Slated for release in the summer of 1998, in time for the 60th anniversary of Superman's first appearance, was the return of the last son of krypton in Superman Lives. In 1996, after seeing Mallrats, Warner Bros brought in Kevin Smith based on the presumption that he had a large knowledge of all things Superman because of a choice line of dialogue in the movie. Smith was commissioned to flesh out a script with producer Jon Peters. Things went kind of crazy with that whole process (and you can get more details below). Smith fleshed out a script using elements of the Doomsday storyline featuring the death of Superman. The script also featured villains Brainiac and The Eradicator. Smith's ideal casting were his usual crop of characters. However, things moved on and so did Smith.
