Nuclear Man: the solar creature of Superman IV, to be distinguished from Firestorm
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Nuclear Man is the solar creature of Superman IV, played by Mark Pillow, spoken by Gene Hackman, built by Lex Luthor from a cell of the Man of Steel. This is not Firestorm. In this article you get the film of 24 July 1987, the two creatures of which one was cut, the link to the sun, and the distinction from Ronnie Raymond. By the end you will know which name to keep for 1987, and which one to send back to 1978 on the comics side.
Key Facts
- Film: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, 24 July 1987
- In-story creator: Lex Luthor, with Lenny Luthor
- Body: Mark Pillow
- Voice: Gene Hackman (late choice, lipsync)
- Cut version: A first Nuclear Man, Clive Mantle, removed after a test screening
- Do not confuse with: Firestorm the Nuclear Man (Conway/Milgrom, March 1978)
📋 Contents
Superman IV, 24 July 1987
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace opens in the United States on 24 July 1987. Christopher Reeve returns. Gene Hackman plays Lex again. The stated subject is nuclear disarmament. The creature is the reverse angle: Luthor builds a being from the sun and from a cell, to prove that peace cannot hold.
The film is the worst received of the Reeve series. We do not turn that into a shop argument. We hold to the credit-list facts and to the cuts. The list of films places it after the third, before Returns.
Reeve wanted a film about weapons. Luthor answers with a creature, not with a speech. The English title, The Quest for Peace, states the advertised subject. Nuclear Man states the counter-subject. Both sit in the same runtime, poorly received, often cut, still the fourth of the series that began in 1978.
A cell, the sun, Luthor
Luthor recovers a lock of hair, draws a cell from it, and sends the matrix into the sun. Nuclear Man comes back from it, tied to sunlight, at ease as long as the day holds, vulnerable when that source is cut off. This is not a man who became a hero in a power-plant accident. It is a speaking weapon.
The Lex of the films already had a computer and Gus Gorman. Here he has a yellow golem. The paper adversaries do not need that name in order to exist.
The lock of hair, the cell, the sun: this is an action-film recipe, not a laboratory protocol to quote as science. We keep the solar link, because the story uses it to stop him. We invent neither a periodic table nor a comics run that would pick up this recipe word for word.
Clive Mantle, then Mark Pillow
Mark Rosenthal's commentary on the 2006 DVD and the IMDb notes say it: there were two Nuclear Man. Clive Mantle plays the first, more formless, destroyed by Reeve; Luthor starts again, this time inside the sun. Mark Pillow, found in Denver through the son of director Sidney J. Furie, plays the second. The California test screening cuts about 45 minutes. The first disappears from the public cut.
The Nuclear Man you saw, if you saw the film, is Pillow. We do not invent a later DC career for him.
Mantle is not a forum rumor. Rosenthal, on the 2006 DVD, and the IMDb notes list him. The first being is more formless, destroyed, then replaced. The 1987 audience saw only the second. If you come across a more primitive shooting still, it is often Mantle, not Pillow.
Hackman speaks, Pillow mouths the lines
Pillow told Yahoo that the voice was given to Hackman after the fact, and that he had to lipsync. Hackman did not expect it. The performance stayed stiff, the actor himself says. We cite that as a shooting fact, not as a jab.
Hackman is therefore Lex and, in theaters, the voice of his creature. Two credits, one actor.
Firestorm is not this creature
Firestorm the Nuclear Man #1, March 1978, Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom: Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein fuse in a power-plant explosion. Ronnie pilots the body; Stein speaks inside it. This is a League hero, not a weapon of Luthor. The subtitle « Nuclear Man » caused the collision. The two share neither the same authors, nor the same useful decade, nor the same camp.
The series The Flash brought Firestorm back (Stein, Raymond, then Jackson). That is still not Pillow. If you are looking for the 1987 film, you stay here. If you are looking for the atomic hero, you leave this URL.
Conway and Milgrom sign a hero. Furie, Reeve, Hackman and Pillow sign a weapon. The word « nuclear » is the only bridge, and it is a bridge that is too short. We cut it here, clearly, so that the two searches stop stacking on top of each other.
Two « Nuclear Man », two dates
Three received ideas
- Nuclear Man is Firestorm. No. Firestorm is born in 1978 with Conway and Milgrom, Raymond/Stein fusion. Nuclear Man is a Luthor creature in 1987.
- Mark Pillow also has the voice. No. The body is Pillow. The voice, in theaters, is Gene Hackman, late lipsync.
- There was only one Nuclear Man on the shoot. No. Clive Mantle plays the first, cut after the test screening. Pillow is the second, the one in the cut.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Who is Nuclear Man?
The solar creature of Superman IV, created by Lex Luthor from a cell of the Man of Steel and from the sun.
Who plays Nuclear Man?
Mark Pillow. Gene Hackman gives him the voice. A first Nuclear Man, Clive Mantle, was cut.
When does Superman IV open?
On 24 July 1987 in the United States.
Is Nuclear Man Firestorm?
No. Firestorm the Nuclear Man (March 1978) is Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein. Nothing to do with the 1987 golem.
Does Nuclear Man have a weakness?
In the film, he depends on sunlight. Cutting that source reduces him.
Does Nuclear Man appear in the comics the way this film shows him?
The film had an adaptation. The theatrical character stays defined by Reeve, Pillow and Hackman, not by a modern run.
Conclusion
The fourth film left a creature and a title confusion. This page holds the creature. Firestorm keeps his own, outside this silo.
Hackman and 1978 explain the Luthor camp. Nuclear Man is only the 1987 weapon. The list is enough to slot him back.