Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) on Netflix

PG19871h 30mAction Adventure Family

Superman tells the United Nations he means to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Lex Luthor, sprung from jail by his nephew Lenny, builds a new foe from Superman's hair.

Netflix3.0/5
IMDb3.8/1058,211 votes
Rotten Tomatoes10%

Trailer

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Plot summary

Superman pulls the crew of a Russian space station to safety and retrieves the capsule that carried him to Earth, along with a Kryptonian energy module. A recording from his mother Lara warns its power works only once. In Metropolis, he finds the Daily Planet under tabloid tycoon David Warfield, whose daughter Lacy becomes editor and takes a crush on Clark Kent. With the United States and the Soviet Union in an arms race, Superman travels to the Fortress of Solitude, then tells the United Nations he intends to rid the world of nuclear arms. Lenny Luthor springs his uncle Lex from prison. Lex takes a strand of Superman's hair and, with black market arms dealers, fastens the genetic material to a nuclear missile; when Superman throws the missile into the Sun, the discharge gives rise to Nuclear Man.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

Shortly before production began at Elstree Studios in September 1986, The Cannon Group cut the budget of Superman IV from $36 million to $17 million.
Christopher Reeve recalled that a scene of Superman walking down 42nd Street to address the United Nations had to be shot instead at an English industrial park in the rain, with about a hundred extras, no cars and a dozen pigeons.
About 45 minutes of the film were cut after a failed Southern California test screening, including a whole first Nuclear Man played by Clive Mantle; the Nuclear Man in the released film was Luthor's second attempt.
Wes Craven was originally hired to direct but clashed with Christopher Reeve, who demanded a new director; Reeve recommended Ron Howard, but Sidney J. Furie got the job.
After Cannon bought the Superman franchise for $5 million, the studio lured Christopher Reeve back by offering him $6 million, financing for his pet project Street Smart, and approval over the story and director.
Christopher Reeve pitched the film's nuclear-disarmament story himself, in protest at the collapse of the Reykjavik Summit and President Ronald Reagan's military buildup; his story was accepted and he was a candidate to direct.
Jon Cryer, who played Lenny Luthor, said Christopher Reeve took him aside before release to warn the film would be "terrible", and that Cannon ran out of money and released an unfinished film.
Of the four Superman films starring Reeve, this one fared worst, and the series lay dormant for the following 19 years; Reeve called it "a catastrophe from start to finish" and "a huge blow to my career".