Even if you hated Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns -- and there is a vocal audience who vehemently opposes Singer’s made-over Man of Steel – you have to admit that there are a handful of scenes that work incredibly well. Superman’s mid-air rescue of a crumpling airplane certainly qualifies. The hero’s attempt to recharge his solar-powered battery also strikes me as an incredibly beautiful scene, nicely rendered by director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel. And Singer’s opening credits, which marry Marlon Brando’s words of wisdom to John Williams’ iconic score, give me chills every time I watch.
Too bad that’s not how Singer planned on opening his 2006 blockbuster. Instead, Singer filmed a scene in Superman’s ice-crystal spaceship that illustrated what the director eventually spelled out on a title card: That the hero abandoned Earth to investigate the remnants of his former planet, Krypton. The roughly five-minute sequence, which cost an estimated $10 million, featured Brandon Routh in a grey Superman suit as he explores a space rock and unearths a very familiar logo. It features no dialogue, and adds very little to the overall film. So, it was scrapped. Until now. JoBlo has the clip up this morning. You can watch it below:
The sequence looks costly. It’s largely finished, with top notch effects work that easily could have been attached to Singer’s final product. But as mentioned, the fact that we didn’t see Superman on Krypton isn’t the reason why fans of Kal-El rebelled against Singer’s softer version of the Man of Steel. And now that this clip is circulating, it means Zack Snyder can’t use a form of this opening when he finally releases his Superman reboot in 2013 (not that he planned to, anyway).
