“Placed Aboard This Vessel…”

SUPERMANIA brings you a comprehensive update on this archive post regarding the above full-size prop re-photographed by me only days ago –

As previously reported, the Baby Kal-El Starship had been mothballed waiting to be researched for exhibition in the London FIlm Museum until its discovery and subsequent identification by a visiting fan.  The presumption was that the meteorite was the prop used in Richard Donner’s original Superman: The Movie but upon close inspection I can exclusively reveal it is in fact no such thing.  Instead, the prop currently residing in the Great Hall is a relic from the opening scenes of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.

Proof of this is the orifice in the right hand side of the inner chamber (second pic down) where the ‘Energy Module’ left by Lara as her ‘Last Gift’ to her son Kal-El emerges before being removed.  As the crash landing scenes in Donner’s ’78 picture were shot in Canada, it was always curious as to how the ship made its way back to the UK in such pristine state when Part IV’s location work was limited to these shores.

I recommend a visit to the museum to see this piece up close as its remains a well maintained prop and a genuine piece of Movie history.  Should the London Film Museum wish to update their plaque to identify the item correctly and with accompanying stills, however, they are more than welcome to contact me…