Marlon Brando’s ‘bagel’ proposal

When Richard Donner approached Marlon Brando to play Superman’s father Jor-El, the actor had one strange proposition for the character.

The screen icon suggested that he would play Jor-El as a “bagel” essentially meaning that he could portray the character however he wished, his reasoning being that Jor-El was an alien.

However, Donner didn’t buy into the idea, and used his passion for the DC Comics that spawned Superman to reason with Brando.

Donner recalled: “I said, ‘Jeez, Marlon, it's 1939. There isn't a kid in the world that doesn't know what Jor-El looks like, and he looks like Marlon Brando.’

“And he looked at me and smiled [and said], ‘I talk too much, don't I? OK. Show me the wardrobe.’”