“Oh no, not Superman!” This cry rang through a darkened movie theater in suburban Detroit. The film we were watching was Deathtrap, and Christopher Reeve had just kissed Michael Caine. Now, in Deathtrap Reeve was playing a homosexual sociopath, and doing a splendid job, may I add, but to me, and evidently a number of other people in the audience, he was still Superman. He was the one who had brought the iconic figure to the big screen, and did it with charm and delight. He went on to play many other characters in his career, but for those of us who are now of a certain age, he would remain Superman in our hearts, even when he could no longer walk, let alone fly.

In all, Christopher Reeve performed the role of Superman in four movies. I remember when the first one came out. It really was a big deal. Yes, there had been Superman movies before, but not since the late ’50s. Superman was going to be the first modern superhero movie pitched at older adolescents and adults, and, believe it or not, the idea was daring. Comic book heroes were for children, specifically, for boys under fifteen. We were still some years away from the revolution wrought by writers such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller and Neil Gaiman. These men would eventually transform comics into grim, adult tales that needed warning labels about sex and violence.

Leaving aside the cartoons like Justice League and Superboy, the only  …