The decline of the Chris Reeve series.

[Frodo]

Donner and I think Mankiewicz had some ideas for where further films could go, but basically they had one large story which was split into two films.

Superman 3 might have had some potential had the Salkinds put their egos aside and took the property seriously.

Had they ditched the Prior idea and instead cast Robert Vaugh as Brainiac, along with the Evil -Bizarro Superman Reeve did play as his tool, in addition keeping Lois Lane, and more of the tone of the first two, it could have been a decent end to a trilogy.

 

[Micromind]

I re-watched it again after a long time and I must say it is very hard to sit through the Faye Dunaway Selena witch stuff. And the dazed love interest stuff. And the boarding school stuff isn't so great either. But if you're patient enough to sit through them then there is that good stuff like:

-The opening scenes of Argo City look great.

-Supergirl discovering the power of flight.

-Supergirl in the Phantom Zone.

-The invisible monster? I guess?

-Helen Slater was just great casting.

-Jerry Goldsmith music is nice. Maybe not one of his major works, but still nice.

-It's the 80s! Like Wonder Woman 1984, it's Supergirl 1984!

Trivia: I remember reading somewhere that the opening titles sequence were actually cast jn Silver (no animated letters or CGI) and were put in a rotating machine to bring them in sequence before the cameras.

 

[Chris B]

I've been feeling nostalgic lately and as I grew up loving the Christoper Reeve films it has been on my mind as to how the franchise would've developed had Donner not been fired from Superman 2.

My gut feeling is that we would've gotten proper adaptations of Brainiac and Bizzaro in the third film had he been directing as Superman 3 already kinda took some inspiration from those two characters. And one of the Salkinds did write a treatment featuring Brainiac early on in development so the character was on the radar.

I'm not sure that we would've gotten a fourth film as I was always under the impression that Reeve was ready to move on that point and presumably Donner would've been to. Keeping in mind the limitations of 80's special effects, I do wonder what other Superman villains would've been feasible. Metallo seems like he would've been too tricky pre-Terminator and using him right after that may have been seen as too derivative. Mr. Mxyzptlk is a character that would've fit the tone of that series.