The infamous story of what could’ve been with Tim Burton’s take on the Man of Steel in Superman Lives is internet legend at this point—even if it wasn’t actually going to be the final suit Nic Cage donned in the film, the sparkly take on Superman’s costume is forever a reminder of how bad things could’ve gone. Also, now we can see it lit up like goddamn Christmas tree thanks to some newly released footage.
While all the original pictures of the sparkly suit’s chestpiece showed it lit up, this new footage actually shows the feature in action, with lights coursing all over the muscular costume like veins of fiber optics. Unearthed by Dread Central to promote special effects artist Steve Johnson’s new Kickstarter project for a book looking back at his Hollywood design work, the footage is a rare peak at what little we actually knew of Superman Lives.
Also, did I mention the light-up abs? Because they’re pretty wild. Head on over to the link below to see more, including concept art of the film’s truly wild take on Doomsday.