In 1978, Christopher Reeve helped make us believe a man could fly in pre-DCEU movie Superman. For ’80s movie Superman 4, he almost took on the role of director as well as donning the cape in front of the camera, but decided against it.
In production notes for the adventure movie, you can see the timeline of how Sidney J Furie ending up helming the project. Early in development, Reeve was offered script and director approval, and he eventually signed on when Street Smart, a smaller project of his, got funding from Cannon Films. Since he could veto the director, Cannon considered him to direct as well as act, but it’s noted that Reeve didn’t believe he had enough experience.
Therefore, he declined, and furie was eventually drafted. Given all the behind-the-scenes trouble, with backruptcy looming for the studio and other financial woes, it seems Reeve really dodged a bullet. That said, maybe we’d think of the science fiction movie a lot more fondly if someone so intimately familiar tiwh the man of steel had taken the reigns.
Furie was known for his thriller movies, with a filmography full of espionage and wartime stories like The Ipcress Files and Iron Eagle. Superman 4 was his one foray into blockbusters – we wouldn’t want to stick around either.
If you’re unaware, Superman 4: A Quest for Peace is a famously chaotic adventure for the last son of Krypton. The plot involves Superman stopping nuclear weapons, which is a fine pursuit, but conducted a deeply haphazard and confusing way. Gene Hackman plays both Lex Luthor, and the villain, Nuclear Man. Yeah.
If this has you wondering what else is going on with DC at the moment, check out our guide on Aquaman 2.