Richard Donner revisits Superman

Director Richard Donner, who made us believe a man could fly in the form of Christopher Reeve in Superman the Movie in 1978, is returning to the Man of Steel in two exciting ways.

First, he is teaming with his former assistant, comics writer Geoff Johns to c0-write a run of unspecified length on Action Comics (reportedly to feature Brainiac, a favorite of the director's) beginning in October. Donner and Johns talk about that came about here.

Second, probably even more anticipated by most fans, his long-awaited Director's Cut of Superman II, featuring a lot of previously unseen footage that was shot, but not used for Superman II before Donner was kicked off the film, which was produced at the same time as the first Superman movie.

The new footage will feature unused Brando scenes, a bridge between the two films (essentially, Superman tosses one of Luthor's rockets from the end of the first film into space and THAT frees the Phantom Zone villains, as opposed to the Eiffel Tower bomb shown in the Richard Lester version of Superman II) and a more developed subplot of Lois trying to prove that Clark is Superman. Coverage of the San Diego Comic-Con panel where Donner talks more about his director's cut can be found here.

Additional information on Warner Home Video's plans for re-releasing the Christopher Reeve Superman films on November 28, including the new Donner cut, can be found here.

In related news, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer, who joined Donner on stage during the director's cut announcmenet, noted that he intends to make a sequel to his Superman film for release in 2009. The sequel, he indicated will be more action-packed, now that all the main players have been re-introduced.