Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
The version you have never seen.
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
In Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, consciousness is carried by aliens — a plane of “alien-heroic metropolis”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing identity, power, love, culture, responsibility.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Green Book (2018)E8/E9 · culture, identity
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)E8/E9 · identity, power
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)E8/E9 · culture, identity
High School Musical (2006)E8/E9 · culture, identity
Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)E8/E9 · identity, power
Superman Returns (2006)E8/E9 · identity, powerSame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)E7/E12 · rare rung · culture, power
Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (2010)E6/E11 · rare rung · identity, power
Warcraft (2016)E12/E13 · rare rung · culture, power
Return to Oz (1985)E10/E13 · rare rung · identity, power
X-Men: The Mutant Watch (2000)E11/E12 · rare rung · identity, powerAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)consciousness in aliens · alien-visit romance
Supergirl (1984)consciousness in aliens · kryptonian exile
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)consciousness in aliens · mythic apocalypse
Man of Steel (2013)consciousness in aliens · alien savior myth
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)consciousness in aliens · cosmic crew
Captain Marvel (2019)consciousness in aliens · interstellar warSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Shrek 2 (2004)consciousness in animals · identity, love
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)consciousness in monsters · identity, love
Aladdin (1992)consciousness carried elsewhere · identity, love
Shrek Forever After (2010)consciousness in animals · identity, love
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)consciousness in monsters · culture, identity
Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001)consciousness in objects · identity, love
