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# Superman II (1981)
- URL: https://the-midnight-screening.ghost.io/superman-ii-1981/
- Published: 2026-08-07T14:59:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-07T14:59:12.000Z
- Author: David Weathersby

Superman in 1978 proved superheroes can work in movies and not be a joke. It was grounded, and no one was more destined to be Superman than Christopher Reeve. Even today, every actor who puts on the suit is chasing him. In 1981, the sequel came to America in Superman II. The production behind the scenes was a mess. The plan was to shoot both movies at the same time, but the budget ran out, and the decision was to release Superman to make enough money to finish Superman II. During that time, the Salkinds who were producing fired Richard Donner as director and replaced him with Richard Lester, who had done The Three Musketeers for them. What you have is a Frankenstein monster of a movie. Mr. Donner’s parts and Mr. Lester’s parts do not mesh. Mr. Lester wanted to camp it all up, while Mr. Donner wanted to keep it grounded in realism. Part of the way to tell which is which, Gene Hackman refused to come back when Mr. Donner was fired, so his scenes were shot before Mr. Lester came on. The fight between Superman and the villains was the best that could have been done in 1981, so it will look slow in 2026\. But there has never been a more terrifying villain than Terence Stamp’s General Zod. At the time, Superman II was considered better than Superman. Since then, that’s been reevaluated and Superman is considered a superhero masterpiece. Superman II has moments, but it’s not as super as it could have been.