Countdown to Superman: Superman IV The Quest for Peace (1987)

 A lot has happened in the last four years. The Salkinds sold the rights to the Superman movies to Cannon Movie Group, and they convinced Christopher Reeve to return by promising him creative control and funding for another movie. It worked. Reeve got his anti-nuclear weapons message in and both movies were made.

We also get to see Superman's ability to speak many languages in this one. 

Again, I think this one is better than I remembered. Reeve shows off some much better acting chops. Maybe it is me, but even at the beginning of the movie, it feels like the end. 

Don't get me wrong, it is bad. But not as bad as I remembered. 

Mariel Hemingway costars as tabloid heiress and an attempt to "sex-up" the series. She plays Lacy Warfield, who is taking over the Daily Planet. The whole double date of Clark/Lacy and  Superman/Lois is a little too "Three's Company" for me. Take a drink every time she says "Daddy" and you'll be dead by the end of the movie. 

Jon Cryer, who up to this point had primarily been in teen comedies, appears here as Lex's nephew Lenny. Is he Lena's son? His parents are never mentioned, but that might be fun given the future Supergirl/Arrowverse connections. 

Nuclear Man gets a lot of grief, but honestly, the idea is no stranger than some ideas about Bizzaro. I mean that is basically how Bizzaro was created in the Superman animated series and how some versions of Superboy were created. Indeed, an early version of Nuclear Man was more Bizzaro-like. Unlike some of the made-for-the-movie characters, Nuclear Man does make an appearance in the comics. 

The two spend a lot of the last half of the movie fighting, as expected, really.  

Mark Pillow, the actor (but not voice) of Nuclear Man, has made a name for himself in the fine wine industry. 

The headline of "Superman Dead?" in this is a spoiler for the comics' Death of Superman a few years later. 

Supeman finally defeats Nuclear Man by moving the moon to block the sun and then dumping him into a nuclear reactor. Perry White defeats Warfield and gets the Daily Planet back.  

The final speech is very optimistic. Makes me miss 1987. 

Funny note, Superman tells Luthor, "See you in 20" at the end. The sequel, Superman Returns, was released in 2006. So, a year off for good behavior?

Cameos

Jon Cryer would later return in the Arrowverse as one of the best Lex Luthors I have seen. And I have seen them all.

This would be Christopher Reeve's last turn as Superman. In 1995 he had a riding accident leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He would later appear as Dr. Virgil Swann, a Stephen Hawking-like character on the Smallville TV series.