Christopher Reeve’s Superman, the archetypal comic book superhero, was born in the early 1930s Depression-era America. The brainchild of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman was initially a villain but soon became the greatest hero known to mankind. The myth of Superman is essentially that he was born on the planet Krypton with a red sun. Before the planet was destroyed, his parents, Jor-El & Lara, sent him off to Earth. The only survivor from his home plane, he became an American icon helping fight World War II, saving FDR and much more. In the early 1990s, Superman was killed by Doomsday. He was resurrected (sound familiar), and his powers temporarily changed, but were soon reversed to the original set of powers.
Christopher Reeve became famous overnight when he starred in the first Superman (1978) movie. He reprised the role 3 more times, although the last movie, Superman 4: The Quest for Peace (1987) was pretty lame compared to the sequels. The first two are rated as the best, and the third, starring Richard Pryor, is a bit of a comic farce in the vein of Batman Forever (with Jim Carrey).
My personal favourite is #2 with the 3 baddies from Krypton. After suffering severe injuries from a horse riding accident, Christopher Reeve was paralysed. He continued to do work behind the camera. He also petitioned Hollywood to make more socially conscious movies at the 1996 Oscars. Although he will best be remembered as the Man of Steel, he has made an enormous contribution to the cause of the disabled and was, in particular, outspoken about Stem Cell Research.
There have been many Superman movies over the years since Christopher Reeve first played the iconic superhero. However, his legacy continues to live on as the gold standard for this beloved movie character. Let’s not forget the brilliant Gene Hackman as Lex Luther in these movies. He will surely be remembered.
This is Christopher Reeve’s Superman at his best. What is your favourite Christopher Reeve moment? Please comment on this post and share it with me.
Christopher Reeve was simply born to play Superman — just look at the picture above as The Man of Steel and as Clark Kent.