EVIL URSA – A LOOK INTO
SUPERMAN’S SADISTIC
VILLAINESS
When the Theatrical Cut of Superman II was first released starting in the Winter of 1980 first in Australia, and ultimately in the US in June of 1981 the world had finally gotten to know the mysterious female villainess of General Zod’s trio – Ursa – who was banished to the Phantom Zone in the opening scene of Superman: The Movie in 1978. Described by Jor-El (Marlon Brando) as a woman, “whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton,” her screen time in the titular superhero film was brief, only a promise of crimes to come. She, Non and Zod were immediately sentenced to the eternal prison and it left audiences to wonder when and if she may return and engage in her evil deeds. With Jor-El’s formidable description came the deliverance of her character in Superman II and Ursa triumphed, becoming the premier female villainess of the Christopher Reeve Superman films. Ursa is an archetype for the modern super-powered female villainess – one who is equally strong and intelligent, with Amazonian qualities and a streak of feminism, but in the end sadistic, yet with an engaging and graceful quality. Ursa was brilliantly realized by actress Sarah Douglas in a role she beat out 600 other actresses for and it became a career-defining role for her.
There are several versions of Superman II that are available – The Theatrical Cut released in 1980 (in the US in 1981), the 2006 Richard Donner Cut (both of which have been released in 4K by Warner Brothers in 2023), and extended Television Cuts from the 1980s that circulate on the underground online market. With all of the alternate versions of the same film, that’s a lot of material to sift through and this essay essentially is a study of the character of Ursa from her origins to how she was realized in all of these versions of the same film. We will delve into the psychological make-up of the character, including motivations and strategies as she is an extremely smart and cunning villainess. Ursa is an attention-grabbing secondary villain, a mysterious force to be reckoned with; sort-of like a Boba Fett for the Reeve Superman series. Ursa is a character who was nearly-universally praised upon the film’s release and who has built a respectable cult following in the years since. There are numerous drawings, memorabilia, photos and designs of her character constantly circulating; various appearances of her in DC Comic books since 2006; fan sites like www.Ursasworld.evilsupergirls.com; tributes on Facebook and numerous websites; she has appeared in the 'DC Super Hero Girls' cartoon in 2019 and in 'Scooby Doo! and Krypto Too!' in 2023; and, even has a song dedicated to her - “Ursa, Queen of the Universe” by Gareth Rhodes on YouTube.
Ursa is standing tall (and flying high) and perhaps stronger than ever. Yvonne Blake’s costume for Ursa worn by Sarah Douglas recently sold for over $43,000 in a November 2022 Propstore UK auction. Nevertheless, especially as she is the pioneer female comic book super-villainess in modern film, Ursa is terribly underrated as the Reeve films are essentially the starting point for when superhero movies became more than cheap B-serials and pure children’s material. There was never a female villainess in a comic book serial, show or film with powers like hers before she first came on the screen in 1978. As Sarah Douglas said about Ursa, in an interview with the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle in 1981, "I stand for nothing but evil."
There are several versions of Superman II that are available – The Theatrical Cut released in 1980 (in the US in 1981), the 2006 Richard Donner Cut (both of which have been released in 4K by Warner Brothers in 2023), and extended Television Cuts from the 1980s that circulate on the underground online market. With all of the alternate versions of the same film, that’s a lot of material to sift through and this essay essentially is a study of the character of Ursa from her origins to how she was realized in all of these versions of the same film. We will delve into the psychological make-up of the character, including motivations and strategies as she is an extremely smart and cunning villainess. Ursa is an attention-grabbing secondary villain, a mysterious force to be reckoned with; sort-of like a Boba Fett for the Reeve Superman series. Ursa is a character who was nearly-universally praised upon the film’s release and who has built a respectable cult following in the years since. There are numerous drawings, memorabilia, photos and designs of her character constantly circulating; various appearances of her in DC Comic books since 2006; fan sites like www.Ursasworld.evilsupergirls.com; tributes on Facebook and numerous websites; she has appeared in the 'DC Super Hero Girls' cartoon in 2019 and in 'Scooby Doo! and Krypto Too!' in 2023; and, even has a song dedicated to her - “Ursa, Queen of the Universe” by Gareth Rhodes on YouTube.
Ursa is standing tall (and flying high) and perhaps stronger than ever. Yvonne Blake’s costume for Ursa worn by Sarah Douglas recently sold for over $43,000 in a November 2022 Propstore UK auction. Nevertheless, especially as she is the pioneer female comic book super-villainess in modern film, Ursa is terribly underrated as the Reeve films are essentially the starting point for when superhero movies became more than cheap B-serials and pure children’s material. There was never a female villainess in a comic book serial, show or film with powers like hers before she first came on the screen in 1978. As Sarah Douglas said about Ursa, in an interview with the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle in 1981, "I stand for nothing but evil."
CREATION OF CHARACTER
Ursa (which is Latin for ‘She-Bear’) was co-created at the same time as the Faora Hu-Ul character from Action Comics #471- #473, who debuted in May 1977 in a story by Cary Bates. A little over a month before that, Sarah Douglas was cast and started filming as Ursa for Superman: The Movie and Superman II. In the comics, Faora is a criminal sentenced to the Phantom Zone for running a private concentration camp for males on Alezar. Faora wears a green and white spandex outfit with blue boots and is an expert in the Kryptonian Martial Art Horu Kanu – something that may have also been in the early development for Ursa as her previous crimes are vaguely defined by Jor-El in the original film. 
As Ursa was present in the Superman film scripts at least a year before Faora’s debut, it seems that when Mario Puzo met with Action Comics writers Cary Bates and Elliot S. Maggin in 1975 during the writing phase of the first two films, it’s possible to assume they exchanged ideas about creating a female Phantom Zone villain. That being said, as Puzo’s scripts have become available online for the first time in January of 2023, Ursa is completely absent. Puzo has four Kryptonian villains (all male) and Zod plays a minor role compared to what he does in the finished product. As the film naturally went through its own developmental phases separate of Action Comics, it appears logical there was no true plan by the writers of the comics and the subsequent writers of the first two films (Leslie Newman, David Newman, Robert Benton and Tom Mankiewicz) to match these characters. Ursa shows up first in the Newman, Newman and Benton script dated July 1976, however there was a Norman Enfield draft done in late 1975 in between when Mario Puzo left and the Newmans took over where she possibly could have originated. Ursa and Faora, however, seem to grow out of the same basic concept. The Tom Mankiewicz shooting script from early 1977 describes Ursa as “a strikingly beautiful, but cruel woman obsessed by an all-consuming hatred of the male sex.” Ursa is also described as “a languorous, undulating Rhine Maiden, floating down through the darkness… a smiling magical apparition.” In the 1976 Newman, Newman and Benton script she is described as “A woman whose beauty makes strong men weak.”
Ursa’s hatred for men is present in these early scripts, but was toned down in the editing rooms of both Superman: The Movie and Superman II. This defining mantra of Ursa is explicit in a deleted scene on the moon (present in the Television Cut), when Zod plans to go to Earth to rule – “finally, to rule.” Zod then turns to his female enforcer and tells her, “And you will have everything you want,” to which Ursa responds with pure hate, “Men, to kill!” Sarah Douglas delivers the line with great intensity. It’s a rather chilling moment and one suspects it was deleted as this was a family film and Ursa’s declaration is quite harsh. Ultimately, though, Ursa was more deadly than her comic book counterpart Faora was in her 1977 DC debut. In the comics, Faora repeatedly describes her hatred of men, but she didn’t actually kill any men until a brutal killing in Phantom Zone #4 in 1982. It almost seems the comics got their approval for Faora to kill from the film. In all versions of Superman II, the characters of the three super-villains very nicely contrast one another and Sarah Douglas had great onscreen chemistry with her co-stars Terence Stamp and Jack O'Halloran. Zod is totally consumed by power – a megalomaniac. His only objective is the subjugation of all he surveys which makes him especially arrogant. Killing was secondary to his lust for power. Non is a hulk and doesn’t exemplify intelligence which sometimes makes him appear child-like, but he is loyal to Zod and unleashes his brute force and destruction with Zod’s direction. Ursa is also loyal to Zod, but is a curious character and only seems to enjoy seeking debauchery. Ursa is in many ways a more vicious and sadistic villain than Zod or Non for this reason. Zod clearly understands Ursa’s need for violence and he uses that by letting her do what she wishes under the tolerance of his rule. This trade off sees her serve Zod so she can revel in her evil ways without consequence which one would assume was their relationship on Krypton.
As Ursa was present in the Superman film scripts at least a year before Faora’s debut, it seems that when Mario Puzo met with Action Comics writers Cary Bates and Elliot S. Maggin in 1975 during the writing phase of the first two films, it’s possible to assume they exchanged ideas about creating a female Phantom Zone villain. That being said, as Puzo’s scripts have become available online for the first time in January of 2023, Ursa is completely absent. Puzo has four Kryptonian villains (all male) and Zod plays a minor role compared to what he does in the finished product. As the film naturally went through its own developmental phases separate of Action Comics, it appears logical there was no true plan by the writers of the comics and the subsequent writers of the first two films (Leslie Newman, David Newman, Robert Benton and Tom Mankiewicz) to match these characters. Ursa shows up first in the Newman, Newman and Benton script dated July 1976, however there was a Norman Enfield draft done in late 1975 in between when Mario Puzo left and the Newmans took over where she possibly could have originated. Ursa and Faora, however, seem to grow out of the same basic concept. The Tom Mankiewicz shooting script from early 1977 describes Ursa as “a strikingly beautiful, but cruel woman obsessed by an all-consuming hatred of the male sex.” Ursa is also described as “a languorous, undulating Rhine Maiden, floating down through the darkness… a smiling magical apparition.” In the 1976 Newman, Newman and Benton script she is described as “A woman whose beauty makes strong men weak.”
Ursa’s hatred for men is present in these early scripts, but was toned down in the editing rooms of both Superman: The Movie and Superman II. This defining mantra of Ursa is explicit in a deleted scene on the moon (present in the Television Cut), when Zod plans to go to Earth to rule – “finally, to rule.” Zod then turns to his female enforcer and tells her, “And you will have everything you want,” to which Ursa responds with pure hate, “Men, to kill!” Sarah Douglas delivers the line with great intensity. It’s a rather chilling moment and one suspects it was deleted as this was a family film and Ursa’s declaration is quite harsh. Ultimately, though, Ursa was more deadly than her comic book counterpart Faora was in her 1977 DC debut. In the comics, Faora repeatedly describes her hatred of men, but she didn’t actually kill any men until a brutal killing in Phantom Zone #4 in 1982. It almost seems the comics got their approval for Faora to kill from the film. In all versions of Superman II, the characters of the three super-villains very nicely contrast one another and Sarah Douglas had great onscreen chemistry with her co-stars Terence Stamp and Jack O'Halloran. Zod is totally consumed by power – a megalomaniac. His only objective is the subjugation of all he surveys which makes him especially arrogant. Killing was secondary to his lust for power. Non is a hulk and doesn’t exemplify intelligence which sometimes makes him appear child-like, but he is loyal to Zod and unleashes his brute force and destruction with Zod’s direction. Ursa is also loyal to Zod, but is a curious character and only seems to enjoy seeking debauchery. Ursa is in many ways a more vicious and sadistic villain than Zod or Non for this reason. Zod clearly understands Ursa’s need for violence and he uses that by letting her do what she wishes under the tolerance of his rule. This trade off sees her serve Zod so she can revel in her evil ways without consequence which one would assume was their relationship on Krypton.
THE MOON
If one is to understand the character of Ursa, one should go no further than the moon scene which really serves as her true introduction in the Superman films. Her sequences are perfectly shot and are a study on how to economically and effectively define a character in a single scene. Ursa never shines brighter in the spotlight than here, where she displays all of her signature characteristics. It is for that reason this scene will be thoroughly broken down here as it is the centerpiece for all aspects of her character and it’s also one of the only scenes Ursa has, in which she does not share the screen with Zod and Non. At this point in Superman II, of the three villains, Ursa is the one we know least about. Zod was well-featured in the first film in his memorable scene facing off against Jor-El. When the second film begins, in the prologue of the Theatrical Cut, Non gets to show his character's strength by breaking the neck of a Kryptonian guard right before the three villains are captured. By the time the villains escape the Phantom Zone and get to the moon, Ursa is still something of a mystery to audiences. Will she just be a pretty face at General Zod's side?
Unlike many passive female villains from 1970s who tend to stand next to the male villains and look sinful, Ursa is a very active character and the moon scene illustrates her strategizing, striking and ultimately showing her homicidal nature. From the three villains’ point of view, they have just been freed from their intergalactic prison and do not know who the white-suited humanoid astronauts on the moon are. Zod, being the General, does not approach first nor does he send Non first; instead, he sends Ursa, which is a bit of a surprise to the audience as Non is clearly the strongest. As Ursa is the last whose villainous deeds the audience is introduced to, it is here on the moon that Sarah Douglas gets the opportunity to steal the show! Ursa first flies past the lunar capsule allowing herself to be seen as she scouts out the ship. She makes eye contact with Nate, who is inside the capsule, and after listening in on his conversation with “Houston” she chooses to fly past him and pursue Andy who is heading away from the ship. Ursa is a perceptive and intelligent character and chooses to confront and surprise the outlier enemy (Andy) who does not have the protection of his ship, which is what you would expect from a soldier working for a General. She always puts herself in a position to give herself full advantage over the human men she faces throughout the film and this scene establishes that. The most impressive characteristic of Ursa in this scene is her fearlessness. Looking at it from her perspective, Ursa performs the most courageous act of any character in the entire film as the villains, having just been freed from the Phantom Zone, do not know if they are stronger than the astronauts or not. One has to wonder if she deduces she is facing a man, and the viewer must remember that from her standpoint, Ursa is risking her life if she is wrong. Ursa wisely chooses not to fly, as Nate had seen her do, and instead chooses to shock Andy by boldly walking with commanding force directly up to his face. She does this while also trapping him between two sets of very large moon boulders on each side of him, giving him only his rear for possible escape and essentially ambushing his position. By hiding her ability to fly from him, if he was a formidable foe, she could use that power to her advantage if needed. This strategy works as Andy’s eyes pop open and he comes to a dead stop from his moon trot at the sight of her walking with fluid gait as if she were on Earth, and amazingly without a spacesuit! “You,” she demands of him. He can only mutter an “uh” as she continues, “What kind of a creature are you?” Ursa’s boldness is measured by her statuesque posture. When he meekly responds, “Just a man,” she amusedly replies with condescension, “A man?” Finding out that this creature before her is “just” a man underneath the suit, she is clearly pleased and senses her upper hand.
For the first time, Ursa indulges in her curiosity for badges as she fixates on and reaches for the space insignia on his chest. It isn’t clear if she wants to immediately kill him as she casually reaches for the insignia, but her momentary curiosity is his only chance to turn around and run away. Ursa, knowing she has him trapped, lets him run a few feet and Andy drops his tool trying to flee. As Ursa wisely did not reveal to him that she could fly at first, he laboriously pants and trots as fast as he can back toward the capsule, hoping to out-run her. Ursa rises from the moon’s surface and calmly flies above the astronaut easily tracking his movement. His head is down, unaware of her location and with his momentum giving him nowhere to go, she lands straight down at his face, terrifying him. This time Ursa wastes no words with him and immediately rips the insignia off his spacesuit, slightly raising her head in relished superiority as he starts to fall backward.
Ursa may have suspected he needed to breathe inside his suit and she now stares at what she has done as he lay helplessly rolling in pain on the ground. She appears impatient to simply watch him die and uses the opportunity to test her strength. It is here Ursa reveals her true nature to the audience and where the “perversions” that Jor-el spoke about her, are unleashed - Her annoyance with his brief escape gives way to sadism as Ursa finishes off the downed astronaut with a kick to his groin. Ursa is clearly relishing her newly found power and it's an act of ice-cold cruelty. She ends her vicious act placing her hands on her hips with a fulfilled and satisfied pose watching him shoot off the moon’s surface and vanish into the darkness of orbit. The deleted scene that follows this, is when she tells Zod her only want is, “Men, to kill!” Finally, freed from the Phantom Zone, Ursa’s misandry has also been liberated. What the character of Ursa does in the moon scene is establish her modus operandi for the rest of the film. With her dialogue she depicts her objective – in this scene it is to find out what kind of creature he was. Her actions then exhibit her curiosity and tearing of symbols with her hatred and conquering of mankind. In just over one minute of screen time on the moon, Ursa is at once shown to be intelligently strategic, fearless, forceful, curious, amused, annoyed, sadistic, a misandrist, and satisfied. Quite a lot of character packed into a short scene!
CINEMATIC BREAKDOWN OF URSA ON THE MOON
It’s worth the time to closely look at the framing, image composition, character blocking and action of how this scene was filmed, as this gives a subtext for Ursa’s character for the remainder of the movie and also illustrates why this scene is so effective and memorable. If you don't like the dryness of shot-by-shot analysis, please feel free to skip ahead to the next section about Ursa on Planet 'Houston.' The moon sequence was shot under Richard Donner's direction and we'll take a deep look into how this classic scene was shot and edited. 
The suspense for the audience begins with Nate spotting Ursa flying past his capsule, giving us a bad feeling for how the villains will interact with these astronauts. The film cuts to Andy progressing in a close up of his feet shuffling. He continues unfazed until he looks up and stops at a halt in shock of something, as we see his eyes bug out in a close up. In the following shot, from his point of view, Ursa is walking directly at him (or at the audience as Sarah Douglas is walking directly toward the camera) between the two moonrock boulders, giving him and us, the feeling of nowhere to escape. They first meet together in the same shot when she enters the frame of a wide shot, walking from the right side across to the left, cornering him into the left end of the film frame where he has been standing at a halt. 
This puts the audience in the astronaut’s shoes, with the feeling of his being outmatched by someone who doesn’t need a spacesuit to be on the moon. In the editing of their dialogue, Ursa continues to create pressure on his character, demanding to know what kind of a creature he is and looking down on him with her imposing presence. Sarah Douglas gets several close ups and creates a striking image. If one were watching this scene without sound, it’s very clear from the blocking of her character and the composition of her close-ups against him, that Ursa is the dominant character. Ursa faces him and reaches across for his insignia, invading Andy’s space on the left side of the frame, causing him to back away quickly. In each image when she moves across the film frame, her character takes control of the space within the frame, giving the astronaut "nowhere to go" and “suffocating” the space in the film frame with where he can escape. He turns around and on the reverse angle runs from screen right to screen left now. However, the previous shots established that moving from screen right to screen left is Ursa’s dominant screen direction from her initial contact with him, so the film implies to us his character is destined to fail in his attempted escape. The suspense, again, builds as the audience knows she can fly and he can’t, so his impending doom feels palpable as in the wide shot we see her impassively fly up and over from the right side of the film frame to the left but he can't see her.
When she lands in front of him in the Theatrical Cut there is a terrific shot of her coming out of the darkness, emerging barely visible in her all-black outfit. He is looking down, unaware she has overtaken him, and she again invades his screen space going from screen right to the screen left to tear his metal patch off, “like paper.” As he falls backward to the ground, Ursa stares with a malicious glory in her eyes, subtly raising her head in a beautiful close up. With this nuance, Sarah Douglas shows us Ursa thinking; As Ursa realizes she has won this battle, she is also gaining understanding of her powers in this new galaxy. The next image is a beautifully composed wide shot as he lay on the moon’s surface on the far left side of the frame with her standing over him in the middle left of the frame. Ursa is directly standing over and facing the downed astronaut giving us, the audience, the feeling he has been thoroughly outmatched. It may be the most prototypical shot for her character in the film. Again, she has him cornered within the film frame.
This is when Ursa gives the slightest impression of a smile and an evil one at that – a brilliant exquisite touch from Ms. Douglas in a close-up showing Ursa indulging in the evil pleasures in her mind. Ursa is exhibiting her gratification, smirking down at her first victim, fulfilling her initial amusement and condescension of when he said he was a man. Sarah Douglas has an understated approach in her acting in this scene, showing us the unfolding confidence and pleasure in the mind of her character. For the climax of this scene, we now see a full shot of the astronaut lying in pain on his back. He is on the left half of the frame and the back of Ursa’s head and shoulders fill the right side of the frame. As has been fully established, Ursa invades his space coming from screen right to left, however, this is the final death blow. Ursa narrows in on his crotch, stepping toward him with her right foot and cocking back her left leg for a super-kick aimed right between the legs. In the next wide shot, she literally sends him off the screen and into the void of space, as he flies off into the far left of the film frame. Ursa stands imperious, placing her hands on her hips, watching him sail off. Her work is done, so therefore her character no longer has to move from screen right to screen left. More importantly, as she has just been freed from the Phantom Zone, she is again fully realized to be the killer she is. The scene then ends as it began - showing the astronaut’s point of view. This time, however, instead of her approaching him as he stood in place, Ursa stands in place looking at him and the audience sees her as he sails backward in orbit to his death. The close ups of Ms. Douglas in this scene are evilly glamorous and there is a vicious elegance to how she walks, flies, moves and behaves as her character Ursa.
This puts the audience in the astronaut’s shoes, with the feeling of his being outmatched by someone who doesn’t need a spacesuit to be on the moon. In the editing of their dialogue, Ursa continues to create pressure on his character, demanding to know what kind of a creature he is and looking down on him with her imposing presence. Sarah Douglas gets several close ups and creates a striking image. If one were watching this scene without sound, it’s very clear from the blocking of her character and the composition of her close-ups against him, that Ursa is the dominant character. Ursa faces him and reaches across for his insignia, invading Andy’s space on the left side of the frame, causing him to back away quickly. In each image when she moves across the film frame, her character takes control of the space within the frame, giving the astronaut "nowhere to go" and “suffocating” the space in the film frame with where he can escape. He turns around and on the reverse angle runs from screen right to screen left now. However, the previous shots established that moving from screen right to screen left is Ursa’s dominant screen direction from her initial contact with him, so the film implies to us his character is destined to fail in his attempted escape. The suspense, again, builds as the audience knows she can fly and he can’t, so his impending doom feels palpable as in the wide shot we see her impassively fly up and over from the right side of the film frame to the left but he can't see her.
When she lands in front of him in the Theatrical Cut there is a terrific shot of her coming out of the darkness, emerging barely visible in her all-black outfit. He is looking down, unaware she has overtaken him, and she again invades his screen space going from screen right to the screen left to tear his metal patch off, “like paper.” As he falls backward to the ground, Ursa stares with a malicious glory in her eyes, subtly raising her head in a beautiful close up. With this nuance, Sarah Douglas shows us Ursa thinking; As Ursa realizes she has won this battle, she is also gaining understanding of her powers in this new galaxy. The next image is a beautifully composed wide shot as he lay on the moon’s surface on the far left side of the frame with her standing over him in the middle left of the frame. Ursa is directly standing over and facing the downed astronaut giving us, the audience, the feeling he has been thoroughly outmatched. It may be the most prototypical shot for her character in the film. Again, she has him cornered within the film frame.
This is when Ursa gives the slightest impression of a smile and an evil one at that – a brilliant exquisite touch from Ms. Douglas in a close-up showing Ursa indulging in the evil pleasures in her mind. Ursa is exhibiting her gratification, smirking down at her first victim, fulfilling her initial amusement and condescension of when he said he was a man. Sarah Douglas has an understated approach in her acting in this scene, showing us the unfolding confidence and pleasure in the mind of her character. For the climax of this scene, we now see a full shot of the astronaut lying in pain on his back. He is on the left half of the frame and the back of Ursa’s head and shoulders fill the right side of the frame. As has been fully established, Ursa invades his space coming from screen right to left, however, this is the final death blow. Ursa narrows in on his crotch, stepping toward him with her right foot and cocking back her left leg for a super-kick aimed right between the legs. In the next wide shot, she literally sends him off the screen and into the void of space, as he flies off into the far left of the film frame. Ursa stands imperious, placing her hands on her hips, watching him sail off. Her work is done, so therefore her character no longer has to move from screen right to screen left. More importantly, as she has just been freed from the Phantom Zone, she is again fully realized to be the killer she is. The scene then ends as it began - showing the astronaut’s point of view. This time, however, instead of her approaching him as he stood in place, Ursa stands in place looking at him and the audience sees her as he sails backward in orbit to his death. The close ups of Ms. Douglas in this scene are evilly glamorous and there is a vicious elegance to how she walks, flies, moves and behaves as her character Ursa.
In this showcase scene for Ursa, we watch her grow as a character as she is able to survey, confront, dominate and easily triumph. In contrast with the other villains, Zod is given only 50 seconds of screen time for his kill on the moon (the second of their three killings), which is done rather impersonally. Zod hides behind the rocks and engages in a brief tug of war with the cosmonaut’s air cord. It’s not as bold or as engaging as Ursa walking right up to her victim. Zod is equally cold and callous, but he doesn't develop the moment of relation with his victim as Ursa did with Andy. As Boris the Cosmonaut floats, Zod yanks the cord from him, dispatching his victim. Non gets about 45 seconds of screen time for his kill. We don’t see Nate die, but we do see Non unleashed to destroy the ship and the ship beginning to be crushed as he gets his moment. For this moon scene, Ursa is given first strike, first kill and gets to display her key traits in an economical, but highly effective space of time and screen composition. She not only kills the astronaut physically, but her curiosity about the insignia, her devious smile when he announces he’s “just a man,” her fearlessness, her intelligent strategy to first walk and then fly to overpower him, and ultimately her sadistic pleasure at his death, defines Ursa’s character. Her moon killing is the most shocking and evil scene in the film and most certainly the cruelest death in the series of the first four Superman films. There’s really nothing the villains do or could do after this that could shock the audience as much and nothing that exceeds this personal level of evil that Ursa establishes here. Her scene is only over a minute, but densely packed with symbolism, action and deep character touches.
URSA ON PLANET “HOUSTON”
The moon scene began the pattern that whenever the trio of villains encounter a new life form or situation, Ursa is the first to make contact. She is the first to discover life forms on earth when she encounters the snake; She is the first to face the police officers who try to arrest them; She is the first one in the saloon to interact with the townsfolk. Ursa is without a doubt the General’s lead attacker and is an inquisitive scout and this is a large part of what makes her character interesting. Upon landing on earth, she eagerly picks up the “primitive” snake and examines it; letting it slither over her arm. The snake snaps quickly, biting her hand. Ursa reacts by angrily throwing it to the ground and seems more startled than hurt. This scene has caused a bit of a debate online amongst fans for years – was she actually hurt by the snake bite? She initially reacts by holding her hand, but then shows no signs of pain as the shooting script indicates:
150 FAVORING URSA – Unhurt, but annoyed, she throws it to the ground. She scowls and glowers at the snake.
The ultimate point of this scene is to show her discovering her heat vision as she stares in anger at the snake, burning it to a crisp. Again, her emotions turn to satisfaction and elation, “I have powers beyond reason here!” Zod is not particularly amused and Non is unable to access his heat vision, apparently because he’s not angry enough. Next, upon meeting the deputy on the dirt road, was a scene that was different from the earlier script drafts. In the Theatrical Cut, she confronts the deputy, but simply rips his badge from his uniform after tauntingly asking him if the badge means that he follows another leader. Her actions end there, however, as the violence in this scene was toned down and implied rather than exhibited. In the Mankiewicz 1977 draft, she first bends his gun when he attempts to shoot her, and she then snaps the deputy’s wrist, proving he is no match for her and leaving him in agonizing pain. She tells the officer, “You will not die yet. I will keep you alive to play with” and the scene ended with her advancing on him.
As the trio come to meet the people of the small town, Ursa cannot resist joining in with the arm wrestlers. When she and Zod enter the saloon, she eyes the two men arm wrestling. The badges, the snake, the arm wrestling – everything seems to catch her curious eye. 
She walks in with a superior confidence; at first staring down the arm wrestler who has stood up and then deciding to square off against the arm wrestler at the table by standing above him, looking down at him. This mirrors her scene on the moon when she at first stares at Nate in the capsule and then decides to face Andy first. The arm-wrestler, in all of his sexist arrogance, insults her and tells her to sit her “buns” on his lap. Ursa stares at him, giving him no pleasure of a reply; her imposing body language says it all. Ursa was considered a bit of a feminist character when the film came out and she clearly never indulges this kind of man’s remarks. Ursa goes to sit across from him and places her right elbow on the table raising her hand toward his. She says her famous line, and only line in the scene, “Let’s just hold hands,” and as he grabs her hand to arm-wrestle, she instantly lowers her hand and arm, breaking his arm right through the table, causing him to fall to the floor and pass out.
Again, Sarah Douglas has such a grasp of the character as her walk and posture convey Ursa’s confident attitude - Actions speak louder than words. Ms. Douglas has spoken of how she and Terence Stamp developed a singular walk to have them stand out apart from the human characters in the film. Ursa looks condescendingly at each of the arm wrestlers, ignoring the other men who are present in the saloon and revealing how Ursa is attracted to the action and how she looks to flaunt her powers. Ms. Douglas demonstrates an excellent physicality in this scene which compliments Ursa’s wicked intelligence. Ursa has surprisingly little to do in the wreckage of the small town. She does begin to show some impatience with Zod when she complains about the slow unfolding of their powers. As the local newsman tries to report before the camera, she angrily says, “Enough of this man. If the whole world is watching, cannot we show them something more interesting?” At this point Zod and Non get into the action. This scene was scaled down from a concept in an earlier script in which the villains destroy cities around the world in a montage. Essentially they destroy the small town and deface Mount Rushmore before they head to the White House. However, Ursa does get to impressively cap the carnage with the only two onscreen deaths of the scene when she uses her super-breath to blow down an attacking helicopter.
Ursa mocks the soldiers needing helicopters, “Look, they need machines to fly,” upon her first sight of how humans fly and, at Zod’s direction, unleashes death with a kiss and a regaling smile. It is at this point Zod realizes there is nothing that can stop him on Earth. Sarah Douglas’ facial expressions in this scene show Ursa relishing the pinnacle of her power, defeating not only humans, but their technology as well.
She walks in with a superior confidence; at first staring down the arm wrestler who has stood up and then deciding to square off against the arm wrestler at the table by standing above him, looking down at him. This mirrors her scene on the moon when she at first stares at Nate in the capsule and then decides to face Andy first. The arm-wrestler, in all of his sexist arrogance, insults her and tells her to sit her “buns” on his lap. Ursa stares at him, giving him no pleasure of a reply; her imposing body language says it all. Ursa was considered a bit of a feminist character when the film came out and she clearly never indulges this kind of man’s remarks. Ursa goes to sit across from him and places her right elbow on the table raising her hand toward his. She says her famous line, and only line in the scene, “Let’s just hold hands,” and as he grabs her hand to arm-wrestle, she instantly lowers her hand and arm, breaking his arm right through the table, causing him to fall to the floor and pass out.
Again, Sarah Douglas has such a grasp of the character as her walk and posture convey Ursa’s confident attitude - Actions speak louder than words. Ms. Douglas has spoken of how she and Terence Stamp developed a singular walk to have them stand out apart from the human characters in the film. Ursa looks condescendingly at each of the arm wrestlers, ignoring the other men who are present in the saloon and revealing how Ursa is attracted to the action and how she looks to flaunt her powers. Ms. Douglas demonstrates an excellent physicality in this scene which compliments Ursa’s wicked intelligence. Ursa has surprisingly little to do in the wreckage of the small town. She does begin to show some impatience with Zod when she complains about the slow unfolding of their powers. As the local newsman tries to report before the camera, she angrily says, “Enough of this man. If the whole world is watching, cannot we show them something more interesting?” At this point Zod and Non get into the action. This scene was scaled down from a concept in an earlier script in which the villains destroy cities around the world in a montage. Essentially they destroy the small town and deface Mount Rushmore before they head to the White House. However, Ursa does get to impressively cap the carnage with the only two onscreen deaths of the scene when she uses her super-breath to blow down an attacking helicopter.
Ursa mocks the soldiers needing helicopters, “Look, they need machines to fly,” upon her first sight of how humans fly and, at Zod’s direction, unleashes death with a kiss and a regaling smile. It is at this point Zod realizes there is nothing that can stop him on Earth. Sarah Douglas’ facial expressions in this scene show Ursa relishing the pinnacle of her power, defeating not only humans, but their technology as well.
WHITE HOUSE
Ursa, in the Donner Cut, gets a deliciously icy moment that is one of her few improvements in this version of the film as Ursa appears in less footage in the Donner Cut. In the White House scene in the Theatrical Cut, the entrance of the villains is quickly cut and paced. Ursa gets to inflict two particularly cruel deaths in both versions of the film. As she lands through the ceiling, Ursa again gets first contact as she grabs the first guard by the face and throws the petrified man through the roof of the White House to a presumable death. 
Each version then varies as she continues to toss several guards who approach her. However, her killing of an agent is given a much more suspenseful edit in the Donner Cut. As we near the end of the havoc, the agent gets knocked to the floor and loses his weapon and desperately kneels down covering his head, trying to avoid Ursa who is heading directly to him. Ursa firmly stops in front of his cowered body, patiently waiting for him to look up at and acknowledge her. There is a tense cut back and forth after which he reluctantly uncovers his face to see if she has gone, only to find her standing tall right over him and staring directly at his face. In a beautiful close up, Ursa has a wicked expression - a thin smile and a then a wink of the eye - and with this she gives him one brutal kick to his face, snapping his head backwards. Leaving his body at her feet, she then turns and gets in a lethal elbow to an attacking agent’s throat, effortlessly dispatching him as she catches up to the patiently-waiting General Zod and Non. With her Kryptonian strength, it seems inevitable both these guards died from her swiftly forceful blows to the head and throat. In the Theatrical Cut, the scene is also excellent, but in a different way. First we see a shot of the American flag falling from atop its' pole and sliding down to the ground. Before we see it hit the ground, what follows is a cut to a shot of the agent falling to the ground just before Ursa’s feet.
We then see a quick extreme close up of Ursa’s wicked face and then she kicks him in the face. This juxtaposition of shots can be seen as her symbolically defeating America with her kick, as the agent’s fall to the ground “completes” the first shot of the flag starting to fall to the ground. Inside the oval office Ursa continues to get in verbal and symbolic digs against men. In a scene added to the Donner Cut, she cannot resist insulting and then tearing the insignia from the Generals with a delicious line, “What a backward planet this must be – where the men wear the ribbons and jewelry.”
General Zod, again, allows her to have her moments of indulgence and this scene illustrates their symbiotic relationship. When Lex Luthor arrives at the White House, Ursa has to be stopped by Zod to not break his bones, and appears to her satisfaction to damage one of Luthor’s fingers. She literally follows his every step, waiting for Zod to give the word, but Luthor’s promise of delivering Superman keeps Zod from letting her get what she wants. Sarah Douglas plays Ursa as a laser-focused villainess (seriously, no pun intended;).
Each version then varies as she continues to toss several guards who approach her. However, her killing of an agent is given a much more suspenseful edit in the Donner Cut. As we near the end of the havoc, the agent gets knocked to the floor and loses his weapon and desperately kneels down covering his head, trying to avoid Ursa who is heading directly to him. Ursa firmly stops in front of his cowered body, patiently waiting for him to look up at and acknowledge her. There is a tense cut back and forth after which he reluctantly uncovers his face to see if she has gone, only to find her standing tall right over him and staring directly at his face. In a beautiful close up, Ursa has a wicked expression - a thin smile and a then a wink of the eye - and with this she gives him one brutal kick to his face, snapping his head backwards. Leaving his body at her feet, she then turns and gets in a lethal elbow to an attacking agent’s throat, effortlessly dispatching him as she catches up to the patiently-waiting General Zod and Non. With her Kryptonian strength, it seems inevitable both these guards died from her swiftly forceful blows to the head and throat. In the Theatrical Cut, the scene is also excellent, but in a different way. First we see a shot of the American flag falling from atop its' pole and sliding down to the ground. Before we see it hit the ground, what follows is a cut to a shot of the agent falling to the ground just before Ursa’s feet.
We then see a quick extreme close up of Ursa’s wicked face and then she kicks him in the face. This juxtaposition of shots can be seen as her symbolically defeating America with her kick, as the agent’s fall to the ground “completes” the first shot of the flag starting to fall to the ground. Inside the oval office Ursa continues to get in verbal and symbolic digs against men. In a scene added to the Donner Cut, she cannot resist insulting and then tearing the insignia from the Generals with a delicious line, “What a backward planet this must be – where the men wear the ribbons and jewelry.”
General Zod, again, allows her to have her moments of indulgence and this scene illustrates their symbiotic relationship. When Lex Luthor arrives at the White House, Ursa has to be stopped by Zod to not break his bones, and appears to her satisfaction to damage one of Luthor’s fingers. She literally follows his every step, waiting for Zod to give the word, but Luthor’s promise of delivering Superman keeps Zod from letting her get what she wants. Sarah Douglas plays Ursa as a laser-focused villainess (seriously, no pun intended;).
METROPOLIS AND FORTRESS BATTLES
After Zod goads Superman into returning, the battle of Metropolis starts with mostly Non and Zod fighting Superman. Ursa mysteriously evades Superman and then sets him up by luring him into Non’s grip. As she grabs him from behind, she has a great line in the Donner Cut, mocking Superman’s clean image as he pauses to punch her, “What? You’d hit a woman?!” Ursa then almost gets to strike Superman with a flagpole before Non loses grip on him at the last second and she ends up sending Non into the top of the Empire State Building with her “home run” swing. Ursa later memorably knocks down Superman when she hurls the manhole cover into his stomach. This is another instance of her hitting a man when he’s down as he is emerging slowly out of the manhole and she blindsides him. Ursa expresses to Zod that Superman is a “sentimental idiot” about his caring for people and she quickly uses that to her advantage by getting Non to help her throw the bus full of people at Superman, which hurts him so badly it causes him to realize he cannot defeat them and he retreats the battle in defeat.
In this first battle of Superman vs. the villains, it is ultimately Ursa’s idea of crushing Superman with the busload of people that wins the battle for the villains. Unlike Zod who is thrown into the Coke sign and Non who is thrown about the city by Superman, Ursa doesn’t suffer even a moment of failure in the entire battle (and film) until the final battle in the fortress. Superman’s tricks at the fortress confuse each of the villains and Lois knocks her into the abyss twice.
In the Fortress of Solitude as she has in the rest of the film, when they all surround Superman's holographic images, Ursa makes the first strike for the villains by squaring off against Superman, attacking him with a super-kick. The shooting script makes it explicit that Ursa has “her boot up, aiming for a super-kick at his groin.” However, to her surprise, Superman is just projecting himself as a hologram and she falls when her super-kick passes through the holographic image of Superman. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see a full physical battle between the two, as in 1980 it probably didn’t match Superman’s wholesome image to fight a woman, even one as evil as Ursa. Fans clamor over the new superpowers and inconsistencies in this scene, which do seem a bit rushed in development. It seems to make no sense that earthling Lois, with her leg, pushes Kryptonian Ursa into the abyss. It’s certainly inconsistent with the rest of the film, such as at the Daily Planet when Lois punches Ursa and nearly breaks her hand, and doesn’t even cause Ursa to flinch. Ursa is able to recover from being pushed over the ledge and flies back behind the crystal walls, and with Non, grabs Lois promising to Superman to tear her apart. At this point, Ursa no longer lets go of Lois’ neck, and in the Donner Cut is about to snap it, but Zod has a moment of mercy. After Superman depowers the villains from his crystal chamber and disposes of Zod and Non fails to fly, falling off the ledge, Ursa is given the sendoff all moviegoers wanted as Lois got to punch evil Ursa into the abyss. For the villains, the story has come full circle as Ursa was the first to attack on the moon and the last to be defeated in the fortress.
INTELLIGENCE
It can be argued Ursa proves she is a better strategist than Zod by the end of the film. On the moon, she is the one who listens in on Nate, learning the planet the astronauts are from. Her clear strategy and method of how she took down Andy, as detailed earlier, show her excellent planning. With her consistent fearlessness, she tests the villains’ powers by being the first to interact with the earth creatures in each scene and learns from them as she bests each of them decisively. Ursa has no patience for Lex Luthor and it’s only Zod’s will that keeps Luthor alive from Ursa’s wrath. Ursa, with great malice, in the Donner Cut has what may be her very best line in every version of Superman II when she demands to kill Luthor at the Daily Planet, yelling at Zod, “Let me kill him!” Zod’s repeated trust of Lex Luthor along with his lust to defeat Superman ends up being their undoing. Had she been allowed to kill the scheming Luthor as she wanted, Superman would have had a much harder time figuring out how to trap all three of the villains.
Ursa is the one who gets Non to combine their strength and overpower Superman by throwing the bus at him and it is she who decides to take Lois Lane as a hostage when they go to the fortress, “Why not increase his handicap?” she mused aloud as she grabbed Lois. Ursa’s singular focus to defeat, threaten and kill the humans proved unstoppable for Superman to overcome. Zod, Ursa and Non had defeated Superman in Metropolis, but by going to his home at the Fortress of Solitude, Zod gave up his advantage by letting Superman fight them on his home turf, where he had secrets (including new powers like the infamous “Cellophane ‘S’!”) to defeat them. However, as this is a Superman film, of course he does have to win. But, Ursa was clearly an outstanding, clear-minded and highly intelligent strategist in her own right.
BEAUTY/COSTUME
Part of the character of Ursa, as described in each of the drafts of the script, is her beauty. Ursa, in her portrayal by Sarah Douglas, is an attractive statuesque woman, but her obvious attractiveness is not primarily focused on throughout the film, it’s just referred to as if understood by all. It was prominent in the advertising and press for the film. In the Topps trading cards for Superman II in 1981 Ursa’s profile card labels her as “Beautiful, but Deadly Ursa” and quotes Sarah Douglas, “While the kids will hate me for my wickedness, their dads should say, ‘well, at least she’s sexy.’” 
Her character is described as, “Ursa – as evil as she is beguiling. Flashing her consuming hatred for men with her seductive beauty, the Phantom Zone villainess Ursa sears human males with her heat vision and chills them with her cyclonic breath.” Her introductory card in the 1978 Superman set is a close up and simply calls her, “Villainess Supreme.” Numerous magazine articles upon the release highlighted the striking beauty of the character.
Her character is described as, “Ursa – as evil as she is beguiling. Flashing her consuming hatred for men with her seductive beauty, the Phantom Zone villainess Ursa sears human males with her heat vision and chills them with her cyclonic breath.” Her introductory card in the 1978 Superman set is a close up and simply calls her, “Villainess Supreme.” Numerous magazine articles upon the release highlighted the striking beauty of the character.
The costume of Ursa was designed by Academy Award Winner Yvonne Blake and consists of a one piece “jumpsuit” made of sheer black voile (which is slightly see-through) embellished with reflective black faux leather piping. There are long slits along the sides of the arms and legs that show off the extremities, and the outfit is completed by black patent thigh high leather boots (which were very deep dark brown/black, but showed on camera as black). These slits in the jumpsuit along with the high heeled boots added to the sex appeal. The S.F. Sunday Examiner and Chronicle (June 14, 1981), in a profile on Sarah Douglas, noted Ms. Douglas was also given upraised eyebrows, bright red lipstick (a feminist trademark), false black fingernails and pale white make up. In Starlog #47, Sarah notes her real-life long hair was pinned up under a short-cropped wig to play Ursa.
Ursa has sideburns which come to a sharp point accentuating her striking cheekbones; and with the short hair and a lack of skin showing, these somewhat tomboy-ish qualities were intended to give her an other-worldly, alien-like allure. Sarah is quoted in Starlog #47, “I felt she should appeal to kids and dads, and even goats for that matter.” Along with the descriptions of Ursa’s beauty from the scripts described earlier, in all versions of the film comments regarding her looks are implied throughout the film. Nate, the astronaut, comments when he sees her undulating, “It’s might pretty out there…mighty…Pretty!,” and stares at her flying by. Zod asks “dear” Ursa to “blow a kiss” to the men in the helicopter poised to attack them. In the Donner Cut, when Ursa is introduced to Luthor via the crystal in the Fortress of Solitude, Miss Teschmacher has to poke Luthor to stop him from staring at her too long. Of course, the arm wrestlers in the saloon all stare her down and one of them catcalls her “sweet thing,” telling her to sit on his lap. In a scene possibly (and seemingly likely) filmed from the Donner-filmed Mankiewicz script, instead of her saying, “You are master of all you survey,” just before Luthor arrives at the oval office, Ursa enters that scene as we hear a man’s scream cut off in the hall, and she says to Zod, "I'm bored with this puny planet. The men here do not even try to resist anymore." Perry White, in the Donner Cut, calls her “A broad that looks like the queen of the runway!” - Sarah Douglas very much embodies a woman who could walk the runway in great style, but a "broad" is certainly a derogatory word today and not an embodiment of Ursa's character.
PHYSICALITY
Close views of the various versions of the film show Sarah Douglas seemed to do the high majority of her own stunts. The flying scenes are numerous and she was held in the air by wires becoming the first woman to fly in a comic book film. 
The role was incredibly demanding on the actress as she notes in Starlog #47, “Many, many weeks go by and you don’t actually speak any lines. You’re just flying (on the high wires).” She had to endure long hours having body molds made of her for special effects shots. Emphasizing her strength and equalness to men, Ursa is the villain carrying Lex Luthor on her back for the long fly to the fortress instead of the much lighter Lois Lane, who is carried by Non. The role was a tremendously physical one and Ursa’s hits, throws and kicks are nearly all done with Sarah Douglas’ face visible to the camera.
Ms. Douglas has said in interviews that she was really punched by Margot Kidder in the finale and did an astounding job of falling backward into the “abyss” upon really being hit! Ms. Douglas has also commented that she suffered an injury in the bus-throwing scene as she, for a moment, believed she had superpowers and held on to the bus too tightly as it moved and it injured her shoulder. This was one of nine injuries she said she endured during the seventeen months of shooting she did on the film. Ms. Douglas nailed the manhole cover scene in one take, flipping the cover up into her hand and hurling it directly at Superman in one fluid motion, amazing the crew and her director Richard Lester - who didn’t have an alternate plan if she couldn’t handle the dexterity and precision required of the throw.
Ursa is constantly in the middle of the action, flying, fighting, hitting and kicking and the only physical action we don’t see her character do, is run. Ursa never chases anyone or anything; she lets everything come to her and relies on her powers, intelligence and skill to get her through. Ms. Douglas had to take on all of these daily physical challenges to project the image of Ursa as physical and yet elegant onscreen and she made all of these scenes look easy, further dictating her performance is an absolute triumph.
The role was incredibly demanding on the actress as she notes in Starlog #47, “Many, many weeks go by and you don’t actually speak any lines. You’re just flying (on the high wires).” She had to endure long hours having body molds made of her for special effects shots. Emphasizing her strength and equalness to men, Ursa is the villain carrying Lex Luthor on her back for the long fly to the fortress instead of the much lighter Lois Lane, who is carried by Non. The role was a tremendously physical one and Ursa’s hits, throws and kicks are nearly all done with Sarah Douglas’ face visible to the camera.
Ms. Douglas has said in interviews that she was really punched by Margot Kidder in the finale and did an astounding job of falling backward into the “abyss” upon really being hit! Ms. Douglas has also commented that she suffered an injury in the bus-throwing scene as she, for a moment, believed she had superpowers and held on to the bus too tightly as it moved and it injured her shoulder. This was one of nine injuries she said she endured during the seventeen months of shooting she did on the film. Ms. Douglas nailed the manhole cover scene in one take, flipping the cover up into her hand and hurling it directly at Superman in one fluid motion, amazing the crew and her director Richard Lester - who didn’t have an alternate plan if she couldn’t handle the dexterity and precision required of the throw.
Also worth noting, from the physical violence that is present in all cuts of the film, Ursa has the highest onscreen death count of all three villains, or of any villain in the Christopher Reeve Superman films! The 6 deaths she inflicts are the astronaut, the two soldiers in the chopper and three guards in the White House. (By comparison, Non kills 4; the Kryptonian guard, a White House guard thrown through a brick wall, an astronaut and the boy on the horse, at Zod's behest. Zod kills 3; the astronaut and the two White House guards he shoots). Of course more deaths are implied from the villains taking over Earth, but in this film and series of films, Ursa excelled as a true Femme Fatale.
MAN-HATING
Sarah Douglas further described Ursa, in the S.F. Sunday Examiner and Chronicle in 1981, "I'm just a good old downright bad person. I do a bit of gooching around, kicking men off the Earth and placing my thigh length black leather boots in tricky spots. Crucial spots, actually." She also conveyed an amusing observation of how she had to talk about Ursa in the different countries she promoted the film. "The Australians are a bit raunchy and I was able to say, 'Ursa kicks men in the b--ls. In South Africa I had to be more gentile and say: 'Ursa kicks men in the groin.' In America? Oh, they don't have any b--ls at all in America." These revealingly funny comments on the differences in cultures link back to the origin of Ursa’s character when she was originally designed in early script drafts (and similarly to Faora Hu-ul in the comics) as a woman driven by her hatred of men. The explicit man-hating was certainly trimmed down from original scripts to her portrayals in both the Theatrical and Donner Cuts, but the core of her creation still is prevalent throughout. The Television Cuts of 1984 and 1988 include deleted scenes that exhibit very explicit dialogue such as her “Men to kill!” pronouncement on the moon and also a curious scene in the East Houston town. In this scene, Zod orders Non to throw a police siren hundreds of yards to kill a boy escaping on his horse. It inexplicably explodes when it hits the boy, but what most people seem to always remember about this scene is Ursa’s response. A woman protests to Zod, “He was only a boy.” Ursa in a moment of sadistic elation retorts, “Who will never become a man.” Clearly this scene was deleted due to the child’s death being too violent for a Superman film. In earlier drafts of the script, the man-hating aspect also came out in other dialogue such as from Jor-el’s original introduction of her which was once, “You, whose countless men have suddenly become accident prone” and in a later draft, “On the woman, URSA, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of men have finally threatened even the male children on our planet.” 
Incidentally, in earlier script incarnations there was a fourth Phantom Zone villain, a trickster named Jak-el, whom Jor-el said terrorized children. When shooting of the film began, this trait was transferred to Ursa as spoken by Jor-el in the opening scene. When there were four villains in the first Newman draft (which can be found online) Ursa had very little to do and was something of a minor character (along with Non), while Jak-el was clearly second to Zod. In that Newman, Newman and Benton 1976 draft, the villains landed in Australia and not East Houston. Ursa, again has a much smaller role, but has one big scene in what was the equivalent of the small town scene, when she encounters a rough male character (Johnny Greer), who probably ended up in the Theatrical Cut becoming Jody - the man Zod levitates and drops to the ground. From the script -
Incidentally, in earlier script incarnations there was a fourth Phantom Zone villain, a trickster named Jak-el, whom Jor-el said terrorized children. When shooting of the film began, this trait was transferred to Ursa as spoken by Jor-el in the opening scene. When there were four villains in the first Newman draft (which can be found online) Ursa had very little to do and was something of a minor character (along with Non), while Jak-el was clearly second to Zod. In that Newman, Newman and Benton 1976 draft, the villains landed in Australia and not East Houston. Ursa, again has a much smaller role, but has one big scene in what was the equivalent of the small town scene, when she encounters a rough male character (Johnny Greer), who probably ended up in the Theatrical Cut becoming Jody - the man Zod levitates and drops to the ground. From the script -
JOHNNY GREER: You're not. . . You're not. . . a man.
FAVORING URSA, MED.: She advances on Johnny Greer, vamping.
URSA: (mockingly) But you are. . .
JOHNNY GREER: Beat it, sister. I've seen your kind before.
URSA: You never will again!
She knees him in the groin with the force of a howitzer at close range. Johnny screams and falls to the ground.
She obviously did not get to knee the townsman in the groin in the film, but ironically her kick to the astronaut is not in any version of the script! So, her man-hating seemed to be being worked on as they were filming her scenes. In all of the final film versions she is described as a threat to all mankind. Ursa’s distaste for Lois Lane keeps her character from becoming exclusively man-hating because all of her damage and destruction is aimed at male characters. She hates Lois at first sight and delivers a wonderful line upon meeting her - "What an undemanding male this Superman must be." However, when looking more closely, nearly every one of her character’s actions seems to be aimed at emasculating men, both symbolically and in actuality, and also illustrate her being a woman who is physically and intellectually superior.
DOMINATRIX LABEL
This leads to the sort-of “elephant in the room” question that is sometimes written about her character. Was Ursa a dominatrix? Starlog #111 in 1986, in a profile on Sarah Douglas, stated Ursa was called a “leather-clad dominatrix” by movie critics and numerous articles at the time described her as that. Though she shows not even a moment of any type of expressive sexuality in any version of the script or film, the label has been loosely, and perhaps unfairly, associated with her character since the film’s release. She does not appear attracted to any man (or woman) and appears asexual in all versions of the film. As there is no direct or overt sexual characterization with her character, this description of Ursa is ultimately up to the viewer.
Cinematically, as described above, there is a lot of symbolism going on with Ursa – some of it obvious - such as that Ursa is a character obsessed with symbols! In looking at how she is presented, right from the start she comes off as an evil woman, always in complete command of herself. The male characters she defeats are in traditional uniforms of men who are “good.” Ursa, by contrast, is dressed in all-black from head to toe. Her black patent boots are very tall, coming up to an angled point at the top of her thighs. The flashes of skin in her black outfit and design of the boots were created and tailored differently than Zod’s and Non’s outfits as she has a decidedly wicked and sexy look.
Her not needing to breathe, her ability to fly, and her super-strength clearly exude a dominance and Goddess-like power. In her character defining scene with the astronaut all these aspects to her are archetypically displayed. Ursa, who is a tall woman, looks down on and even talks down to him domineeringly, demanding he answer her questions. When she finds out he is a man, he becomes her prey and Ursa threatens him by reaching for his suit, makes him drop his tool and flee, tears the metal fibers in his space suit, and kicks him in his groin. When people over the decades call her a dominatrix, it is this type of behavior and symbolism that they are likely associating that claim to. Each subsequent time in the film that she tears badges and ribbons from men, it calls back to her behavior of violently dominating the astronaut. This is still a PG film though, so if anything, this scene acts as an establishment of her pure unabashed hatred for men and her later actions are in harmony with this, even if not all of her actions are as malevolent. Some look at the Superman character metaphorically as a Christ-like figure and Jor-el as God-like, giving his only son to the human race. The villains too have been seen allegorically, as some have called Zod a Lucifer stand-in. Film characters and stories can be looked at as substitutes for many other social stories and roles in life. So, it’s plausible that Ursa can be seen as a character who while not explicitly sexual in any way, could be viewed metaphorically as a dominatrix. Ursa is other-worldly and untouchable for human men and earth creatures. Again, even the snake is incinerated for just attempting to bite at her. With her Goddess-like powers, if she is to be described as a dominatrix, perhaps she may more accurately be described as a divine one, if you will, or you can simply look at her character at face value - a villainous killer.
CRITICAL AND FAN RECEPTION
Sarah Douglas was the only cast member to do worldwide publicity for the film and was prominently featured in many interviews and articles in 1980-81. Fans would be amazed at how warm and engaging she was and how this contrasted so much with Ursa. In the S.F. Sunday Examiner and Chronicle (6/14/81) again, Ms. Douglas noted, "People ask me how I can be so evil, when the real me is so different, so civilized. In England, we simply call it acting," - a witty response to fans. Her portrayal of Ursa received excellent reviews at the time of release and also in recent years as reviewers visit the classic Christopher Reeve Superman films. A cursory search of reviews show she has nearly universal positive reviews. “Slinky”, “sultry”, “un-ladylike” were descriptions of Sarah’s performance in contemporaneous reviews as people tried to rationalize how a female could be such a baddie at that time. The legendary film critic, Pauline Kael, in 1981, stated “This Ursa has the kind of face cameras worship and she does her dirty deeds with blasé’ nonchalance and the merest flick of a malicious smile.” For Pauline Kael to be impressed, you know you had to have done something right. Jack Mathews of the Detroit free Press in 1981 stated, “Sarah Douglas is fun to watch as the man-hating Ursa, dressed from the Nieman-Marcus catalog of outer space S&M-wear.” David Denby of New York Magazine called Sarah Douglas “devastating in her shiny interplanetary dominatrix rig.” Cinefantastique’s review described her as an “arrogantly sensual bonus.”
At the time of release, in Japan, her scene with the astronaut was cut from the film due to their sensitivity of a woman being so strong. More recently online Lylesmoviefiles.com states, “Douglas is excellent as his cruel lieutenant providing one of the more sinister femme fatales in the genre.” Decider.com echoed comments of numerous Gen-Xers stating, “the mesmerizing hold Sarah Douglas’s Ursa had on my fragile, eggshell mind.” WatchMojo.com named her sixth in the Top 10 Female Supervillains of all time.
The Superman Homepage website notes in quality she stood right with Terence Stamp as Zod, and that “Ursa was very well acted and performed, never faltering the evil and wicked persona of a member of the Phantom Zone.” Endless fan sites and fan reviews praise Sarah Douglas’ performance as more and more people have seen the film over the years. It has most likely become Ms. Douglas’ definitive career role.
LEGACY
With both official cuts of the film re-released on 4k by Warner Brothers in 2023 we can get an even better look at the character of Ursa in Superman: The Movie and Superman II. As much as Richard Lester’s vision of the production differed from Richard Donner’s, both directors must be credited with allowing Sarah Douglas ample screen time to create a memorable character. The earlier drafts of the script gave Ursa much less to do. Her scenes on the moon, in the saloon, and even in the battle of Metropolis are all expanded upon from earlier drafts. While Richard Lester’s scenes may have been more comedic, Lester’s Ursa scenes are a little less comedic than most of his other scenes. Again, in Starlog #47, Sarah Douglas states, “(Lester) allowed Ursa to have a little moment of ecstasy when she’d get angry.” Combined with Ursa’s stark actions from Richard Donner’s scenes, Ursa has a personality of curiosity and viciousness that are linked together seamlessly through the performance of Ms. Douglas. 
This could not have been an easy performance, given such production changes.
Jor-El spoke of Ursa’s perversions. Her purpose seems to be of inflicting cruelty. Each of the characters she humiliates, conquers and kills is for the pleasure she gets out of it. Ursa shows no mercy and no pity. Sarah Douglas’ performance is slightly understated at the right times and at other times is unleashed for the audience, to both join in with and be shocked by her actions. Her joy and curiosity at her superpowers are what makes her so interesting. She attracts us with her actions and with her beauty and she then turns us on our heads with her ruthlessness, yet still charms us with an evil grace. Ursa is a fascinating character and one who deserves a second (or first) look from today’s comic book film enthusiasts. Characters in films of the 2020’s are written in a more self-conscious way than characters from forty-plus years ago, who were just “acting” or “behaving” without continuously commenting on their inner-monologue as is the trend today. Watching Superman II, we have to look at the details of the actress' performance to try to surmise what Ursa is thinking and who she is, and Sarah Douglas gives us a lot to think about. Ursa is very clearly is an equal to Zod and is treated as such. She does not truly need Zod, but serves his wishes and gets to fulfill her perverse wishes in return. She is a powerful and strong-minded independent woman and this makes Ursa a consummate villainess. Like other great characters in classic films, we get more detail out of her in each repeat viewing.
Perhaps Sarah Douglas herself said it best, in an interview with the Daily Mirror in April of 1977 when it was first being announced publicly she had won the part and was beginning production. Regarding her role as Ursa, she is quoted, “I may not have much to say but I promise that people won’t forget me.” 45 years later and counting – we have not.
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