Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh Off Superman Returns Sequel?
It still remains to be seen whether or not a Superman Returns sequel will head into production anytime soon, but if and when it does happen, it’s looking like it may be working with a few strikes against it. Word on the street is that director Bryan Singer will not be returning to helm the sequel, and his buddy Brandon Routh will not be reprising his role as The Man of Steel either. At some point last year there were similar rumblings that Singer had too many other projects in the works and that he was in no rush to tend to a Superman follow-up. Now Anne Thompson over at Variety has stated that it is “highly unlikely” he would return. After Valkyrie, his next movie will be the gay rights activist biopic The Mayor of Castro Street.
Soon after this report hit the web, the folks over at Latino Review chimed in with a statement that Brandon Routh was definitely not going to be involved in the next movie either. According to them, the red cape will continue to be worn by whoever scores the young Superman role in the Justice League movie. Considering that Routh was one of the few good things about Superman Returns, I don’t think this is particularly good news for the franchise. However, at the very least it would allow Warner Bros and DC to establish some continuity between the JLA flick and the next Superman movie. On the other hand, if another Superman sequel didn’t happen for a long time, I wouldn’t be overly disappointed either. Thoughts?
Comments (7)
I think Superman needs a slight reimagining at this point. I was never against the ideas of changing things up. The things we’ve heard in the past, the no flying, the symbiont like suit, Lex Luthor is from krypton, sure they are very overboard and agree that they are probably too much change but something should be done next. I’d rather see a Superman that is completely separate from JLA. I can’t help but feel whoever is going to be Superman in that movie will be simply because they look good, are young, and are there to fill the spot. Not someone who could actually play the character and make him iconic again.
Posted by Captain N on January 4th, 2008All that Superman Returns managed to do was make me care even less about the franchise. Right now I could care less what happens to Superman or his movies.
Posted by Rian on January 4th, 2008Brandon Routh was excellent. It’s too bad if he’s not Superman anymore, but maybe he’ll get to act in something else and that would be cool as well.
Posted by Henrik on January 4th, 2008You can’t mess too much with Superman (removing his symbol), he’s just too iconic. I would say that if you made a film with a bit of a faster pace and actually had him fight super villains (please, enough with Lex Luthor all ready, we GET IT HE’S BALD AND A JERK) you would have a better chance of having a great superhero film.
Posted by paul on January 6th, 2008Some one needs the courage to make it work! I’ve been a fan of superman since I could remember. Now that I am in the video production business of my own I look at things different, an when I saw the superman returns I could see why it had to take that path with lex, its been awhile since the man in tights flew the big screen.
Posted by David on January 18th, 2008It wouldn’t be superman without Brandon Routh, he and everyone made it work. I was watching Spiderman 3 not long ago and if you notice that he had alot going on in the movie, not only did he have his best mate being the bad guy thing but there were 2 other villans.
I agree it needs to focus more on other villans but it still needs the back bone of lex luther. The effects is what people want to see. His 1st stunt saving the plane from crashing was great, it brought him back to earth and showed his love for the people, and for lowis.
There is plenty of room for his sequal and if done right it would totally rock. leaving room for his (maybe son) is a great leg to stand on. Come on Brian singer, lets focus on the fans. And leaving it for too long would make i worse.
Give me the bloody chance to do it, there’s no reason for the man to fall from the sky no more.
Yeah really, I could give a fuck less about another Superman movie. I just hope Justice League gets off the ground and they get a more visionary director for the whole thing.
Posted by Ryan on May 21st, 2008I think “Superman Returns” could have been a real success if the story had started a new series beginning with an updated version of the origin. I liked Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I just wish they had not done it as if other stories involving the characters had already happened. And I also think they should have done what both “Lois and Clark” and “Superman: The Animated Series” did- keep Jonathan Kent alive (especially for Clark to see along with Martha when visiting Smallville or when they are visiting Metropolis). Plus, this should have helped introduce villains from the comic books who have never appeared on live-action films before- Parasite/ Metallo/ Brainiac/ Darkseid/ and possibly Doomsday. I do not understand why Bryan Singer was allowed to make a film attempting to be a sequel to stories made decades ago. Times have changed and all films should start over with stories written to perfectly fit the modern world.
Posted by Jordan Lee on May 30th, 2009Leave a Reply