NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One of the many cast members to grace 2022 Smallville Con this weekend at the Kansas State Fairgrounds is Jack O' Halloran. He played Non, the menacing but mute member of the trio of Kryptonian supervillains in the first two Superman movies.
"It's like an immortal deal," O'Halloran said. "I knew that, when we did the film, that it was going to be there forever."
O'Halloran spoke glowingly of the brilliance of director Richard Donner. He believes the so-called Donner Cut of Superman II is more true to the intent of the story.
"Richard Donner is a tremendous director," O'Halloran said. "He had already shot 86% of Superman II. When they brought on Richard Lester, in order for him to be a named director on the film, he had to have shot better than 50% of the film, so he went back and reshot stuff and added a lot more comedy and stuff than Donner did. The Donner Cut is actually a much better version of Superman II."
One of the differences in the older Superman movies from current comic book fare is that it isn't nearly as dark.
"There was enough action in the film to make the story work extremely well," O'Halloran said. "You didn't need to go overboard. Today, the films get darker and darker and darker. Hopefully, that changes in the future."
Jack O’Halloran will have Q&A on Saturday in the Sunflower North Building. Here is the full schedule.