Routh looked the part and played the bumbling idiot Clark Kent almost as well as Chris Reeve. My biggest complaint about Superman Returns was the lack of chemistry between Lois and Clark. Margot Kidder was no babe, but she and Chris Reeve had major chemistry and were fun to watch. Routh and whatever-her-name-was were stiff and awkward together. Hope they bring Routh back if Superman Returns Again.

Well, AICN says its a load of crap.

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/node/35200

and weren't a lot of the costs of SR due to them changing cast and crew a few times in the early stages?

I believe part of the final budget included salaries paid to those who were going to participate before, including Tim Burton, McG, and Nic Cage.

I'm not sure I trust Ain't It Cool News as a credible source to either verify or refute rumors, etc.

My only hope is that if they do make another standalone Superman movie, that Bryan Singer not be involved. He's an excellent filmmaker but he clearly doesn't understand how to make a good Superman movie. Odd, since he clearly loves the original '79 version, and yet his own take on the character was a bland, joyless, incomprehensible affair. He took all the fun out of Superman and now I think it's best for everyone that he move on and let someone who understands the character take over.

As I say, Mr. Singer is a great director- but this wasn't a good match for him.

Yo Lois

i liked routh, but i guess if they wanted to stay with someone who has played the role, which would probably a good idea, let tom welling play the role and give him some acting classes as he does have some frozen bland moments in the show.

I went into Superman Returns with no expectations, right up until I saw Jon Peters credited as a producer in the opening credits. It was at this point I became completely jazzed for the film. I knew I was in for A) A fight with a polar bear (or possibly Chewbacca), and B) A giant spider in the third act. I was horribly disappointed when neither of those showed up.

In all seriousness though, I had no expectations for this film due in large part to Singer's insistence on making this Superman 3. But even that paled in comparison to the horrible atrocity that was Kevin Spacey's rendition of Hackman's Luthor. And with Singer stating he had lured Spacey out of retirement to reprise his role as Lex, I won't be seeing the sequel.

I'm aware of the Christ metaphor being there, but Singer REALLY was over the top with it, it was completely ridiculous, from the voice over, to the stabbed in the side with the spear, the "ressurrection" at the end, it was just silly. It was way too over to top.

Hackman was campy, but the comics haven't had a campy lex in 30+ years, if you're going to "serious" up the movie why keep the campy element of lex? It was just a mess.

I was not a huge fan of the Reeve movies either, they were silly, but they were at least entertaining and fluffy and you could just forget them after seeing them.

As far as the animated series go, yes I think that the Timm/Dini animated series are not only the best media adaptions of DC Comics I think that they improve on the comics quite a bit in general. The Justice League animated series is easily the best comic adaption ever.

For the love of god I hope not, Superman Returns was absolute tripe. Singers vision was garbage, and the story and performances sucked. I hope a sequel never gets green lighted ever.

I liked it and wouldn't mind seeing another one. Don't care who directs it.. but it sounded like Singer knew what the issues were with the first one. Didn't he keep saying he'd go straight to the action and make a tighter film with the sequel?

yes, why not give him a chance to see if he can produce a better film? I mean, Fantastic Four got a freaking sequel, as did The Hulk. I think Supes deserves another chance.

But Hulk ISN'T getting a sequel. It was so bad that they are starting fresh with The Incredible Hulk. It is not a sequel, and it has a completely new cast and crew.

Why not give Singer another chance? Because he screwed up the first one so badly. It was just so uninspired. Much of it was basically a rehash of the original Superman movie--especially the Lex Luthor plot. The Jesus imagery was clumsily shoved down our throats, and giving Superman a superpowered son was just a terrible move. This is Superman we're talking about--the most well-known of all the comicbook heroes. The movie should have been a slam-dunk. You screw it up and you don't get a second chance.

I liked Routh and so I wouldn't mind a sequel with him as long as Singer was not involved and they somehow drop the son from the story.

Or just do a restart from scratch in a few years like they are doing with The Incredible Hulk.

HULK was infinitely better than the first Fantastic Four movie.

I completely disagree--Hulk sucked donkey balls.

But regardless of that it's all about performance against expectations. Hulk had a solid cast, a name director, and a character with a history in live-action television as well as the comic books and cartoons. There were high expectations for it and they weren't met.

Fantastic Four had much less hype but it was fun and family-friendly (very important!) and it did better than expected. So it got a sequel. Which also outperformed Hulk.