10 Terrible Mistakes That Almost Ruined Superman For Everyone

5. His Quest For Peace

So remember when we mentioned Smallville being, like, the only opportunity for a live-action Superman we thought we had? This is why. It's all the fault of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. And a little bit Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but we can't stay mad at Dean Cain. Just look at his little face! The Quest For Peace, meanwhile, can be killed with fire. There was a period in history where the Man Of Steel was synonymous with the big screen portrayal courtesy of Christopher Reeve, and rightly so! Reeve is one of the few actors who has nailed the physical transformation between Clark and Superman, making it halfway acceptable that nobody would notice the similarities between the two. He made us believe a man could fly, also.

We can't lay the blame for the steaming turd that is Superman IV at Christopher Reeve's door, either. It's not that dude's fault. He did his best. Somehow, after a trilogy of Warner Bros-funded blockbusters (the third one is dope and we'll hear no dissenting opinions), the fourth film ended up being made by Golden-Globus, a production house not known for spending any money. Or making good films. Or bringing anything but suffering into the world. Which is why incredibly cheap Superman film, made primarily in Milton Keynes, which technically was released unfinished, exists. And considering the movie Superman was the public's primary Superman for a while, it nearly killed the character.