Superman (Salkind films) him to contradict Jor-El's orders to avoid altering human history, time traveling to save her from dying. Superman instead takes the advice of Jonathan Kent, his father on Earth. One of the most important aspects in the first and second films was the romantic relationship between the two main characters; Clark was hopelessly in love with Lois and even gave up his powers in order to be with her as depicted in "Superman II". The character and the portrayal by Christopher Reeve has garnered positive reviews by film critics and many other journalists. American Film Institute ranked Reeve's take on
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Luthors. He places Lenny in Boys Town, telling the priest that Lenny has been under a bad influence, and returns Lex to prison. In 1983, following the mixed-to-negative reaction to "Superman III", Reeve and the producers, Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya, assumed that the "Superman" films had run their course. Reeve was slated to make a cameo in 1984's "Supergirl" but was unavailable; that film was a box-office failure. Two years later, Ilya Salkind sold the "Superman" franchise to Golan and Globus of Cannon Films. According to Jon Cryer, who played Luthor's nephew Lenny, Reeve had taken him aside