10 Deleted Scenes Which Totally Change Classic Films

10. Superman II Doesn't End With Murder!

Zack Snyder's grimdark reboot of the Superman movie franchise, Man Of Steel, caught a fair bit of flack for the prototypical superhero and American icon killing so many people. Like, so many people. Well, we can't be sure that the climactic battle between Supes and evil Kryptonian General Zod across Metropolis definitely killed people, but they did level half the city. And then at the end he was forced to break Zod's neck before he laser beamed a nuclear family into oblivion. Why was it so contentious? Because Superman doesn't kill! Well, apart from all the times he has. Including the ending of Superman II, the classic Christopher Reeve film from the seventies which saw his big blue boy scout going toe-to-toe with Terence Stamp's version of Zod.

Whilst the neck-snapping of Man Of Steel was sadly befitting the more serious, gritty tone, the final slaughter in Superman II was totally out of nowhere. These are the movies sold with the tagline "You will believe a man can fly" - it's all whimsical and colourful and fun and comic book-y. Which means: no death. He flew backwards around the world to bring Lois Lane back to life in the first film, remember. Well, turns out that the reason Superman seemingly flung Zod and his depowered Kryptonian Kill Krew of a cliff - where they would surely die upon impact with the ground - was down to a scene lost in the infamously messy production.

Originally Superman II was to be helmed by Richard Donner, who directed the first movie and has also done basically every other amazing film you watch on a Sunday afternoon. Due to conflicts with the studio he was replaced midway through filming with Richard Lester, who did some Beatles films. This lead to the film being a bit of a tonal and narrative mess, and somehow lead to the deletion of a filmed scene where the police turn up at the Fortress Of Solitude to arrest Zod and pals, meaning they definitely didn't die! Hooray!