Death & Return of Superman Short Film: It’s Funny Cuz It’s True (& Has Amazing Cameos)

we loled
This article is over 12 years old and may contain outdated information

Recommended Videos

The Death and Return of Superman is “a somewhat-mostly-accurate educational parody film,” according to its creators. Those creators? Bryan Basham and Max Landis, the son of famed director John Landis. This is a video comic fans will get very excited over (whether positively or negatively) and that non-readers will get a kick out of because it’s so ridiculous it couldn’t possibly be true. Except it kinda is. It also includes cameos from Mandy Moore, Elijah Wood, Chris Hardwick, Simon Pegg (as John Landis) and one more extra special appearance I don’t want to spoil. Give it a watch. 

Even though it sounds as if he’s completely trashing the genre, you could say the younger Landis has a keen interest in superheroes. He wrote the screenplay for the new film Chronicle, which revolves around a group of teenage boys who find themselves with superpowers.

“I’m not drunk in the video, I only get about three cups in,” writes Landis. “The original rant was 45 minutes long, so of course we had to cut a bunch of stuff out for time, and because it was just too stupid. Like for instance the part where Pa Kent dies of a heart attack and literally GOES TO HEAVEN. AND SEES SUPERMAN.” Yeah, that also happened. He also neglected to include the real impetus for the 1992 Death of Superman storyline. That was Lois Lane and Clark Kent’s marriage in the comic being put on hold to coincide with their marriage on the ABC television series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and the creators needing another big event to take its place. Yes, true story.

(via Nerd Approved)


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Jill Pantozzi
Jill Pantozzi
Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."