Random 'Superman IV: Quest For Peace' Was Such A Mess That It Tanked Franchise For Decades (10 items)

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  (#6) Nuclear Man's Shoddy Dubbing Made Him Look Uncomfortable When He Spoke

  In the film, Nuclear Man (Mark Pillows) was created from the DNA in Superman’s hair by the criminal mastermind Lex Luthor. Although none of Lex’s genetics went into the mix at all, this didn’t stop Nuclear Man from having his creator’s voice.

  In addition to the dub, audiences also noticed something uncomfortable about Nuclear Man's face whenever he spoke. This may be due to the bizarre way in which the lines were dubbed.

  The usual norm is for the actors to deliver their lines on camera, then for the voice actors to record dialogue in editing to be dubbed over. This was the case with Christopher Reeve for Jeff East (young Clark) in 1978's Superman: The Movie.

  However, in the case of Superman IV, this process was done in reverse. Gene Hackman recorded all of the dialogue first and Mark had to mime in time to the lines being played back to him while filming.  

  Mark Pillow said in an interview:

  That was an odd, late choice to have Gene do Nuclear Man’s lines and have me lip sync to them. Gene didn’t expect that and neither did I. It led to a very wooden performance, which made it a challenge. All I was doing was following Gene’s voice, which gave me very little scope to do anything. To this day I’m not completely sure why they made that decision...
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  (#5) The Production Was Unsafe And Ended A Stuntman's Career

  Stuntman John Lees, who worked on Flash Gordon and For Your Eyes Only, served as Nuclear Man's double for this feature. During production, Lees unfortunately suffered a career-ending injury, breaking both of his heels and his left ankle after suffering a 25-foot fall when his harness wire snapped.

  In an interview with the Associated Press, Lees stated, "My career as a stuntman is over."

  Cannon Films admitted liability and Lees was awarded $422,000 in damages. 
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  (#4) Filmmakers Tried To Pass Off Industrial Parts Of England As New York To Save Money

  In another attempt to cut costs, a lot of the major scenes in the movie were actually filmed in England. This is most noticeable when they tried to pass off an industrial park in Milton Keynes as the UN plaza in New York City, along with a Metropolis subway scene that seems to look uncannily like the London Tube.

  In his autobiography Still Me, Christopher Reeve stated:

  Instead, we had to shoot at an industrial park in England in the rain with about a hundred extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere. Even if the story had been brilliant, I don’t think that we could ever have lived up to the audience’s expectations with this approach...
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  (#7) The Script Created Many Unbelievable Moments, Even For A Superhero Film

  While the laws of physics are definitely broken when it comes to the DC universe, in the third act of this feature, things get taken a bit far, even by superhero movie standards. We see our leading lady, Lacy Warfield (Mariel Hemingway), get kidnapped by Nuclear Man, who suddenly has a crush on her after seeing her picture in the newspaper and takes her... into space.

  Despite having no oxygen or space suit, she seems only mildly concerned, and is even able to gasp to express her distress. 
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  (#9) Wes Craven Was Originally Attached To Direct But Left Due To Creative Differences

  During the early stages of production, the story itself started out as something of a passion project for Christopher Reeve and even had horror director Wes Craven in talks to direct the Man of Steel. 

  Unfortunately, Wes eventually left citing creative differences and was replaced by Sidney J. Furie. 

  
   
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  (#1) Christopher Reeve Was Initially Reluctant To Return As The Man Of Steel

  Having felt his interpretation of the Man of Steel had reached its end, especially after the mixed response to 1983's Superman III, which underperformed considerably compared to its predecessors, Christopher Reeve initially declined returning as Superman for a fourth time.

  It was only when the studio agreed to finance his passion project, 1987's Street Smart, as well as grant him creative input toward the Superman IV script, that Reeve eventually yielded.

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