Superman Lives | Behind-The-Scenes The saga of Superman Lives begins in May 1996 with none other than Kevin Smith. Smith was contacted by Warner Bros. in May 1996 to pen a script for what they hoped would be an epic relaunch of an icon. In their first correspondence with Smith, Warner Bros. executives already outlined key elements of the story that they wanted to see in the script, including Brainiac being the main villain and the concept of Superman losing his superpowers. Tim Burton was picked