
‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978) Where to watch: Rent it on iTunes, Amazon or YouTube This points to a still wider road not taken following “Barbarella”: Superhero stories in which drives and desires other than redemptive violence motivate the main characters. Today, the science-fantasy genre-bending of “Barbarella” seems positively pioneering, with echoes everywhere from the “Star Wars” franchise to Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” But while superheroes are frequently sexy, rarely are they sexual. And as an act of symbolic cinematic rebellion by the Boomers against the generation of Fonda’s father, Henry, it’s right up there with “Easy Rider,” by her brother, Peter. Starring a resplendent and charismatic Jane Fonda as a space-faring adventurer whose encounters get very close indeed, the film sealed her status as a sex symbol and remains a landmark in her career. ‘Barbarella’ (1968) Where to watch: Stream it on Starz rent it on iTunes, Amazon or YouTubeĭirector Roger Vadim’s adaptation of “Barbarella,” a comic by the French cartoonist Jean-Claude Forest, was a very à la mode blend of liberation and leering. As an allegory for the dark side of the postwar decade’s postcard perfection, Reeves’s story was like something out of a movie - which it became in 2006 with the fictionalized true-crime drama “Hollywoodland.” Superheroes Go Pop The death was ruled an apparent suicide, although suspicions of foul play have never fully subsided (among other reasons, he was having an affair with the wife of an MGM studio “fixer” who had ties to the mob). Reeves chafed at being typecast as the Man of Steel, and he died of a gunshot wound to the head at age 45. The actor responsible was George Reeves, who brought the Man of Steel and his alter ego, Clark Kent, to square-jawed, barrel-chested life in the long-running syndicated TV series “Adventures of Superman.”īut while Superman commanded the adoration of millions of children, the actor who played him had some secrets of his own.

Fittingly, their character’s live-action incarnation became the first superhero superstar.

When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in 1938, they invented an entire genre. ‘Adventures of Superman’ (1952-1958) Where to watch: Rent it on iTunes, Amazon or YouTube
