Donner's Superman 2

Superman II
The Richard Donner version

Scenes 350 - 354, "Intruders at the Fortress of Solitude", pt. 2

350 ANOTHER ANGLE

Suddenly: The light changes in the Fortress. The giant head of Jor-El materializes 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 materializes 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...

351 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 unrecognizable sound O.S.

EVE'S VOICE
(from somewhere)
Found it! I think...

1

LUTHOR sighs deeply, slumps on the bench.

352-354 SCENES OMITTED

Sources:
1 - Superman 2, Austalian/European TV edition; snapshot courtesy of "Supergirl's Boyfriend."

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