as well, so much so that he actually surprised many with his ability to make Clark and Superman seem to be two different people. As Superman, Reeve stood up straight, pushing his chest out slightly. Every movement was made with purpose and his face was relaxed and open. As Clark, Reeve stooped, hunched his shoulders and moved with a stiffer body posture. He fidgeted often and his face seemed to indicate that he was constantly concerned about something. Along with slicking his hair back as Clark Kent, Reeve also had it parte on the opposite side than when he was Superman. Reeve also altered his tone of voice as Clark.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Reeve's performance of Clark Kent was that he made the reporter aspect as likeable and entertaining as his heroic alter ego. Clark seemed self-conscious and perhaps a bit too honest and trusting for his own good, and he definitely wasn't physically confrontational, but he was also outspoken about his opinions and had a pleasant wit. When Perry White began touting about his own great qualities, Clark asked if he included humility among them. And despite the fact that Lois Lane could be a bit intimidating and seemed rather critical of him, Clark asked her out on a date in the first week of meeting her. He also stepped in-between her and a gun-wielding mugger, determined to shield her even though he was visibly terrified. This Clark was "mild-mannered", yes, but he was by no means a wimp.
If you want to see an incredible piece of physical acting, watch Superman: The Movie and get to the scene where Clark Kent arrives to pick up Lois for a date. Reeve arrives fully as Clark Kent, but when Lois heads to the bathroom he takes off his glasses, stands up straight, pushes out his chest. subtly alters his facial expression and briefly speaks with a different voice. In that one moment, you see Reeve perform a convincing transformation without special effects or even a costume to help him. Thanks to him, the disguise people often made fun of actually seemed possible.
Christopher Reeve was such an unknown that he was not given top billing on the movie posters or previews. That, instead, was given to Hackman and Brando. Yet on set, Reeve impressed everyone with his work ethic, openly friendly attitude and his deep care for the role. He was also known for being a good sport and not complaining too often, despite the long hours of wire-work he had to do and the uncomfortable harnesses he had to endure. While forced to stand on the side of a building a few stories above the ground, waiting for the crew to get the lighting and camera angles right, Reeve did not ask anyone to hurry up but instead began telling jokes to pass the time.
Although Donner got along with all of the actors and the crew, there was constant tension between him and the Salkinds. Time and time again, Donner was told to make the movie more for kids and to remove scenes that were too serious or included adult-edged humor. And each time Donner refused to back down. As Donner finished filming for Superman: The Movie and continued the production of Superman II, the arguments with the Salkinds got to the point where the director was no longer speaking to them at all. Director Richard Lester was brought in to mediate.
Eventually, when he had completed only two thirds of Superman II, Richard Donner was fired from the production after publicly criticizing the Salkinds for hiring him as a director and then questioning every decision he made. Richard Lester was hired to finish Superman II and was tasked with re-shooting certain scenes and using different takes so that it would appeal more to kids. Hence, Zod's mute servant Non was now portrayed as a child-like creature and some of the action scenes between Superman and the Phantom Zone villains included moments of slapstick comedy.
The Salkinds also altered the ending of Superman: The Movie, using the time travel scenario Donner had originally intended for the second film. Various parts of Superman II were also altered for reasons I cannot guess at, including an added sequence where Superman stops terrorists who have placed a nuclear bomb at the Eiffel Tower and the fact that now Lois would learn Clark's secret identity by accident (forcing us to believe that a man with super-speed reflexes and the ability to hear heart-beats can actually trip over a rug and not be able to do anything about it) rather than proving it with her own savvy and intelligence.
Although many felt that Superman II was still enjoyable, one thing that bothered comic fans was that since Lester was unaware of what abilities Kryptonians did and did not have, he made up a few powers on the fly. During one battle, Zod seems to possess telekinesis. In another scene, Superman utilizes a strange force-field net that is shaped like his S-shield. Afterward, he is able to cast the illusion that he is in multiple places at once and claimed he had played this game as a child. The remark is doubly strange since, of course, Superman left Krypton in his infancy. Some fans have attempted to explain the multiple Supermen trick as Clark merely using his super-speed, but if this were the case it would not have worked against Zod and his troops because their own super-speed would have adjusted their perceptions and allowed them to see through this illusion.
Another Lester-created (or, perhaps, Salkind-created?) power was shown at the end of the film. Now, rather than using time travel to take away Lois's experiences of learning Clark's identity, Superman was able to wipe away the woman's memories of the past few days by kissing her and concentrating. How this "super-kiss" worked was never explained, nor did Superman seemed bothered by the implications that he could roofie someone at will.
Gene Hackman walked off the set following Donner's firing and would not be re-shot, leading to Lester using a body double and voice double in a couple of quick scenes. Marlon Brando would not return to re-shoot his footage to make it less dark and serious and so Jor-El's appearance in the second film was replaced by a hologram of his wife Lara.
Decades later, fans were still so insistent that they finally see Richard Donner's vision of Superman II that Warner Bros. eventually allowed the director to re-cut the film with the takes he had intended to use. In some case, footage he wished to have had never been shot and so those scenes were dropped. In other cases, he was forced to use some of Lester's footage and a video-taped screen-test between Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. Nevertheless, SUPERMAN II: The Richard Donner Cut was finally released on DVD and, in my opinion (aside from the ending), it is a far superior film. It moves faster, it makes Lois more interesting and intelligent, and Zod and his crew come off as far more menacing. It also has a stronger emotional journey for Clark and there is a scene that returns full circle to when his father sent him away from Krypton. So seriously, check it out.
After Superman II, quality seemed to fall away. Superman III had an interesting premise. Clark was to reconnect with Lana Lang and find that his civilian identity could be a real life, not merely a disguise, while at the same time battling a group of villains who had created a new form of Kryptonite which was making him evil. Alas, the Salkinds decided to make the film a comedy/adventure, even recruiting comedian Richard Pryor as a scientist who was forced to help the villains. Christopher Reeve lamented the attempt to make Superman III more of a comedy, feeling that they had wasted the dramatic potential of seeing a corrupt version of the Man of Steel unleashed up on the world. Margot Kidder was limited to only a brief cameo since she had publicly criticized the Salkinds for firing Richard Donner.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was considered by many to be a poor film. Many liked the premise, that Superman would attempt to make the world a safer place by disarming it of nuclear weapons and would be faced not only with a superhuman opponent but also with the consequences of becoming a political activist. But attempts to inject humor for its own sake (such as giving Lex Luthor a nephew as a sidekick) and the fact that Superman's new solar-powered foe was rather one dimensional made sure that audiences did not look on this film as warmly as they did the first two.
Another fun trivia note: Annette O'Toole, the actress who played Lana Lang in Superman III, would go on to play Martha Kent in the live-action series Smallville years later. Annette, being a comic book fan, was quite excited to get the role of Superman's high school love interest.
Despite the silliness that had transpired in Superman III and the problems that were already rising in Superman IV, Christopher Reeve stuck with the role because he believed even a poor Superman film was better than many other action films of the time.
CHRISTOPHER REEVE: "The reason that I'd want to do something like Superman IV is to offer up for children in America, and everywhere else, a fun entertainment which has an actual character at the center of it - that has a character who is caring, who loves people, who's considerate and a gentleman - as a possible antidote to the Rambos and the Chuck Norrises and the Schwarzenneggers ... Rambo is more of a comic book figure than Superman is in my mind, if you understand what I'm talking about ... We offer, perhaps, something a little bit more sound or real or, perhaps, worthwhile than a lot of the other alternatives out there. So Superman is a part of my life that runs concurrently with the other creative needs that I have as well and I'm very glad that the two can go together."
To this day, the first two Superman films are often considered the standard against with other super-hero films are measured against and Christopher Reeve's honest and noble portrayal of the lead character is seen by many as the best interpretation of all time.
BACK TO ANIMATION
1988 was the 50th anniversary of Superman. To help celebrate, Warner Bros. decided it was time to put the Man of Steel back into the saturday morning cartoon arena. Marv Wolfman, who had written for DC Comics for years on such titles as Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths, was made head-writer of the new series and famous artist Gil Kane did all the character designs.
The new cartoon series was based primarily on the new Post-Crisis status quo of Superman. So Ma and Pa Kent were still alive, Lex Luthor was a corrupt businessman and Superman had not begun a career as a costumed hero until he was an adult living in Metropolis. And yet, there were elements of other interpretations mixed in.
The introduction was nearly word for word the same as the 1950s George Reeve cartoon, the theme music was based on John Williams score from the recent films, and even though he hadn't been fighting crime as Superboy, it was shown that Clark had possessed many of his abilities during infancy and had reached his full array of powers while in his early teens, as had been the case in his Silver Age history.
Rather than begin with an origin story of any sort, the show started with the idea that Superman had been in Metropolis for a couple of years and was an accepted hero. To fill in the backstory, each episode of the series ended with a four minute segment called "Family Album" which constructed a linear array of flashbacks concerning the hero's past, from his adoption up through important moments in high school (such as Clark's first date). Although he never operated as Superboy as a child, the cartoon did state that he had developed his full array of abilities as a kid, in constrast to the new comic book status quo.
The thirteenth episode showed Ma Kent giving Clark his costume (which she said had been sewed from his baby blankets, like the Donner film) and then had fans watch as our hero debuted in Metropolis, telling Lois he was just "a friend." He then gained a job at The Daily Planet by turning in the first interview on the Man of Steel, naming himself with the headline "It's Superman!" A nice amalgamation of film and comic continuity.
Though the plots were simplistic, many praised the cartoon for its animation style and faithfulness to the source material. Some believed that it's blend of Silver Age, film and Post-Crisis elements was actually better than the new Post-Crisis status quo in the comics. Interestingly, since DC writers have been reclaiming certain parts of the Silver Age in the past few years, the current Superman status quo now more closely resembles the 1988 CBS cartoon than comics at the time.
Sadly, despite good audience response, the show lasted only one season due to high-licensing fees and poor scheduling which ensured that the ratings were not what CBS had hoped for. After only a few months, this cartoon fell away and was quickly forgotten.
SALKIND'S SUPERBOY
1988 also saw the premiere of a new live-action series produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkin. The show was called Superboy and featured Clark Kent acting as a young super-hero while attending "Shuster University" in Florida, a place Clark had never really been associated with before.
Rounding out the supporting cast were Ma and Pa Kent, Lana Lang (who had known Clark since they were little and joined him at college) and Clark's rooomate T.J. White, nephew of Perry White. In his civilian identity, Clark spent time either on college campus, hanging out by the pool or running around the small local newspaper The Shuster Herald where he worked as an intern (so I guess the town was named Shuster?).
John Haymes Newton (The Untouchables, Desperate Housewives) played the Boy of Steel while Stacy Haiduk (SeaQuest DSV, Kindred: The Embraced) played Lana Lang. Lana and Clark seemed to be people who had romantic interest in each other but had been friends for so long that they felt awkward about it. Things got more complicated still when Superboy began showing up, constantly impressing Lana with his heroics.
Lex Luthor (played by Scott Wells) was another student, a clever opportunist who ran various cons and fixed sporting events. When Superboy showed up, Luthor made it a hobby to publicly outwit and embarrass the self-righteous Boy of Steel. Later on, a lab fire that left him bald and would have killed him if not for the intervention of Superboy led to Luthor becoming a darker character, obsessed with the Kryptonian's destruction.
The first season did not spend a lot of money on special effects so Superboy focused on drug dealers, crime lords, smugglers and terrorists. Many felt that these episodes lacked tension since Superboy had no enemies who could give him a proper fight. And many were not satisfied wth John Haymes Newton, feeling that he was too stiff and did not make either Clark or Superboy very interesting. On set, there were talks that directors had many problems with John Haymes Newton.
Towards the end of the first season, Newton asked for a substantial salary raise around the same time that he was arrested for a DUI, a story which brought negative attention to the show. It was decided that he would be replaced.
For the show's second season, Gerard Christopher took over as the Teen of Steel and would remain the lead star until the show's cancellation three years later. That wasn't the only cast change. T.J. White left the show and Clark got a new roommate, Andy McAlister, a flirtatious smart-ass who was obsessed with get-rick-quick schemes. And Scott Wells was replaced by actor Sherman Howard in the role of Lex Luthor (it was explained in-story that Luthor had recieved drastic plastic surgery to aid in a scheme against Superboy).
Gerard Christopher explained in an interview that all these changes had the producers looking at it as a new show, emphasized by the fact that it began focusing largely on super-human and magical enemies.
Gerard Christopher brought a different energy to Superboy, making both him and Clark Kent seem more extroverted, winning people over with a simple sense of humor and an honest altruism. Gerard Christopher admitted in interviews that he had been an avid Superman fan as a child, running around and pretending he could fly. Gerard was happy to play the role, though admitted he found it easier to play Clark than to play Superboy.
"Clark is a real nerd and everyone has a bit of nerd in them. I'm clumsy naturally ... and a lot of people are awkward and have problems in certain circumstances and you can play that with Clark. You have a lot of latitude to have fun with Clark. But Superboy ... he's larger than life ... And it's almost impossible to imagine what that's supposed to be because I don't know anyone like that. And there's no one around that I can ask, well, how do you do that? How are you a super-hero? Can you tell me what it's like?"
I think Gerard Christopher did an excellent Clark Kent and an all right Superboy. His Superboy was honest and comfortable in his role, but didn't have the inspirational quality I think Superman needs to convey. And beyond acting meeker, he didn't really make Clark seem different from Superboy in terms of voice, presence or body language.
Gerard Christopher seemed to have a stronger chemistry with Stacy Haiduk, making their unspoken romance a stronger aspect of the show. Starting with the second season, Lana came off as stronger-willed and more sarcastic. Haiduk was very glad for this change, as she was the only female regularly appearing in the show.
Some of the stories had great ideas, no doubt thanks to the contributions of comic book writers such as Dennis O'Neil, Andy Helfer, Mark Evanier, Cary Bates, J.M. DeMatteis and Superman comic editor Mike Carlin. But the rest of the show fell very short at times. Villains were often handled poorly by the actors or given such stitled dialogue and poor plots that they didn't come across as very threatening at all (and the costumes didn't help, frankly).
The show didn't shy away from the far-out concepts of the comic. Along with Bizarro, Metallo and Mr. Mxyzptlk, Superboy fought a variety of wizards, demons and witches. In one episode, the show also paid homage to the Reeve movies when Bond actor George Lazenby played an alien who pretended to be Superboy's father Jor-El and wore the same outfit Marlon Brando had worn.
The third season re-titled the series as The Adventures of Superboy. Once again, things shifted for the characters. Clark and Lana moved to Capitol City (still in Florida) to work at the newly-formed Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters, an agency formed due to the increasing number of super-powered criminals. Naturally, Andy did not join them, so he was out of the show. These new circumstances forced Clark to be extra careful with his secret identity, as now he was surrounded by agents who were alert for any strange beings.
The third season focused very much on Clark's doubts and human weaknesses. In one episode, Superboy is convinced he accidentally caused someone's death and considers the danger he poses to Earth. In another, an alien visitor forces his nightmares to become manifest. The season ended with a two-part story that involved Superboy falling through alternate realities, meeting a version of himself who had become a lethal leather jacket-wearing vigilante, a version of himself who had taken over the world (calling himself the "sovereign"), and an older, wiser alternate self who had retired after a good and fulfilling life.
Although these stories may have been thematically interesting, they still suffered in many respects from poor acting and direction.
The fourth season wound up being the final one. Again, the darker-themed stories continued. The season was to end with an episode in which it appeared that Superboy had died. A cliffhanger would imply that he was secretly still alive and this storyline would be resolved in a TV-movie, which would then spawn other TV-movies to follow. However, when it was announced that there would be no TV-movies to follow, the episode was hastily re-written so that Superboy appeared alive and well at the end, saying he had faked his own death in order to help capture his enemy.
During the show's run, a new Superboy comic series was introduced to help promote it, featuring tales that fit into the television continuity. But fans of the TV show saw no reason to read a comic many of them assumed to be a mere adaptation and fans of the regular Superman comics saw no reason to read an on-going title that was completely seperate from the mainstream canon, so it didn't last too long.
LOIS AND CLARK
In 1993, not long after the famous "Death of Superman" storyline, a new live-action series began. Starring Terri Hatcher and Dean Cain in the lead roles, this series was entitled Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The idea was that rather than emphasizing Superman's costumed adventures, the show would focus more on Clark and Lois solving crimes as reporters and on their budding romance. Like the original radio series, Clark was more the star and his costumed alter-ego merely stepped in when he couldn't handle things in his civilian identity. The show also followed the John Byrne idea that Clark Kent was the true personality and as Superman he attempted to act more serious, more professional.
Under Dean Cain, Clark was a flirtatious character completely aware that he was charming, but who was still sensitive to the needs of others and grounded in down-to-earth concerns. When Perry White told him he didn't have enough experience to join The Daily Planet, this incarnation of Clark went out and delivered an emotional human interest piece the very next morning, earning himself a job.
When partnered with Lois, he acted very pleasant and openly with her despite her immediate judgment that he was a mid-western hick. After she and Clark were partnered together for a story, Lois made it clear that she was the senior reporter, that she was on top of the food chain and she liked it that way. When she asked if Clark understood what she was saying, he nodded and flatly remarked, "You like to be on top. Got it."
This version of Clark was also a bit of a name-dropper, though he did this more out of an impulse to share knowledge than to brag. When Perry mentioned high blood pressure, Clark described an herbal remedy he'd learned about in New Guinea. When Lois remarked on Clark's dancing ability, he explained that he'd been taught by a Nigerian princess he'd met in England. He may have been from a place called "Smallville", but he constantly made it clear that he had seen and traveled the world over.
Though Clark flirted with Lois, seemingly optimistic that he could wear her down, he also never passed a certain boundary and made it clear that he deeply respected and admired her as a professional, even if he did find her a bit cynical. In turn, Lois defended her cynicism since she never gave herself the opportunity to be disappointed.
All this and the chemistry between actors Cain and Hatcher led to the two characters having a growing romance that was completely understandable. The show also explored that Clark and Lois connected because they both felt out of place in the world for their own reasons.
Some complained however that this version of Clark was so charming and desirable that it made no sense for Lois to have eyes for the seemingly stiff-necked Superman. Others said that Clark attracting attention to himself in such a way was a rather foolish move on his part since it endangered his secret identity by preventing his human alter-ego from blending into the background, especially when he was surrounded by reporters. What's more, like Gerard Christopher, Dean Cain made little effort to make Clark and Superman seem and sound like different people, making the disguise aspect seem rather unbelievable.
Superman was not quite as powerful as in the comics, making it easier for certain villains to give him a challenge. His hair style was also different. In the comics, Clark Kent had always slicked his hair back whereas Superman had let his hair hang loose. In Lois and Clark, the reverse was true. Superman was seen as a beloved hero, but was definitely a crime-fighter and not a living symbol of hope.
One of the most entertaining aspects of the series was Clark's relationship with his parents. The Kents were both sources of wisdom and sources of humor, as Jonathan Kent (Eddie Jones) constantly complained about the state of the world and how his wife was trying to starve him while Martha Kent (K Callahan) was constantly worrying over her adopted son and asking about his love life. Martha Kent was also shown to be an aspiring modern-artist, though her sculptures left Clark confused.
There was also a large focus on the simple things that frustrated Clark, such as how often he would be bored since he didn't have to sleep much. Or how he couldn't type as fast as he wanted to because it caused a computer to overheat and crash.
While many aspects of the show were good, there was also a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that sometimes came off as simply hokey. Metropolis never seemed that much like a city so much as like a generic idea of what a city should be. Several episodes also seemed to follow a basic formula concerning the plots. And many of the criminals seemed ridiculous rather than sinister.
In the second season of the show, Cat Grant was dropped from the cast and Jimmy Olsen was replaced because the original actor was too similar in appearance to Dean Cain. Likewise, the entire writing staff was replaced and the new writers focused on super-villains. Toyman, Metallo and Prankster all began appearing.
Adding to the new over-the-top, otherworldly atmosphere, the show also introduced a time-traveling H.G. Wells and a newly created villain called Tempus. Tempus was an interesting idea for a villain, having been born in a future where Superman's descendants had helped usher the world into a Utopia, a place so boring that Tempus had gone insane and was determined to kill Superman to prevent his world from forming. If only he hadn't also been so goofy.
Season two ended with the cliffhanger of Clark proposing to Lois. Lois then turned the suprise around by revealing that she had figured out Clark's secret identity some time ago. The third season began with Lois explaining that she was furious he would propose to her before trusting her with his secret.
The third season continued the over-the-top adventures, with Lois now keeping Clark on his toes, constantly challenging him and declaring that she would prove she wasn't someone who needed to be protected from his secret identity. In one episode, red Kryptonite caused Lois to gain Clark's powers and she temporarily became the hero "Ultra Woman." In another story, she tried to make Clark jealous by going out with an old boyfriend but then found that he intended to sacrifice her in a Druidic ritual. Another episode had Lois and Clark discover that the President of the U.S. had been replaced by a clone that needed to feed on frogs. Season three also revealed that a colony of Kryptonians had survived the planet's destruction. In season four, Lois and Clark were now on their way to getting married but had to deal with Clark temporarily becoming king of the lost colony of Krypton and then with a villain called the "Wedding Destroyer."
Interesting trivia. In the comics, Superman and Lois were supposed to be married early in the 90s. But when the new TV series was greenlit to go into production, the comic boys were asked to hold off on this plan because Warner Bros. wanted to capitalize on the romance and felt audience might not be interested if they knew that in the comics Lois and Clark did eventually get married. Pushing aside the wedding was what led DC to do their "Death of Superman" story instead.
When the show finally decided to get the two main characters hitched, DC Comics quickly re-united Lois and Clark (who had broken off their engagement months before) and they were married in SUPERMAN: The Wedding Album.
After Lois and Clark's wedding, there was a feeling by many viewers that the show had lost its charm, that they had been more interested in seeing the two banter and fight their feelings than they were in seeing them as a couple. The show responded by throwing new obstacles to separate the couple, such as having Lois framed for murder and imprisoned. A later episode also saw the couple meet a new pair of friends, only to discover that one of them ("Bob") was the comic book super-assassin Deathstroke.
The show ended on a cliffhanger when a baby of Kryptonian royalty was left at Lois and Clark's door-step. But, to the surprise of the producers, the ABC channel decided at the last minute to rescind their decision for a fifth season, so this storyline was never continued and many fans were left wondering what would have happened next.
Terri Hatcher would later gain fame again when she joined the cast of Desperate Housewives. In a few episodes, Leslie Anne Warren guest-starred as her mother, a fun coincidence since the elder woman had played Lois Lane in a 1970s TV special. Dean Cain would later appear on the TV series Smallville as an immortal villain with the initials "C.K."
The show was silly and hokey at times. It was more about relationships than about action or saving the world. But it was fun and there was no denying the chemistry between the two leads. From day one, you wanted them to get together and you knew exactly why. There are many Superman writers who never wrote Lois and Clark's relationship so well.
Coming soon in Part 3: The WB animated series, Justice League Unlimited, Smallville and Superman Returns.
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