Bidding for this lot will end on Wednesday, March 26th. The auction will begin at 10:30AM PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Thursday, March 27th or Friday, March 28th.
Evil Superman's (Christopher Reeve) screen- and photo-matched costume from Richard Lester's superhero sequel Superman III. Superman wore his darker-colored costume after he was exposed to Kryptonite by Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor), when he was corrupted and turned into "evil" Superman. Superman then proceeded to cause mischief, including straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa, before drinking heavily in a bar and ultimately fighting a weakened Clark Kent in a junkyard.
Full Superman costumes are extremely scarce, making this a rare opportunity to own an iconic piece of superhero history. The costume consists of five components in total: a custom blue knit leotard with the stylized Superman logo sewn into the front with attached maroon trunks, a pair of matching knit tights, a cape, a belt, and a pair of boots. It is darker in color to highlight Superman's newly corrupted nature.
Unique puckering at the arm scythes, or armholes, at the front of this leotard's shoulders; the hand-sewn pattern of the Kryptonian "S" logo on the leotard's chest; and discernable patterns in the alignment of the "S" in addition to puckering around the logo's border screen-match to scenes in which the drunken Evil Superman yelled at onlookers after leaving the bar and Ricky Lang (Paul Kaethler) reminded the superhero who he really was before his climactic junkyard battle with Kent. This suit solely appears in these scenes, which were shot outside the St. Louis Hotel in the Downtown East Village neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta, as well as in photographs taken during production.
Although numerous acclaimed actors have portrayed the "Man of Steel" on both the big and small screen since Kirk Alyn's first live action appearance in 1948, for many fans Christopher Reeve is the definitive embodiment of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's comic creation. Reeve portrayed the character across four films between 1978-1987, the first of which was nominated for three Academy Awards® and won a Special Achievement Oscar® for Best Visual Effects. Reeve himself was the recipient of the BAFTA® Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his performance. Although Reeve passed away in 2004 at the tragically young age of 52, his legacy as the Son of Krypton lives on.
Superman's costumes were fabricated from a unique, custom weave which was made using a now-defunct machine in Austria. The tunic features the iconic "S" shield emblem sewn into the chest, with snaps on the shoulders to hold the cape. It has a zip down the back. There is an internal Bermans & Nathans wardrobe label with "Christopher Reeve, Colour E, 18632, Superman III" printed on it. The tights are matching color and feature sewn-in feet. The cape has female black snaps to attach to the male black snaps sewn into the tunic and also has a wardrobe label with "C Reeve, Col/E 3, Flying." As well as being a flying cape, the cape also served as a “flapper" cape. Eight black snaps sewn into the cape attached to a cape flapper, which would have rested on Reeve’s back. The flapper’s metal rods were held in pockets along the bottom of the cape to make the cape flow convincingly as Superman soared through the sky.
The belt is made of yellow vinyl with tan leather backing. There is glue residue inside the belt, indicating there was previously a wardrobe label which is no longer present. The pair of maroon painted boots are size 11. They were originally the traditional red color and thus likely used in other scenes in the Superman franchise. Written inside the boots is "CR NO 6." The traditional Superman red color is also seen inside and they have zips down the back, covered by a flap which also hides the original red color. The “Evil Superman" costume is unique among Superman costumes, as it gets progressively darker through the film as Superman is further corrupted. “Colour E" on the labels is a reference to this darker color of suit.
Prolonged exposure to sunlight while on exhibition has caused parts of the costume not covered by the cape to fade (please see our detailed photographs). This has been assessed by professional costume conservators, who believe that color restoration is feasible, pending further fabric tests. The costume is displayed on a custom-made stand and mannequin.
Estimate: $200,000 - 400,000