10 Reasons Why Richard Donner's Superman Is Still Awesome

There have been many love interest pairings in superhero movie history, but none of them are as balanced and entertaining as the relationship between Reeve's Clark Kent and Margot Kidder's Lois Lane.

Taking on something of a Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn vibe, the pair neither instantly fall in love nor play cute with each other. Clark is bumbling and awkward but polite and trying to be helpful, whilst Lois plays nice but ultimately is very dismissive of him; like how she uses him to carry her things or makes fun of his golly-gee chipper attitude.

Most superhero relationships are pretty one-sided even when both parties are interested. It's always about the hero's quest for the girl, and rarely do we see her point-of-view on the matter.

In Superman, Lois actually serves the purpose of being a counterbalance to Clark's personality and values; the streetwise woman schooling the naive country boy on the ways of modern urban life. It's an even-handed dynamic where instead of one character being subservient to the other, they play off each other and ultimately make each other stronger as a result.

The alleyway mugger scene is the perfect summation of their relationship. Clark immediately wants to give in to the crook's demands, but Lois tries to outsmart him instead. Unbeknownst to her, Clark rescues Lois by catching the bullet, but keeps up his ruse by pretending to faint.

We get the best of both worlds by seeing our hero save the day, but without making the female character look totally helpless; a rare feat in even modern comic book movies.