Proposed Superman II ending

[The Laughing Fish]

A decade ago, the late Tom Mankiewicz watched a fan's video of how Superman II might've ended if Richard Donner was still directing. Instead of Superman turning back time in The Richard Donner Cut, Jor-El's ghost miraculously turned everything back to normal.

No offense to the fan who made this video, but I'm not a huge fan of this interpretation. You have Superman feeling guilty over the damage that Zod and company had caused thanks to Supes not being there earlier to stop them, but like in the Donner cut, the consequences count very little if everything is reset.

[thecolorsblend]

This is why I prefer Lester's cut to Donner's. It's one thing for Superman to do some time-travel gimmick to save Lois Lane's life like he did in STM. But time-travel to erase everything that happened in the whole world so that he won't have to face the consequences of his actions... I'm sorry but I question the fandom of anybody who prefers that ending over Lester's, where Superman stoically chooses to suffer in silence while Lois gets to avoid the lifetime of heartbreak she'd face otherwise. He has to live with his stupid decisions while she doesn't. He learns something at the end of Lester's cut and it's something that he'll carry with him for the rest of his days.

Donner's ending is one big copout.

[The Laughing Fish]

What intrigues me about this video - and the RDC of SII - is it was envisioned that Zod, Ursa and Non's fate is left ambiguous at best, until time was reset. Because nowadays there are some people out there who insist the deleted scene where they get arrested is canon.

If that's the case, wouldn't Mankiewicz have corrected this video for excluding this piece of detail? Yet, he didn't.

If Richard Donner wanted to, he could've added that scene into his final cut of Superman II. After all, he had access and total control to all of his original footage. But he didn't. It's clear to me that Lester and Donner's decision to exclude that scene meant they never wanted it in their versions of the movie.

But I still see some people argue for its place in continuity, despite both directors demonstrating otherwise.

[The Dark Knight]

If you add in Donner's stuff, it just doesn't make coherent sense. And it's a rehash. The memory kiss is straight from the comics and it's something DIFFERENT. Colors explains why it works better than just repeating the world spin in his post too. So throw Donner's sour grapes in the garbage can and accept reality. Facts are, Lester came on board and it's his film. From my point of view, there is no such thing as 'the Donner cut'. The irony is that they can't turn back time and reshoot the film, but they claim this cut and paste edit is the definitive version. Sorry, it's not. Superman II, as it was released, was already a good film.

[The Laughing Fish]

What intrigues me about this video - and the RDC of SII - is it was envisioned that Zod, Ursa and Non's fate is left ambiguous at best, until time was reset. Because nowadays there are some people out there who insist the deleted scene where they get arrested is canon.

If that's the case, wouldn't Mankiewicz have corrected this video for excluding this piece of detail? Yet, he didn't.

If Richard Donner wanted to, he could've added that scene into his final cut of Superman II. After all, he had access and total control to all of his original footage. But he didn't. It's clear to me that Lester and Donner's decision to exclude that scene meant they never wanted it in their versions of the movie.

But I still see some people argue for its place in continuity, despite both directors demonstrating otherwise.

I brought up this point on another forum a month ago, and most people agreed with me. Except for one guy. This is what he said:

I think fans do the Reeve Superman a grave disservice by actually asserting he coldly let the powerless Phantom Zone villains die at the climax of SII. With or without the Arctic police add-on, that version of Superman at that time would never let even a bitter enemy slide to his death if he could help it. More than likely, Zod and his crew ended up at the bottom of the Fortress a little bumped and bruised but still alive to eventually end up back into the PZ. That's my personal head canon anyway because if Reeve Superman didn't kill anyone while under the influence of knock-off kryptonite in SIII then why would he let beings who couldn't harm him anymore die?

This guy completely bypassed everything I said about the producers would've made it clear that the villains survived if they wanted to. After all, if BR only took one second to show us that Catwoman was still alive by the end of the film, I see no reason why SII couldn't have done the same for Zod. Sorry, but I think you're only deluding yourself if you have to re-imagine events to satisfy your preferred continuity.

Besides

Superman II, as it was released, was already a good film.

I don't think it holds up very well nowadays, but I too prefer the original Lester version over Donner's. The only scenes I think Donner did better was Jor-El speaking to Clark.

[The Dark Knight]

You are right. Deleted scenes are NOT canon. Big blue dispatched these killers and had no trucks to give. The last we see of these terrorists they are sliding down into an icy abyss. That's that. I dig it, along with the rude slob in the diner getting owned.

Superman II has aged but it's still a good movie. I wouldn't undersell its value, given the first two Reeve flicks are, in my opinion, the only two worthwhile entires in the original series. Superman III has its moments, but as a complete package it comes up short. Superman II is a sequel done right, to the point Spider-Man 2 copied it. The hero loses his power and realises he needs to use it for the greater good. This is his life now.

[thecolorsblend]

I really enjoy Superman III. The flying effects are the best the Reeve franchise ever did and the story is pretty much in line with the comics of that time. Very underrated movie. Very enjoyable.

[The Dark Knight]

It's a movie I used to basically blacklist, but there's more going on than people give credit for. The hero gone bad angle is terrific and I dig the Clark Kent scenes. I'm learning to appreciate the film these days, let's put it that way. I'm not as dismissive about it anymore as my Superman fandom has grown.

My favorite representations outside of the comics are:

Fleischer's Superman
Superman: The Movie
Superman II
Superman TAS - JL - JL: Unlimited
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Man of Steel
BvS: Dawn of Justice

As said, Superman 3 has its moments. But it just doesn't do enough for my liking - YET!
Superman IV is an abomination.
Superman Returns wasn't my thing.
I need to explore Smallville better, but see it as honoring the brand.

But honestly, apart from those three films, I like what the studios have done. The DCAU Superman is probably the best of the lot. It's incredibly consistent. Tim Daly is the Kevin Conroy of Superman. I like that they depowered Superman to make the fights more interesting, gave him specialty suits and explored his rogues gallery. Justice League's Superman is a total badass leader. George Newburn evokes Daly but his voice does reflect this older warrior. It's great.

Dean Cain is severely underrated in my view. He's the most charismatic Clark, being a smooth operator. I grew up with this guy, so I may be biased. But watching YouTube clips here and there lately, it still holds up to me.

Cavill impressed me straight away.

The comics speak for themselves. All Superman needs now is a great video game.

[thecolorsblend]

Fleischer is amazing. And perfect, really. Nothing needs to change with them. I used to think an injection of character development would be nice but now I realize they're perfect as time capsules but also in terms of what the Golden Age was really like.

Dean Cain... he was okay. He's one of those actors who never knew wtf to do with his hands so he would gesture with his hands for no reason whatsoever. When you see it, you can't unsee it. Or I can't anyway.

Smallville is incredible. It told the most textured, nuanced story of how Clark becomes Superman that we'll probably ever see. It did it with style most of the time. But what I really enjoy is how the tone of Smallville shifted a little bit each season. If you watch the pilot and then watch the finale, it's almost hard to believe it's the same show because the tone of the show had changed from "vaguely grounded and realistic" to a Silver Age science-fairy tale type of thing. Amazing!

As time goes by, Snyder's Superman seems more and more Post-Crisis to me. I really dig Cavill as Superman and also Snyder's whole approach to the character. Magnificent!

[The Laughing Fish]

The Fleischer cartoons were my first introduction to Superman. They're fun little action shorts featuring giant robots, mad scientists, mummies coming to life, Japanese soldiers and voodoo cults with Superman beating them up without a care in the world. That, and fast talking dialogue. What's not to like?

Superman II is a sequel done right, to the point Spider-Man 2 copied it. The hero loses his power and realises he needs to use it for the greater good. This is his life now.

Spider-Man 2 definitely copied the idea from Superman II, but in my opinion, the Raimi film did a much better job. Peter Parker was suffering stress because being Spider-Man deprived him of having a normal life, but then he later realised that such a great responsibility can't be forgotten. My biggest problem with Superman II is how Clark gave up being Superman. Unlike Peter, Clark never saw being Superman as a burden; as a matter of fact, he enjoyed helping people. But then that suddenly changes when he gets together with Lois. Of course, he learns from his mistake in the end, but I just could never believe he'd make it in the first place.