Some seal on the Fortress of Solitude must’ve broke, because Steve Johnson’s revealing so much material from Burton's aborted Superman Lives in a matter of weeks that fans have wanted to see for years. Where before we only got to see photos of the laser-and-plastic Supes costume, we now have test footage of the electric-arcing action that would’ve been happening all over the thing.
Kneel before this video…
As Screened’s "comics guy," this is pretty eye-opening for what was going on at the comics at the time, as this movie’s development coincided with the introduction of Supes' controversial Tron-style “electro” costume. What seemed like an out-of-left-field attempt at revamping a character at the time now appears to be some unrealized multi-media synergy.
Interestingly enough, what’s been further revealed about this makes it a little less drastic in the scope of things. Apparently, this suit wasn’t meant to be worn for the whole movie. The idea was that Supes would be resurrected by the Krytopian artificial life form, the Eradicator, who’d then cover him in this rehabilitating and re-energizing armor to take Doomsday on again. Considering that, in the comics, it was just a black jumpsuit with a silver “S,” I’d say this is a little more appropriate and a lot more interesting.
I’d also say the suit’s an interesting snapshot of the final days of practical effects in costuming, as this would more-than-likely be achieved with a Green Lantern-style mocap suit today.
They should have changed the title to SUPER-FABULOUS!!
Looks like a better version of the green lantern suit!
You guys make me laugh...
Do you really think it would have looked exactly like that in the movie? Do you have any idea how post processing works to make things look right? Also these were all prototypes and nothing was finalized they were just getting the groundwork done to how to get the lights working.
i don't know, I think them trying to do a Doomsday adaptation to have Superman come back in the blue electric suit would have made an interesting movie....with actual tension to boot. Seeing how they cancelled this and went with Superman Returns a few years later really shows how scared and simple-minded Warner Bros is with their property. Kevin Smith really tried for something with the script putting Brainiac, The Eradicator, and Doomsday in the same movie. It's a real shame it didn't go through.