The most emotional moment in the Christopher Reeve Superman documentary came from a poem his son accidentally found the night before filming

New documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Guaranteed to make you cry, while it destroys the life of the legendary actorincluding the time after a tragic horse riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. However, there are also tears of joy as we see him take on the role of the Man of Steel and find new joy in becoming a disability activist.

Ultimately, it’s a very emotional film, so make sure you bring tissues, which you’ll definitely need during the most poignant scene of the entire film.

Although the focus is mainly on Reeve, we also learn about his wife Dana, who became one of his caregivers until his death in 2004. Tragically, ten months later, Dana was diagnosed with lung cancer, leading to her death in 2006.

At one point in the film, their son Will Reeve, who currently works as a journalist in the US, reads an extract from one of Dana’s diaries. The heartbreaking poem she wrote describes a time when she went to bring towels for her sick husband, and soon realized that by the time she reached his bed, the top one was soaked with tears.

It’s an incredibly poignant scene, giving us a glimpse of the emotional toll Dana must have suffered as a caregiver. The powerful moment almost wasn’t in the film, however, when Will came across the poem the night before filming his interview for the documentary.

Christopher Reeve as Superman

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Images)

He had no knowledge of it beforehand, as Will tells GamesRadar+: “It was a piece of paper that fell out of one of her journals that I was looking through the night before. I wanted to make sure I got all the facts right for the interview, and that I was in the right emotional space to share all of myself, and then this piece of paper fell out and I thought ‘wow, this is heavy,’ but it was exactly in line with my intentions here, where I completely from the deepest, darkest corners.”

Further on, Will also emphasizes that during the film he wanted to make sure he paid tribute to both his mother and father, and that he saw reading this poem as the perfect way to do that: “I felt that, in service of the family story, that was important to give. I think it’s so important to give my mother a voice at every opportunity and give her her flowers, because she deserves them I think the filmmakers made a very meaningful part of it. made in the documentary, which says so much.”

Although Dana’s story is partially told in this feature film, in which we see her life with Reeve, Will admits that he would like to see her get her own documentary one day. That’s how important she is, not only to him but to other healthcare providers, as he concludes: ‘There is no Christopher Reeve story without the Dana Reeve story. She was like the sun. A terrifying new reality and there was no handbook. Thanks to her, there is now a literal manual in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. That is a tangible legacy. On a personal level, she should get her own documentary!”

Super/Man: The Story of Christopher Reeve is now available in US and UK theaters.

For more information, see upcoming superhero movies coming your way soon.