Stream This: "The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened?"

Nicholas Cage as Superman (Photo: tdoslwh/Twitter)

SPOILER ALERT! This article discusses the ending of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice; if you don’t want to know what happens now, COME BACK AFTER YOU’VE SEEN THE MOVIE!

Zack Snyder has finally accomplished something that the assembled talents of Kevin Smith, Jon Peters, Nicolas Cage, and Tim Burton failed to do two decades ago: he’s killed the Man of Steel. Although Superman survives his one-on-one battle with the Dark Knight in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the movie ends with him flying into battle against the monstrous behemoth Doomsday, and meeting his…well, doom. It’s a tragic finale that originally played out in comic book form in 1992, when Doomsday and the Last Son of Krypton traded punches in a six-issue storyline that culminated in the historic Superman #75, when Superman died and a city and a nation mourned.

While the folks at DC Comics successfully maintained a sad face in public, they must have exchanged lots of secret smiles, because the “Death of Superman” arc reignited interest in their flagship hero and restored his flagging sales to super numbers. Given that, it only made sense to producer Jon Peters—who had secured the cinematic rights to the Man of Steel a few years after shepherding Batman to the big screen in the Burton-directed eponymous 1989 blockbuster starring Michael Keaton—to use a similar storyline as a way to re-launch the dormant Superman movie franchise with Burton again behind the camera.

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Thus began the long, strange saga of Superman Lives, which is chronicled in Jon Schnepp’s inelegantly titled, but totally addictive 2015 documentary, The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? Currently streaming on Hulu and Showtime Anytime and also available for purchase from the film’s official website, The Death of “Superman Lives” is the Jodorowsky’s Dune of comic book movies: a feature-length deep dive into a never-made movie that only exists in concept art and within the minds of its creators.

Originally a cartoonist by trade, Schnepp pieced together the documentary over many years, relying on Kickstarter funding and the kindness of Superman Lives’ deep bench of behind-the-scenes talent to give the defunct project the full attention it deserves. While Nicolas Cage declined to sit down for an interview, he’s well-represented in private archival footage from the ‘90s that shows him modeling test costumes for both Superman and Clark Kent. (Based on what we see here, Cage’s Kent would have been particularly fascinating—a ‘90s slacker rather than a clean-cut ‘50s square.) Besides, his absence is trumped by the presence of Peters, screenwriters Kevin Smith–who landed the project after Clerks established his geek cred—Wesley Strick and Dan Gilroy, and, best of all, Burton himself, who expresses genuine sadness that Superman Lives remains his white whale, even if he’s admitted to being bored by comic book movies.

Related: All Your ‘Batman v Superman’ Burning Questions Answered (Spoilers!)

As Schnepp chronicles, Superman Lives went through multiple iterations during its lengthy pre-production process. One thing that never changed, though, was that Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday would happen early in the film; Zack Snyder saves it for the grand finale in Batman v. Superman. The rest of the narrative would be given over to his eventual rebirth and mission of vengeance against alien bad guy, Brainiac. (While Snyder didn’t fit Brainiac into his movie, rumor has it that he may be appearing in the two-part Justice League, which is due for a mid-April start.) Also unlike Dawn of Justice, most versions of the Doomsday fight in Superman Lives had Superman facing him alone, and not with Batman and Wonder Woman as backup…although lifelong Batman fan Smith made sure to slip a Dark Knight cameo, along with some other DC mainstays, into his script.

(Photo: tdoslwh.com)

Of course, killing Superman is one thing—bringing him back is a whole other saga. The methods of resurrection in Superman Lives included energy matrixes and a succession of special outfits, which would seem to be at odds with the gritty, realistic DC Universe that Snyder is striving for. (In contrast, the 2007 direct-to-DVD animated feature, Superman: Doomsday, depicted a barely alive Man of Steel held captive by Lex Luthor post-Doomsday battle, until his health was restored by the aid of his robot buddies at the Fortress of Solitude.) With Henry Cavill already posting Instagram pics about his Justice League training sessions, there’s little doubt that Zack Snyder’s Superman will live again. If Superman Lives is destined to stay buried, at least The Death of “Superman Lives” provides it with a memorable headstone.

‘The Death and Return of Superman’: Videogame flashback: