Otis (Superman)

Otis, played by Ned Beatty, is the short henchman of Lex Luthor who appears in the 1978 film "Superman" and its sequel, "Superman II". Lacking any real intelligence or physical strength, Otis is used by Luthor primarily as a gofer. He was inspired by Houseroy, a bumbling servant of another DC Comics supervillain Funky FlashmanFact|date=April 2008.

According to producer Pierre Spengler in the DVD commentary for "Superman II", before Beatty got the part, Peter Boyle tested for and was offered the role.

="Superman" (1978)=

The character of Otis is introduced in the first film being sent out to get a newspaper for his boss, and returns to Luthor's underground lair in the Metropolis subways unaware that he is being tailed by a detective. Luthor remedies the situation by killing the luckless law-enforcement officer with a moving wall that pushes him into the path of an oncoming train.

In a nod to 007's villain Blofeld, Luthor's face remains unseen as he remarks about Otis, "It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving." Otis remains oblivious to the fact he was even being followed until Luthor tells him so when he actually arrives in the lair.

Later, he assists Luthor in redirecting a missile to fire at the San Andreas fault, but he messes up the coordinates as it was written in his arm, which "wasn't long enough". In an example of how little Luthor thinks of or appreciates Otis, he denies Otis' request to name a town on the "new" North American coastline (after California falls into the sea) "Otisburg". Otis whines that Miss Teschmacher gets her own town and it was "a little bitty place", but Luthor says nothing. At the end of the film, when Superman captures Luthor and takes him to prison, he also takes Otis.

"Superman II"

In "Superman II", Otis returns, again played by Ned Beatty, but has a much smaller role. Although he remains Luthor's henchman in prison, when Luthor escapes, he leaves Otis behind, electing not to take his incompetent minion along (due to his heavy weight). In a deleted sequence (included as an extra feature on the DVD release of ""), Otis was at one point to have appeared in a different prison escape which shows Luthor escaping prison in the Wardens automobile by simply driving through the front door with the help of Miss Teschmacher -- but again leaving Otis behind.

"Super Friends"

He appears in the episode "Lex Luthor Strikes Back" in "World's Greatest Super Friends", talking with Luthor about his new plans against the team hero, in the same underground lair in the Metropolis subways of the said first Superman movie. Only he was referred to as Orville Gump. [ [http://www.captaincomics.us/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,26/action,profile/u,689/sa,showPosts/start,30/#37 Latest posts of: Brian Krey ] ]

"Krypton to Earth"

Otis makes an appearance in this comic, which serves as a prequel to "Superman Returns", in a flashback sequence set in the first movie where Luthor tells Superman of his plans to launch a missle into the San Andreas Fault.

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