10 Things You Didn’t Know About Christopher Reeve’s Superman
3. Marlon Brando Didnt Bother Learning Any Lines
Despite being paid $3.7 million plus a cut of the box office total, The Godfather star Marlon Brando didnt take his role as Supermans dad Jor-El particularly seriously while filming Superman: The Movie.
He was only being needed in a small selection of establishing scenes, but Brando refused to memorise his lines. Instead, he would read them live. For example, lines were written on the nappy of the baby - for Brando to read - in the scene where Jor-El puts Kal-El in the escape pod.
As Superman and a large chunk of Superman II were shot back-to-back, Brando had already shot scenes for the second film. But after he sued the Salkinds over a payment issue, they opted to cut him from the second movie. This initially unscreened footage would eventually be used in Bryan Singers 2006 Brandon Routh-starring film Superman Returns.
Additionally, heres one good thing that came of Marlon Brandos time on set: it was Brandos idea that Jor-El would wear the same S symbol that Superman would later emblazon on his costume. The concept of using the S as a family crest has since been adopted into the comic book continuity, and was also reused in Zack Snyders Man Of Steel. Brando may have a taken a lot of money from the Salkinds, then, but he also made a sizeable addition to comic book lore.