Superman II (1980) (Stephenverse)

Superman II is a 1980 epic superhero film directed by Richard Donner and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the Superman film series and a sequel to Superman (1978). The film stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York, Clifton James, E. G. Marshall, Marc McClure, and Terence Stamp.
The film received positive reviews from film critics who praised the performances from Reeve, Stamp and Hackman, the visual effects, and humor. It grossed $570.5 million against a production budget of $58 million, a box office success. A sequel, Superman III, was released in June 1983, for which Lester as a director.
==Plot==
Superman decides to give up his superpowers for the sake of his true love, Lois Lane. At the same time, three criminals from his home planet of Krypton land on Earth and try to conquer the world.
==Casts==
* Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor: Criminal genius and Superman's archnemesis. Armed with vast resources and scientific brilliance, Luthor's contempt for mankind is only surpassed by his hatred for Superman. Luthor strikes a bargain with the three Kryptonian criminals in an effort to destroy Superman.
* Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman: Born on Krypton and raised on Earth, Superman is a being of immense strength, speed, and power. Morally upstanding and instilled with a strong sense of duty, Superman tirelessly uses his formidable powers, which he gets from the Earth's yellow Sun, to protect the people of his adoptive homeworld. His alter ego is mild-mannered Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent. Superman's abilities include: X-ray and heat vision, vast strength, speed and invulnerability, super-intelligence and flight.
* Ned Beatty as Otis: Luthor's incompetent henchman.
* Jackie Cooper as Perry White: Mercurial editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet newspaper and Lois and Clark's boss.
* Sarah Douglas as Ursa: Zod's second-in-command and consort. Ursa's evil will and power-lust are equal to and sometimes surpass those of General Zod's. Her contempt and utter disregard for humans, men in particular, make her a very deadly adversary. She has an inclination to collect insignia and heraldry from people she defeats or dominates, such as the NASA patch from the EVA suit of an astronaut she kills.
* Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: The ace reporter for the Daily Planet and Superman's love interest. Lois, is a driven career journalist, who lets nothing stand in the way of breaking the next big story and scooping rival reporters while ignoring the potential consequences that sometimes put her in peril. She finds out that Clark is Superman, but her memory is erased when Clark kisses her.
* Jack O'Halloran as Non: The third of the Kryptonian criminals, Non is "as without thought as he is without voice." At tall, Non is a formidable hulking mute who easily matches Superman's strength, but has the intelligence and sometimes curiosity of a child, and communicates only with guttural grunts and growls. Though he lacks the mental ability to use his powers effectively, he does however possess the same taste for destruction as his Kryptonian companions and his physical strength is even greater than Zod and Ursa's.
* Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher: Lex Luthor's beautiful assistant and girlfriend who helps him escape from prison.
* Susannah York as Lara: Jor-El's wife and Superman's biological mother.
* Clifton James as Sheriff.
* E.G. Marshall as the President of the United States.
* Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: Young photographer at the Daily Planet.
* Terence Stamp as General Zod: The ruthless, arrogant and megalomaniacal leader of three Kryptonian criminals banished to the Phantom Zone and unwittingly set free by Superman. Zod, upon landing on Earth and gaining the same superpowers as Superman, immediately views humans as a weak and insignificant sub-species and imposes his evil will for world dominance. However, his arrogance causes him to quickly become bored with his powers and he is almost disappointed at how little of a challenge humans are. His insatiable lust for power is replaced however by revenge when he learns that the son of Jor-El stands in the way of his absolute rule of the planet.
==Difference compared to real-life release==
*Richard Donner was not fired from production during the making of Superman II, meaning much of the film was 85% filmed by Richard Donner. Although Richard Lester was involved with the sequel as a second director.
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*The film's opening was pretty different: The film begins with the three crimials getting eternal banishment inside the Phantom Zone by Jor-El (Marlon Brando) for insurrection and murder, amongst other crimes when Krypton getting destroyed shortly after. Thirty years later, Superman (Christopher Reeve) diverts a missile into outer space, unknowingly freeing them from the Phantom Zone.
*The film is much longer than the 127 minute runtime.
*The climax scene at Metropolis with Superman and three criminals as a slightly longer than the Donner or Lester versions.