Christopher Reeve, who became the definitive on-screen Superman with 1978's "Superman: The Movie," later admitted deep regret over the tone of 1983's "Superman III." The film, directed by Richard Lester after he replaced original director Richard Donner, took a far more comedic and slapstick approach to the character, featuring a prominent supporting role for Richard Pryor, which Reeve felt betrayed the sincerity he had brought to the role.

Reeve, who took the character seriously throughout the franchise, said of the third instalment: "I didn't think it was in the right style. It was too broad and joking." Despite this, one sequence widely praised is the fight scene in which Reeve plays both a "good" Clark Kent and a corrupted, "evil" Superman. His frustrations continued into "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," where a nuclear disarmament storyline he had pitched himself was diluted by budget cuts under Cannon Films, ultimately contributing to the collapse of plans for a fifth film.