See long-haired, plastic-suited Nicolas Cage as the Superman that could have been

Whatever happened to Superman Lives?

The lost movie, which was to be directed by Tim Burton and to star Nicolas Cage in his action movie heyday, was such a bizarre fascination for fans of the Man of Steel that there's a whole documentary made about how it came to be and how it came to fail.

From that documentary, The Death of Superman Lives, we get some uncovered behind-the-scenes footage of Cage's costume test with the weird, plastic-looking Superman suit (with sculpted in abs, we notice) for the doomed movie. See some gifs from the video, which was first posted by the LA Times, below:

http://yahooentertainment.tumblr.com/post/123395586246/nicolas-cage-as-superman-we-kind-of-love-it

Long hair, bright blue suit, Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton? What could this movie have looked like? We're guessing something like if The Fifth Element and Twin Peaks had a baby. The upcoming Batman v. Superman would have looked completely different if this movie ever happened (though at least it would be more colorful).

The first 10 minutes of The Death of Superman Lives is already on YouTube for the curious viewer. The description from the YouTube page:
Enjoy the first 10 minutes of the feature film documentary “The Death of ‘Superman Lives'; What Happened?” and find out all about the doomed “Superman Lives” production that was to star Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. Join Director Jon Schnepp as he explores the history of this project, and speaks with writers Kevin Smith, Wesley Strick, Dan Gilroy, Producers Jon Peters and Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Costume Designer Colleen Atwood, Director Tim Burton and many more.

The Death of Superman Lives is available digitally July 9.