10 Things You Need To Know About Tim Burton's Superman Lives

5. Braniac Was The Main Villain...

In both Smith's take on it and the eventual film that Tim Burton was developing, Braniac was the principal antagonist. The villain has blighted Superman in various forms in the comics over the years, but has yet to appear in a live-action movie, possibly because it's hard to pare down exactly which of the hyper-intelligent extraterrestrial android supervillain they want to go with.

Most versions of Superman Lives involved Braniac not only blotting out the sun over Metropolis (which, besides being a plot of Mr Burns's from The Simpsons, would've robbed Superman of his source of power), but then releasing Doomsday himself to kill the Man Of Steel whilst he was week. Which is pretty hardcore!

And, obviously, the freak-sympathetic Burton wanted to play up the similarities between the alien hero and villain. Some versions also had Braniac responsible for the destruction of Krypton, kinda like how Burton's Batman had the pre-disfiguring Joker as the one who shot Bruce Wayne's parents.

Weirdest of all is the casting choice for Braniac, reportedly the wholesome Tim Allen. As in, the voice of Buzz Lightyear. As in, The Santa Clause. As in, Home Improvement. What?!