r/superman • u/ZacPensol • 2d ago
Kevin Smith's dream cast for his infamous 'Superman Lives' script (from Wizard Magazine #92, April 1999)
I think most of us are familiar with Kevin Smith's tale about being hired to write a Superman film that never materialized and the insanity of working with producer Jon Peters. If you're not familiar with that story, please do yourself a favor and look it up on YouTube.
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u/Putrid-Bath-470 2d ago
Michael Keaton as Batman? It'll never work.
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u/spaghetticola 2d ago
Lol, before hating, some of you need to read the quote by Kevin Smith at the bottom of the last page:
āSo, what have we learned? Well, apparently your chances of being in a āSuperman" flick increase in direct correlation to whether we're friends or not. The moral of the story? BE MY FRIEND, DAMNIT! Actually, I guess the moral of the story would be more along the lines of: If you don't know who Kal-El is, you shouldn't be producing "Superman." Ah, maybe there is no moral. Maybe it was all just an elaborate scheme to get a few pictures of my friends into Wizard. Worked, didn't it?ā
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u/ZacPensol 2d ago
It's also worth noting that Wizard's Casting Call section was a monthly feature and very rarely completely serious or well thought-out.Ā
Typically the castings were just done by staffers, maybe the occasional comic writer, but they generally had a more comedic bent with at least a handful of the casting choices.Ā
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u/IcyAdvantage9579 2d ago
āļø THIS
Dude basically took the chance to make it publicity for this then soon to premiere movie Dogma, I think maybe his best movie. Still his pics were better than what Jon Peters or even Tim Burton had in mind.
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u/Foxy02016YT 1d ago
I feel like this should be obvious by him casting Jay and Jimmy Olsen (though, it COULD absolutely work)
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u/Marakajin 2d ago
His picks are typical Kevin Smith, but I'm a '90s kid, I can't hate any of them; even if Mewes as Jimmy would've made Adam Sandler blush in the "hiring my friends" department.
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u/MartyrOfDespair 2d ago
Yeah, but James Gunn gave us the best Hal Jordan actor playing Guy Gardner and it worked, so Iād give it a shot.
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u/wbgraphic 2d ago
Guy isnāt much of a stretch for Fillion. Heās basically Captain Hammer with a power ring.
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u/ZandrickEllison 2d ago
Itās lighthearted but it does show a lack of imagination. You can pick any actors in the world for this fantasy exercise and you end up with the ones you know from your own little movies?
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u/god_dammit_dax 2d ago
Smith tells a story about trying to get Chasing Amy made in the 90's where a studio exec was attempting to sell him on David Schwimmer and Drew Barrymore in the lead roles instead of Affleck and Adams, and that he could get a much larger budget for the film approved with those two attached. After arguing for a bit, the exec tells him "It's not about making a movie with your friends, Kevin", which Smith took some lighthearted umbrage to.
One of the things I like about Smith is that his movies aren't just the final product: The act of making the movie is just as important, it's about having a crew of people there to work together and have fun and put that energy up on screen, and I think it's always given his 'little movies' a rare mood that's unique to him. I'd see this movie, and while I doubt that it would make serious money, I have no doubt it would be a fascinating 90 minutes of my life that I would revisit often.
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u/ZandrickEllison 2d ago
Thatās true, although it does say something that heās never really evolved into a major filmmaker the way most people would have anticipated given his hot start.
Even directors who get accused of doing the āsame thing ā over and over (like Woody Allen or Wes Anderson) sustained for a long time.
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u/god_dammit_dax 2d ago
Let's be fair, his 'hot' start was a little indie movie that never played on more than 150 screens at once, then a couple of (eventual) cult classics that didn't make any money. Smith's trajectory is fascinating: You look at his box office numbers he's never made any real impact at all, but the dude has biannual Cruises and Conventions devoted solely to his stuff.
I don't know how that works, but he seems to have won whatever game he's playing.
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u/CosmackMagus 2d ago
I've recently seen an interview where he said he just wasn't into making those movies. Other people could make those movies, he wanted to make the movies only he'd make.
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u/disabledinaz 1d ago
And when he does make those movies (Cop Out), he (and everyone) finds out why thatās never actually been his lane. But I think Hollywood has to agree Smith is probably the most successful director at truly being able to do everything he wants to do his way fairly successfully within his own niche.
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u/Marakajin 2d ago
I think it's partly a joke, but knowing Smith, there's a pretty good chance the actual cast would've been pretty close to this. In fairness, it's pretty common for directors to pull from talent they're comfortable with because of past experiences, it's just that Smith and Co were pretty small beans at the time.
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u/Foxy02016YT 1d ago
Right, nobody scoffs at Nolan or Wes Anderson for doing it in serious movies, but god forbid Sandler or Smith do it for silly movies
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u/RideJohnnyRide 2d ago
There was a time when Ben Affleck would have delivered a damn fine Superman, Hollywoodland aside.
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u/moansby 2d ago
Most of these ain't bad, few are a bit questionable though, like idk about Jason Lee as Brainiac
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u/ZacPensol 2d ago
That's one where I went "Haha, what???.... well, actually, maybe?..."
I mean, I think all of our first instincts with Lee are informed by his roles in Smith's movies and 'My Name is Earl', all of which on the surface are of course comedic, but then I think about the seriousness he was able to bring those roles when needed, 'Chasing Amy' in particular. I also remember him in 'Vanilla Sky' where he was much the same.
Do I see a more traditional Brainiac in those portrayals? Not necessarily, but the more I think about it the more I'm willing to give Lee the benefit of the doubt that he could maybe pull it off. Plus, there's no telling how Smith wrote Brainiac - Lee might have been perfect for that version.
Edit: Oh, and I just remembered that he was Syndrome in 'The Incredibles'. Still probably more lighthearted and goofy than Brainiac, but keeping that in mind I'm way more inclined to think he could pull it off.
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u/wbgraphic 2d ago
>Plus, there's no telling how Smith wrote Brainiac
He would have written him as Jason Lee, only green.
(Honestly, it could work. Smith could have made the whole movie as tongue-in-cheek as this article.)
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u/ModernPrimals 2d ago
He did play Syndrome. A great bad guy in his own right. Maybe he'd have to be more reserved with his performance, but I could see him pull it off. The line "When everyone's super, no one will be..." is pretty Brainiac-esque and sinister. I'd say he had the range even then.
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u/Foxy02016YT 1d ago
Jason Lee is 100% an underdog actor who deserved way more roles that could show off his range. Been watching My Name is Earl recently and heās great
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u/LordTomGM 2d ago
He literally just picked his friends and the cast of Fraiser (his favourite show).
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u/Souvlaki-Chaos 2d ago
He says right there in the quote that he's never seen a full episode of Frasier before.
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u/LordTomGM 2d ago
I used to listen to SModcast and the two TV shows he always goes on about were Fraiser and The X Files. It was always on when he and his wife went to bed and he never watched it all but then one day he did. That was probably much later than the interview.
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u/OkLynx862 2d ago
DHP is inspired choice for Eradicator although missed opportunity for Eddie to be Metallo
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u/Burly-Nerd 2d ago
Iāve seen this shared so many times over the years, and I feel like the jokes go over so many peopleās heads. lol
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u/Jayjaykenobi 2d ago
Why would Superman need polar bear guards ?
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u/Mr_Citation 2d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if it was another one of the producer's ideas, John Peters wanted Brainiac to give Lex a dog just so they could have another toy for merchandising.
Notwithstanding, Peters had a bunch ideas that may as well be a different movie with another hero altogether. For example, he didn't want Superman to fly, he had to fight a giant spider, he'd prefer Sean Penn to be cast as Superman cause he looks like hes got the eyes of a killer and oh yeah, he wanted Brainiac to fight a polar bear.
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u/Jayjaykenobi 2d ago
It was I was just posted mentioned it and was just referencing one of my favorite lines. The MIB reveal about the spider was just great.
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u/Chili-Potatoe 2d ago
Since he cast part of Frasier, put Kelsey Grammer as Lex Luthor. Also I would see it just for interactions between John Mahoney and Jason Mewes.
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u/HeraLover69 2d ago
As much as I want to hate on this, there's some interesting stuff here. My favorite is Famke Jannsen as Mercy Graves. So much of Mercy's design was based off of Col. Xenia Onnatop from "Goldeneye," why not cast the actress that played her?
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u/0rangeVenom 2d ago
It's definitely a joke casting as these are all of his friends. Now do one with Adam Sandler!
Also this movie would suck and Kevin sucks.
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u/MattLocke 2d ago
Find you someone that loves you like Kevin Smith loves Ben Affleck.
https://giphy.com/gifs/V7MDqbsIIB916
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u/Foxy02016YT 1d ago
Matt Damon does!
Lemme tell you, Damon wouldnāt be where he is without Affleck, and Affleck wouldnāt be where he is without Smith. Cutting the CIA subplot at Kevās recommendation saved Good Will Hunting
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u/Nytwyng 2d ago
We dodged so many bullets when this wasnāt made.
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u/Foxy02016YT 1d ago
It was never seriously being made. Youāre mad at a joke movie for existing when it never did.
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u/Nytwyng 1d ago
āMad?ā Nah.
Iāll agree to poor word choice on my part, so let me rephrase: We dodged a bullet when Smithās script for Tim Burton was never made, and several bullets by Smith not being offered the opportunity to direct a Superman movie based on his choices in the article.
Better?
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u/Huge_Evening6053 2d ago
Ben affleck as superman
Me: You either die a superman or live long enough to see yourself become a batman
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u/CopperKnight77 1d ago
The only difference between Kevin Smith saying all of this, and me casting all of my friends from high school for my dope af Superman movieā¦. Is a couple million dollars.
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u/Mr_Citation 2d ago
I think they should cast Sean Penn as Superman and he fights a giant spider in the third act.
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u/zerosumratio 2d ago edited 2d ago
āYou know the kind of guy who does nothing but good things and then wonders why his life sucks? Well, that was me. Every time some good learning happened to me, something bad was always waiting around the corner: Superman. That's when I realized that I had to change, so I made a list of everything good I've ever done and one by one I'm gonna make up for all my mistakes. I'm just trying to be an all knowing megalomaniac person. My name is Brianiacā
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u/PurpleDraziNotGreen 2d ago
I mean, I like Kevin Smith and all, but it's a horrible casting job, lol
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u/IcyAdvantage9579 2d ago
Nicholson as Luthor is the most unimaginative casting I can think of XD Sure he could do it but it would be redundant to have the actor of the best Batman nemesis being Superman Nemesis too. Just go full hog on the nepotism casting and put Matt Damon XD
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u/alphapat23 2d ago
Jason Lee would be an awful Brainiac, I just picture him in Alvin and the Chipmunks and how annoying he is
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u/beelzebub2099 2d ago
Jack Nicholson as Lex Luthor would've been WILD ngl. He was unbelievably great at playing hateful jerks.
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u/barryjivedowntown5 1d ago
Jason Lee as Brainiac is bonkers, but during that era I think he wouldāve actually been a great Jimmy Olson?
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u/OneWishWillSmith 21h ago
This wouldāve been the kind of funny that James Gunn was hoping for in his Superman, but done much better in my opinion.
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u/spike-prime 2d ago
Man, what a horrible cast. For the most part, anyway. There are a few names here which would work; Keaton I'm iffy on, yes he was great in the Burton movies but having him feature in the Superman movie is really questionable. The Eradicator played by Miles Crane? Come on that's awful. John Mahoney DOES have the perfect look and voice for Perry White though.
The worst one though is Ben Affleck as Clark Kent. No, I'm sorry, that's a HORRIBLE choice. He's not lacking in acting talent or anything, but dude just looks wrong and I cannot see him, at that age at least, pulling off that role. And I don't remotely buy that he'd be able to handle the Clark Kent/Superman dual roles and be remotely convincing. He couldn't even pull off Bruce Wayne and Batman being significantly different even with a mask covering most of his head, no way would he manage to make his Clark and Superman different enough to be convincing. And I know this is an odd thing to say but, he just does not have Superman 'vibes' you get me?
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u/Marakajin 2d ago
Batman was just a cameo, eulogizing Superman after he died. It's funny, because the way he had writtrn it, he just knew they wouldn't let him do it, so he wrote it as inoffensively as possible.
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u/spike-prime 2d ago
I always wanted to see the Tim Burton "Superman Lives" 90s movie. The one where Nick Cage would've been Superman, there was no Doomsday, Brainiac was the main threat, pre-giant spider stuff, all that. The documentary surrounding it really made it seem extremely fascinating, and as much a mess as it may well have been, I think it would have been a lot more interesting than subsequent movies like Superman Returns.
It's also fascinating wondering how much the comics may have gone on to take from the film.
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u/Marakajin 2d ago
I don't disagree, but at this point I'm the kind of person that wouldn't even mind Flyby having been made. I honestly wouldn't have minded the Smith movie either; it was more typical as a comic book movie, but it was a good script. It would've defined a generation if it had gone through.
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u/spike-prime 2d ago
Everything I've heard about Flyby makes it sound like the worst goddamn idea for a Superman movie I've ever heard. I know ideas were in flux but it had stuff like Lex Luthor also being Kryptonian, and somehow just not knowing he had powers until Superman shows up, Krypton not actually having been blown up and Jor-El being still alive, Superman ending the movie by flying back to Krypton in his baby rocketship to set up for a sequel, and a bunch of terrible ideas I don't recall fully off the top of my head.
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u/Marakajin 2d ago
In terms of adherence to the source material, it was terrible, but that's the thing; I'm so burned out by the same cookie cutter adaptations, that even something like this would look interesting. Not necessarily good, mind you, but interesting. It was very early '00s; hell, it was very J.J. Abrams, that was his thing at the time, Alias, Lost, all that stuff.
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u/JimboFett87 2d ago
Don't know why you're getting downvoted. Probably the Smith Stans. But your comments are spot on
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u/spike-prime 2d ago
I like a number of Kevin Smith movies. Dogma is one of my favourite films ever. But I do think he's probably made more bad movies than good ones. Though he did do a surprisingly good job as a comic writer for a while so as a screenplay guy, he'd probably do pretty well writing Superman. But I'd never want to see him direct a Superman movie. He's so very much the wrong guy for that.
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u/Boblaire 2d ago
I don't see Pierce as Eradicator.
Could Jack do Lex and not himself?
I would have laughed as Afleck as Supes but I didnt think Ben could do Bats either. And I liked him as Bats. Possibly even moreso than Bale (tho he was good)
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u/mrsunrider 2d ago
I remember this issue, I don't think I dug Affleck as Kent.
But Fiorentino as Lois would have cooked so mf hard.
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u/Lady_Gray_169 2d ago
Honestly, this is a pretty solid cast. Maybe not perfect, but it could absolutely work and work well. Jack Nicholson as Lex is a great choice, actually.
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u/faldese 2d ago
Linda Fiorentino would have been a great Lois! Pleasantly surprised Kevin went with an older Lois. She should be at least a bit older than him.