It’s a great time for Superman fans, with the Man of Steel soaring into movies, TV, animation and comics. To help us stay on top of it, writer Tim Beedle shares what's grabbed his attention and why in this monthly Super-Family column.
 

When I made the decision to devote most of this year’s Super Here For… columns to the Man of Steel’s big screen forays, Superman II was probably the one I was most excited to revisit. That’s because of the three Christopher Reeve Superman movies that I’d seen, Superman II was the one I remembered the least about.

Obviously, I know that it features Terence Stamp’s General Zod, along with Sarah Douglas’s Ursa and Jack O’Halloran’s Non. The image of the three of them in those stylishly dated, but still pretty cool, black suits touching down on Earth was about all that I could recall from the film. I also knew that it remains a favorite of longtime Superman fans—with many preferring Superman II to its predecessor.

Now having rewatched it, I’m not sure I’d agree. There’s a looseness about the movie’s story that borders on chaotic at times, with moments of camp and slapstick offset by some shockingly violent episodes that I’d completely forgotten about. Seeing Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent bloodied up—well, it’s pretty shocking. Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed Superman II and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. But in the ever-present debate among fans over which of the first two Superman movies is superior, I think I’d give the edge to the 1978 original.

What Superman II does have is the best villains of the series. Stamp, Douglas and O’Halloran are all excellent and an absolute blast to watch, offering a truly formidable threat to Reeve’s Superman that Lex Luthor could never hope to provide in the first movie. (Though if you do like Gene Hackman’s Luthor, he’s back and plays a pivotal role here as well.) The climactic fight across the streets of Metropolis remains thrilling, even by modern day standards, with some of the best visual effects we’ve seen so far in the Reeve films. Both Superman and his three House of Zod adversaries make thrilling use of their heat vision for the first time as well as their freeze breath…though the less said about their bizarre levitating finger ray, the better.

But more interesting to me than the Kryptonians’ never-seen-before-or-since superpowers or the infamous controversy surrounding the production of the movie is what it has to say about the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane. When an accident involving the most ill-considered fireplace in history reveals to a suspicious Lois that Clark Kent is actually Superman, the Man of Steel decides to open up to her about everything and takes her to the Fortress of Solitude. While there, he’s told by the Fortress’s Kryptonian record system that in order to love a human woman, he’ll need to give up his powers and live as a normal human man.

Alarmingly, Superman is learning about and considering this while Zod, Ursa and Non are destroying the White House and taking the world hostage—something the isolated Kal-El and Lois know nothing about. It’s a startling reminder of just how different life now is in the always-connected world of today. Superman’s modern-day Fortress has a computer keeping him appraised of world events, but in the early 1980s, it truly was a Fortress of Solitude. We hear important characters like Perry White and the President of the United States openly question Superman’s absence several times throughout the film, and understandably so. It just feels wrong for the Man of Steel.

But should it?

Superman isn’t a machine or computer system. He’s an alien, but from a human-like race that shares our imperfections. He can and does make mistakes. It’s just that this one seems inexplicable because even a non-powered human is rarely so disconnected for so long today.

But the far bigger mistake he makes is deciding to give up his superpowers so that he can be with Lois. I say “mistake” because it inarguably proves to be one in the movie. Without his powers, he can’t even stand up for Lois against a belligerent trucker, let alone protect her and the rest of Metropolis from Zod. Ultimately, Clark realizes he needs his powers and returns to the Fortress to restore them—even though it seems to mean not being able to be with Lois.

It's a remarkable bit of self-sacrifice by the Man of Steel, but is it fair? I don’t think that it is. From the years and years of Superman comics, animation, TV and film we’ve gotten since Superman II came out in 1980, we’ve learned that Kal-El and Lois Lane are more than capable of being together without the former giving up his powers. Maybe it doesn’t make sense scientifically—but what about Superman really does?

More importantly, and why I feel like this message is really Superman II’s one sour note, I’ve always felt that Lois, much like Clark’s human parents before her, helps the Man of Steel stay connected to humankind. She helps to remind him how similar he is to all of us. Isolated, with no close relationships in his life, a remarkably OP superhuman like Kal-El might start seeing all of us as different from him. He might start seeing us inferior, which would make him…well, a lot like Zod.

Superman so quickly giving up his powers for Lois—to say nothing about her letting him—probably isn’t his finest moment. (At least sleep on it a few nights, Kal-El!) But I can’t fault the guy for it too much. A lot of super-villains view their enemies’ loved ones as a weakness to exploit, and in fairness, Superman has had to rescue Lois Lane quite a bit over the years. But he’s willing to do it, and Lois is willing to be a potential super-villain target, because they understand something that the villains—and apparently, Superman II—don’t realize. Love makes you stronger, smarter and better in every way. That’s true for superheroes and for ordinary humans like us, so there should be absolutely no reason a superhero like the Man of Steel needs to become an ordinary human to experience it. It was a bad decision by Kal-El, sure, but it was a false ultimatum for him to have been presented with.

Superman II may end with Superman restoring some distance between him and Lois, but even though I don’t remember what comes next in this series, I feel safe saying that this is NOT the end of the Christopher Reeve Superman and Margot Kidder Lois Lane love story. The relationship is iconic for a reason. And besides, there’s no way that kiss makes Lois forget that Clark is Superman forever. That’s not even a real Kryptonian power!
 

Tim Beedle covers movies, TV and comics for DC.com, writes our monthly Superman column, "Super Here For...", and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our recurring television column. Follow him on Bluesky at @TimBeedle and on Instagram at @notabard.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Tim Beedle and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.