In late November we lost film director Albert Pyun at the age of 66 to multiple sclerosis. In his career he directed numerous B-grade films including The Sword and the Sorcerer, Alien from L.A., Cyborg, and the first film version of Captain America, among others. And yet it seems unusual that he was at one point in the late 1980’s attached to a Superman film project. And yet he apparently was.

After the critical and commercial failure of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Cannon Films heads and co-producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were intent on producing a Superman V for theatrical release in the summer of 1989. They had begun pre-production in the fall of 1987 and, like all of their other movies, began to seek out foreign backers for financial support to raise the money for the film. They made their presence known at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1988 with banners for their proposed film projects, which apparently included Masters of the Universe 2, and they distributed flyers announcing their intentions to produce Superman V for release in 1989.

This wasn’t a fluke by any means. Their intentions were genuine. And they had considered Albert Pyun to direct the movie. Granted, he had experience with numerous science fiction films and could have brought that element into a Superman film, as the first two films had science fiction elements to them with the planet Krypton, the green crystal that was key to both films, and beings with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. So it would have been in his purview to handle Superman.

But we have to remember that the first three Superman films had been produced with larger scale budgets, and as Pierre Spengler commented, one of the key ingredients of the Superman films was special effects. And with the budget on Superman IV a rather paltry $17 million, and given Cannon’s penchant for producing low budget movies, it’s possible that Albert Pyun would have had to work on a small scale budget with Superman V as well. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have been a problem with him when you look at his 80s films. The Sword and the Sorcerer was produced with a $1.5 million budget, and Cyborg came in with a $500,000 budget, mere peanuts compared to Superman.

But this is where it gets even wonkier.

Golan and Globus also considered using some of the deleted footage from Superman IV as the basis for Superman V. When you look at the deleted scenes on the DVD or Blu-ray, there’s not much that could be incorporated into a potential story… with the exception of one sequence.

As we know, part of the story dealt with the creation of a prototype Nuclear Man, played by Clive Mantle. Lex Luthor tasked him to “Destroy this man!” This led into the entire Metro Club sequence, which, except for numerous still photographs over the years and a few songs on the Superman IV soundtrack, has never been seen in its entirety. Granted, we have those photos, the novelization, and the comic book adaptation to give us an idea, but nothing beats the actual footage. This led to the showdown between Superman and the prototype Nuclear Man, which was budgeted at approximately $6 million. All in all, the footage totaled around 10-15 minutes in length and served as part of the story of Superman IV.

So apparently the villain of the story would have been the prototype Nuclear Man, who in this incarnation bears resemblance to another comical villain in the Superman canon, Bizarro. Beyond that, there’s very little else that would have made it into such a story.

Which created another problem. Golan and Globus had considered replacing Christopher Reeve, whom they felt was getting a bit too expensive. He had earned a $4 million paycheck for appearing in Superman IV, in addition to co-writing the story, directing the lunar fight sequence, and also getting his film Street Smart produced. By this time in his life Reeve’s career was shifting, and his status as an above-the-credits actor was at an end because of back-to-back film failures with Superman IV and Switching Channels. To Golan and Globus, replacing Reeve would have made sense in keeping with their status as low-budget film producers.

But that would have also meant potentially replacing Gene Hackman as well. Pull one string of a fabric, and ultimately the whole thing unravels. Had they considered that? Possibly.

Furthermore, releasing the film in the summer of 1989 wouldn’t have been a prudent idea. That was the year lots of films came out to varying degrees of success… Lethal Weapon 2, Ghostbusters 2, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, The Karate Kid III, Licence to Kill, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade all fought their way to the top, only to be dominated by the one movie that exploded like gangbusters everywhere – the long-awaited film version of Batman. How would Superman V fared in that lineup – success or failure? Given how IV bombed, likely failure. When you add it up, it makes sense that their version of Superman V never saw the light of day.

Next time, an unlikely hero arrives on the scene… or does he?