Jon Cryer Explains Why SUPERMAN IV: A QUEST FOR PEACE Was Such "a Mess"
The 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was Christopher Reeves’ final film playing Clark Kent/Superman, and unfortunately, the movie was not good.
It makes me sad that the Superman franchise devolved into that mess of a film. It’s a shame that the right creative people weren’t brought in to help steer the franchise in a better and stronger direction.
Jon Cryer, who played Lenny Luthor in the film, recently opened up about the movie and explained why the movie ended up falling apart.
While a guest on the podcast Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch, and the hosts talked to Cryer about how it’s fun to “find somebody who loves that piece of art that you thought was the the most embarrassing thing you ever did.”
Cryer went on to talk about A Quest For Peace, saying: “I did a movie called Superman IV, which was the last of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, and it ran out of money halfway through, so the movie's a mess.
“If you watch the movie, they never finished the special effects, so they had to cut huge chunks out of the movie and it doesn't make rational sense anymore.
“And I'm sad about it because I loved the [original] Superman movie. I was 14 when Superman came out and I was the demo of that movie.”
Superman IV was made after the producers of the original three films, Ilya Salkind and his father Alexander, sold the character’s film rights to The Cannon Group, Inc. for $5 million, and the company had considered making Superman V while Superman IV was being put together. But, that obviously didn’t work.
As a result of the film’s failure, the Superman franchise was scrapped until the release of 2006’s Superman Returns, which served as a spiritual sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve-led movies.
Cryer also talked about his own role in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and how he not happy with what he did in the film.
He said: “I'm not good at it, by the way. That was another thing that I'm kind of embarrassed about was that I made a very strong character choice that in retrospect did not work.”
Cryer eventually returned to the Superman franchise years later taking on the role of Lex Luthor on the series Supergirl.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace follows Superman as he takes a stand against nuclear weapons in a bid to rid the world of their threat. Troubled by the escalating Cold War tensions, Superman decides to disarm the world's nuclear arsenal by hurling them into the sun.
However, his plans are thwarted when Lex Luthor creates a new villain, Nuclear Man, from a strand of Superman’s hair and radioactive energy. The two clash in a series of battles, with Superman fighting to stop Nuclear Man from wreaking havoc on Earth and to uphold his mission of achieving global peace.
If you’ve never seen the movie, you can watch it on Max.