THIS SCRIPT IS A REPRINT INCORPORATING ALL AMENDMENTS TO THIS DATE 18/4/77 ALEXANDER SALKIND PRESENTS "SUPERMAN II" ****************** Producers: ILYA SALKIND and PIERRE SPENGLER Director: RICHARD DONNER TOM MANKIEWICZ Shooting Script FADE IN: FILM CLIP MONTAGE REPRISE: A reprise of selected film clips from SUPERMAN with the exact content to be determined, but certainly establishing: A. The trial of the VILLAINS, their condemnation by JOR-EL, and GENERAL ZOD'S vow of ultimate revenge. B. Briefly, the characters of CLARK/SUPERMAN, LOIS, LUTHOR, EVE, AND OTIS. C. The hurling of the nuclear missile into space, and its ultimate explosion near the Phantom Zone. AS SEEN IN SUPERMAN: EXT. PHANTOM ZONE - SPACE The intense shock waves caused by the nuclear explosion collide with the linear Phantom Zone, cracking it, and releasing THE THREE GREAT VILLAINS: GENERAL ZOD: A pathological diactator with contempt for everyone but himself. Evil incarnate, his only goal is to command a world of inferiors. URSA: A strikeingly beautiful but cruel woman obsessed by an all-consuming hatred of the male sex. NON: A man only to the extent that he is not an animal. A force of frightening destruction whose only sounds are terrifying gutteral roars. The VILLAINS rush to the crack in the Phantom Zone and their unexpected freedom. NON lets out this horrible roar of an animal suddenly uncaged. ZOD Free! URSA Free! Their grotesque faces fill the SCREEN with howls of glee as they drift off into space. END OF REPRISE. EXT. SKY - DAY - ANGLE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN flies lazily through the air, out for a "spin". He looks down. EXT. HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT - LONDON - DAY The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in London. A blue flash crosses the SCREEN. EXT. BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE - DAY A pack of hounds yelps excitedly, having picked up the scent, scurries quickly across the green British countryside. Behind them: a FOX HUNTING PARTY in full red gear jumps over stone walls and fallen trees in hot pursuit. EXT. CLEARING - DAY The hounds round a corner into a clearing, then instantly stop, confused, begin baying loudly in fear. The HUNTING PARTY follows them, then rein their horses back suddenly. They look O.S., their jaws dropping. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN - THEIR POV SUPERMAN stands in the clearing, hands on hips. Perched on his shoulder, peeking out from under the top of his cape - a small fox. WIDER ANGLE SUPERMAN looks at the stunned HUNTING PARTY like a stern schoolteacher. SUPERMAN A group of well-bred, intelligent gentlemen like yourselves must have better things to do than gallop across the countryside, slaughtering defenceless animals .... SUPERMAN takes off with the fox, leaving the thunderstruck HUNTING PARTY below. CLOSE ON HUNTERS HUNTER #1 watches SUPERMAN fly off, turns to HUNTER #2, peevishly irritated. HUNTER #1 Well that's certainly given my knickers a vile twist ... HUNTER #2 Great blue git ... EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - DAILY PLANET - DAY CAMERA PANS DOWN from the sign over the Daily Planet building. On the street below a large pushcart selling fresh fruit has taken up a position in front of a ground floor pastry shop. A vacant cab pulls up. The CABBIE walks over to the cart to buy an apple. CLOSER ANGLE The CABBIE buys his apple from the PUSHCART MAN, starts to much on it as behind him: a blue blur swoops down, approaches the cab from the side. The streetside back door to the cab opens and closes almost faster than the eye can see. A head pops up in the back seat - it is CLARK KENT, in his full, mild-mannered outfit. The CABBIE turns, mystified, his teeth sticking in the apple as CLARK steps out into the street, casually adjusts his tie, smiles nicely at the CABBIE. CLARK Keep the change ... CLARK enters the Daily Planet building. INT. DAILY PLANET CITY ROOM - DAY The hum of typewriters and activity is heard O.S. CAMERA CLOSE on an edition of the Daily Planet lying on a desk. The front page shows a picture of the collapsing Boulder Dam (seen in SUPERMAN) with the banner headline: "LEX LUTHOR'S SCHEME BOMBS - SUPERMAN SAVES WORLD" - CRIMNAL DRAWS LONG SENTENCE, exclusive story by Lois Lane. Photographs by James Olsen. WIDER ANGLE LOIS sits behind her desk, reads the story, nods approvingly, pleased with herself. JIMMY OLSEN stands over her shoulder, a camera around his neck, all admiration. JIMMY Golly, it's a great story, Miss Lane ... LOIS A picture usually isn't worth a thousand words when I write the article, Jimmy. (nice smile) But in this case - congratulations. JIMMY grins, looks off. CLARK enters in B.G. JIMMY There's Mr Kent! I'd bet he wishes he'd been there when it all happened. LOIS (reading) Poor Clark. For some strange reason he's never around when Superman appears ... JIMMY walks off to join CLARK. LOIS turns over the page of the paper. More of Jimmy's pictures and her story are inside. LOIS reads for a moment, then glances over at CLARK and JIMMY. She returns to her paper, suddenly blinks, looks back. ANGLE ON CLARK AND JIMMY - LOIS POV CAMERA ZOOMS IN on CLARK. He stands talking to Jimmy, hands on hips, smiling. BACK TO LOIS LOIS, her eyes widening, looks down at the paper again. INSERT SHOT - SUPERMAN'S PICTURE A photograph of SUPERMAN - both the pose and the expression are exactly identical to the way CLARK is standing and looking. BACK TO LOIS LOIS is stunned. She looks over at CLARK again. CLOSEUP - CLARK AND SUPERMAN INTERCUT - LOIS' POV CLARK, talking to JIMMY. Then SUPERMAN actually standing there in his place. Then CLARK. Then SUPERMAN, etc, as if two different men were carrying on the same conversation. BACK TO LOIS LOIS picks up a pen, goes to work feverishly, as CAMERA ZOOMS IN on the picture of SUPERMAN in the newspaper. She draws in eyeglasses, changes the hairstyle, colours in a suit, etc. It is a perfect match. CAMERA ZOOMS BACK to Lois, tensely excited. There's no doubt about it - she's made the discovery of the century. She rises triumphantly. PERRY'S VOICE Lane! Kent! Get in here! ANGLE ON PERRY WHITE PERRY WHITE stands impatiently in front of the open door to his office. He wheels, heads back inside. INT. PERRY'S OFFICE - DAY CLARK smiles nicely at LOIS as they enter. LOIS, almost bursting with the new-found knowledge, still hangs on to her newspaper CLARK How are you, Lois... LOIS Oh, just... (Sly wink) Super, thanks... CLARK looks at her curiously. PERRY stares out his open window, turns, checks his watch. PERRY You're late this morning, Kent. CLARK Sorry, Mr White. I... got stuck in traffic. LOIS (Half to herself) Hmm. That's a new one... CLARK Excuse me? LOIS I mean as opposed to: "I had to make a phone call", or "I was locked in the washroom", or ... CLARK LOIS, what are you... PERRY Listen. If you two want to bicker, that's great, because I got just the assignment for you. You're going to pose as a honeymoon couple, in Niagara Falls to get an expose of the newlywed racket. Some of the hotels up there are bilking these kids for every cent they can get. Real human interest stuff. Your Aunt Edna'll cry her eyes out. CLARK (shocked) Newlyweds? Us? LOIS (quickly) That's a great idea, Mr White. CLARK (protesting) But I'm right in the middle of my series on the City council, and ... LOIS Oh, it won't take long, Clark. We can just... (coy gesture) fly right up there and then sort of ... zoom right back again. (quick smile) You know. Like Superman. CLARK has caught her drift now, grows slightly alarmed. PERRY Hey. If he could give you to ride we could save a couple of bucks... (checks watch) I gotta go. Six lousy photographs and Olsen wants to hit me for a raise... PERRY leaves. LOIS sits in her chair, humming, taps the newspaper on her knee. She looks up at CLARK, flashes a broad grin. He looks back at her apprehensively. CLARK Well. You certainly look like the cat who swallowed the canary this morning. LOIS Canary? (rising) No. Actually I was thinking of something much bigger that flies... something more in blue... CLARK Lois, as usual, I'm totally in the dark about... LOIS Here, Clark. Let me turn on the lights for you. LOIS drops the paper down on PERRY'S desk, open to the page with her retouched picture of SUPERMAN. LOIS Get the picture? CLARK crosses, looks down at it, frowning. LOIS You know, I never started to put it together before. And that's funny, because a good reporter isn't supposed to let anything slip by her. CLARK Lois? This is... very amusing (nervous chuckle) Yes, Sirree, very amus ... LOIS Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair... listen, I've got to give you credit. I mean you fooled me... (cool stare) And I'm nobody's fool - Superman. CLARK Su ... Superman? (total disbelief) You think I'm Superman? LOIS Think? I'd bet my life on it. Literally. LOIS walks casually over to the window. CLARK pauses, then bursts into hysterical laughter. CLARK Lois ... you're priceless... you know that? I mean, that's the single funniest thing ... LOIS swings one leg out the window CLARK (suddenly concerned) Lois, what do you think you're doing? LOIS I'm not worried, Superman. You won't let me die... LOIS smiles, swings the other leg out, jumps, disappears from view. CLARK Lois! SERIES OF FLASH CUTS INT. PLANET CITY ROOM - DAY A subliminal blue blur jets through the City Room as papers fly from desks everywhere. REPORTER Will somebody shut the window! EXT. SIDE OF PLANET BUILDING - DAY LOIS falls through the air. INT PLANET STAIRWELL - DAY A revolving blur shoots down the stairwell. EXT STREET - PLANET ENTRANCE - DAY CLARK is almost instantly at the street entrance to the Daily Planet, looks up. BACK TO LOIS LOIS hasn't far to go. BACK TO CLARK CLARK inhales, blows up at her with his super-breath. BACK TO LOIS The gust of wind hits LOIS, breaking her fall, wafting her slightly upward like a leaf. BACK TO CLARK CLARK looks over at the pastry shop directly under LOIS ANGLE ON PASTRY SHOP - CLARK'S POV TWO DELIVERY MEN emerge from the pastry shop, under a closed awning, carrying an enormous wedding cake toward a waiting delivery van. BACK TO CLARK CLARK smiles, turns on his X-ray vision. ANGLE ON STREET - CLARK'S POV The heat vision hits the closed metal awning apparatus. Popping it open. The awning unfurls over the DELIVERY MEN and wedding cake as LOIS hits the awning, bounces, rolls off the edge, missing the cake by a hair, falling heavily into the fruit pushcart. The PUSHCART MAN screams as fresh fruit, especially bananas, goes flying. ANGLE ON SIDEWALK Ripe bananas hit the pavement near the feet of the DELIVERY MEN, burst open. CLOSE ON LOIS LOIS, totally smeared and smothered in squishy fruit, looks up in shock. ANGLE ON CLARK - LOIS' POV CLARK sticks his head out of PERRY'S window, yells down, horrified. CLARK Lois! Oh, thank God!... BACK TO LOIS LOIS Clark! Then you're not... Suddenly realising the disastrous mistake she's made, LOIS faints away into the tomatoes. ANGLE ON DELIVERY MEN The DELIVERY MEN step forward, still holding the cake. DELIVERY MAN Lady? Are you all right? Lady? . ANGLE ON SIDEWALK Their feet move ahead, just missing the ripe bananas. PERRY'S VOICE (O.S.) Seventy-five dollars per week? Do you have any idea what kind of salary I was making at your age? ANGLE ON JIMMY AND PERRY PERRY talks to JIMMY, irritated, as they approach CAMERA. JIMMY looks ahead, sees the bananas, points. JIMMY Watch out for the banana, Chief ... PERRY And don't call me Chief! Olsen, you really take the cake, you know that? PERRY steps on the banana, goes skidding and flying into the DELIVERY MEN, flipping the enormous cake up into the air. ANGLE ON LOIS LOIS opens her eyes, starts to get up, is suddenly hit by what seems like half a ton of cake. ANGLE DOWN ON STREET - CLARK'S POV The scene on the street from PERRY'S office window: PERRY and the DELIVERY MEN flat on their back, the pushcart inundated by the mountain of cake, the PUSHCART MAN screaming hysterically, POLICE arriving, JIMMY trying to help a furious PERRY to his feet, and LOIS starting to rise up again through the mountain of cake as a traffic jam begins to form. INT. PERRY'S OFFICE - DAY CLARK looks down from PERRY'S window, the yelling, honking and screaming clearly audible from below. CLARK smiles, closes the window. Another REPORTER appears in the office doorway. REPORTER Hey, Clark. You seen Lois around? CLARK She ... just stepped out for a minute. EXT. PRISON YARD - DAY CAMERA PANS the prison yard of a penetentiary. The CONS recreate themselves in classic fashion: one group plays ball, another is huddled around a card game, etc. CAMERA PUSHES IN on TWO MEN washing clothes in one corner of the yard, segregated from the others. CLOSE ON LUTHOR AND OTIS LUTHOR stands in front of a large tub of water, transfers wet clothes from a vat, rinses them, hands them to OTIS who rings them out, runs them through an old-fashioned roller-type dryer, stacks them neatly in a hamper. LUTHOR, clearly depressed, sighs deeply. LUTHOR So this is how it ends for the greatest criminal mind of our time. Not with a whimper, mind you. Not with a bang. (examines hands) With washwoman's thumb... LUTHOR sighs again, continues rinsing. OTIS squeezes a garment in the rollers. looks over sympathetically. OTIS I know, Mr. Luthor. I know... LUTHOR What could you know? You've only got a twenty-year sentence. A sissy sentence. But how do they choose to reward Lex Luthor, the world's one true genius? Do they give me treasure? Do they give me glory? What, in fact, do they give me? OTIS Life plus twenty-five years. (cheerfully) It almost worked out, Mr. Luthor. The West Coast was almost destroyed. Millions of people were alomost killed. LUTHOR Almost. Almost, Otis. But as it turned out, thanks to Superman, not one drop of blood was shed. LUTHOR grits his teeth, hands OTIS some wet clothes. LUTHOR All I want now is to get out of here and destroy that miserable, glad-handing showboat. OTIS How? You've tried everything. Nothing seems to stop him. LUTHOR Every man has a vulnerable point. Some like you, Otis, have several. I just didn't find his in time. But now - finally - thanks to my invention, patience, and skill - my black box is nearly ready. OTIS That black box in your cell? LUTHOR (frantic) Ssssshh.....! OTIS (whisper) That black box in your cell? What's it for? LUTHOR looks at OTIS secretively, hands him a wet garment. OTIS It's only one sock..... LUTHOR Pegleg Horvath only needs one sock..... (back to rinsing) All attempts to track Superman with conventional means have failed, inclusing radar, correct? Correct. He flies at super-speed. And yet we know that every so often, when he isn't all tied up with "doing good" and taking bows and kissing babies... he goes North. North. Where? We don't know. The tracking device always loses him.... now why would he go North? OTIS To ski? LUTHOR It's incredible, Otis. Your brain defies all known scientific laws.... OTIS Thanks, Mr. Luthor.... LUTHOR In its infinite capacity to deteriorate..... (rinsing) That black box, Otis - that innocent looking piece of devilish genius - goes beyond all means of conventional radar. (leans in) It tracks Alpha Waves. OTIS (impressed) Alpha Waves! LUTHOR I could have said linguini, couldn't I. Well. No matter, Otis. You'll hear of them again. Those Alpha Waves will lead me North - to his secret. And when I have that secret - I'll have Superman. LUTHOR picks up a wet garment, looks at it with extreme distaste. LUTHOR Slasher Fogelstein is a bedwetter. Pass it on. OTIS nods, turns to no one. EXT. SPACE UPWARD MOVEMENT OF CAMERA (EFFECTS) CONTINUES as Earth and sky become space and silence. EXT. SURFACE OF THE MOON WIDE SHOT: ASTRONAUTS have landed: there is a capsule that looks like the famous LEM, supported on four skinny, spider-like legs, with glowing metal ladders leading from its portal. In BG., two golf-cart vehicles are riding off into the pockmarked cratered surface. INT. HOUSTON NASA CONTROL CENTER - DAY The familiar setting: banks of computers, TECHNICIANS and CONTROLLERS who monitor the ASTRONAUTS. CLOSE ON TWO CONTROLLERS TWO CONTROLLERS stand by the monitoring device. CONTROLLER #1 flips the switch on his console mike. CONTROLLER #1 Houson to Artemis, Houston to Artemis, ome in please. VOICE FROM CONSOLE Howdy, Houston. INT. LEM. CAPSULE - MOON SURFACE An Astronaut, DAVE, who has been up there for forty-five days and looks it (unshaven, haggard, etc.) CONTROLLER VOICE (over speaker) Dave? How's it going up there? DAVE All systems normal, Houston. Robbie is out doing the geological survey, and Boris is headed for crater 215 to get some soil samples. Oh, by the way. Boris and I are getting engaged. (deadly silence) Ah ... just a little detente-type humour there, Houston. I ... DAVE looks out of the porthole, suddenly sits straight up in his seat with a look of absolute astonishment. EXT. SPACE - MOON SURFACE - DAVE'S POV Trough the LEM porthole WE SEE URSA, drifting like a langorous, undulating Rhine Maiden, floating down to the moon surface. A smiling siren. A magical apparition. BACK TO LEM DAVE stares open-mouthed, speechless. CONTROLLERS VOICE Dave? DAVE (whisper - stunned) That's it. Yeah, I'm dreaming. CONTROLLERS VOICE Come in, Artemis! DAVE Yeah ... well ... uh, Houston ... we seem to have an ... an ... unidentified flying ... (stares) object. CONTROLLER VOICE (sharp surprise) Unidentified flying object? What the hell do you mean? What does it look like? DAVE Well, sir ... actually, what it looks like, I would have to say, it definitely looks like, like ... a girl. INT. HOUSTON GROUND CONTROL Looks of worry and dismay. CONTROLLER #2 A girl. (to CONTROLLER #1) Call Dr. Kramer. I told you they'd been up there too long. EXT. ANOTHER SECTION OF MOON The "golf cart" is parked near a rock outcropping by a crater. Astronaut ROBBIE, in his bulky space suit and helmet, laboriously lifts some moon rocks, stands, begins loping back to his vehicle with them as URSA suddenly lands in front of him. ROBBIE recoils, his bug yes clearly visible through his mask. URSA You. ROBBIE Ah ... ah ... yes. M'am? (to himself) I don't believe I said that. URSA What sort of creature are you? ROBBIE M'am, I'm just a person ... (pointing) From earth, you know? I'm just a man. URSA (widening smile) A man ... URSA suddenly reaches out, rips the space suit down the front, tearing a great gaping hole as easily as if she were ripping tissue paper. ROBBIE'S arms flail in the air. He quickly explodes (EFFECTS) from the pressure change. URSA grins. EXT. OTHER PART OF THE MOON Another astronaut, BORIS, his suit bearing the insignia of the USSR, is attached by a long hose to his vehicle as he kneels a few yards away in a crater, scooping up samples of dust and putting them in containers. CAMERA PANS: GENERAL ZOD suddenly pops out of the crater, vaulting over the lip, lands near the astonished BORIS who turns, babbling in Russian. BORIS (In Russian) Who are you? Where did you .... ZOD lifts BORIS' life-line in one hand and, using his fingers as a pair of scissors, simply snips it in two. Arms flailing, his screams echoing, BORIS rises like a balloon, his gravity pull destroyed as he floats up and away. ZOD watches him dispassionately. ZOD What a fragile sort of life form this is.... INT. LEM MODULE DAVE (into speaker - disturbed) I've lost contact with Robbie and Boris, Houston. Don't know what... His eyes widen in horror as he sees: EXT. SPACE THROUGH PORTHOLE - DAVE'S POV The body of BORIS floats past the porthole into space. BACK TO LEM DAVE Oh, my God! CONTROLLER VOICE What is it? What is it? The LEM suddenly begins to shake violently. DAVE is frozen in terror. CONTROLLER VOICE Dave? Dave ! EXT. MOON - ANGLE ON LEM The LEM stands there like a grasshopper. ZOD watches approvingly as NON shakes it by the legs like an apple tree. NON looks to ZOD for further permission. ZOD nods. NON chops one supporting leg of the LEM with a vicious karate chop, knocking it off. The structure lurches violently down to one side. INT. LEM MODULE The LEM lurches violently, flinging DAVE over backwards. Suddenly, wish a smash, the LEM lurches the other way at a forty-five degree tilt. EXT. MOON SURFACE NON has broken off another leg. INT HOUSTON CONTROL CONTROLLER #2 Dave? Can you hear me? EXT. MOON SURFACE NON smashes the two remaining struts. The LEM crashes to the surface. Instantly NON levitates and flies above it. With a roar he rears back, deals the module a mighty blow. It smashes into pieces. The screams of the trapped DAVE echo off through space. CAMERA PANS TO ZOD looking thoughtful. NON roars in triumph. INT. HOUSTON CONTROL Everybody talking at once: "Artemis! Come in! Robbie? Boris? Come in! etc." EXT. MOON SURFACE ZOD, URSA and NON sit amidst the debris.They have decorated themselves with the spoils: ZOD wears patches and NASA badges. URSA sports a NASA belt buckle, worn as a brooch. NON, rocking as he sits, makes frightening noises of pleasure, pleased with the mayhem he's caused. URSA (thoughtful) Strange. I tore those metal fibres like paper. And what he did.... (points at NON) Was amazing! (dawns on her) Something is happening ... ZOD Yes. To all of us. The closer we come to an atmosphere with only one sun - a yellow sun - the more our molecular density gives us unlimited powers! URSA They come from ... earth. (points) There ... (examines NASA buckle) A place called ... Houston ... ZOD Then we must go there too. (rises) To rule. Finally - to rule! (to URSA) And then you shall have what you want. URSA (cold steel) Men. To destroy. ZOD And I will lead. ZOD takes a stance, posing Hitler-like in triumph. ZOD First we strike terror! Second, seize control! United as one, the three fly up and into black space, NON's terrible roar trailing off into the darkness. EXT. PRISON - NIGHT It is curfew time. One by one, lights are extenguished throughout the prison yard. The only illumination left is in the lit guard towers which top the walls. INT. CELL BLOCK - NIGHT - TRACKING SHOT CAMERA TRACKS WITH PRISON GUARD as he walks the length of the cell block making sure the lights are out and all prisoners are safely in their cells. He marks the information down on a clipboard. GUARD 382 ... check ... 383 ... check ... He passes LUTHOR'S cell as CAMERA HOLDS: LUTHOR and OTIS sit in the far corner, clearly visible in a strange light. They are both reading. CLOSER ON GUARD The GUARD backs up, looks into LUTHOR'S cell, irritated. GUARD Lights out, Luthor. Neither LUTHOR nor OTIS move a muscle. GUARD I said Lights out! Again no physical or verbal response. The angry GUARD unlocks the cell door, enters. INT. CELL - NIGHT LUTHOR continues to peer down at a book entitled: HOLLIGRAPHS MADE EASY. OTIS reads a comic. The GUARD crosses angrily. GUARD You guys are about ten seconds away from solitary, you know that? (to OTIS) Gimme that comic ... The GUARD reaches out to snatch the comic away from OTIS: his hand passes right through it as if the book were made of air. The GUARD stops, wide-eyed, steps toward LUTHOR who suddenly disappears completely. He turns back, steps toward OTIS. Now OTIS disappears, but LUTHOR has reappeared. The stunned GUARD looks down, sees he is standing in front of two beams of light. He swivels to find their source as CAMERA PANS: They are being projected from the corner by a small, complicated-looking holligraph device. BACK TO GUARD The open-mouthed GUARD blocks both beams now, revealing a large shiny pane of plastic-looking glass against the cell wall. The GUARD grabs his whistle, yells loudly. GUARD Break! Break! EXT. PRISON YARD WALL - NIGHT All hell has broken loose. Loud klaxons ring out, searchlights glare down from the towers, etc. LUTHOR and OTIS run along the wall, duck as a searchlight beam passes by overhead, just missing them. OTIS holds a long coiled rope, one end of which has been tied around his middle. LUTHOR grabs the coil, flings it over the top of the wall. OTIS grins excitedly, full of the thrill of the jailbreak. LUTHOR looks at him with tragic curiosity, sighs. LUTHOR Tell me again, Otis. Why am I going first? OTIS To see if it's safe for me, Mr. Luthor. Isn't that what you told me? LUTHOR (sad pause) Yes, Otis. That's what I told you. EXT. STREET OUTSIDE PRISON - NIGHT CAMERA CLOSE on the street outside the prison where the rope has hit the ground. Female hands pick it up, tie it securely to the bumper of a car. The rope becomes instantly taut as CAMERA PULLS BACK: It is EVE. She looks up nervously as LUTHOR scrambles over the top of the prison wall, shinnies down the outside, heading for the street. EXT. PRISON YARD - NIGHT The klaxons and searchlights continue. OTIS stands at the bottom of the prison wall, the rope still tied around his middle. (He was the ballast for LUTHOR). He starts to yank himself up as the rope suddenly becomes slack. It slithers back down over the top of the wall and lands at his feet as a searchlight hits him square in the face. GUARD Hey, you! Hold it right there! OTIS turns with a sickly smile, waves shyly into the light as if he were on Candid Camera. OTIS (to himself) I guess it wasn't safe ... Poor Mr. Luthor ... EXT. PRISON - NIGHT A car is waiting with EVE in the driver's seat. LUTHOR jumps in next to her, slams the door as EVE steps on the gas. The car charges off. INT. GETAWAY CAR - NIGHT An ecstatic LUTHOR gives EVE a kiss on the cheek, but she is clearly not happy, her old guilts settling in. LUTHOR Well done, Miss Teschmacher. EVE (stony-faced - glum) Why am I doing this? Why am I here? LUTHOR Is this a philosophy seminar? No. This is a getaway. EVE After all you haven't meant to me, why am I back with you? I must be a masochist. LUTHOR I'll tell you what you are. (patronising smile) You're beautiful. You're beautiful when you drive. EXT. ROADS - NIGHT The car moves rapidly down the back roads. INT. CAR - NIGHT LUTHOR How would you like to take a little vacation? I mean, you've earned it, you know? You deserve it. EVE (brightening) There is some good in you, Lex, after all. LUTHOR You'll have to pack quickly EVE (getting into it) A bikini! I'll need to buy a new bikini, Lex. (suggestively) C'mon. After being cooped up in that prison, haven't you thought about me in a bikini ... once maybe? LUTHOR (flatly) A parka. EVE You thought about me in a parka. That's sick, Lex. Really. LUTHOR (settling back) North! He reaches under his coat, pulls out the black box, sets it on his lap, pets it. LUTHOR We're going North, Miss Teschmacher. EXT. NIAGARA FALLS - DAY A white, textured surface fills the SCREEN. CAMERA PULLS BACK SLOWLY: the surface consists of running water and ice. As PULLBACK CONTINUES it is revealed to be the magnificent Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls. CAMERA PANS AWAY to a typical motel of the area. A flashing neon sign coyly decorated, proclaims Honeymoon Haven. Several cars are parked outside decorated with crepe paper ribbons, tin cans, and "just married" signs. CAMERA PANS, PUSHES IN on a specific cottage. INT. NIAGARA HONEYMOON COTTAGE - DAY A garish honeymoon cottage, all velveteen and formica, with heart-shaped cushions and other kinds of cloyingly distateful romantic nonsense. A bedroom with a heart- shaped bed leads off. CLARK stands by the luggage in the center of the room, nervous, a sour expression on his face. LOIS explores the furnishings, spots a bottle of champagne on the TV with a little card, some flowers on the table, etc. LOIS "Complimentary champagne", a "Complimentary corsage ..." CLARK Oh, sure. Everything's complimentary - until you get the bill. Of all the dumb assignments ... LOIS Relax, Clark ... CLARK I am perfectly relaxed ... LOIS Then unclench your fist. (he does) Listen. We're reporters, right? We're here to get a story, right? So loosen up a little. Take my hand when we walk. Put your arm around me like the other husbands do. For instance, at the newlywed's dinner tonight ... CLARK We're not going. LOIS Not going? That dinner could be the high point of our whole story! CLARK Lois, you saw that sign in the lobby ... LOIS "Vibrators available on request?" CLARK (pause - shy) The other one. The one about the ... kissing contest tonight. CLARK turns away, embarassed. LOIS' face sets. LOIS So that's it. (pause) Come over here, Clark. (pause) Kiss me. CLARK stares back at her, deeply troubled. LOIS advances on him with a sexy look. LOIS Come here, Clark ... CLARK (defensively) Look, I've kissed people before, Lois ... LOIS (sultry) I'll just bet you have. I know your type. The closet lover. CLARK (backing up) Closets? I don't recall ... LOIS Strip away all that shyness, that klutziness, that feeble indecision, and underneath beats the heart of a rampaging stud. CLARK Lois, please ... CLARK is pinned against the wall. LOIS brings her face up close to his. EXTREME CLOSE-UP - CLARK AND LOIS LOIS' mouth opens seductively. She looks up at CLARK who stares down, paralyzed. LOIS Lay one on me, Clark. Give it your best shot ... CLARK hesitates, then squeezes his eyes shut, gives LOIS a kiss. His total ineptitude is only matched by his suddenly growing enthusiasm which he desperately tries to cover up. They break. LOIS looks up at him, dazed. LOIS Wow ... CLARK Was I ... good? LOIS (softly) I ... think I'd like to go into the other room now ... get into bed ... (smiles) You know ... CLARK (trembling) Lois ... you mean ... LOIS That's right, Clark. I think I'm getting a headache. EXT. THE FROZEN NORTH - DAY CAMERA CLOSE ON LUTHOR, the hood of a parka surrounding his head. LUTHOR Mush, Miss Teschmacher! Mush! CAMERA PULLS BACK: LUTHOR is in the front of a snowmobile, EVE beside him, driving. LUTHOR holds his little black box which he studies intently. Everywhere is ice and snow. We are near the Fortress of Solitude. As the snowmobile reaches the top of a rise, LUTHOR, eyes on the box, lets out a joyous yelp. LUTHOR Aha! EVE, startled, stops the vehicle with a sickening jolt. LUTHOR (very excited) What have we here? EXT. SNOW - THEIR POV CAMERA LOOKS DOWN at a vast outcropping of ice, which is, in fact, the Fortress. EVE (V.O.) (disgusted) Ice. Snow. Your idea of a good time. BACK TO SNOWMOBILE LUTHOR Fool! It's his home! His home! Whatever there is to learn about that piebald buzzard, Miss Teschmacher, we'll find the answers down there!.... EXT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - DAY The snowmobile quickly shoots across the remaining distance to the Fortress. They dismount, EVE looking very dubious. CAMERA TRACKS WITH THEM around the impenetrable icy structure, LUTHOR leading the way. EVE (tentatively) His home? All the way up here? You must be wrong, Lex. LUTHOR (aghast) Wrong? Lex? (icily) We do not use these words in the same sentence. They continue walking. LUTHOR holds his little box out to the structure, takes another reading. LUTHOR There's the needle - right on target. EVE Well, there's no number on the door, that's for sure. Not to mention no door.... LUTHOR And no welcome mat, no picket fence, no American flag.... (rounds a corner, furious) We are not in Nebraska, Miss Teschmacher.... LUTHOR is now OUT OF FRAME. (sudden change) But we do have a door! ANOTHER ANGLE LUTHOR is at the door as EVE joins him. With a sweeping gesture he indicates a smooth panel of opaque glass: LUTHOR No visible opening device. No doorknob. No hinges. (bends - studies it) Fascinating. (frustrated) Impenetrable LUTHOR turns angrily. EVE hesitates slighly,then tentatively pushes on it. It swings open. LUTHOR glares at her as she smiles sheepishly. EVE It was ... open all the time, Lex. Isn't that funny? LUTHOR (cold logic) An open door is not funny, Miss Teschmacher. Funny is a person trying to smile without her teeth. INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - DAY WIDE ANGLE: LUTHOR and EVE stand just inside the entrance, dwarfed by the enormous, cathedral-like magnificence of the place. They stand, goggle-eyed. LUTHOR (from afer) Fantastic. The construction goes far beyond all known architectural theory. CLOSER ANGLE They wander across the ground level of the Fortress. EVE looks curiously uncomfortable as LUTHOR pokes about, his attention drawn by the central energy bank and its rows of memory crystals. LUTHOR This place is a work of genius! It lacks nothing. EVE Wrong. LUTHOR I beg your pardon? EVE looks back at him plaintively. LUTHOR Well why didn't you go before we left? EVE Two days ago? LUTHOR examines the energy bank and the mechanism for activating the crystals. One crystal is still inside, sticks out halfway. LUTHOR pulls it out, looks at it curiously. EVE joins him. EVE I think it's boring in here. Everything's white. Why doesn't the guy put up a couple of prints? Bullfight posters, or something. LUTHOR looks at the bench, then over at the wall opposite, trying to figure out why it is positioned where it is. He sits down uncomfortably. LUTHOR Not even a cushion. No wonder they call him The Man of Steel. EVE examines the rows of crystals, takes one out. EVE Now these are kind of pretty ... LUTHOR Get me that ... EVE hands it over, a bit surly. LUTHOR, hoping he's figured things out, jams it into the mechanism. ANOTHER ANGLE Suddenly: The light changes in the Fortress. The giant head of Jor-El materialises on the opposite wall. JOR-EL The virtuous spirit has no need for thanks or approval ... LUTHOR What the ... EVE takes a step back, frightened. LUTHOR looks up at the image with increasing pleasure. JOR-EL ... Only the certain conviction that what has been done is right ... LUTHOR It's his old man! The kid looks like him! Are you his old man? EVE Ask him where the bathroom is. JOR-EL ... Develop such conviction in yourself ... LUTHOR Are you here? JOR-EL ... the human heart on your planet is still subject to small jealousies ... LUTHOR (catching on) Aahh, he's not here! He speaks from the past! Cute, very cute ... JOR-EL ... lies, and monstrous deceptions. LUTHOR yanks the crystal out. LUTHOR So much for moral rearmament. Give me another one ... EVE hands him another crystal at random. LUTHOR shoves it in the mechanism - JOR-EL reappears. JOR-EL Education crystal 108. Earth Culture. A typical ode, much loved by the people you will live among, Kal-El. "trees" by Joyce Kilmer. "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree; a tree whose branches wide and strong ..." LUTHOR, to his credit, quickly yanks the tape out. LUTHOR Good god! EVE Hey wait! I love "Trees". LUTHOR So does the average Cocker Spaniel ... LUTHOR snaps his fingers. EVE hands over another crystal. JOR-EL materialises again. LUTHOR The man never changes his suit. JOR-EL (grim) My son, the time has come to tell you of the darkest episode in Krypton's history ... LUTHOR Now this I want to hear ... JOR-EL Unfortunately, even on our peaceful planet, there have appeared - once in a great while - certain anti-social elements. Deviants. What you on Earth call criminals. LUTHOR (beaming) Criminals ... EVE Deviants. He had it right the first time. JOR-EL Of course, we are not a primitive planet like Earth, and these unhappy souls were always successfully transformed into productive citizens. LUTHOR They never met Lex Luthor. JOR-EL (darkly) There were, however, three exceptions. Only three, who proved - impossible to rehabilitate. LUTHOR (leaning in) But wait. There's hope. As JOR-EL continues, CAMERA PUSHES IN on his image, begins to PAN. What JOR-EL is saying troubles him. His image overlaps itself, changes colors and complexions. As he mentions the VILLAINS and their actions, surrealistic impressions of them appear in pulsating images, as well as their trial, and stormy reflections of the havoc they caused. JOR-EL Non, the destroyer. Unreasoning violence in the shape of a being ... Ursa, vicious and cruel, obsessed by a single-minded hatred which could never be deterred ... and the one force who could unite them, the only one whose warped genius could harness these forces of evil: General Zod. His attempted insurrection was the most painful episode our people ever had to endure. But after a long and terrible battle, peace and harmony were once again restored ... ANGLE ON LUTHOR LUTHOR What an anti-climax. LUTHOR is visibly disappointed. EVE has disappeared. JOR-EL We had, of course, no death penalty ... LUTHOR Sensible enough ... JOR-EL And so they were placed in the Phantom Zone to be imprisoned for all eternity. LUTHOR No possibility of parole? JOR-EL We have, of course, thought long and hard about that question ... LUTHOR (delighted) Hey! I asked the right question ... JOR-EL The one danger we considered was that the Phantom Zone might, we cannot know, just might be cracked by a nuclear explosion in space. LUTHOR sits up, vitally interested. JOR-EL (grim) I cannot say I am glad you asked me that. Because I do not know what could be done if they were to escape. On Krypton these villains were uncontrollable. On Earth, each of them would have the identical powers that you do .... The crystal has run out. JOR-EL'S image fades away. LUTHOR is transfixed. LUTHOR Think of it. Three, count 'em, three Super Villains! All three with his powers, all three totally dedicated to corruption, violence, and evil ... (musing) They'd need a contact on Earth, of course. Someone who felt the same way they did, someone with that same wonderful contempt for life and decency ... (turns) But it's all too good to be true, right? LUTHOR scans the Fortress. EVE is nowhere to be seen. LUTHOR Miss Teschmacher? Miss Teschmacher! There is an unrecognisable sound O.S. EVE'S VOICE (from somewhere) Found it! I think ... LUTHOR sighs deeply, slumps on the bench. 352 - 354 SCENES OMITTED EXT. RIVER BANK NEAR NIAGARA FALLS - DAY A YOUNG BOY sleeps in a small rowboat with a single paddle, a fishing pole dangling over the side. His dog sleeps at the other end of the boat. They float on the edge of a stillwater pool near a large river. Too near, in fact, as the strong current begins to pull them out into the mainstream. EXT. VANTAGE POINT - NIAGARA FALLS - DAY A vantage point overlooking the falls. CAMERA PANS the fence which keeps the TOURISTS who look through bonocular machines from falling over the edge. The area is filled with FAMILIES, PEOPLE taking snapshots, and especially NEWLYWED COUPLES, all holding hands. Not far away is a hot dog stand doing brisk business. CLOSE ON WEDDING RINGS - TRACKING SHOT CAMERA CLOSE on a pair of clasped hands, each wearing a shiny new wedding ring. CAMERA PULLS BACK: CLARK and LOIS walk hand-in-hand along the vista like typical honeymooners. CLARK has a wistful look in his eye, seems to be enjoying himself. LOIS is moodier, her thoughts apparantly elsewhere. CLARK (rhapsodizing) Just look at us, Lois. I mean here we are, strolling along like any other happy couple on their honeymoon ... LOIS (pre-occupied) Uh-huh ... CLARK (shy smile) Lois - are you maybe feeling just a little bit of what I'm feeling? LOIS I am if you're hungry. (pause - apologetic) I'm sorry, Clark, but if the truth be known - actually I was thinking of ... someone else. CLARK (darkly) Why is it I suddenly hear a cape flapping. LOIS Well, I can't help it if I'm a girl with a one-track mind ... (nice smile) And right now, it's saying, "Feed me." CLARK (pause - sigh) Two Hot dogs - coming up. CLARK walks away to the hot dog stand as LOIS turns to look out at the Falls. EXT. NIAGARA RIVER - DAY The row boat with the BOY has been caught up by the strong river current, is carried quickly along toward rougher waters in the distance. The dog barks, wakes up the BOY, who grabs his paddle, frantically tries to stop his momentum. EXT. HOT DOG STAND - DAY CLARK stands at the end of a long line of PEOPLE at the hot dog stand. He waits patiently, bored. EXT. RIVER NEAR FALLS - AERIAL VIEW From the air: The rowboat is tossed about by the violent current, the BOY paddling ineffectively in circles. EXT. FALLS VANTAGE POINT - DAY LOIS stands looking through a binocular machine, PANS the area. Suddenly: Screams from the PEOPLE around her. They point off excitedly. LOIS wheels to look. EXT. HOT DOG STAND CLARK has heard the commotion, looks off as well. EXT. TOP OF FALLS - AERIAL VIEW The boat with the BOY and the dog approaches the top of the falls. BACK TO LOIS LOIS watches in horror. ANGLE ON FALLS THROUGH BINOCULAR MACHINE Seen through the binocular machine: the boat is about to tip over the Falls. The BOY leans forward, hunches down, tucking his dog under him. CLOSE ON FALLS The tiny rowboat cascades down through the swirling Falls. Suddenly: SUPERMAN appears, bursts inside through the powerful waterfall, plucks the BOY and his dog under him. EXT. VANTAGE POINT AND LOIS The CROWD gasps, pointing. LOIS lights up. LOIS Superman! EXT. BASE OF FALLS The empty rowboat slams into the base of the Falls, is shattered into bits. EXT. RIVER BANK - DAY SUPERMAN deposits the BOY and his dog on the bank of the stillwater pool where he was first seen. The BOY looks up with hopeless adoration. The dog barks excitedly. BOY Again! Again! SUPERMAN (winking) Sorry. Only one ride to a customer. EXT. VANTAGE POINT - BACK TO LOIS LOIS swivels her binocular machine in vain.SUPERMAN is gone. The CROWD still buzzes. LOIS Where did he go now? And how come he just happens to be here when....isn't that funny, Clark? Clark? She turns, looks off, as CAMERA PANS to the hot dog stand, then along the viewing rail, past the CROWD. CLARK is visibly absent. CAMERA PANS BACK TO LOIS: Her face changes moods as she realizes: LOIS And Clark isn't here.....as usual. EXT. FROZEN NORTH NEAR FORTRESS - DAY LUTHOR and EVE speed along in their snowmobile. LUTHOR holds the black box on his lap. EVE talks over the roar of the machine as LUTHOR tries his best to ignore what she's saying. EVE ....I mean when a girl reaches a certain point in her life she starts to think about these things, you know? So we're not married. "Who cares?" I used to ask myself. Got that? I used to ask........ LUTHOR'S head suddenly cocks. He hears complicated noises coming from his black box. He reaches over, turns off the ignition key. The snowmobile crunches to a stop. EVE misunderstands. EVE Listen, Lex. I don't want to push you into anything.... LUTHOR I'll push you into something if you don't shut up......... The noises seem to overlap each other. LUTHOR listens incredulously: his eyes begin to glow with excitement. LUTHOR It can't be...but it is.... it's unbelievable...but its true! EVE You broke your box. LUTHOR Kryptonian Alpha Waves! Three sets of them! EVE I didn't know Superman had a family.... LUTHOR It's them! The villains! The incorrigibles! Those three little sweethearts are on their way! Do you realize what this means? They can give me the world! EVE What do you want with the world? You don't even like the world. LUTHOR The world, Miss Teschmacher, is a lot of real estate. EVE Land, land, always land .... LUTHOR Which they'll develop for me! As soon as they get rid of Superman and we take over, I'll put them to work! (seeing it) A super construction crew! No, a destuction crew! Levelling forests, moving mountains, creating coastlines! EVE Here we go again .... LUTHOR And who do we have to thank for it? Superman! For setting them free! (settles back, rubs hands together) Ah, Lex, you're one hell of a fellow. Even when you lose, you win. (pointing dramatically) South, Miss Teschmacher! South! To victory! INT. NIAGARA FALLS BUNGALOW - NIGHT The sound of running water is heard. CAMERA LOOKS PAST the dressing table. PAST a stylish evening gown hanging from a hook on the bathroom door to the silhouette of LOIS behind a cluded glass door, taking a shower. A knock is heard on the door, almost drowned out by the sound of the running water. Then another knock. The water stops as the door opens. CLARK enters, dressed in black tie, a small bouquet of flowers in one hand. He stops short, mortified, as the briefest glimpse of a naked LOIS is seen coming through the bathroom door. She wheels back inside simultaneously disconcerted, but far less concerned. LOIS Whoops!..... CLARK Lois, oh my gosh! CLARK turns his back. LOIS reappears in the bathroom door, a large towel wrapped around her. She glances at CLARK, takes a seat at the dressing table, begins combing her hair. LOIS It's all right now, Clark. I just didn't hear the knock, that's all. CLARK (turning) Lois, for goodness sake. The door wasn't even locked. I mean, just anyone can walk in here. LOIS There you go. (combing) Clark, running yourself down again. CLARK Very funny. CLARK crosses, nervous, deposits the flowers on the dressing table next to her. CLARK Anyway. Here. A little something for the newlyweds dinner tonight. LOIS (glancing at them) Pansies....Clark. How...different. CLARK Would you believe they grow wild around here? You should see what they're charging for roses in the gift shop. CLARK crosses, sits in a chair. LOIS continues with her hair. Watching him carefully in the mirror as if with an ulterior motive. He smiles back self-consciously. CLARK You know something, Lois? In spite of the unreality of this all ... posing as newlyweds and everything. (fumbling for words) In spite of myself, even....I'm sort of finally starting to kind of feel like one, in a way..... LOIS A newlywed? You? CLARK (defensively) Well, I don't see why it should be that strange for me to ...... LOIS (fixing hair - sincere) I'm sorry, Clark. Really I am. I bet there've been lots of girls who..... (thinks about it) Well, a few anyway, who..... CLARK (glum) Go ahead and say it. LOIS What? CLARK That, that somehow I don't seem to... shape up in your eyes. Well, darn it, I have nothing to apologize for. I'm a god reporter. And an even better friend to you - if you'ld let me, that is. LOIS wets her mouth, examines her lipstick, watches him carefully. LOIS Stand up, Clark. CLARK Stand up? LOIS Just for fun. CLARK rises, inadvertantly tugs at his bow tie. LOIS Look at yourself. Potentially, this handsome, agressive, dynamite guy capable of anything he wants to do. It's not my fault, Clark - you run yourself down. CLARK (small voice) How. LOIS Well, in the first place - you slouch. Stand up straight for once. Go ahead. CLARK reluctantly straightens himself. LOIS Good. Now - find yourself a jacket with more than one vent. Shoes that don't lace up. A shirt with some colour or a pattern. CLARK (he's heard it before) All right, all right, Lois, you've made your point. I know where it's all leading and I'm sorry - but no matter how hard I try, I'll never be - him. LOIS (butter wouldn't melt) Him? Who? CLARK Who else? Superman. I can't help the fact you seem to think you love him. That's just something I've got to live with. But darn it, Lois, it's enough now. Maybe I just can't stand the competition anymore. LOIS puts down her make-up, looks at him in the mirror. LOIS And maybe you've just been the competition all along. CLARK (serious stare) Lois, I've never been particularly good at riddles.... LOIS Then let me give you an easy one. Why, with thousands of children falling off something lethal somewhere else in the world, why would Superman appear here - at Niagara Falls - today? Why not the Grand Canyon? CLARK Why don't you ask the child's family? I'm sure they'd.... LOIS Any why is it always when I'm with you? Right up to the moment, of course, when Superman appears. (CLARK stares) You're never there, are you? You've always just disappeared, somehow. And somewhat conveniently, it's always seemed to me. CLARK I was getting us hot dogs, for Pete's sake! You were the one who asked me to! LOIS And when Superman arrived on the scene I looked over at that hot dog stand. You were gone, Clark. You were nowhere. CLARK I was....I was....darn it, Lois, just because I had to go to the..... LOIS levels a knowing stare at him in the mirror. LOIS You are Superman. Aren't you. CLARK Lois, we've been through this hallucination of your's before. Don't you remember what you almost did to yourself, jumping out of a building thirty stories up? Can't you see the tragic mistake you almost made? LOIS (thin smile) You're right, Clark. I did make a tragic mistake. What a fool I was.... LOIS opens a drawer in the dressing table, swivels in her seat, a loaded revolver now in her hand, levelled at CLARK. LOIS I bet my life instead of yours. CLARK backs up, eyes widening. CLARK Lois....don't be insane....Lois, you're crazy! She fires. The gunshot echoes across the room. CLARK remains standing. He stares at her resigned, but almost defiant, his voice becoming that of SUPERMAN. LOIS looks at him lovingly, but quietly triumphant. LOIS I knew it. I guess I must really have known it for the longest time..... SUPERMAN You realise, of course, if you'd been wrong....Clark Kent would have been killed. LOIS How? With a blank? SUPERMAN closes his eyes in frustration. LOIS looks back at him with a soft smile. LOIS Gotcha. INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - NIGHT CAMERA CLOSE on LOIS' hands as she cracks an egg, and expertly starts mixing ingredients into a souffle pan, other cooking utensils, spread out near her, ostensibly in her own kitchen. LOIS' VOICE ...we'll need another couple of eggs...oh, and while you're out, maybe you can pick up a nice bottle of wine.... WIDER ANGLE CAMERA LOOKS PAST LOIS: we realise we are in the Fortress which stretches out behind her. The makeshift kitchen has been arranged on a high rear level. SUPERMAN stands next to her watching, approaches from behind, caresses her neck softly. She reacts, turns slowly. He looks down at her with a disarming, almost shy smile. SUPERMAN And what else is missing? LOIS looks up at him, her eyes filled with love. LOIS For the very first time in my life - nothing at all. SUPERMAN leans in as LOIS trembles involuntarily: they kiss for the very first time - a kiss so good that half the world would settle for just one like that in their whole lives. They finally break, their mouths still only inches apart. LOIS (whisper) Where did you learn to do that.... SUPERMAN Here....just now.... They kiss passionately as we QUICK CUT TO: EXT. SKY - NIGHT SUPERMAN cartwheels and loops in the sky like a lovestruck teenager after his first date. He zooms up and down, back and forth with a silly grin on his face, suddenly speeds off towards the East - the time change gradually turning night into day. EXT. STREET - PISA - ITALY - DAY CAMERA CLOSE on a souvenir stand in Pisa: the shelves hold rows and rows of cheap plastic souvenir Leaning Towers of Pisa, all leaning identically; above are rows of picture postcards with the same identical view. An ITALIAN SHOPKEEPER admires his stock as he gets ready for the day's tourists. CAMERA WIDENS: in the distant B.G. is the real Leaning Tower of Pisa, tilted at the same familiar angle as all the plastic replicas. The SHOPKEEPER hums happily as CAMERA PANS UP to an approaching blue dot in the sky. EXT. SKY ABOVE PISA - DAY SUPERMAN flies blithely, lovestruck, through the sky, a bottle of wine in one hand, a bouquet of beautiful flowers in the other. He looks down, sees the Leaning Tower, playfully swoops to make a low pass at it like a buzzing fighter plane. EXT. TOWER OF PISA - DAY A blue flash circles the Tower twice with tremendous speed and pulls up into the sky again. INSERT SHOT - BASE OF TOWER A huge cracked cornerstone at the higher base of the Tower suddenly crumbles from the impact of SUPERMAN'S incredible speed. ANGLE ON TOWER - SUPERMAN'S POV The Leaning Tower rights itself into an erect position. EXT. PISA SOUVENIR STAND - DAY The SHOPKEEPER dusts his shelves, hums to himself. He turns automatically to look at the source of his success - his jaw drops. The Leaning Tower isn't leaning anymore; it's just another Tower. The SHOPKEEPER clutches his heart melodramatically. SHOPKEEPER Mamma mia! The SHOPKEEPER looks at the Tower, then back at his wares, then back at the Tower - screams after SUPERMAN as the blue dot disappears in the sky. SHOPKEEPER Super-Cretino! Stronzo! ... Hysterical, he makes an obscene gesture, turns, begins smashing his wares off the shelf. INT. FORTRESS - NIGHT EXTREME CLOSEUP of SUPERMAN and LOIS, their faces filling the screen, looking softly at each other. SUPERMAN (whisper) Ready? ... LOIS (shyly) Now listen to me, darling. I realise you've never done this before and I nust have done it hundreds of times, so just relax and do exactly what I tell you - all right? SUPERMAN I'm xxxxxxxx LOIS I understand. Okay. Easy now. Go .... CAMERA WIDENS, PANS: The souffle pan sits a short distance away. SUPERMAN turns on his X-Ray Vision: INSERT SHOT - SOUFFLE PAN The souffle slowly begins to rise under the heat of SUPERMAN's vision. LOIS Slowly now....not too hot... The light dims inperceptibly - the souffle rises perfectly, higher and higher. LOIS Stop! Never overcook a souffle.... ANGLE ON THEM LOIS crosses, examines it, turns, grins, amazed. LOIS Perfect! SUPERMAN It's easy when you know the chef. LOIS (kisses him quickly) Oh, yeah? Wait till we get into roasts and poultry. EXT. TEXAS HIGHWAY - DAY A speeding car roars down an empty Texas highway, past a desolate desert vista. It races by at 100 m.p.h., CAMERA PANNING, revealing a large billboard with a smiling Cowboy, in a western hat painted on it, reading: NO MATTER WHAT SWELLS UP - YOU CAN KEEP IT UNDER YOUR HAT - IF IT'S TEXAS-SIZE. ANGLE BEHIND THE BILLBOARD A Texas Ranger patrol car sits hidden behind the billboard, ignores the flagrant speeder. INT. RANGER CAR - DAY TWO TEXAS RANGERS are busily involved in a sloppy, take- out lunch: giant cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, etc.. Seen through the window past them: A quick flash of colour, as ZOD, URSA, and NON land near the car. The RANGERS munch away, the silence punctured by squawks from their radio transmitter. RANGER #1 looks up into the rear- view mirror, suddenly stops eating, his eyes narrow curiously. RANGER #1 Hey. J.J. ... what the hell day is Halloween ... RANGER #2 I dunno. Sometime in October, ain't it? RANGER #1 That's what I thought. EXT. RANGER CAR - DAY RANGER #1 gets out of the car as CAMERA PANS: coming toward him are ZOD, URSA and NON. RANGER #1 stares in disbelief. RANGER #1 Hey, boy! (ZOD stops) You haul your ass over here! And bring that jailbait and that monkey with you! The VILLAINS approach the car. RANGER #1 turns to face ZOD who stares coldly at him. ZOD What is your name? RANGER #1 You got things kinda ass-backwards, dontcha, son? 'Cause that's exactly what I aim to find out from you ... ZOD I am your new ruler. You will kneel in my presence. My name is General Zod. RANGER #1 Yeah, well General, your name's gonna be diddleyshit around here unless I see some I.D..... ZOD Kneel! NON growls viciously. RANGER #1 steps back,draws his gun. RANGER #1 (to NON) You! Get your hands on the car. Now! (to RANGER #2) J.J. - Call for another unit. (to NON) Move your ass! RANGER #2 reaches for the transmitter. NON looks at ZOD, who nods. NON swings around, puts his hands on top of the car, pushes down softly. He flattens it like a pancake, with RANGER #2 still inside. RANGER #1 backs up in terror holding his gun, as URSA advances on him with a cruel smile. URSA You will not die yet. I will keep you alive to play with..... RANGER #1 Listen, lady, I never shot a woman in my life, but so help me.... URSA reaches out for the gun. RANGER #1 fires, pumping three bullets into her harmlessly. URSA smiles, closes her hand around the gun as RANGER #1 squeezes off two more shots into her palm. She crushes the gun like a wad of paper. RANGER #1 takes a roundhouse swing at her. URSA catches his wrist in mid-air, breaks it with a "snap" dropping him to his knees. ZOD smiles thinly, advances, as URSA reaches for RANGER #1's belt buckle. ZOD Wait! (to RANGER #1) Where was he calling? Who is your superior? RANGER #1 (terrified) Cap'n....Cap'n Moss of the Texas Rangers.... ZOD And who is his superior? RANGER #1 Attorney-General Frieson of the State of Texas.... ZOD (to himself) Another General....and who is his superior? RANGER #1 The Governor.... ZOD And his superior? RANGER #1 He don't rightly have one, but... well, the President of the United States, I guess. In Washington, D.C. and then there's nobody, General. I swear. I mean that's about as high as a man can get. ZOD Then that is the man I want to see. ZOD smiles, nods to URSA. She advances on the screaming RANGER with sadistic enthusiasm as NON roars in triumph. INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - NIGHT CAMERA CLOSE ON WALL PROJECTION: a coloured, suggestive relief map of the Planet Krypton - not brilliantly distinctive, but rather something which gives impressions of the planet's different areas. SUPERMAN'S VOICE And there....past the Desert of Rozz, that's the capitol city, KANDOR, where I was born.... WIDER ANGLE SUPERMAN and LOIS recline against the side of a comfortable upper nook of the Fortress, his arm encircling her. A short distance away: the empty souffle dish, two plates and glasses, and the empty bottle of wine. They lie back, watch the projections on an opposite wall. The sugested images of JOR-EL and LARA appear through the map in pulsating strengths, first growing stronger, then disappearing again as LOIS watches, fascinated. SUPERMAN That's my father, Jor-El ... and my mother, my ... real mother. Her name was Lara ... and that's me ... as a baby ... The images fade away. SUPERMAN smiles a bit seft- consciously, never having revealed any of this to anyone before. LOIS It's amazing. I never really thought of you as having a family like ... everyone else. I mean you just sort of ... were, you know? Like a fact. A fact without a mother, or a father ... SUPERMAN draws LOIS closer, looks at her seriously. SUPERMAN There were so many times I wanted to tell you. Sitting next to you as Clark, smiling shyly, listening to you talk about Superman, and how much you ... loved him ... He stops, embarrassed, realizing how much he's inadvertantly eavesdropped on her during his like as CLARK. LOIS smiles nicely. LOIS That's all right. I suppose it is a little late in the game for me to play hard to get. SUPERMAN looks deeply into her eyes. SUPERMAN It's all real now, Lois - I'm real - and I love you. SUPERMAN kisses her passionately, lowers to the floor, half on top of her. She looks up at him dreamily. LOIS Mmm. If you only knew what that felt like... SUPERMAN The kiss? ... LOIS Not ... exactly ... LOIS smiles, pulls him all the way on top of her. CAMERA SLOWLY PANS UP, AWAY from them, to the jagged white crystalline ceiling of the Fortress, DISSOLVES THROUGH different sections of the structure as the unbelievably satisfied VOICE of LOIS echoes softly through them. LOIS ....Superman.....Superman....oh, Super....man..... EXT. WASHINGTON MONUMENT - DAY The cruel face of ZOD fills the screen. His voice booms out with a deep, penetrating quality. ZOD I am General Zod! Listen to me, people of the Earth! CAMERA PULLS BACK: ZOD is perched on top of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.. He stands erect on the pointed apex of the tall, needle-like edifice, his voice echoing across the landscape as terrified TOURISTS below scream, run away in panic. ZOD Today I bring a New Order to your planet! One which shall last until the end of time! Each of you...... INT./EXT. LINCOLN MEMORIAL - DAY PEOPLE stand petrified inside and out of the Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool beyond as ZOD continues ZOD'S VOICE ....each man, each woman, each child - all will march proudly together in this New Order! EXT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL - DAY CAMERA LOOKS THROUGH the Jefferson Memorial, across the Potomac River. ZOD'S VOICE Your lands, your homes, your possessions, your very lives...... EXT. WASHINGTON MONUMENT - ANGLE LOOKING DOWN CAMERA LOOKS DOWN PAST ZOD. Police cars with flashing lights begin to converge in the distance. ZOD All of this and more you will gladly give to me! EXT. KREMLIN - RUSSIA - DAY An aeriel view of the Kremlin in flames, the fire spreading throughout Moscow. ZOD'S VOICE There is no longer a need for separate nations in this world, no need for petty squabbles between one group and another ... EXT. TOKYO - DAY TOKYO is in flames. Thousands of JAPANESE flee through the streets. ZOD'S VOICE All of you will work together, strive, produce, and sacrifice together - and all for a common goal! EXT. PARIS - EIFFEL TOWER - DAY The Eiffel Tower in Paris is suddenly bathed in a strange LIGHT. ZOD'S VOICE It is useless for you to resist as it is for me to annihilate you ... EXT. PARIS SKY - ANGLE ON NON NON focusses his X-RAY vision on the Eiffel Tower. ZOD'S VOICE You will only bring death and destruction upon yourselves ... EXT. EIFFEL TOWER The Eiffel Tower melts under the heat, sags, then collapses like a tin toy. ZOD'S VOICE ....while I will lose the potential products of your labour...., EXT. MT. RUSHMORE - SOUTH DAKOTA - DAY URSA stands in front of Mount Rushmore, turns on her X-Ray vision: The famous faces of the Presidents are obliterated, then replaced by those of ZOD, URSA, and NON as she burns them in with her eyes ZOD'S VOICE There is now one law, one order, one ruler who alone will determine your collective destiny! One force before will all of you shall kneel forever! EXT. WASHINGTON MONUMENT - DAY ZOD continues to rant on top of the monument. ZOD In return for this submission you will have my generous protection! In other words - you will be allowed to live. ANGLE ON BASE OF MONUMENT A police car has pulled has pulled up at the base of the Monument. Flak-jacketed OFFICERS pile out, their CAPTAIN holding a bullhorn. CAPTAIN (to ZOD - through bullhorn) You are trespassing on Federal Government property - illegally occupying a national monument....... BACK TO ZOD ZOD'S eyes flash with anger as he looks down. ZOD I will not repeat myself again! There is no nation! Therefore there cannot be a monument to one!..... WIDER ANGLE ZOD jumps off, smashes into the monument lower down: It crumbles into pieces, the cascading shower of stone burying the police cars and OFFICERS below. CLOSE ON ZOD IN MID-AIR ZOD From this day forward - there is only Zod! INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - DAY CAMERA LOOKS UP at one of the high, hidden recesses of the Fortress. A FIGURE appears, dressed in the familiar colors of red, yelloe and blue. JOR-EL'S VOICE The people of your Planet must be well pleased with you, Kal-El. You have served them faithfully and they are surely grateful for it. (changing tone) and yet, you have returned here to reason with me once again. CAMERA ZOOMS IN: it is LOIS, dressed in a SUPERMAN shirt, sleeves rolled up, the shirt itself hanging almost down to his knees. She tentatively edges around the side of the recess, looks off and down. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN - LOIS' POV SUPERMAN sits below on the crystal bench near the energy bank across the Fortress. The giant head of JOR-EL peers down at him, deeply disturbed. JOR-EL My son, I have tried to anticipate your every question. This is one ... I had hoped you would not ask. CLOSER ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN rises from the bench for the first time to converse with his father while standing. His seeming bravado is betrayed slightly by his trembling body. Clearing his throat nervously, he looks up. SUPERMAN No attachment ... (corrects himself) The ... feelings I have developed for a certain human being have ... affected me deeply, father. JOR-EL (almost cold) You cannot serve humanity by investing your time and emotion in one human being at the expense of the rest. SUPERMAN And ... (daring to say it) If I no longer wish to .... serve humanity? JOR-EL Is this how you repay their gratitude? By abandoning the weak, the defenseless, the needy - for the sake of your selfish pursuits? SUPERMAN (defiant) Selfish! After all I've done for them? Will there ever come a time I've served enough? At least they get a chance for happiness! I only ask as much - no more. JOR-EL Yours is a higher happiness! The fulfillment of your missions! Your inspiration! You must have felt that happiness within you ... (quietly) My son, surely you cannot deny that feeling. JOR-EL stares down impassively, speechless for once. BACK TO LOIS LOIS watches with deep emotion. BACK TO SUPERMAN SUPERMAN looks up at the silent JOR-EL, quietly pleading. SUPERMAN Is there ... no way, then, father? Must I finally be denied the one thing in life ... that I truly desire? JOR-EL (long pause) If you will not be Kal-EL - if you will live as one of them ... love their kind as one of them, then it follows that you must become ... one of them. The rounded section of polarized blue glass which had always seemed an integral part of the Fortress wall now suddenly detaches itself, slowly moves out towards SUPERMAN. We see that it is, in fact, a circular chamber. JOR-EL This crystal chamber has in it the harnessed rays of the red sun of Krypton. Once exposed to them, all your great powers on Earth will disappear. Forever. The crystal chamber stops a few feet away. It opens in a circular iris. SUPERMAN looks at it apprehensively. BACK TO LOIS LOIS watches, paralyzed. BACK TO SCENE JOR-EL looks down, speaks slowly, distinctly. JOR-EL Once it is done, there is no going back. You will feel like an ordinary man. You can be harmed like an ordinary man ... SUPERMAN steps slowly towards the chamber. JOR-EL (suddenly) Think, Kal-EL! I beg you! CLOSE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN stares up, the tension visible in his face. He pauses, blinks, swallows hard. SUPERMAN (quietly) Father, I love her. SUPERMAN turns, walks into the chamber. JOR-EL's face falls as the door rises closed behind him. CLOSE ON LOIS LOIS bites her lip, slowly shuts her eyes. ANGLE ON CHAMBER Violent light changes begin inside the chamber - lazer effects of the Krypton sun burst through it from the inside. The outer glass of the chamber becomes an increasingly deeper blue. WIDE SHOT There is visual chaos in the Fortress. The multi-planed images of JOR-EL seem to fight the chamber process - dim away, then glow brightly again as if locked in a struggle with the inanimate object. The rows of crystals shatter like so many light bulbs. ANGLE ON LOIS LOIS is terrified. She turns away, is suddenly faced by a huge projection of JOR-EL's face: his eyes seem to be staring straight at her - they flash with seething hatred. LOIS screams, buries her face as: EXTREME WIDE ANGLE A final burst of light passes through the crystal chamber. The images of JOR-EL simultaneously disappear. The chamber glass turns a deadly blue-black. There is absolute silence. ANGLE ON CHAMBER FROM ABOVE The chamber, seen from the opposite high end of the fortress. LOIS' face enters frame, looks at it silently, tears running down her face. INT. WHITE HOUSE CORRIDOR - DAY Helmeted MARINES in full combat gear help WHITE HOUSE POLICE and SECRET SERVICE AGENTS secure the corridor leading to the Oval Office. An explosive charge is attached to the door at the entrance to the corridor, the connecting wires trailing off to a plunger detonator behind a nest of sandbags with a machine-gun emplacement. The MARINES take their positions, all eyes on the door, as suddenly: ZOD, NON and URSA burst down through the ceiling, shattering three glass domes which comprise part of it. The MARINES, POLICE, and SECRET SERVICE open fire through the shower of falling glass, send a withering barrage ricocheting around the room. ZOD watches triumphantly, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off him as URSA and NON go to work: URSA flings the advancing MARINES through the air, sends them crashing into one another as NON smashes the corridor pillars, then turns his attention to the machine-gun nest which blazes away at him. He demolishes the emplacement, breaks the gun in two, roars. URSA hurls two more MARINES through the air: They crash against the wall, one falling on the explosive plunger. The corridor is rocked by the blast. EXT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY The blast rips through the exterior of the White House above the Oval Office corridor, shattering windows, etc. INT. OVAL OFFICE - DAY CAMERA LOOKS from behind the PRESIDENT'S desk chair in the Oval Office at the closed and bolted entrance door. Half a dozen telephones ring with different buzzers and bells, but are not answered. To one side, a dozen CHIEFS OF STAFF, CABINET MEMBERS, SECRET SERVICE AGENTS, et. al. stand waiting as the last sounds of gunfire die away in the corridor. There is a long moment of silence, punctuated only by the sound of the unanswered phones. Suddenly: the door to the Oval Office collapses, kicked to the floor in one piece. Standing in the open doorway, the devastated corridor seen behind them: ZOD, URSA and NON. WIDER ANGLE ZOD and URSA enter. NON fills the doorway, standing guard. URSA now wears not only the NASA buckle, but the Texas Ranger badge as well. ZOD glances at the silent OFFICIALS with contempt, then turns his attention to the distinguished-looking MAN sitting behind the President's desk. ZOD You are the one who is called President ... MAN I am. ZOD looks down at the carpet with the golden Eagle emblazoned on it. ZOD I see you are already practiced in worshipping things that fly. Good. (ice stare) Rise before Zod ... The man is mesmerised by ZOD's stare. He rises. ZOD And now - kneel ... before Zod. The MAN glances at the OFFICIALS, gets no reaction. Swallowing hard, he steps around the side of the desk, slowly kneels. ZOD starts to smile, then stops. ZOD You are not the President. (MAN reacts) No one who leads so many could possibly kneel so quickly. The MAN blinks, terrified. The phones continue to ring. A normal-looking MAN (The PRESIDENT) dressed in shirt sleeves, half-hidden by the others, now steps forward. PRESIDENT I'm the man they're protecting, General. I'm the President. I'll kneel to you - if it will save lives. ZOD It will. Starting with your own. ANGLE ON URSA URSA looks at the OFFICIALS, particularly the MILITARY. URSA What a backward planet this is - where the men wear the ribbons and jewellry ... She rips a GENERAL's tunic, pulling the nest of medals from his chest, selects a particularly gaudy one, starts to pin it on. BACK TO PRESIDENT The PRESIDENT locks eyes with ZOD. PRESIDENT What I do now I do for the sake of the people of this world. But there is one man here on earth who will never kneel to you. ZOD (amused) And who is this imbecile? (gestures) Where is he? PRESIDENT General - I wish I knew ... With a grim face, the PRESIDENT slowly kneels. Behind him, through the Oval Office window, we see the remains of the destroyed Washington Monument. There is a low whisper from within the hushed group of OFFICIALS. OFFICIAL Oh, God ... ZOD (thin smile) Zod. EXT. CANADA ROAD - NIGHT A rented car speeds quickly down a northern Canadian highway. INT. CAR - NIGHT CLARK drives. LOIS sits next to him. There is an uncomfortable tension, an uneasiness between them. CLARK looks over at her. LOIS catches his eye, flashes a nervous smile. CLARK (pause) All right, Lois - what is it? I'm supposed to be the shy one, remember? LOIS (guilt pouring out) It's just that I'm ... well, how would you feel if you'd robbed the rest of the world of ... I mean if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have ... CLARK (quietly) I didn't do it for you. Lois, I did it for us. CLARK smiles, reaches over, takes her hand. EXT. DINER - DAY CLARK pulls the car off the highway into the parking area of a seedy-looking diner with a neon hot dog flashing on and off in front and the sign: DON'S BIG SLED DOGS. Several trucks are parked in the lot as well. INT. DINER - DAY CLARK and LOIS enter. A T.V. plays noisily in B.G.. The counter is almost empty. CLARK (to LOIS) I'm going to wash up. Grab us a couple of seats there. CLARK exits. LOIS crosses, sits on the end stool. She picks up a menu, studies it, as a huge, burly TRUCKER enters, spots her, intentionally sits next to her, cutting LOIS off from the rest of the counter. LOIS I'm sorry, that seat's taken. TRUCKER It is now ... (to COUNTERMAN) Coffee and a doughnut. (to LOIS) How'd you like for me to buy you a little breakfast, honey? LOIS How'd you like to blow up your pants? CLARK comes up from behind, has heard. CLARK (to TRUCKER) Excuse me. That's my seat. The TRUCKER looks over at the Men's Room, then back at CLARK. TRUCKER You've just been sittin' on your seat, four- eyes. CLARK (pause - tense) I think maybe somebody ought to teach you some manners. TRUCKER Yeah? Well you let me know when he comes in. LOIS Clark ... it doesn't matter ... we can move ... CLARK (determined - to TRUCKER) Do you ... ah ... want to step outside? The TRUCKER rises. He's big. He pauses a moment. TRUCKER I don't mind.... The TRUCKER uncoils a tremendous right hand. EXT. DINER - DAY CLARK goes flying through a plate glass door, shattering it, lands in a heap on the ground. The TRUCKER is already on him. CLARK tries to get up, is immediately knocked down again. LOIS rushes through the doorway to help, but is unceremoniously flung off to the side. Feeling new rage, CLARK rises, rushes the TRUCKER, actually gets in a punch or two, but is cut to pieces by a series of expert combinations. CLARK falls to the ground, exhausted, his face cracked and bleeding, feebly tries to get up once more. TRUCKER You don't know when to lie down, do you, buddy? ... The TRUCKER kicks CLARK in the ribs - he collapses. With a sneer at LOIS, the TRUCKER heads off for his rig. LOIS rises, her eyes filling with tears, tries to help CLARK up. LOIS Oh, Clark ... Clark ... look at you ... CLARK tries to smile feebly through the blood, deeply embarassed, bitter. CLARK What's ... the line? I ... guess I just didn't know my own strength? ... LOIS It's all right, Clark. You don't have to prove .... A trickle of blood runs over his mouth. He wipes it away with a finger, inadvertantly tasting it, stares at the stain on his hands. CLARK (stunned) Blood ... my ...blood ... LOIS Let's get you inside .... She helps him to his feet. He stands unsteadily, looks at her, ashamed. CLARK (bitter) Maybe we ought to hire a bodyguard from now on. LOIS (deeply felt) I don't want a bodyguard. I want the man I fell in love with. CLARK I know that, Lois. And I wish he were here ... CLARK turns, staggers in the direction of the diner. LOIS puts her arm around him, helps him inside. INT. DINER - DAY LOIS helps CLARK back to the counter, starts to clean his face, dipping paper napkins in a water glass. LOIS Boy, what a mess ... Suddenly - the loud television cuts off: After momentary static, a somber VOICE is heard. T.V. VOICE Ladies and gentlemen - the President of the United States. CLARK, LOIS and the COUNTERMAN turn, listen. ANGLE ON TV SCREEN The worried PRESIDENT sits behind his desk, reads from a prepared statement, the paper trembling in his hands. PRESIDENT This is the President. On behalf of my country, and in the name of the other leaders of the world with whom I have today consulted, I hereby abdicate all authority and control over this planet ... to General Zod. ANGLE ON CLARK AND LOIS CLARK and LOIS sit watching, frozen in disbelief. BACK TO TV SCREEN PRESIDENT'S VOICE Only through strict compliance with his directions will the lives of innocent millions be ... (sudden desperation) Superman, if you can hear me ... Superman, where ... There is a "squawk" as the mike is taken from him. ZOD comes on screen, sneers at the PRESIDENT. ZOD Who is this.... Superman? PRESIDENT You'll find out, General! And when you do ... ZOD (raging into camera) Come to me, Superman! If you dare! I defy you! Come! Come, and kneel before Zod! BACK TO CLARK AND LOIS The TV goes dead. CLARK is stunned. CLARK General Zod ... here ... (to COUNTERMAN) But when .... COUNTERMAN When? Where the hell have you been, Mac? (no reply) How about that Superman, huh? He's great at stuff like putting out fires but when the real trouble comes, he splits. (walks away) (cannot read final line in script) CLARK looks at LOIS desperately. CLARK I have to go back ... to the Fortress ... LOIS But what can you do? There's no way now ... CLARK I have to try, dammit! Something, anything .... CLARK shuts his eyes, deeply troubled. LOIS looks up at him tenderly, cups his bruised cheek with her hand. LOIS Don't ... it's not your fault ... you didn't know ... CLARK (looks up) He knew. I heard him. I just didn't listen. INT. WHITE HOUSE OVAL OFFICE - DAY ZOD stares out the window at the destroyed Washington Monument. NON stands in front of a wall mirror, wraps the Presidentail flag around himself with a contented growl. There is a terrible scream from O.S. which suddenly cuts off. USRA enters through a side door, her chest considerably more decorated than before. URSA I'm bored with this puny planet. The men here do not even try to resist anymore. ZOD Then leave. There are dozens of other life systems nearby. Find one that suits you. There is a knock on the door. They turn. ANGLE ON LUTHOR LEX LUTHOR stands by the door, all confidence. LUTHOR Luthor's the name. Lex Luthor. Maybe you've heard of me. (hopefully) The greatest ciminal on earth? URSA (to ZOD) I told you this was a puny planet. (looks at LUTHOR) He irritates me. Let me break his bones .... ZOD If it pleases you ... LUTHOR (backing up) Wait! (smile) Wait'll you get to know me better. Wait'll I give you - exactly what you want. (paces, plays it big) Unlimited freedom: to kill, crush, main, destroy - plus: Lex Luthor's savvy. Lex Luthor's keen mind guiding your careers! ZOD We have all of this without you. You cannot bargain with what you do not have ... LUTHOR With respect, your Magnificence, I am bargaining with what you do not have: The son of Jor-El. The VILLAINS are stunned. They can't believe their ears. ZOD turns. ZOD The son ... of Jor-El? Jor-El, our jailer? LUTHOR No, Jor-El, the baseball player. (brightly) Of course, Jor-El, your jailer! ZOD (salivating) His son? His son is on this planet? LUTHOR (in control now) Daily. Perhaps you're more familiar with his earthly non de voyage - Superman. ZOD (Dawns on him) So this ... is Superman (suspicious) And how do you know Jor-El? LUTHOR As I told your Fullness earlier - I'm just about the best there is. (NON growls) Second best. ZOD (wild) Revenge! We will kill the son of our jailer! URSA Revenge! NON roars loudly, his fists raised. LUTHOR Now we're cooking with gas! (to NON) Have a phone, they're delicious... ZOD But wait! (to LUTHOR) He flies as well, then ... LUTHOR Constantly, your Grace. ZOD (musing) He has powers as we do ... LUTHOR Sure. But he's only one. You're three. (looks at NON) Or four even, if you count him twice. ZOD We will bring him to his knees! URSA Praying ... ZOD Yes. To me! They start off, leaving LUTHOR standing there. LUTHOR But first! (quick smile) You've got to find him, check? The VILLAINS stop, turn, look. LUTHOR Check. ZOD (pause - careful) What ... do you want. LUTHOR walks around the desk, philosophically, sits down in the President's chair. LUTHOR The world's a big place, my General, but thank goodness, my needs are small. (takes out a map) And, as it turns out, I have a certain weakness for beachfront property ... ZOD What do you want! LUTHOR smiles hopefully, turns a map in his direction. LUTHOR Australia? INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - NIGHT The silence has a deathly quality about it as CAMERA pans the empty Fortress. The rows of smashed crystals lie scattered across the energy bank area. A noise is heard. As CAMERA PANS, CLARK comes into frame. CLOSER ON CLARK He shivers with the cold, his torn clothes soaked by the outside weather. His face is badly marked with bruises and dried blood from the fight outside the diner. He stares hard at the empty walls of the Fortress, feels the silence, then feverishly begins to pick his way through the crystal debris, desperately searching for one which is undamaged, a piece of one which will fit in the mechanism - anthing which will enable him to contact JOR-EL. There is nothing. CLARK stops, rises, stands in the pile of broken crystal, arms by his side in utter defeat. Eyes glazing over, he speaks softly, almost trembling. CLARK Father - if you can hear me - I have failed. I have failed you, myself, and all humanity. I have traded my birthright for a life of submission in a world now ruled by your enemies. There is no one left to help them, father, the people of the world. Not since I ... HIGH ANGLE CLARK stops, wheels, screams pleadingly. CLARK Father! .... The sound echoes off the wall of the Fortress until, finally there is silence again. BACK TO CLARK CLARK turns, starts to walk away, suddenly stops, stares hard at the energy bank. INSERT SHOT - GREEN CRYSTAL The green crystal which was sent to Earth in the baby SUPERMAN'S rocket module - the crystal whose energy constructed the Fortress itself - still glows, embedded in the center of the energy bank. BACK TO SCENE CLARK moves to the energy bank, removes the crystal, looks down at it. With a final last hope, he crosses to the bench, inserts it into the playing mechanism. It fits. He steps back, waits. Suddenly - the light in the Fortress flickers. Then - the face of JOR-EL appears, deeply lined with care. JOR-EL Listen carefully, my son, for we shall never speak again. If you hear me now, then you have made use of the only means left to you - the crystal source through which our communication was begun. The circle is now complete. JOR-EL'S image grows brighter, his eyes more intense. JOR-EL You have made a dreadful mistake, Kal-El. You have abandoned the world for the sake of private ambition. You did this of your own free will, and in spite of all I could say to dissuade you. CLARK I..... JOR-EL Now you have returned here to me for one last chance to redeem yourself. This too - finally - I have anticipated, my son. (pause) Look at me, Kal-El .... CLARK stares at him. JOR-EL'S eyes dance with light. JOR-EL Once before, when you were small, I died while giving you a chance for life. And now, even though it will exhaust the final energy left within me ..... CLARK (turns frightened) Father, no ! .......... JOR-EL Look at me, Kal-El! CLARK turns, stares back, JOR-EL's face grows larger. Hand reaches out toward his son, the index finger extended, his expression almost mystical. JOR-EL The Kryptonian prophesy will be at last fulfilled. The son becomes the father - the father becomes the son. Goodbye forever, Kal-El. Remember me, my son .... CLARK starts to speak, but JOR-EL'S eyes suddenly come ablaze with energy, riveting him to the spot. Two dazzling white arcs of light shoot into CLARK, racking his body with involuntary vibrations. CAMERA PIUSHES IN on JOR-EL'S face, straining to summon up the suicidal energy, until only his blinding eyes are in the frame. ANGLE ON CLARK His body distended with the transfer of energy. The force of it almost physically unbearable. CLARK'S own eyes suddenly seem to burst apart, as for a split second he sees: ANGLE ON JOR-EL - CLARK'S POV For an instant, JOR-EL actually stands before his son - a serene smile on his face, his arm extended in farewell. Just as suddenly - he disappears. BACK TO CLARK CLARK (screams) Father! .... CLARK'S hand comes back... (rest of sentence obscured in original script) WIDE ANGLE Total silence. The only things visible: The throbbing green crystal in the mechanism and the lifeless body of CLARK on the floor, a strange aura pulsating out from within his body. INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE - NIGHT PERRY paces up and down in his office, harassed, sleeves rolled up, talking to LOIS. JIMMY stands nearby, a flashy new camera hanging from his neck. Through PERRY'S inside window, a dozen or so REPORTERS can be seen manning phones and milling about excitedly in the city room. PERRY (to LOIS) No, no, there's three of 'em! That cockamamy general, some big truck with hair on it, and a broad who looks like the Queen of the Runway. All of 'em can fly , see through things - everything Superman can do, they do. (pacing) Where the hell is he, anyway ... JIMMY Maybe he hasn't heard about it yet, Chief. Maybe ... PERRY Yea, and just maybe - he's lost his guts. (depressed afterthought) And don't call me Chief ... LOIS looks down, still feeling at least partly responsible for what's happened. LOIS He'll be here ... if there's any way at all ... he'll come ... Suddenly: a low rumble is heard, O.S. The room begins to vibrate. then shakes violently, in syncopated rhythm as monstrous footsteps approach. PERRY What the ... JIMMY (nervous) Earthquake? ... earthquake! ANGLE THROUGH PERRY'S INSIDE WINDOW The wall of the city room collapses in the center as the VILLAINS break straight through it. The terrified REPORTERS scatter, rushing through the exit doors in panic as ZOD, URSA, and NON head for PERRY'S office. ANGLE ON DOOR NON is the first through, knocking down the door. PERRY hurls a huge electric typewriter at him which bounces harmlessly off his head. NON slams him back against the wall. PERRY crumples in a heap. JIMMY flashes a picture as LOIS picks up a sharp letter opener, swings it viciously into URSA'S stomach. It folds up like tissue paper. URSA sends LOIS flying backward into PERRY'S rolling desk chair. JIMMY flashes another picture - NON seizes the camera, irritated, crushes it in his hands. JIMMY Hey, that's my new ... ZOD (from doorway) Enough! ZOD stands in the doorway, looks questioningly at the group. He glances back at the hole in the City Room wall as CAMERA PANS: LUTHOR steps through the hole delicately, flicking the occasional debris off his shoulder. LOIS (O.S.) Lex Luthor ... JIMMY Wouldn't you know ... LUTHOR (Crossing) What a mess, what a mess ... all of that accumulated knowledge and they never heard of a doorknob ... BACK TO SCENE LUTHOR arrives at the doorway, flashes a quick smile. LUTHOR You should see the White House. They'll be cleaning it for months. ZOD looks JIMMY up and down carefully, turns to LUTHOR. ZOD This - is the son of Jor-El? JIMMY (pure loathing) no ... (at ZOD) But I'll bet you're the son of a ... LOIS (terrified for him) Jimmy! ZOD (angry - at LUTHOR) You promised me the son of Jor-El! LUTHOR I know, I know ... but look at it this way, your Grace - I got you the next best thing. (to Lois) You just hold on to this little lady here and wait. He'll be along. She does all his P.R. work, you know? He gives her every exclusive. They're sort of ... (leer) best friends .... URSA looks at LOIS with a patronising smile. URSA What an undemanding male this Superman must be ... LOIS You could use a tuck here and there yourself, sister. URSA stares at LOIS. ZOD Wait! (to URSA) She lives - for now. Kill the rest. (at LUTHOR) Including him. URSA pulls the groggy PERRY to his feet. NON lumbers forwards at LUTHOR, who backs up nervously. LUTHOR It's Australia, isn't it ... it's too much, right? Listen, who needs it ... I can turn over a new leaf ... a hundred leaves! Trees! Forests! Suddenly: a clear, stentorian VOICE is heard, O.S. SUPERMAN'S VOICE Haven't you ever heard of Freedom of the Press, General? CAMERA WHIP PANS - SUPERMAN stands on the tip of flagpole right outside PERRY'S window. He stares in, arms folded, the American flag billowing underneath. BACK TO SCENE The VILLAINS are thunderstruck, rooted to the spot. LOIS rises unbelievingly. LOIS Superman ... LUTHOR Thank God ... (to Villains) I mean ... get him ! SUPERMAN disappears, flying up and out of frame. ZOD (insane) Come to me, Son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod! The VILLAINS move as one, smashing through both the wall and windows after him, completely demolishing the street side of the room. EXT. SKY - NIGHT The VILLAINS and SUPERMAN manoeuver in the night sky like wary fighter planes looking for an opening. ZOD (yelling) Now, son of Jor-El! Submit, and swear loyalty to Zod! SUPERMAN (yelling back) Not tonight, you pitiful little crackpot. Never! The furious ZOD gestures NON forward with a sweep of his arm. ANGLE ON NON AND SUPERMAN NON zooms through the air at SUPERMAN, cocks his fist. SUPERMAN ducks, spins NON around, smashes him in the face, sending him shooting backwards. EXT. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING - NIGHT NON hits the Empire Stste Building like a cannonball, knocks off the top section, sending showers of electrical sparks spiralling up into the air. The section falls down toward the street as the PEOPLE below scream, start to flee in panic. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN pauses in mid-air looks - horrified at what is about to happen. He zooms down under the falling section of the building, holds it up, giving the PEOPLE a chance to scatter. NON comes up from behind, yanks SUPERMAN off : the section falls to the street smashing into bits as the first sounds of police cars and fire engines are heard. NON whacks SUPERMAN mightily, sends him streaking backwards, down and out of frame. EXT. 42nd STREET BRIDGE - NIGHT SUPERMAN whizzes down backward from the impact of the blow, smashes through the 42nd Street Bridge as cars plunge off it into the street. SUPERMAN hits the pavement. CAMERA ZOOMS IN: He has cracked it, causing a deep cavity. SUPERMAN lies there, stunned, tries to clear his head. More sirens are heard. ANGLE ON NON NON streaks down for the kill, is suddenly battered by a withering barrage of bullets from the POLICE which buzz by and bounce off him like a swarm of irritating flies. NON turns to look, angry: A SWAT truck wheels around the corner, headed in his direction. WIDER ANGLE NON roars, uproots a lamppost, swings it like a baseball bat, "swats" the S.W.A.T. truck, totally demolishing it. He wheels in mid-air, turning his attention to SUPERMAN. EXT. STREET - ANGLE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN, still dazed, lies in the pit he created in the sidewalk, actually utters a barely audible moan. NON hovers over him, smiling cruelly, as ZOD'S VOICE is heard ringing through the air. ZOD'S VOICE Yield, son of Jor-El! I command you to yield! NON starts down. SUPERMAN suddenly springs to life, surprising him, ramming him in the stomach with his head, at super-speed. ANGLE ON NON AND BUILDING NON shoots up and backwards from the force of the butt, crashing through a glass building on the 14th floor, and emerging from the other side on the 30th floor as huge pieces of plate glass rain down into the street. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN looks down, deeply concerned about the havoc and destruction he is helping to cause. SUPERMAN (still half-dazed) Too many innocent people ... have to get him away ... NON starts for him again. This time SUPERMAN flies away from him. EXT. SKY OVER EAST RIVER - NIGHT NON pursues the apparantly fleeing SUPERMAN to an area over East River. SUPERMAN suddenly pivots mid-air, heads straight back at NON at tremendous speed. The original irresistible force VS. the original immovable object. They crash head-on with a sickening impact, both of them knocked half-senseless, trying desperately to keep their equilibrium in the air. SUPERMAN is the first to recover. He flies behind the stunned NON, rams him in the behind with his legs, sends him rocketing head-first, out of frame. ANGLE ON STATUE OF LIBERTY NON streaks forward like a missile, rams the Statue of Liberty head-first, knocking off the illuminated torch-arm so that electrical sparks explode into the sky, and the metal staircase inside is exposed. The shattered arm sails down harmlessly into the sea. INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE - NIGHT PERRY, JIMMY and LOIS stand near the edge of the floor which used to connect to the missing wall, peer out into the night sky trying to get a glimpse of what's going on. Fire and police sirens wail loudly below. From the distance we can hear the sound of "thumps" and "whacks" echoing sonorously across the city, signifying that the super-fight is still continuing. LUTHOR lies back calmly, propped up against the wall. He checks his watch, mumbles. LUTHOR (to himself) Who would have thought this thing would go the distance ... EXT. NEW YORK - NIGHT - HIGH ANGLE Manhattan is a scene of incredible destruction. Numerous fires have broken out. The lights of emergency vehicles race through the streets as CAMERA PUSHES IN on TIMES SQUARE. EXT. TIMES SQUARE - NIGHT Havoc in the streets below. POLICE and FIREMEN work frantically. PEOPLE run looking up, terrified. CAMERA PANS to ZOD in the sky above, yelling defiantly. ZOD Admit defeat, you obstinate fool! Bow and proclaim Zod your master! Suddenly: SUPERMAN appears next to him. SUPERMAN Come on, General. Isn't it time you joined your troops? With a mighty whack, SUPERMAN sends ZOD flying back. ANGLE ON WINSTON SIGN ZOD whistels through the air, smahses into a huge Winston Cigarette sign, demolishes it, large chunks falling down amid the screaming POPULACE in the streets. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN winces, watching the destruction. He is suddenly poleaxed by NON'S fist, shoots out of frame. ANGLE ON COCA COLA SIGN SUPERMAN is driven back into the enormous illuminated Coca Cola sign. Hundreds of neon lights pop like soap bubbles - rainbows of electrical sparks fall into the streets below: SUPERMAN bounces off the sign, dazed, falls down to the pavement. EXT. TIMES SQUARE STREET - NIGHT SUPERMAN hits the sidewalk, stunned. He looks at the destruction around him, agonised, stops short as he sees: ANGLE on URSA - SUPERMAN'S POV PASSENGERS scramble away as URSA lifts a city bus. The DRIVER tumbles out the door as she sets herself to throw it at SUPERMAN. BACK TO SUPERMAN SUPERMAN tries to rise, calls out to URSA desperately. SUPERMAN Don't! The people! ... URSA lets fly with the bus - it smashes into SUPERMAN, driving him back into a building wall, obliterating him from view. EXT. SKY - ANGLE ON ZOD NON has joined ZOD. They look down. The bus remains imbedded in the building. URSA shrugs from below, ZOD gestures NON to investigate. EXT. STREET - ANGLE ON BUS NON and URSA begin to remove the implanted bus as the PEOPLE watch in terror. They pull it away from the building - look : SUPERMAN has disappeared - a narrow hole leads off backward through the structure. EXT. ANOTHER STREET CORNER - NIGHT The PEOPLE are hushed, wait, unbelieving. NON and URSA scan the area with their X-Ray vision, find nothing. CAMERA ZOOMS IN on TWO TEENAGERS standing on the sidewalk, their eyes glassing over. TEENAGER #1 (can't believe it) They ... beat him ... they beat Superman ... TEENAGER #2 They didn't beat him ... he just ... quit. He ran away. ANGLE ON ZOD URSA and NON fly up to join ZOD, who roars victoriously down at the PEOPLE below. ZOD So this is your Superman! A coward - like his father! Go back to your homes, you meaningless insects! Go home and pray - to Zod! The VILLAINS fly off, their gales of cruel laughter echoing through the city. INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE - NIGHT PERRY, LOIS, and JIMMY step back quickly as the VILLAINS land in the office. LUTHOR, still propped up against the wall, looks over expectantly. ZOD Our victory is complete! The son of Jor-El has fled. JIMMY (stunned) Fled? ... PERRY I don't believe it. LUTHOR (disappointed) You said it. Three-to-one should get you both ears and the tail. ZOD (angry) He ran in fear from us ... LOIS (defiant) He'll be back. As long as he's alive he'll try again. ZOD The next time - we will kill him! NON roars. LUTHOR rises, dusts himself off, turns to ZOD. LUTHOR Next time, next time ... (shakes his head) What am I going to do with you people? I hold up my end. I deliver the Blue Boy - and what do I hear from my triple threat? "Bow, yield, kneel" - that kind of stuff closes out of town. ZOD stares hard at LUTHOR, icy, but curious. LUTHOR (chuckle) Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age? Eradicate the only man on earth ... URSA Kill him! LUTHOR (quickly) ... with Superman's address? LUTHOR grins, in control now. ZOD examines him carefully. ZOD There is something more you want. The greed is written on your face. LUTHOR (pause) Perhaps a small ... incentive, your Ultimate. A tiny bauble to help me jog my memory ... ZOD What more? LUTHOR (quick smile) Cuba. EXT. SKY - NIGHT The VILLAINS streak through the sky, heading north. ZOD leads the way. Riding NON's back - LOIS. On top of URSA - LUTHOR. CLOSER ON URSA AND LUTHOR LUTHOR rides URSA decidedly uncomfortable, the wind whipping through his hair. Trying to keep his toupee on with one hand, he leans in to her. LUTHOR (to URSA) My ears are popping ... (no reply) Do you think we can stop for some gum? URSA'S face sets, plainly irritated. A gust of wind suddenly rips the toupee from LUTHOR'S head. LUTHOR Hold it! Hey! Whoa! Down! URSA flips over intentionally sends LUTHOR whistling down through the air with a scream. EXT. SKY - ANOTHER ANGLE As LUTHOR falls, grabbing his toupee, URSA swoops under, picks him up. They start off again, LUTHOR adjusting his toupee, terrified. LUTHOR No drinks. No movie. This is the last time I take a charter flight. EXT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - NIGHT The VILLAINS land with LUTHOR and LOIS, stare up at the Fortress. There is no sign of activity. ZOD smiles thinly, recognising the architecture, then snaps to coldly, yells. ZOD Son of Jor-El - prepare to die! The threat echoes off into the distance. There is no reply. ZOD waves NON forward. The hulking form zooms up at the Fortress with a roar. CLOSER ON FORTRESS NON seems about to enter the Fortress, suddenly hits an invisible electronic field. A crackling "zap" of white light sends him reeling backward, stunned. BACK TO VILLAINS NON hits the ground near the VILLAINS. ZOD looks over at LUTHOR, puzzled. LUTHOR I don't know ... for me the door was always open. ZOD (pause) He is one. We are three. It is the strength of three that will defeat him. He gestures to URSA and NON, manipulating them into a flying wedge pointed at the doorway, NON in front. ZOD Together ... now! The VILLAINS leap, fly like bullets, hit the door simultaneously. The electric field crackles mightily around and through the door, but cannot withstand their combined super-strength. It "shorts" itself out. INT. FORTRESS - NIGHT The VILLAINS race in, looking wildly for their prey, smelling blood. LUTHOR enters behind them with LOIS. The interior seems to be empty. The molecule chamber stands directly in front of them. ZOD Show yourself, coward! Son of a coward! SUPERMAN'S VOICE I'm here, Zod. The molecule chamber suddenly irisses open. SUPERMAN stands inside, arms on hips, looks out evenly at ZOD. SUPERMAN Let Miss Lane go and step inside. We'll talk. LOIS sees what he's about to do, starts forward. LOIS Superman! No! ... URSA grabs LOIS by the nape of the neck, jerking her backward. ZOD has caught LOIS' reaction, looks at the chamber suspiciously. ZOD Come out - or the woman dies. SUPERMAN looks at LOIS, her neck about to be snapped by URSA. He hesitates, then slowly steps forward and out of the chamber. ZOD stares at him. ZOD Your powers are idnetical to mine, but we are three. We could tear you limb from limb. NON growls. LUTHOR'S eyes dance with excitement. LUTHOR Do it, Your Grace! Grab his legs and make a wish ... ZOD But you are victim to another fatal weakness. Your ... (dirty word) Compassion. The death of others means more to you than your own. SUPERMAN (at LUTHOR) With rare exceptions ... ZOD Your father once condemned us to eternal living death. Your fate shall be the same. You will live, Kal-El. Forever - as my slave. If not, then others will pay for your stubborn attitude. Innocent people, millions of them if necessary ... (at LOIS) Beginning with her. SUPERMAN looks. URSA tightens her grip on LOIS' neck. She winces with pain. LOIS Don't do it, Superman! Don't ... Her wind is cut off by URSA. SUPERMAN (to URSA) Stop it! (pause - to ZOD) All right, Zod. You win. It's over. LUTHOR Don't believe him! You don't know him, like I do ... ZOD smiles, full of himself, looks around the Fortress at the memory bank, crystal rows, bench, etc. He sniffs the air unpleasantly, turns to NON. ZOD I sense the presence of Jor-El here. Destroy all this ... (at LUTHOR) And then kill him. LUTHOR Me? General, it's me, Lex Luthor! Remember? Who got you through the tough times? You filled your inside straight? You came to me with nothing - except the world. I gave you Superman! ZOD turns his back on him, walks away. NON begins to smash the crystal rows with enthusiastic relish. CLOSER ON LUTHOR AND SUPERMAN LUTHOR edges in closer to SUPERMAN, desperate, sweating. LUTHOR You think you know people, right? Promises are made, gifts exchanged ... what does it all mean anymore? Not like the old days when it was just you and me. And I've got to hand it to you, Superman. You always told the truth. A fellow knew where he stood with you. You wanted to destroy me, pure and simple - and I respected you for it. NON raises SUPERMAN'S bench high over his head in B.G., smahses it to the floor. ZOD turns, looks at chamber, examining it cautiously from the outside. SUPERMAN looks at LUTHOR carefully. SUPERMAN (low voice) Perhaps there is some good in your after all, Lex Luthor. LUTHOR Me? I'm loaded with good! I mean I've never even used it. SUPERMAN I'll have to take the chance. Try to get them all into that molecule chamber. It takes away their powers, reduces them to human beings. Now if you could ... LUTHOR looks over. ZOD is about to enter the chamber. LUTHOR Wait! Don't go in! It's a trap! SUPERMAN Luthor, you poisonous snake ... ZOD turns, looks over, concerned. LUTHOR It's a molecule chamber, your Grace! It turns people like you into ... (feels funny saying this) people like me. ZOD looks up at the chamber, realising the mistake he almost made. He turns. ZOD You have done well, Lex Luthor. We will award you this Cuba place. (to URSA and NON) Seize him! URSA and NON spring at SUPERMAN, grab him, one on each leg and arm. SUPERMAN kicks and struggles vainly. SUPERMAN No! Please! Don't! ... LOIS rushes to try and help, is caught by a grinning ZOD, unceremoniously flung backward to the floor. SUPERMAN is hurled into the chamber. LUTHOR rushes to the side, presses a control. The door irisses shut. SUPERMAN lies on the floor, helpless. ZOD Lex Luthor! Ruler of Australia and the Cuba place! Activate the machine! LUTHOR grins, pushes the starting mechanism. WIDE ANGLE The chamber is activated. The lights in the Fortress begin to change - but this time they happen in the entire interior of the Fortress, and not in the chamber. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN IN CHAMBER SUPERMAN writhes in agony on the chamber floor as the outside lights play on the surface of the chamber. ANGLE ON VILLAINS, LUTHOR AND LOIS The VILLAINS and LUTHOR watch with glee as the lights dance. LOIS hides her face in anguish. BACK TO SUPERMAN The de-molecular process ends. The door to the chamber irisses open again. Slowly, painfully, SUPERMAN gets to his feet, his face crestfallen, his shoulders stooped, resigned to his defeat. WIDER ANGLE LOIS looks at him in horror. ZOD smiles cruelly, steps forward, salivating in triumph. ZOD And now - finally - kneel! SUPERMAN steps out of the chamber, shuts his eyes, the final humiliation sinking in. The hushed silence is deafening. He has no choice. He kneels. ZOD extends his hand in contempt. ZOD Take my hand and swear eternal loyalty to Zod. SUPERMAN lifts his hand in disgrace. EXTREME CLOSE ON HANDS SUPERMAN takes ZOD'S hand, then slowly starts to squeeze it. The sound of bones cracking is heard. BACK TO SCENE ZOD'S eyes bulge with pain. SUPERMAN suddenly pulls back and jerks ZOD up and over his shoulder. ANGLE ON ZOD ZOD is hurled helplessly through the air the entire length of the Fortress, crashes against the far wall, drops to the floor. BACK TO SCENE LUTHOR horrified, suddently realises what's happened. LUTHOR He switched it! He did it to them! The lights were on our here! He was the only one safe in there! NON rushes at SUPERMAN with a roar, is tossed into the wall in a heap like a rag doll. LOIS turns to URSA, the new information sinking in. LOIS You're a real pain in the neck, you know that? LOIS uncorks a tremendous haymaker, knocks URSA out cold on the floor. SUPERMAN advances on LUTHOR. SUPERMAN I knew you'd double-cross me, Luthor. A lying weasel like you couldn't resist the chance ... LUTHOR (backing up) Are you kidding? I knew it all the time. Did you see how they fell into our trap? Beautiful ... SUPERMAN Too late, Luthor. Too late ... LUTHOR Listen. Have I got a proposition for you, Superman. I mean I owe you one, you know? Now don't say yes or no till you hear me out ... EXT. FORTRESS - DAY SUPERMAN and LOIS walk away from the Fortress with a handcuffed LUTHOR firmly in tow. LUTHOR'S eyes flicker with animation as he talks quickly to SUPERMAN, giving his pitch, his one last chance. LUTHOR ... and who would be the wiser? We say you got killed in the battle, you lie low for a couple of months at my place, and then I bring you back - as a boxer! We start you slow at first, and then - we pull the string! The Smallville Strongboy! The Metropolis Masher! Don't you love it? ... SUPERMAN smiles tolerantly as CAMERA PANS: they have reached a large snow cat vehicle with the THREE VILLAINS tied up inside, guarded by an ARMY PATROL. SUPERMAN hands the now desperate LUTHOR over to them. LUTHOR Plus - I only take ten ... (quickly) five per cent. SUPERMAN (to ARMY PATROLMAN) He's all yours, boys ... LUTHOR is loaded aboard. LUTHOR Three? Two? One? SUPERMAN (to ARMY PATROLMAN) Blast off. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN The snow cat lumbers off through the snow. SUPERMAN puts his arm around LOIS. They gaze off at the Fortress in the distance. SUPERMAN stares hard, deeply affected by the sight of the structure which has meant so much to him for so long. His eyes suddenly begin to glow with his X-Ray super-vision burning white-hot. ANGLE ON FORTRESS - SUPERMAN'S POV The melting Fortress seems to hang suspended for a moment, dazzling in the brilliant light. Then - in what almost seems a burst of suicidal energy - it disappears.The barren landscape is desolate once again. BACK TO SUPERMAN AND LOIS The only sound is the quiet whistle of the wind. LOIS turns to SUPERMAN, tries to form a faint smile, close to tears, realizing the end of the relationship is at hand. SUPERMAN looks down uncomfortably, sensing it too. SUPERMAN Look, Lois, I ... LOIS (brave smile) Hey. No ... regrets, you know? I mean I did it, didn't I? I got the man I love to love me? SUPERMAN (very hard on him) Yes. LOIS (false flipness) So okay, then. So they need you too. I'd be buying my personal little rainbow at the cost of all those people who say "Help. Come. Quick. Now" ... you think I don't understand that? It's the old eternal triangle, right? Except in my case I've got all of humanity in the next bedroom SUPERMAN We'll see each other. All the time, like before. But it can't be like ... (Ed note: the original script of Superman II is missing here for 8 pages - pages 447-455 inclusive - which covers the end of scene 518 until the start of scene 545. I presume that the missing scenes cover Superman's decision to turn the clock back by flying round the world at super- speed having first remembered Jor-Els words forbidding him to meddle with human history ; then Clarks' encounter at the Daily Planet with a rude co-worker, which leads himm to re-visit the diner in Alaska. I tried many times to locate the missing pages - but no luck) The TRUCKER spins in his seat, uncorks a tremedous right hand to the midsection: he screams as his fist cracks into what seems like solid granite, breaking the bone. CLARK leans down, spins the stool in the opposite direction at dizzying speed. The TRUCKER becomes a whirling blur, his seat spiralling upward until it reaches counter level. CLARK reaches out, taps him exactly at the right moment: the TRUCKER flies down the length of the counter through napkin holders, salt shakers, and other people's meals, crashes against the wall, lands in a heap. The COUNTERMAN gapes at CLARK unbelievingly. CLARK (nice smile) I've been working out. EXT. PISA SOUVENIR STAND - ITALY - DUSK The sun is setting as the SHOPKEEPER rolls up the awning on his souvenir stand. The shelves have now been filled with spanking new plasic Towers of Pisa and postards to match the new version: all the Towers stand upright. The once-again smiling, happy, contented SHOPKEEPER looks at the blue upright Tower as CAMERA ZOOMS IN past it to a blue dot in the sky. EXT. SKY ABOVE PISA - DUSK SUPERMAN flies effortlessly through the air, a large pizza in one hand. He looks down, eyes widening as he suddenly remembers what he did. SUPERMAN Oh, no! I couldn't have ... CLOSE ON TOWER SUPERMAN descends to the top of the Tower, pushes it back down carefully so that it will lean once more. EXT. SOUVENIR STAND The SHOPKEEPER admires his stock, turns to look over at the Tower, looks back, does a double-take, then looks up. ANGLE ON SUPERMAN - SHOPKEEPER'S POV SUPERMAN smiles warmly, waves down to him. SUPERMAN Sorry! But it's okay now! BACK TO SOUVENIR STAND The SHOPKEEPER gapes. The Tower is now the Leaning Tower again - all his wares are useless. Hysterical, he smashes his shelves to the ground, makes violent obscene gestures at the CAPED HERO above, weeping. SHOPKEEPER Cretino! Super, stronzo! ... (and other expletives deleted) EXT. SKY - DAY - CLOSE ON SUPERMAN SUPERMAN flies majestically home, the setting sun behind him, soaring toward the blue horizon, magnificent in his power. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able toleap tall buildings at a single bound. Look - up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's SUPERMAN! FADE OUT T H E E N D _ _ _ _ _ _ 26/6/77 SCRIPT NOTES & AMENDMENTS ------------- 1. PLEASE NOTE THAT CLARK KENT DOES NOT change to SUPERMAN - the 'blue blur' will be a grey blur or whatever the colour of suit he is wearing for previous scene. 2. sequence following LOIS' falling into the fruitcart - OMITTED. 3. Luthor escapes from prison in balloon. INT. BALLOON - NIGHT An ecstatic LUTHOR gives EVE a kiss on the cheek, but she is clearly not happy, her old guilts settling in. LUTHOR Well done, Miss Teschmacher. EVE (stony-faced - glum) Why am I doing this? Why am I here? LUTHOR Is this a philosophy seminar? No. This is a getaway. EVE After all you haven't meant to me, why am I back with you? I must be a masochist. LUTHOR I'll tell you what you are. (patronising smile) You're beautiful. You're beautiful when you fly. 339 EXT. SKY - NIGHT The balloon moves upwards through the night sky. 340 INT. BALLOON BASKET - NIGHT LUTHOR How would you like to take a little vacation? I mean, you've earned it, you know? You deserve it. EVE (brightening) There is some good in you, Lex, after all. 46 45