‘If someone said, ‘For 10 million dollars, you’ll love it,’ I’d say no’: Christopher Reeve’s children ignoring ‘The Flash’ would make dad proud

“Not that he wasn’t proud of Superman… but if he were here he wouldn’t choose Superman, he’d choose The Remains of the Day [the 1993 drama film where Reeve played an American congressman in postwar Britain]. I don’t think about the Superman films as much as I do about the swings he took beyond this larger-than-life role.”

What had Christopher Reeve said about playing Superman again?

Will’s words reflect previous statements made by his father when discussing a possible return to the iconic caped superhero. In 2023’s The Flash, Reeve’s strange computer-engineered likeness appears ominously looking down on Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen during a time-traveling, multiverse-hopping sequence crammed with other similarly bizarre fan-baiting appearances. However, back in 1982, the man behind what is arguably the most famous iteration of Superman, made his feelings clear on what it would take for him to return to the role.

“If someone said, “For 10 million dollars, you’ll love it,” I’d say no. I’ve never done a project for money; that is for money alone,” he told Playgirl. Reeve said the only way he’d put on the cape and spandex again would be if the studios came up “with a really great idea.”

He continued by stating the dangers of picking roles for monetary reasons, without any meaning to back them up. “I think when you start working for money you turn a corner. It’s a violation, really, of your integrity,” Reeve addressed, adding “One of the few things you have to hang onto is your integrity about your work, and I think work defines a great deal of who you are.”

Doesn’t sound to us like he’d appreciate his non-speaking, throwaway, digitally produced last outing as the character that defined his life for better and for worse. However, he did find reasons to come back to Superman and adjacent productions years after this interview.

The Superman cameos Christopher Reeve was happy to accept

Five years after the Playgirl interview, Reeve suited up one last time for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in exchange for creative control over the story and director. It was he who pitched the film’s nuclear weapons plot, as per an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“I’m personally fairly left. I believe a nuclear arms treaty is possible. I’m alarmed at our President [Reagan]’s behavior at Reykjavik. When Cannon [Films] approached me about playing Superman again, I thought it would be a good idea to get the character involved in trying to solve real problems.”

Reeve would never play the Man of Steel again, but there was one modern Superman title that received his seal of approval. Smallville, the WB-turned-The-CW 10 season series about a teenage Clark Kent, impressed the actor, who called its writing, acting, and special effects “remarkable.” He even went on to guest star on the show twice as Dr. Virgil Swann, a scientist studying Krypton who informed Clark of his alien origins.

“I just thought it would be fun. It’s a very welcome relief from politics and medical research,” Reeve reportedly said at the time. Part of the guest appearance agreement with Warner Bros. included the broadcasting of an infomercial on behalf of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, following the episode.