Superman IV: The Quest for Peace also has an extended cut that you have to see

Infamous sequel Superman IV: The Quest for Peace may also have an extended cut you probably were unaware of.

Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, and the campaign to have it released, put a spotlight on other uncut versions of films floating around out there – generally unseen. Social media users want to see the “Ayer Cut” of Suicide Squad, for instance, and others are now pulling for the release of a longer, uncut rendition of Batman Forever.

And there are more than you can imagine. One is the last you would expect and something most won’t campaign with a hashtag to see released. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace – a universally panned sequel starring Christopher Reeve – is actually an abridged piece of cinema as often viewed. That means there are more excitement and cheese to be had from this installment.

What would feature on an extended cut of Superman IV?

According to the Superman Homepage, 45 minutes were shaved off the film by director Sidney J. Furie after a poor test screening. In other words, before its release, the 90-minute feature clocked in at 134 minutes – the length of the average Extended Universe flick or Nolan Batman movie.

This ultimately final bow for Reeve as the Man of Steel was meant to be an epic, albeit messy and comical.

Much of what was left out, like Clark Kent visiting his parents’ gravesite and going on a date with Lacy Warfield (Mariel Hemingway), is small potatoes that made it into the novelization and the tie-in comic.

But that’s not saying there wasn’t a bevy of changes or excised material. A big subplot (also included in the comic and novelization) involving a prototype Nuclear Man played by English actor Clive Mantle (who’s still working today) was left forgotten on the cutting room floor until recently.

Mark Pillow, who portrayed the wavy blond-haired Nuclear Man most are familiar with, was asked about the deleted scenes and Mantle’s part in a 2013 interview with Yahoo! Movies UK. Here is what Pillow had to say:

"“A lot of my scenes didn’t make the final cut, but the wonderful thing about the Internet is you can find all these things now! I found something a few weeks ago where I’m in like this stand-up tanning bed and I come out of it and talk to Lacy [Mariel Hemingway] and she slaps me. I looked at it and thought, ‘Well, that was interesting, but obviously it didn’t contribute to the story’. And of course there were all those famous lost scenes with the first Nuclear Man, who wasn’t me. I’m sure that was very disappointing for Clive Mantle. That’s when it started to sink in that things were not quite right. That so much was being cut.”"

Mantle spoke about the experience himself at an appearance last year. He said he barely members the experience but had a good time working and conversing with Gene Hackman and Reeve. Mantle added cuts were made to save roughly $6 million of the budget, as far as he knows, which is only one theory he’s heard over the years as to why Quest was tampered with.

More from Movies

• James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy casts more major DC characters
• New Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer pushes Arthur to his limits
• 7 actors who could replace Ezra Miller as The Flash in the DC Universe
• Masters of the Universe reboot’s new domain could be at Amazon’s Prime Video Streamer
• James Gunn gives interesting update of Superman and Supergirl movies at DC Studios

Compared to Bizarro in mental acuity and somewhat in appearance, Mantle’s Nuclear Man met Superman outside a club in Metropolis and was soon dispatched by electrocution. Not much to write home about there, but as Pillow said, you can find the scene online – especially YouTube.

This and other deleted material were added strictly as special features on special and collectors’ edition DVD/Blu-ray releases. Quest’s predecessors were all expanded or altered for TV and home-viewing avenues. 40 minutes were added to Superman: The Movie just for broadcasts and 2006 saw the release of the Richard Donner Cut of Superman II.

Anticipating similar treatment of Superman IV that restores it to a 134-min. runtime is undoubtedly futile. Like Batman Forever, there is no detectable interest on the part of Warner Bros., and not all the footage might be recoverable. Then there is the question of if Sidney Furie cares to have it put back in; any jury is still out on that one.

What matters, however, is if the fans want to see it. Judging by the subpar, basement audience ratings on IMDb (3.7/10), and Rotten Tomatoes (15%), it may take some handwringing to rally them the way they rallied for the Snyder Cut. But the seeds are planted.

Do you want to see the complete and uncut Superman IV that didn’t make it to theaters in 1987? Should they release the “Furie Cut”? Make your voice heard and leave us a comment here or on social media.