At the start of Richard Donner’s 1978 masterpiece Superman: The Movie, a child is shown reading an issue of “Action Comics.” Intriguingly, it does not introduce the title hero, but instead the Daily Planet, and its mission for “clarity and truth” during the Great Depression. It’s a scene that places Superman’s universe into the historical context of Donner’s own childhood during the 1930s, and which tells viewers from the outset that this Man of Steel will exist in their own world.
Richard Donald Schwartzberg was nearly 8 years old when Superman debuted in 1938, and therefore among the first children in the world to read Clark Kent’s adventures. Growing up in New York City, he likely saw the skyscrapers of Manhattan as those of Superman’s home Metropolis, and imagined the hero leaping — and eventually flying — around his hometown: for him, Superman was always real, and he wanted his film to reflect the sincerity of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel’s original vision.
On set, Donner espoused the idea of verisimilitude, which he had emblazoned on a placard of the film’s hero: this would not be a camp self-parody like the 1966 Batman TV series, but a movie that felt as epic and dramatic as the comics he read as a child. From the genuinely alien, crystalline take on Krypton, to the sweeping landscapes of Smallville, and the bustling streets of Metropolis, he brought a sense of scale that dispelled any memory of previous, lower budget versions of Clark Kent’s origin: and of course, in casting Christopher Reeve, he banished any audience cynicism about a man as powerful as Superman being that gentle and kindhearted.
Donner butted heads with producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind, as well as veteran actors Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman (he reportedly had to resort to trickery to get the latter to shave his head), to do justice to Siegel and Shuster’s great characters, and was unfortunately rewarded for the first film’s success by getting fired from the sequel. He had the last laugh though, as the next generation of comic book movie directors — including Christopher Nolan, Sam Raimi, and many more — would regularly cite Superman as a major influence on their projects.
Whether you see a deconstructionist take on superheroes like Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, or movies as outlandish as those by James Gunn and Taika Waititi, what you’re still seeing is Donner’s belief in the inherent truth behind all of these characters: that is his legacy. And while he never shot another second of Superman footage after his unceremonious firing, Donner would come full circle by writing “Action Comics” with Geoff Johns in the late 2000s: there, he continued to shape his childhood favorite’s destiny by introducing Chris Kent (named for his late friend), paving the way for Jon Kent, and the Superman & Lois TV series.
Furthermore, as the director of The Goonies, Donner was as integral to the success of Stranger Things as Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and John Carpenter; by helming the Lethal Weapon series, he helped launch Shane Black’s career, and brought Jet Li to American audiences; and as executive producer on his wife Lauren Shuler’s X-Men series, he played a major role in the ascension of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to the top of Hollywood and global pop culture consciousness. His impact on the world of entertainment was undeniably enormous, yet it still feels like it’s been taken for granted next to the work of his contemporaries.
It’s a shame how, after Donner’s passing, and those of Reeve, Margot Kidder, and several others, that there won’t be many people who worked on Superman to be there with us when we celebrate its 50th anniversary in the coming years. Still, as long as there are great superhero stories, and great comic book adaptations, hopefully we’ll continue as if he were guiding us all in person. To Donner: he made us believe a man could fly.
Richard Donner: 1930-2021
