Though the famously unmade Superman movie, Superman Lives, never came to fruition, it could have drastically changed the careers of those involved as well as audiences' perception of the iconic hero. After Superman's run of successful movies in the late '70s and early '80s, the poorly-received Superman IV: The Quest for Peace effectively ruined the reputation of Christopher Reeve's iteration of the hero. In 1996, Kevin Smith pitched a story outline that reimagined elements of the character in an apparent attempt to move away from the previous movies.
Smith's script included the villain Brainiac sending Doomsday to kill Superman, as well as blocking out the sun to rob the hero of his powers. After director Tim Burton signed on and Nicolas Cage was cast in the title role, Superman Lives entered pre-production in the summer of 1997. Wesley Strick was hired to rewrite Smith's script and reworked numerous elements of the story that Smith had written. Strick's version was later deemed too expensive, and Dan Gilroy was brought in to rewrite it again in order to bring down the film's budget. These behind-the-scenes issues ultimately led to Superman Lives being put on hold in April 1998, and the production never recovered.
Had Superman Lives come to fruition, however, it would have drastically changed the landscape of superhero movies, as well as the careers of those involved. The reasons behind the cancelation of Superman Lives can ultimately be boiled down to the involved writers, directors, and actors being incredibly passionate about the project - something that most likely would have translated to an excellent movie had the issues been overcome. Superman Lives also could have been a landmark film for superhero cinema, as many of the planned story elements and themes were ahead of their time. Here's how it might have changed things.
Superman Lives Would Have Broken Superman's Movie Villain Curse
One of the most interesting elements of Superman Lives is the villain that Kevin Smith had originally planned to include. Smith's initial story heavily featured Brainiac, an extraterrestrial android who is one of Superman's most significant comic book villains. By giving the character of Brainiac such a prominent role in Superman Lives' story, the film would have fixed a major Superman movie villain problem.
Superman movies typically feature one of two Superman villains: Lex Luthor or General Zod. Though other villains have been explored somewhat in TV shows and animated movies, live-action adaptations almost always focus on either Zod or Luthor, and other significant characters are typically forgotten. Even in the years since Superman Lives was canceled, the curse has continued - Batman v Superman briefly featured a watered-down Doomsday, but that has been the only real deviation to date. Superman Lives would have resolved that issue by introducing another important and heavy-hitting Superman villain to the big screen back in the '90s, and Hollywood's overreliance on Luthor and Zod would have been broken.
Burton's Vision Would Have Redefined Superman For Modern Audiences
After Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, it became clear that his vision as a filmmaker could work well in the superhero genre, as he demonstrated a knack for blending the fantastical with the dark, and Superman Lives would have continued that trend. Burton's approach to storytelling is rarely self-serious, and as such, there's always an element of levity and whimsy that ensures his films can be dark without becoming bleak. This is something that Superman desperately needed in the late '90s - The Quest for Peace was far too silly and had hurt Superman's Hollywood credentials, but he's simply not a character than can be made too dark. Superman requires a delicate touch, and Tim Burton's movies prove that he was an excellent choice to direct Superman Lives.
In addition to Burton's abilities as a filmmaker, Kevin Smith's script seems to have brought a respect for the character's comic book source material that would have been invaluable. The combination of the two would have redefined Superman's image in the late '90s - the idea was that Superman Lives would have focused on his identity as an alien and an outsider (something that Man of Steel went on to do instead). As Burton's vision was so far removed from the previous version of Superman played by Christopher Reeve, Superman Lives would have shifted the cultural perception of what the character was about.
How Superman Lives Would Have Changed Nicolas Cage's Career
Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of Superman Lives is the man hired to play Superman himself. Nicolas Cage's movies have featured some incredibly varied performances over the span of his career, proving that he's a singularly versatile performer. Had Nicolas Cage starred in Superman Lives in the late '90s, his career over the years that followed would almost certainly have proved to be incredibly different.
Though the 1990s was a decade of huge success for Nic Cage, the '00s were not, as the actor hit a career slump and starred in a number of box office bombs and critically panned films. Had Cage managed to stick the role of Superman, however, he'd have continued his run as one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Not only would there likely have been a number of Superman sequel movies for Cage to star in, but landing one of the most iconic roles in cinema would undoubtedly have opened other doors for the actor. Though Cage's career is now very much back on track, if Superman Lives had actually been made, he likely would never have needed to make a comeback in the first place.
Superman Lives Could Have Started A Shared Universe
One of the other most notable aspects of Superman Lives' potential was that there were originally plans to introduce a shared live-action DC universe back in the '90s. There were reports that Michael Keaton had been approached to appear in Superman Lives, although he always remained decidedly cryptic about exactly what part he would have played in the story. This fueled speculation of a Tim Burton-led shared DC universe, and Superman Lives could have proved the deciding factor in making that happen.
If the late '90s had seen the beginnings of a shared universe, DC would have beaten the MCU to the punch years before Marvel's shared universe came to fruition. This would have led to Superman Lives making DC the dominant force in the superhero movie genre, especially as Batman and Superman are perhaps the two most iconic heroes in all of pop culture. Though Superman Lives ultimately never got made, if it had come together, it could have drastically altered the landscape of Hollywood as well as the legacy of Superman in film.