Superman V (1991)


check out this crude but awesome manip :
https://s26.postimg.io/56eg28y9j/superman_v.jpg

really brings home what couldve been done for a 5th film summer of 1991 (before Batman Returns so couldve maybe piggybacked onto the success and darkness of Burtons Batman and provide Brainiac as a real threat even worse than Zod - 'Superman Into Darkness' with Peter Weller )

with salkind acquiring the rights once again and getting Donner back to 'reboot' Superman somewhat in light of the success of batman and giving the film a big budget/big stars but retaining Reeve in the central role with maybe just cameos from the regulars (as opposed to starting over and recasting everyone). Weller wouldve been a pretty big name at the time due to Robocop. i imagine M Douglas couldve been a Warfield type (Morgan Edge?) taking over the DP from Perry White and presenting a workplace challenge for Clark, Lois and Jimmy - not so much a villain as Warfield though. Clint Eastwood couldve been a Police Chief (Commissioner Henderson?)or Army general type doing battle with Brainiac. Kidder couldve had a cameo as Lois with Annette O Toole being the main love interest again as in III and maybe also a younger actress like Sharon Stone or Rene Russo as a Cat Grant type to play opposite the 40 year old Reeve (he probably wouldve looked the most Superman in V out of all the movies), Hackman as Lex in an extended cameo taking a backseat to Brainiac. Maybe even work in Stamp in a cameo as an imprisoned depowered Zod who Superman visits to discuss Brainiac. (recreates his 'you will bow down to me..' speech as Supes leaves... ) Plus brando as Jor el (voice) in a poignant Superman Returns style appearance talking to Reeve. And dont forget Williams coming back to do the entire score (lots of new material)

basically rejuvenating the series (as opposed to rebooting with a new superman/cast) in the light of the success of Batman in 89 - mixing old with new (like IV tried to do but on a much grander scale) making it a real event film and surrounding Reeve with A list stars again as in the 1978 original

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I think Reeve returning for Superman V was briefly considered in the early 90s. The Salkinds had gotten the rights back to the Superman film series. They approached Reeve about playing the character one more time and he said he'd only be interested if they intended to make a quality film along the lines of the first two. When they couldn't give him that commitment he said no to the project.

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I wonder what would've happened had Reeve's Clark Kent showed up (maybe in a cameo appearance) in a Batman film w/ his future Speechless co-star, Michael Keaton?

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see this:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094074/board/flat/217770727

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i guess IV was a sort of 're-launch' of sorts for the series - a belated sequel from another production company - sequels happened fairly fast back then - not so much 4 years so it was sort of a relaunch with the intention of more sequels which didnt happen (so abit like Superman Returns actually)

just imagine if SIV had been a hit despite the production problems, and made similar to SIII (which was still a hit) or even better

Cannon probably wouldve fast tracked a Superman V & VI back to back for 1989/90 BTTF style (wed have 2 Reeve Superman trilogys sitting on our shelves now - the Salkind trilogy and the Cannon trilogy) maybe even leading to a Burton/Keaton/Reeve Batman/Superman movie (after Batman Returns instead of 'Forever')

if only IV had been a damn hit!

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Here's what Christopher Reeve himself said of a possible Superman V:
http://haphazardstuff.com/Superman4 (go to the 39:53 mark).

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"They approached Reeve about playing the character one more time and he said he'd only be interested if they intended to make a quality film along the lines of the first two. When they couldn't give him that commitment he said no to the project."

How did they respond? "Sorry, Chris, we want another one along the lines of Superman III."

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LOL yeah 'sorry dude we want to do it just like IV' 

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I sometimes wonder had Christopher Reeve not gotten into his accident, would it still been possible for him to play Superman at least one more time? I mean Reeve was I think, only in his early 40s when he had his accident and still seemed to look convincing enough (assuming that he kept himself in the best shape possible) to still play the Man of Steel.

I'm sure that Warner Bros. after having great success (at the time) with their Batman series, the had their sights set on ultimately "restoring" the luster of DC Comics' other big superhero. I know that Reeve said that the Salkinds managed to get back the rights to make Superman movies, which was an optimistic sign because it wouldn't be a cheap looking schlock-fest like under Cannon. I'm guessing that once Warner Bros. managed to get full rights to Superman back (this is the big reason why the Superboy TV series had to go off the air in favor of Lois & Clark), anything tied to the Salkinds had to be swept under the rug.

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All I know is if 4 had been a hit, Cannon would've recycled a lot of its deleted scenes and wrote new material around it for a SUPERMAN 5 with Reeve in the director's chair. Think TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER.


http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

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[deleted]

even though itd have been terrible (even worse than IV) and used the deleted footage from IV etc id still have preferred there to have been a Cannon Superman V

it probably would've had to go STVHS though:
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/298/0/6/superman_v_first_releas e_dvd_cover_by_stick_man_11-d5iw5rq.jpg

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even though itd have been terrible (even worse than IV) and used the deleted footage from IV etc id still have preferred there to have been a Cannon Superman V

I am a fan of Cannon, and as bad as it may have been, I too would have liked to see it.


http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

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Are you saying they would've made Superman V darker based off the back of the huge success of the 89 Batman movie? If so, you'd be right since a camp Superman movie in 91 would've been rejected so they'd have to use a different set up. Superhero/comic book movies of the early 90s had all become different in tone like Darkman, Dick Tracy, Robocop 2, tmnt (1990) and Batman Returns so a new Superman would've had to have gone their route if it was to catch on.

I just don't think that set up would work. Superman worked because it was a bright, euphorically upbeat and camp movie series about an all American hero. Darkening it up would make it lose all its charm and fun.

Water, my ass! Bring this guy some pepto bismol!

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Yeah I see your point about the change in tone. Maybe if it had been Superman going to Gotham it couldve worked - Batman v Superman in 1995 instead of Batman Forever:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094074/board/flat/217770727

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Yeah, that would've been cool. Plus a much better alternative to BF which is one of the worst films I've seen.

Water, my ass! Bring this guy some pepto bismol!

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yes then they could've done Batman Forever with Val Kilmer after (and it could've been a Batman Begins start again type deal as thered have been 3 Burton Batmans - Bat89, BR, BvS).

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someone should adapt whatever screenplay was out there for Reeve's 5th film into a 5 part comic series set in 1990 (complete with Crystal font Movie Poster style covers, and using the likenesses of Reeve, Kidder, Cooper, Hackman, McClure with cameos from Jor El, Lana, Zod and the villains in jail, even Gus Gorman! could even work in a Batman Keaton cameo)...itd be cool for something like that to take away the nasty taste left by Superman IV - like Rocky Balboa did after Rocky V...they could use elements of whatever was going to be the proposed script for V in 1990 or whenever it was...and could do stuff that theyd have never been able to do e.g. Brando as Jor El. (Thats what I thought Donners Last Son would be but instead it turned out to be some sort of reboot of SII with elements of SR)

Also maybe Singer and his two SR writers could do a sequel to SR with the likeness of the SR cast (like they did the 4 prequel issues which were alittle bit like an adaptation of Superman I) and there could even be Burtons Superman Lives

And they could also do comics for I and II and do the whole thing as Donner originally envisioned (itd be more interesting for it to differ with the onscreen versions anyway). A comic with the time travel at the end of II (as originally intended when filming began on I/II)...or as it wouldve been done had Donner finished directing II in 1980 - with the time travel at the end of STM and coming up with something else for the end of II perhaps not the memory kiss. its not impossible they will do I&II eventually. Esp since I&II never got comic adaptations like III/IV (IDW did Star Trek II TWOK and i never thought that would happen)
and doing different interpretations of classic stuff is happening now and then in comics (Lucas' original SW concept, Treks original Harlan Ellison City on the Edge, the lost AWest Batman episode featuring Two Face)

maybe could go even further and give us what Donner had in mind for a third movie (like the Geoff Jones/Donner Last Son comics which im sure was originally mooted as Donners 'III')

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I doubt they could have gotten Reeve back for a Superman V. I remember seeing him being interviewed by Larry King around 1990 and when the topic of a Superman V came up, he mentioned that a fifth movie had been discussed and would have had an environmental message behind it (ultimately scrapped by Cannon). But, he sounded detached from the series when Larry asked about the third and fourth films. I've also heard that he didn't care for how Cannon's production on the the fourth film was executed. I'm assuming he would mean the budget and effects (which were the biggest issues). Also, the Salkinds burned a lot of bridges with the original cast during the 2nd film.

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Had he lived, I sometimes wonder how (if of course, Christopher Reeve didn't want to come back), Jon-Erik Hexum would've fared as Superman? He you could say, was kind of Henry Cavill before Henry Cavill, albeit American:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jon+erik+hexum&sxsrf=ALeKk01LM4IHYCBpVZFRf5YqsAKHKLdovQ:1602148526281&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj67aSu1KTsAhVQXKwKHYz6DoEQ_AUoAXoECCkQAw&biw=1600&bih=740

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Had never heard of him before but wow he really did look like Cavill. what a tragic outcome. Had he not died I could totally see him being cast as Superboy TV series or Superman in Lois&Clark

other guys who sort of had that Cavill look) - Patrick Wayne (who was a considered for 1978 Superman), Steve Reeves, Jason Patrick, Matt Bomer

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Christopher Reeve turned forty in September 1992, which means he would probably have been 38 or 37 years old for a summer 1991 release. He looks much older than 40 in that pic.

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I think the manip is part taken from Remains of the Day (1993) so hed only be about 40

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Also, the Salkinds burned a lot of bridges with the original cast during the 2nd film.


if theyd handled it better Donner could've directed about 4 movies (hes said as much and he had no problem doing Lethal sequels) then someone of equal standing could've taken over and the Superman series could've been like the Bond films - Reeve could've done 6 or 7 before being recast, Brando and Stamp could've reappeared in various films, Couldve even teamed up with Batman at some point etc. they could've been on about Superman 15 by now (although theyd have probably done a reboot like MOS at some point as Bond did)

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I'm a sucker for cheap productions from the likes of Cannon films. I'd have liked to have seen it. Indeed, Superman IV was intended as a return to the roots of the series by getting Hackman and Kidder back. Boy was that way off, lol. I think a reboot starring Reeve and maybe recasting the others, most if not all, would have been a cool idea. Since Reeve slimmed down and was still young enough, it could have worked. (Reeve is only about a year older than Cavill was in Man Of Steel for this film.)

If not a John Byrne post-Crisis style reboot, I wouldn't mind him facing off against Darkseid. Perhaps they could have gotten the rights to the Green Lantern and put him and the guardians in the movie together. They could have addressed the question that all Superman media begs: if the yellow sun of Earth turns Kryptonians into Supermen, why have they not conquered it to gain all of this power? A lost war to Oa would explain that one.

All good things must come to an end - Chaucer

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Yep for sure what could have been and never was.





Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there;

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yes 

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Reeve talks Superman V (and then talks about IV) in this vid around the 1.20 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQncL6VwdRk

(also in part 3 toward the end he is asked about appearing in Lois & Clark!)

rare vid showing Reeve signing autographs at same event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=OymF5wST1ng

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I remember reading in an old Wizard Magazine that Superman was going to make an appearance saving Batman and Robin. It was the scene in Batman Forever(Might have been Batman and Robin) when Two-Face had them locked in a giant safe.

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SUPERMAN 5 -The Christopher Reeve Sequel That Never Was...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUP7EiA0wME

This is the first of four videos about cancelled Superman movies I'll be uploading in the next few days.

The next one will be a deep dive into the history of 'Superman Reborn' to 'Superman Lives', followed by J.J Abrams' 'Superman' Codenamed 'Flyby' and then the story of the Wolfgang Peterson's cancelled 'Batman Vs Superman: World's Finest'.

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