This Controversial Superman Movie Is Even More Problematic 18 Years Later (& Proves Man of Steel Did 1 Thing Right)

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The upcoming 2025 Superman film has DC Comics fans looking up at the sky with hope and anticipation for the new shared universe helmed by James Gunn. Naturally, it has also reignited the fervor among those who did and did not like 2013’s Man of Steel. The main critique is director Zack Snyder simply not understanding the character. But if any director is guilty of that, it’s director Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns. Of the two 21st Century big-screen iterations of Clark Kent, Singer’s is the one that most fails to capture his essence.

Superman is an alien, but his strength is in how he reflects contemporaneous humanity, so he must evolve. Despite the narrative flaws in the Superman films, Reeve is the definitive Man of Steel and impossible to follow. As a wave of “dark” and “grounded” adaptations of comic book properties hit the box office, many felt the Big, Blue Boy Scout was antiquated. While Superman & Lois showed that it can be done while still being faithful to the foundational aspects of the character, it was no sure thing in the early 2000s. After a revolving door of directors and writers, Bryan Singer jumped ship from Marvel to direct Superman Returns. Despite the dark tone of the next DC iteration, Singer’s film deeply misunderstood basic, foundational elements of the character. From his relationship with Lois Lane to his super-missions, the movie’s flaws weigh on its legacy.

Superman Returns Was a Muddled Mess With a Perfect Actor

Brandon Routh Is a Talented Actor, but Singer Wanted Christopher Reeve 2.0

Then famous only to soap opera fans, Brandon Routh was perfectly cast as Superman in the film. From the beginning, Singer made it clear he would essentially be copying Richard Donner’s work, which meant Routh was hired to play Christopher Reeve playing Superman. Stunningly, he did just that while still imbuing the hero and Clark Kent with his unique charm. Still, the impulse to go in this direction was indicative of Superman Returns‘ larger problems. Instead of trying to recapture the look of Donner’s films, Singer should have focused on the idealistic spirit of them.

Even fans who’ve seen Superman: The Movie countless times, rarely do they realize Superman doesn’t punch anyone. After a weird detour with Lois Lane and her family, Superman returns to Metropolis to be a hero. In a famous scene, a group of armed thugs fire a mini-gun at a squad of police cars, surely killing at least someone. Superman only shows up at the last moment to save two people who burst onto the rooftop. This leads to a visual effects flex where a bullet bounces off Superman’s iris. Yet, with his hearing and speed, Superman should have been there much earlier.

In 2023, David Corenswet talked about Superman’s powers, and how it affects the drama. Surely, Bryan Singer wanted a gratuitous gunfire sequence, even though everyone knows this poses no challenge to the Man of Steel. For someone who wanted to emulate Richard Donner, Singer didn’t seem to understand that Superman as a crimefighter works without casualties and collateral damage. At least Man of Steel had the excuse of an army of Kryptonians. These are just men with guns.

Superman Returns Is One of Many Questionable Man of Steel Stories

In Trying to Copy Richard Donner, Singer Never Understood Kal-El

If anyone doubts Brandon Routh is a great Superman, one need only see Crisis On Infinite Earths from the Arrowverse. Through his performance, Superman feels like that guy fans have known for decades. However, the movie holds him back physically and emotionally, as if the storytellers didn’t trust themselves to get that aspect right. The upside of the questionable story in Superman Returns is it allowed Routh to play an aspect of the character fans rarely realize exists: Superman is everyone’s friend, but his dual life prevents anyone from truly being his friend in kind.

“I started thinking, ‘what if I was just making a Superman movie?’ I started thinking I wouldn’t want to touch the first one, because to me, it’s very classic, so I’d then make him gone for a while.” — Bryan Singer to CBR in 2006.

In the DC Extended Universe, Henry Cavill’s Superman hasn’t changed, America has. Clark Kent is going to save people when he can. Yet, with humanity either worshipping him or fearing him, Kal-El chooses to keep a respectful distance. He will not impose his will on others, so Superman tries to straddle the line between duty and respecting humanity’s wishes. Brandon Routh’s Superman goes through something similar, but in this case, the character chose to abandon the people of Earth to travel into deep space.

Where Routh truly emulates Reeve is through his Clark Kent: truly mild-mannered and awkward. Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the fact that Superman let planet Earth down, and Clark let his friends down. Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane are pleased to see him, but there is a distance there. Donner’s films barely developed Clark’s friendship with Jimmy, and any growth Lois Lane could achieve was rolled back to maintain the secret identity status quo. In the face of this new tension, Clark takes no steps to make amends with either of them.

Superman Returns Made Kal-El a Problematic Father

Richard Donner’s Cut of Superman II Wouldn’t Release Until After Superman Returns

The two biggest points of divergence between Superman Returns and Man of Steel is Superman’s sense of duty. Despite all the strife, Cavill’s Kal-El will always try to be a hero. Singer, on the other hand, sent Routh’s Kal-El into space for five years, seemingly without telling anyone. The purpose of his trip was to, essentially, look at chunks of a planet floating in the void to confirm Krypton was really gone. Though it lays the track for Clark’s isolation story, he still left Earth and Lois Lane unprotected instead of letting go of his planet of origin, and embracing Earth like Cavill’s Superman did in Man of Steel.

“I am a lot like Clark…. Superman carries a lot more weight…. And then you’ve also got Kal-El on the farm…he doesn’t have to perform for anybody. You know he can really be himself…and he feels alone. He’s not even sure he wants to use his powers anymore.” — Brandon Routh to CBR in 2006.

Upon finding the woman he loves engaged to another man, there’s a scene where Superman abuses his powers to, essentially, stalk Lois. Floating outside her home, he watches her burgeoning family without their knowledge. He also hears Lois tell her fiancé she didn’t “love” Superman. The new Lois and Clark dynamic was set up for the Superman Returns sequel that never happened. Thus, fiction’s most selfless character is painted as a jealous, jilted ex, when he was the one who left without even saying goodbye. Then there is the problem of Lois’ and Superman’s son.

Superman II: The Donner Cut didn’t release until after this film, which created a gross problem. The theatrical ending shows Clark Kent kissing Lois and somehow making her forget their entire love affair, to reset the status quo for Superman III. Since Singer deliberately ignored that film, Superman Returns implies Lois got pregnant and, maybe, didn’t know how it happened. Upon learning Jason is his son, Superman doesn’t even talk to Lois. Instead, he actually breaks into her home this time, to whisper to the child while he sleeps. Whatever elements Zack Snyder misunderstood about Superman, none of them came close to being this disturbing.

Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor Was the Worst Part of Superman Returns

The VIllain’s Evil Plan Was Once Used as a Joke on Arrested Development

Because of his devotion to Donner’s film and their past on The Usual Suspects, Singer cast Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Whichever way one feels about Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, at least the actor tries to revitalize the character in a fresh way. Spacey’s performance is, at best, uninspired. While trying to emulate the inimitable Gene Hackman, the impression lacks the flair and style of the greatest criminal mind of our time. The other poor storytelling choice is that Lex puts his plans into motion just mere days before Superman returns.

Everything Luthor does seems included in the story because the plot demands it, rather than from any rational, human motivation. His ultimate plan to grow an uninhabitable landmass in the ocean is laughable. In Arrested Development, Charlize Theron’s character, tells struggling real estate entrepreneur Michael Bluth to “make land” instead of houses. Similarly, while quibbling about Superman’s strength is a losing battle, lifting an entire continent into space after being nearly murdered with kryptonite pushes the limits of fans’ suspension of disbelief. Singer and company, it seems, understood Lex Luthor even less than they understood Superman as a character.

Singer’s Superman isn’t much better, and he seems to run counter to Routh’s spot-on analysis. “Superman is pure love,” Routh said in 2024, “he doesn’t judge” and he’s supposed to be the “example [of] the best of humanity.” Jealousy, shirking responsibility and light super-stalking clearly doesn’t reflect these things. The DCEU films put Superman around a more fearful, distrusting human race, and he responded accordingly. Superman Returns makes Kal-El almost selfish, petty and, ultimately, lost. The only thing that saves this film is Routh’s efforts to fit the person Superman should be into that story.

Superman Returns is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on HBO Max.

“}]] Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel earned fan controversy for misunderstanding Kal-El, but 2006’s Superman Returns is even more guilty of getting him wrong.  Read More