The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?

The beauty of The Death of Superman Lives is the access that Schnepp got. He interviews almost everyone (except Cage), and they all want to talk about The Death of Superman. It never feels like anyone is holding back. We’ve got everyone from Grant Morrison, who wrote the original comic book story, Colleen Atwood, all three writers, production designers, uber-producer Jon Peters, and, of course, Tim Burton. It’s also as if for each person, talking about the film is the next best thing to making the film.

With James Gunn’s Superman just days away from public release, Superman Lives raises several concerns about my issues with the upcoming Superman. Do I want an emotional Superman or the majestic stoic hero in my mind? There’s no question that Superman Lives was going to deliver an emotional Superman. One who comes to grips with his place amongst humanity. He feels a range of emotions, especially the dark ones you’d expect from Tim Burton. Maybe this is the Superman I want…or maybe I just wanted a goody-two-shoes hero all along.

Behind-the-scenes look at the 1998 costume test for Superman Lives, featuring Nicolas Cage, costume designer Colleen Atwood

“…about as engaging a documentary as it gets.”

While all the artistic stuff was incredibly cool, what stands in contrast is the making of the sausage. Producer Jon Peters is almost the antagonist of the film. He had a vision and the money, which meant he had the power. He was a force in preproduction. However, to his credit, he remained on top of the project until the film’s final demise. Let’s just say, the world could have had Superman Live, but instead we got Wild, Wild West…yes, the Will Smith movie…with a spider.

As a comic book fan and movie fan, The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? is about as engaging a documentary as it gets. While the film lacks the beauty of an HBO documentary, Jon Schnepp’s personality comes through. He felt just as invested in Superman Lives as everyone else involved in the project. I wanted so much for this movie to be made, and let’s just say that if it had been made, it probably wouldn’t have lost as much money as Wild, Wild West did.