Gus Gorman: Superman III's programmer and his supercomputer
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All about Gus Gorman, the programmer of Superman III. Richard Pryor plays him in Richard Lester's film, released in the United States on June 17, 1983 and in France on August 10, 1983. You see how Ross Webster recruits him, what the synthetic kryptonite does, what “his” supercomputer really is, and why he is neither Winn Schott nor the inventor of Nuclear Man.
📋 Contents
- Gus Gorman, created for Superman III
- The 85 000 dollars and Webster's blackmail
- Synthetic kryptonite cut with tar
- The supercomputer: Gus builds it, Webster orders it
- Gus Gorman is not Winn Schott
- Lorelei, Vera, and what the film does with Gus
- What 1983 kept of Pryor and of III
- In the shop: a mouse pad, not a portrait of Pryor
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
Gus Gorman, created for Superman III
Gus Gorman does not exist in any comic before 1983. David and Leslie Newman write him for Superman III, directed by Richard Lester after Richard Donner left. Richard Pryor gets the part. The Salkinds want him after Pryor appears on the Tonight Show and says he likes the first two films. Christopher Reeve returns as Clark. Annette O'Toole is Lana Lang, in Smallville, not in Metropolis.
The film opens in the United States on June 17, 1983, after a Washington premiere on the 12 and one in New York on the 14. The United Kingdom gets it on July 19. France, according to the Cinémathèque and JP Box-Office, gets it on August 10, 1983. Gus is already there from the first scenes: an unemployed man who finds, almost by chance, that he can talk to machines.
Key Facts
- Film: Superman III, June 17, 1983 (US), August 10, 1983 (FR)
- Played by: Richard Pryor
- Employer: Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), Webscoe
- Notable fact: synthetic kryptonite cut with tar
- Ending: the computer destroyed, Gus leaves for West Virginia
The 85 000 dollars and Webster's blackmail
Webscoe Industries hires Gus. He skims 85 000 dollars from the payroll — the figure is in the film's story, repeated by Wikipedia EN. Ross Webster, played by Robert Vaughn, notices. Webster is not Lex Luthor: he is a character invented for this film, an industrialist who wants to control coffee, then oil. His sister Vera (Annie Ross) and his mistress Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela Stephenson) surround him. Together they blackmail Gus.
Webster first has him divert the Vulcan weather satellite to destroy the coffee crops in Colombia. Superman stops the storm. From then on, Webster wants the hero gone. Gus did not choose this fight. He programs because they have him. The film list places III after two Luthor pictures: here Luthor is absent, and so is Otis.
Synthetic kryptonite cut with tar
Webster orders kryptonite to be made. The computer does not know the meteorite's full composition. Gus replaces the unknown with tar (tar). The rock does not kill Superman. It corrupts him. The film then shows a hero who straightens the Leaning Tower of Pisa, blows out the Olympic flame, then splits: a corrupted Superman on one side, Clark on the other. Clark wins by strangling him — that is the film's plot, not a metaphor.
Gus did not invent kryptonite. He built an incomplete imitation. The tar is not a comics “secret”: it is a 1983 invention. If you want the five varieties, the article on kryptonite is elsewhere. Here we stay with Lester's tarred rock.
The supercomputer: Gus builds it, Webster orders it
Gus then proposes a supercomputer, in exchange for a tanker hijacking. Webster agrees. Exteriors are shot at Glen Canyon, in Utah; the stage is the 007 stage at Pinewood. The film gives the machine no comics name. It is not Brainiac. It is not the computer that births Nuclear Man in Superman IV, four years later, with other writers and another industrialist.
The machine becomes conscious. It turns Vera into a cyborg and strikes Webster and Lorelei. Superman grabs a vat of acid from a chemical plant and destroys the computer. “His” supercomputer, in the title, is the one Gus designs and assembles. Webster pays for it and runs it. Both facts hold: without Gus, no machine; without Webster, no order to build it.
Gus Gorman is not Winn Schott
Winn Schott is Kara's computer expert in the Supergirl series, son of that series' Toyman, played by Jeremy Jordan. Gus Gorman is a 1983 unemployed man whom Webster blackmails. They both program. They share neither the same decade, nor the same boss, nor the same arc. Winn leaves for the XXXI century with the Legion. Gus, at the end of the film, “starts over”; Wikipedia EN places him in West Virginia.
Confusing the two is pasting a series character onto a Lester film. This page stays with Pryor. The Winn page stays with Jordan. The viewing order of the Reeve films puts III third: Gus appears only there.
Lorelei, Vera, and what the film does with Gus
Lorelei Ambrosia hides that she knows machines. She seduces Superman to push him into causing an oil spill. Vera Webster, Ross's sister, ends up inside the computer, transformed. Gus loves neither of them: he endures the trio. The film shows him more clever than brave. He proposes the machine to get out, not to save the world.
In the end, Superman turns Webster, Vera and Lorelei over to the authorities. Gus is not in the van. The story lets him leave. This is not a costumed redemption: it is an exit from the frame. Pryor does not return in Superman IV. Gene Hackman, for his part, will return in IV: another industrialist, another decade, another sidekick.
What 1983 kept of Pryor and of III
The film takes in $60 million in the United States and $80.2 million worldwide, 12th of the year in North America. Rotten Tomatoes lists it at 31% on 102 reviews; Metacritic at 44. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus blames the gags, the slapstick and Pryor, then a plot too close to the first two films. The Razzies nominate Pryor for worst supporting actor, and Giorgio Moroder for the score.
Leonard Maltin writes that it is an “appalling” sequel that sacrifices Superman to cheap laughs and to Pryor: that is a critic's line, not a shop verdict. Lester, already blamed for the gags in Superman II, takes the larger share of the blame among some viewers. None of that erases Gus: the character remains the film's programmer, with a tarred rock and a machine too big for him.
In the shop: a mouse pad, not a portrait of Pryor
No product in the shop shows Richard Pryor or the Glen Canyon computer. The closest items are screen accessories — mouse pad, case, LED alarm. The accompanying lines say so: we are on the desktop-computer side, not on the 1983 set. We are not selling you Gus as a figure.
If you want the film rather than the machine, the Superman III analysis page is already up, and so is the film order. Gus fits in one film. This page stops where the III credits stop.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Does Gus Gorman appear in the comics before Superman III?
No. He is created for the 1983 film. No appearance in the classic comics is attested before the shoot.
Who really orders the supercomputer?
Gus designs and builds it. Ross Webster funds it and runs it. The possessive in the title points to the one who assembles: Webster pays, Gus lays the circuits.
Did Gus create Nuclear Man?
No. Nuclear Man appears in Superman IV (1987), with another machine and other writers. Gus is not in the credits.
Are Gus Gorman and Winn Schott the same character?
No. Winn Schott is the computer expert of the Supergirl series. Gus is the programmer of Superman III, played by Richard Pryor.
How much does Gus skim from the payroll?
85 000 dollars, according to the film's story. That skim is what alerts Webster.
When does Superman III open in France?
On August 10, 1983, according to the Cinémathèque française and JP Box-Office. In the United States, the film opened on June 17, 1983.
What happens to Gus at the end of the film?
Superman destroys the computer. Webster, Vera and Lorelei are turned over to the authorities. Gus leaves: Wikipedia EN then places him in West Virginia, with no second independent source at hand.
Conclusion
Gus Gorman is a film programmer, not a 1938 character. Pryor plays him in 1983: 85 000 dollars, a rock cut with tar, a machine too big, an exit without a costume. Webster orders. Gus assembles. Superman destroys.
If you are looking for Luthor, Winn, Nuclear Man or Lois Lane, those pages exist. Here we stop at Reeve's third film, and at the only Gus who counts.