The original plan for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace villain Nuclear Man would have repeated the best concept for Superman III. The original Superman from Richard Donner proved beyond any doubt it was possible to do a comic book movie with class. The film - and Christopher Reeve's performance - brought the character to life for a whole generation of audiences, and the first two entries are genre landmarks.
Reeve set a very high bar for future Superman performers too. While the late actor was always proud of his work, Reeve expressed regret over the third and fourth Superman movies. Superman III was left unbalanced when producers opted to create a character for comic legend Richard Pryor, with the sequel being a strange blend of Pryor comedy vehicle and superhero blockbuster. Reeve was left so disillusioned with the sequel he vowed never to reprise the part and dropped out of a planned guest appearance in spin-off Supergirl.
A big payday, promises of creative input and getting a pet project called Street Smart greenlit later convinced him to return for Superman IV. While the sequel's new producers Cannon paid big money to secure his involvement, their financial struggles had a major impact on the quality of the film itself. The Quest For Peace saw the Man of Steel vow disarm the world's nuclear weapons while facing the threat of Lex Luthor's (Gene Hackman) evil creation Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The terrible special effects and lame script are two of the film's biggest issues, though Reeve still commits wholeheartedly to the film. Since Nuclear Man is technically a clone of Superman, the original concept for The Quest For Peace was that Reeve would play both parts.
Christopher Reeve Was Supposed To Play Nuclear Man
Had Reeve played Nuclear Man, the basis for his performance would have been Superman's comic Doppelganger Bizarro. It was decided having Reeve play both hero and villain would be too costly, though the Bizarro connection still made it through to filming. As shot, there were two versions of Nuclear Man. The first was a failed prototype played by Clive Mantle (Game Of Thrones), who attempted to attack Superman and was destroyed after a brief fight. Luthor then used the remains of this failed clone to create the stronger Nuclear Man 2.
Bad test screenings led to Superman IV - which has an fan edit - being cut significantly, with Nuclear Man 1 being deleted entirely. This villain actually did resemble Bizarro in his speech and mannerisms. Having Reeve play a superpowered villain, would have repeated one of the better-received elements of Superman III also. During the story, Pryor's character creates synthetic kryptonite that turns Superman evil for a brief period - though his acts are more petty vandalism than truly dark. However, the movie's best scene has the two sides of Superman split in two, with the "good" Clark Kent battling the Evil Superman.
This is easily the most ed Superman III setpiece and proved having Reeve turn evil for The Quest For Peace could have worked. Prior to production commencing, the estimated budget for Superman IV was $36 million, but this was slashed in half when it finally began filming. This s for the sequel's poor VFX and is likely a key reason Reeve - who ed on Hannibal - didn't end up playing Nuclear Man.
