How Christopher Reeve became the perfect superhero

Behind a superhero is a real person.

Cognitively we know this. However, in practice we often forget that underneath the spandex and without any powers is a real human being. Perhaps we should be forgiven for the confusion, however. Because the man who is the prototype of the superhero as we know it in pop culture manifested the characteristics of a fictional person whose mission is to save the world and put that mission into practice in his own life.

The documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeves Story is now available for purchase on multiple digital platforms, and there’s no better day to watch it than today, Election Day. It is a story about the life of an extraordinary person and how he portrayed a superhero so perfectly that an entire entertainment industry now revolves around this genre. But it’s also about turning the fantasy that you need supernatural gifts to be heroic into reality and finding ways to simply be a good person: a good partner, a good father, a good activist. Find a way to make a difference.

“He would have already had his fan base if he had played Superman the way he did and invented the genre that everyone is now obsessed with,” said Peter Ettedgui, who co-directed the film with Ian Bonhôte. “That’s exactly what would have done it, but the fact that he then used his superpowers in his life, both before and after the accident, to raise awareness of issues and change the world for the better – that layering of on- Screen and off-screen heroism is something that is very close to people’s hearts.”

Ettedgui spoke to The Daily Beast’s Obsessed at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, where Superman continued its film festival run, which began when the incredibly moving film received rave, tear-jerking reviews Sundance Film Festival in January.

The documentary chronicles the life of Christopher Reevean actor essentially brought out of obscurity to act Superman and Clark Kent in Richard Donner’s 1978 film, a groundbreaking project that we might now call patient zero of Hollywood’s superhero pandemonium. The film also focuses on Reeve’s activism, both before and after a tragic horse-riding accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed. He was confined to a wheelchair and had to be ventilated. He spent the last two decades of his life advocating for research and policy to support people with disabilities.

It’s an extraordinary life with uncanny parallels: the original superhero who, as a human being, was dedicated to saving lives. So there is something profound about the title of the documentary and its mission. There is a slash between “Super” and “Man” in the title. Much of what Reeve did was comic-book-worthy heroism. But he was also a father, a person who was guided by his everyday beliefs, who had flaws and moved through the world despite those flaws. “He was just a man,” Ettedgui said. “But he was also a superhero.”

Christopher Reeve was virtually unknown when he was cast as the world’s most famous superhero. Ettedgui laughed as he recounted how he, and probably most comic book fans, reacted to the news that he had been cast in the highly anticipated film adaptation: “It was like Marlon Brando! Gene Hackman! And then this name Christopher Reeve, which no one has ever heard of. How would that work?”

The role propelled Reeves’ fame into the stratosphere at a time when he was grappling with fatherhood and, as the documentary details, messy relationships with his partners. He has three children: Matthew, Alexandra and William. The siblings had been cautious about possible projects about their father. But enough time had passed that they felt comfortable with Ettedgui and Bonhôte, their film McQueenabout the fashion designer Alexander McQueen, of whom they were fans.

“This is a film that is about both her and her father,” Ettedgui said. “Or at least it is their father, portrayed through the lens of the three children.”

The fact that the world’s greatest superhero suffered a tragic accident shocked the world. Superman places great emphasis on how remarkable it is that the person who suffered this fate, despite his condition, did everything in his power to become a pioneer in celebrity activism.

Reeve was on the ground floor of the Creative Coalition, which started in 1989 with actors like… Susan Sarandon And Alec Baldwinwith the goal of teaching celebrities how to use their fame to advocate knowledgeably on political issues.

“The idea was to give the actors the opportunity to help them understand the issues and argue about them in a way that wasn’t just superficial phrases,” says Ettedgui. “So he was a real trailblazer in that regard.”

After his accident in 1995, Reeve was motivated to use his celebrity to advocate for legislation, funds and awareness long needed for the disability community, culminating in the creation and success of the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

We live in a time where the Avengers are gathering give a political endorsement is considered so effective that the actors from the franchise do this were conspicuously missing The stunt creates its own news story – presumably with accompanying real-world implications.

While Ettedgui doesn’t go into detail, he understands how Reeve created the template by which we now judge all actors who wear a cape, so to speak. “He embodied everything you could have wanted and expected from Superman and Clark Kent in this performance,” he says. “And because there were no other superheroes, this was the only one. In today’s world it’s hard to imagine. I think everything he did had a much bigger impact.”

Ettedgui really wanted to tell me the stories about Reeve that didn’t make it into the film.

In 1987, Reeve traveled to Chile to support artists facing an ultimatum of exile or execution under the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet. He was there for less than 72 hours, without a bodyguard. But the widespread press that his visit and support received is credited with helping to overturn that edict and, indirectly, end Pinochet’s rule.

“I think this trip had a big impact on him personally,” says Ettedgui. “After his accident, when he learned about the terrible situation for people with spinal cord injuries and the fact that nothing was being done in terms of truly meaningful scientific and medical research, he was ready. He was willing to put in the work and change things. This early activism was truly invaluable. It was his training ground.”

If this was the origin story of Reeves Super/Man, then another anecdote from Ettedgui is proof that his heroism wasn’t just a costume.

Three or four years after Reeve’s accident, a man in Britain named Rob Moriarty suffered a similar event. Out of the blue, he received a letter dictated by Reeve, who at the time could neither write nor type.

Ettedgui paraphrases the letter: “It says, ‘I heard you had this really terrible accident.’ I just want you to know that you are not alone and to not give up hope. A whole group of us are working through the foundation to improve things and find treatments and cures. I hope that one day this will have a big impact on your own life, but just know that you are not alone and that you can still achieve your dreams.'”

Moriarty was invited to the British premiere of Superman. He crafted the letter Reeve had sent him and gave it to his children. He also had a second gift: a photo of himself, decades after his accident, benefiting from the advances Reeve had pioneered with his crusade, skydiving. Yes…skydiving.

“He gave the kids a photo of it and just put a little caption under the photo: ‘Your father was right.’ I have achieved my dream.’”