Superman is one of the modern world's most enduring heroic characters. He's appeared in comics, cartoons, TV shows, on countless items of merchandise and, of course, on the silver screen. Since 1978 Clark Kent and his alter-ego have appeared in no fewer than six live-action feature films, making one of the most photographed superheroes in cinema history (second only, of course, to his old buddy Bruce Wayne). The quality of those films has varied wildly from film to film, but there's no denying that Supes is as popular as ever, especially after Man of Steel and the promise of its much-hyped sequel, the first the character will have received since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. Filmmakers, it seems, have had more chances than with most other characters to tell their own stories about the Man of Tomorrow, but what about those who came close but never got the opportunity to make their dreams a reality? There are at least as many unproduced Superman films in the annals of history as there are ones that made it to the big screen, and the thing is that some of them actually sound kind of amazing. Most of them all sound absolutely bonkers, of course, which is probably why they didn't get made, but that just makes it all the more tantalising for hardcore fans to want to see what could have been. Here we present the seven weird, wonderful and downright bizzaro films that could have been our defining Superman story if not for a quirk of fate or the conservatism of a studio. Brace yourself.
