10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Canceled Nicolas Cage Superman Movie

We’re taking a closer look at the Superman movie from Tim Burton starring Nicolas Cage that never happened, though we kind of wish it did.

You Are Reading :10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Canceled Nicolas Cage Superman Movie

The reaction when fans hear that Nicolas Cage was almost Superman can be fairly predictable, especially when looking at the leaked image of Cage in a test Superman costume that had been made for the film. However, it might be surprising to hear that the film might have also been one of the most epic and imaginative takes on the character to ever hit the big screen.

The real story of the film most commonly known as Superman Lives goes much deeper than that leaked image. We’ll take a look at the history behind the film, the story, and a few things you might not know about Nicolas Cage’s canceled Superman film.

10 BASED ON THE DEATH AND RETURN

Following the disappointing Superman IV: Quest For Peace, the franchise lingered in developmental hell for a while as Warner Bros. focused on Batman, which released in 1989 from director Tim Burton. A script was created known as Superman Reborn that was based on elements from “The Death of Superman” storyline in DC Comics.

The character of Doomsday would be the connective tissue between the various scripts made for the film, though the return would be handled differently with each new draft and by each writer brought on to try and breathe new life into the Superman franchise.

9 KEVIN SMITH NAMED IT SUPERMAN LIVES

Writer/Director/Actor/Podcaster Kevin Smith has discussed his role in the production of Superman Lives on his own shows and live Q&A’s as well as on the late Jon Schnepp’s documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, which dives deep into the film that never happened.

Smith was brought on to write a script after a successful pitch with producer Jon Peters, who would play an interesting role in the development of the film. Smith’s major lasting contribution to the film was the new title of Superman Lives, though a few other elements of his script would remain in some form.

8 POLAR BEARS & GIANT SPIDERS

While Smith’s script was full of fan-service moments that comic fans would have appreciated, it was also hindered by a few odd requests from producer Jon Peters. When Smith initially began the script, he was told no costume, no flying, and Superman needed to face off against a giant spider in the end.

This giant spider idea would later develop in Wild Wild West, another Peters production, but it wasn’t the oddest thing Peters wanted to be included in the script. Feeling like a scene at the Fortress of Solitude lacked excitement, polar bear guards were added for the villain to take on, though thankfully some of these ideas were scrapped when a director was added.

7 DIRECTED BY TIM BURTON

Following the success of Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns, Tim Burton was brought on board to bring his own vision of the character to life. Kevin Smith’s script was dropped almost immediately, but the title remained and Burton began drawing concept ideas of Superman and possible villains for the film.

RELATED: The 10 Most Memorable Tim Burton Characters, Ranked

Burton would soon bring Nicolas Cage onto the project as his Clark Kent/Superman, and the two began to construct their unique take on the character over the next few years as production on the film began to ramp up and writers were brought on to work on the story.

6 NOT YOUR TYPICAL CLARK KENT

The film’s main focus was on Clark’s outsider aspect, which developed in a different way in the film as Clark didn’t know he was an alien until his Kryptonian ship is discovered well after he is already Superman. This unknown part of his upbringing led to a very different, much more insecure Clark Kent than fans would have been used to seeing.

We’ve gotten a taste of this unique take on Clark Kent through video of costume tests and discussions between Cage and Burton, which revealed their ideas for Clark that would be far from mild-mannered. As Cage himself stated at one point, no one looking at his Clark Kent would ever think he was Superman, and we would have loved to see this version of Clark on the big screen.

5 LEX LUTHOR AND BRAINIAC WERE THE VILLAINS

The characters of Lex Luthor and Brainiac were both included in earlier scripts for the film, however, it wasn’t until Tim Burton came on board that the two characters actually merged to become a cyborg being known as Luthiac, and later Lexiac.

Lexiac was also responsible for the creation of Doomsday, though the movie version was heavily influenced by the bio-mechanical aesthetic of the film and didn’t look much like his comic counterpart. Brainiac went through a number of different designs, but the most recognized piece of his production was the Skull Ship that housed an intergalactic zoo full of monsters.

4 JOR-EL & THE ERADICATOR APPEAR… SORT OF

In the comics, the Eradicator was an ancient alien device tasked with protecting Kryptonian culture, which would eventually play a large role in the return of Superman after his death. Eradicator first appeared in Kevin Smith’s version of the script, and a version of this idea would exist in Burton’s Superman Lives.

Following the death of Superman in battle with Doomsday in the film, he was resurrected by an artificial Kryptonian being known as K, which would also contain the essence of Superman’s father, Jor-El. K would form around Cage’s Superman and become a healing suit that we’ve seen in many different ways, from concept art to test costumes.

3 THERE’S A LOT OF CONCEPT ART

Speaking of concept art, there was a lot of it produced from a lot of amazing artists, each with their own take on the larger vision from Tim Burton. Tim Burgard, Rolf Mohr, Sylvain Despretz, Kerry Gammell, Jim Carson, Jacques Rey and many other artists including Tim Burton would contribute a huge amount of concept images.

The concept art explored Krypton and various locations like the Daily Planet, Lexcorp, and of course, Brainiac’s ship, while also presenting many different takes on Superman and his various costumes in the film, with a number of different scenes and ideas from the various directions the film took throughout production.

2 THE COSTUME(S)

As we’ve mentioned already, there were a few different versions of the costumes that would be seen throughout the film, and many more created for concept art and test purposes that have been seen in various stages over the years, including the infamous leaked pic of Nicolas Cage in one of the test costumes.

The story would see Superman in his more traditional outfit, as well as a regenerative costume that would go through various forms before finally arriving at the final, dark version of the costume. A notable feature of one of the suits was a metallic S-shield that was also a weapon, and early stages of the regen suit featured a unique fiber-optic design we’d love to have seen finished.

1 MULTIPLE ISSUES LED TO CANCELATION

Like a lot of the canceled superhero films we’ve been talking about this week, there were a number of issues that led to the fall of Superman Lives. The timing was a huge issue, as Warner Bros. experienced a string of box office bombs that made a dark take on Superman from Tim Burton seem like more of a financial risk than when the film had entered development.

Cuts were made to the script due to its enormous budget requirement, which led to further problems and delays. Those problems coupled with producer issues and a lack of support from the studio led to the departure of Tim Burton from the film. The project was quickly shut down, leaving fans with mixed feelings over Nicolas Cage’s potential turn as Superman on the big screen.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/things-facts-trivia-didnt-know-canceled-nicolas-cage-superman-movie/