8 Movies That Were Wiped Out Of Continuity By Their Sequels
3. Superman Returns Completely Ignores Superman III and IV
Richard Donners Superman was the first comic book movie that really worked, nailing both the look and tone of the source material. It was a huge hit and Christopher Reeves gave the defining portrayal of the character. It certainly left a mark on director Bryan Singer, who would later leave X-Men: The Last Stand to direct Superman Returns. Singer was so taken with the first two movies that he wanted to create a direct sequel to them. He wasnt nearly as taken with Superman III and IV though. III had Superman playing second fiddle to Richard Pryors annoying criminal, and the painfully low budget Part IV had him fight the lamest villain ever in Nuclear Man. Singer made the easy choice to gloss over them, and Returns has Superman disappear to look for his home planet sometime after Superman II. He returns five years later to find Lois Lane has moved on and had a child, and Lex Luthor has been released from prison. Direct links to the earlier movies including reusing John Williams score, Lex Luthor returning to the Fortress of Solitude after his visit there in Part II and Marlon Brandos likeness being used as Supermans father Jor-El. Various scenes and dialogue also pay homage, such as Supermans line about air travel being statistically safer. The biggest sign that Parts III and IV are actively ignored, however, is that Martha Kent is still alive. For all this effort, Superman Returns wasnt the success Warner Bros. wanted and Superman was soon rebooted in 2013s Man Of Steel.
