The late Christopher Reeve is the subject of a new documentary which has debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival titled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
It follows the Superman: The Movie star's rise to Hollywood icon status and the horse riding accident in the mid-1990s which left him paralyzed from the neck down. His children, Will, Matthew and Alexandra, all appear in the movie and were on hand to discuss their father's immense legacy with Variety earlier this weekend.
While the trade doesn't share any specific quotes, it reveals that Reeve's children were asked to share their thoughts on his return as Superman in The Flash last year. The divisive cameo saw his Man of Steel brought back to life with visual effects. However, many have criticised the poor quality VFX and the moral implications of "resurrecting" an actor after their death.
It's said that none of them have watched The Flash and had no involvement in the cameo.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Will shared his take on his father's career being dominated by Superman and shared the role Christopher was really proudest of.
"In our hometown in Bedford, New York...the local movie theater went through a rebrand a few years ago. The person in charge of that shift reached out to me and said they’d love to have me screen a film of my choice of my dad’s. I responded, ‘Sure, but not Superman. We’re going to do “Remains of the Day.”‘ He was so proud of his role in that movie. It’s not a big role. It’s an important role in the film."
"He got to show a completely different side of himself. I knew how proud he was of that. Not that he wasn’t proud of Superman...but if he were here he wouldn’t choose Superman, he’d choose ‘Remains of the Day.’ I don’t think about the Superman films as much as I do about the swings he got took beyond this larger-than-life role."
Superman: The Movie continues to be a huge influence on the superhero movie genre; for example, it was a key source of inspiration for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige when he entered Hollywood.
In 2022, Smallville star Tom Welling revealed what it meant to him to share the screen with Reeve - who played Dr. Virgil Swan - in the hit TV series.
"He was only supposed to be there for three hours, but I think he stayed for like six and a half. He was like, 'I don't want to leave.' The idea was he would shoot all his coverage, then he was going to leave and I would shoot all my stuff with someone else. But he wanted to stay with me!"
"It got to the point where his nurse said to him, 'I'm going to call the police.' He's like, 'on who?' She's like, 'On you! You're done, you can't be here anymore!' He just wanted to be there. It turned out great, and the story was fantastic."
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story doesn't currently have a wide release date.