Jon Schnepp, the director of Metalocalypse on Adult swim has an obsession with the Superman film that never was. Superman Lives was supposed to be based on a script by Kevin Smith, was going to be directed by Tim Burton and was going to star Nicholas Cage as Superman and Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane. It was also going to feature Braniac… oh, and it was going to be weird as hell.
There’s all kinds of reasons that the movie didn’t happen, but now Jon Schnepp wants to dive in and not only find out why, but also film some of the weirder scenes from the script.
I’ve been interested in this film since it was first announced back in the late 90’s. Nicolas Cage was announced as Superman, Kevin Smith was announced as the Writer, Tim Burton was announced as the Director, and fans have had very heavy opinions, both positive and negative, on all of this. As news slowly bubbled out, news buzzed around about Rainbow Robot Outfits, Brainiac Skull ships, Superman not “flying”, Fighting a Giant Spider, Polar Bears guarding the Fortress of Solitude. It all sounded so crazy, so weird, so different, that I honestly was hoping that they would actually make it, just so we would have something different from what had come before. It never happened. Cut to almost 15 years later, and I really wish I could slap that “Superman Lives” disc into my player, and watch this guaranteed weird, strange, and original new take on the mythology of the Superman character. By this time, whether it was a success or failure at the box office, It would have for sure been a cult classic, due mainly to its inspired casting, and its tremendous bravery in it’s attempt to merge toy sales with the weirdness.