Superman: The Movie Fans Mourn Death of Director Richard Donner

Superman fans remember Superman: The Movie filmmaker Richard Donner as the 'director of the [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Superman fans remember Superman: The Movie filmmaker Richard Donner as the "director of the greatest superhero film of all time." Donner, who died Monday at the age of 91, is often credited with inspiring the modern comic book movie: The Washington Post once hailed the blockbuster, the highest-grossing film of 1978, as the "true father of superhero cinema." With its iconic tagline — "You'll believe a man can fly" — Donner's Superman took flight with Christopher Reeve starring as the DC Comics superhero, who Donner recently called "a fantasy that really believed in 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way.'"

A childhood reader of Superman comic books, Donner told Retro Fan in 2018, "It was a comic book and every page was a phenomenal one to turn, and you lived the fantasies … Superman was one that stuck with me, but no more than any of the others. Until, of course, he came into my life again many, many years later."

Years later, Donner's Superman: The Movie would send the Last Son of Krypton — the beloved son of Lara (Susannah York) and Jor-El (Marlon Brando) — rocketing to Earth. There Kal-El, as the bespectacled Clark Kent, would find romance with Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) before battling his archenemy Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) as the costumed Man of Steel.

Asked to reveal his advice for the next Superman director when celebrating the 40th anniversary of Superman: The Movie in 2018, Donner told Den of Geek: "It's so easy to get caught up in other people's thoughts of how things should be done. I'm an old-fashioned guy, and I would never expect anybody to change their approach."

"The only advice I have is find the reality and make what you believe," Donner said at the time. "It's tough. The only way you can do it is you've gotta make the movie you believe in."

Comic book aficionado Kevin Smith, who penned a script for the never-made Superman Lives, and comic book writer Dan Slott, who penned issues of Superman Adventures, are among the fans paying tribute to Donner:

From @ThatKevinSmith

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From @DanSlott

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From @edgarwright

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From @michaelp93

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From @PatrickZircher

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From @DDay_Cobra

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From @graemeburk

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From @BamSmackPow

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From @PhilSzostak

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From @MrDavidEBrown

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