'The Death Of Superman Lives' Clip Shows Nicolas Cage Superman Costume Test

Superman Lives, the '90s effort that saw Tim Burton working on a Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage and originally scripted by Kevin Smith, is one of those "could have been" projects that continues to haunt fans. It haunted Jon Schnepp to such a degree that he made a documentary about it. The film, The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?, is now complete and available for pre-order online. The movie is also doing some roadshow engagements, with a planned appearance at Comic Con.

Now you can check out a clip from the film, and it's a big deal for those who've seen costume pics from the film over the years. This clip features a Nicolas Cage Superman costume test, and also reveals the degree to which one of the other now-famous designs from the film would have been used in the final movie. (Hint: barely.) Check out the great clip below.

This comes via the LA Times.

One thing I'm sure everyone has always realized, but which is particularly apparent in this footage, is that Nic Cage as Superman really does just look like a superhero version of Tim Burton himself. How wild would that have been? This movie as a whole would briefly destroy the internet if it went into production now (let's face it: this would never go into production now) but that Cage-as-Super-Burton angle would have been the best thing.

And given how good this costume looks on Cage in the clip above, just imagine how final footage might have come off. That doesn't mean Cage was right for the part, but it would have been interesting to see. Now we're left with just very brief footage, and images like the one below:

Here's the most recent trailer for the doc: