Otis (Superman)
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Otis, played by Ned Beatty, is the short henchman of Lex Luthor who appears in the films Superman: The Movie and Superman II. Lacking any real intelligence or physical strength, Otis is used by Luthor primarily as a gofer.
He 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 how so small a brain generates enough power to move those legs."
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. 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" after himself. Otis whines that Miss Teschmacher gets her own town, but Luthor says nothing. At the end of the film, when Superman captures Luthor and takes him to prison, he also takes Otis.
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. In a deleted sequence (included as an extra feature on the DVD release of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut), Otis was at one point to have appeared in a sequence at the end of the film showing Luthor once again escaping from prison -- but again leaving Otis behind.
According to producer Pierre Spengler (in the DVD commentary), before Beatty got the part, Peter Boyle tested for (and was offered) the role, but later fell through.
