******SUPER-SPOILERS!******

Growing up in the 1970s reading random Marvel comics books (“SpiderMan,” “The Fantastic Four,” “The Hulk”), I wasn’t much of a DC kid. Despite being old enough to have seen TV’s “Adventures of Superman” (1952-1958) in reruns (as did friends of mine), I never really got into it, and the only reasons younger-me ever watched random episodes of CBS’ “Wonder Woman” TV series (1975-1979) were Lynda Carter and my then-imminent puberty. Then along came Richard Donner’s operatic “Superman: The Movie” in 1978, and it was a game changer. It made my then 12-year old self realize that high-quality, epic superhero movies were truly possible. Its less epic sequel “Superman II” (1980) was worthy enough.

Note: The admittedly imperfect 2006 Richard Donner Cut of “Superman II” is my preferred version of “Superman II.” I find the Richard Lester-ized version a bit too goofy, and borderline Benny Hill at times. Your mileage may vary.

As a high schooler in the early-to-mid 1980s, I found the 3rd and 4th Superman films to be steaming hot garbage. I still remember seeing “Superman III” (1983) theatrically, and its slapstick-heavy shenanigans were a middle finger to the hard-won verisimilitude of its predecessors. I would later catch the cheap, cheesy “Superman IV” (1987) on home video instead, and it still wasn’t worth the $3 laserdisc rental.

Decades later, in the summer of 2006, I went to see “Superman Returns” on a humongous IMAX screen on opening weekend. Early buzz suggested it would be the rightful heir to Richard Donner’s Superman movies. This Bryan Singer-directed sequel promised to be a loose sequel to “Superman II,” while smartly ignoring the 3rd and 4th films.

So, playing John Williams’ amazing soundtrack to the first “Superman” movie in my car stereo (it makes great driving music), I went to see 2006’s “Superman Returns” with a feeling of hope, despite my disappointments with 3 & 4. I thought a fresh start might be just the tonic for Superman’s cinematic ouvré. But hope can be dangerous sometimes…

“Superman Returns” (2026)

Note: If Krypton was in another galaxy, there’s no way astronomers on Earth could spot its remains since the light from Krypton would take over two million years to reach us, even from our neighboring galaxy of Andromeda. Nevertheless, I give it (and all the movie’s terrible science) a pass, since it’s about an invincible super-being who flies. And the voice of the late Marlon Brando (1924-2004) informs us this is indeed the Donnerverse…

Note: In the first of several high-profile cameos, actress Noel Neill (1920-2016) took over the role of Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane in the 1950s Superman TV series following the departure of Phyllis Coates (1927-2023) after the first season. Neill came to define the character for live-action Superman fans until Margot Kidder in 1978. I saw Neill in person at a San Diego Comic Con panel in 2006, where they previewed “Superman Returns” and the previously unseen opening minutes of Richard Donner’s revised “Superman II: The Donner Cut.” Donner was headlining the panel, which also featured cast members across the franchise’s history, including two Jimmy Olsens (Marc McClure, Sam Huntington), the villainous Non (Jack O’Halloran) and, of course, Noel Neill.

Note: While the legendary Eva Marie Saint had never appeared in a Superman movie or TV series, she costarred with Marlon Brando in the landmark Elia Kazan movie, “On the Waterfront” (1954) as well as the Alfred Hitchcock classic, “North by Northwest” (1959). Wearing blue contact lenses to match the eye color of the late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), actor Brandon Routh could pass for Reeve’s son in this film, though his performance is much more than imitation.

Note: One of the more wistful scenes of the movie, as Clark flashes back to his childhood. The music in the sequence features teasings of John Williams‘ music from the Smallville sequence of the original 1978 film.

Note: Sam Huntington steals a number of scenes as a more comical Jimmy Olson. He would earn more genre cred with a small, but pivotal role in TV’s “The Expanse” (2015-2022), and as a reluctant werewolf in the North American remake of the British housemate horror-comedy “Being Human” (2011-2014). To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of Lois moving on, since Superman is supposed to be the love of her life, and vice versa. It also wasn’t necessary, as we’d later see in TV’s underrated “Superman & Lois” (2021-2024), where they get married and settle down.

Note: The Jor-El hologram used alternate takes and unused footage from the 1978 movie combined with CGI to manipulate Brando’s lip movements. The distorting crystals in the Fortress of Solitude help to hide that ‘uncanny valley’ effect common to CGI facial recreations. Speaking of lip movements, it’s odd that noted actor Kal Penn (“House M.D,” the “Harold & Kumar” movies), who plays one of Lex’s henchmen, doesn’t have a single line of dialogue in the final cut of the movie.

Note: Lex’s plan to recreate a new subcontinent of Krypton on Earth is a bit too similar to his equally harebrained plan from the first movie to lop half of California into the sea with the help of a stolen nuclear missile in order to create new beachfront property.

Note: Actor Jack Larson played Jimmy Olson (1928-2015) in all five seasons of TV’s “Adventures of Superman.” The actor was also a screenwriter and librettist during his creative career and lived with his longtime partner, Oscar-nominated screenwriter James Bridges (1979’s “The China Syndrome,” 1973’s “The Paper Chase”) until Bridges’ death in 1993.

Note: The space-shuttle/carrier plane rescue is easily the most exciting sequence of the film, and it was even more impressive when I saw it in IMAX back in 2006 (despite some poorly-aged CGI). I still remember spontaneous applause breaking out in the theater after Superman lowers the plane to the ground. Billionaire and space enthusiast Richard Branson of the Virgin Group has a cameo as the shuttle copilot. Branson cofounded the private aerospace company, Virgin Galactic.

Note: Frank Langella first rose to prominence for his role as the titular character in 1979’s opulent version of “Dracula,” as well as his roles in the movies Mel Brooks’ “The Twelve Chairs” (1970), “Masters of the Universe” (1987), and “Frost/Nixon” (2008), for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

Note: This is another weird bit of discontinuity with “Superman II,” where we saw Superman and Lois sleep together, which was (presumably) the time Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu) was conceived. Trouble is that Clark (somehow) erased Lois’ memory of their romance with a Kryptonian kiss, so Lois’ pregnancy with his child would be very difficult to simply explain away, unless she got together with Richard immediately after that kiss. This is one of those issues with making this a loose sequel to the Donnerverse films (beyond the fact it’d been a quarter century since “Superman II”). That said, James Marsden‘s Richard White smartly avoids the hoary romance cliché of ‘the other guy’ being a total prick. Richard’s actually a very nice guy, and a good father.

Note: This scene could’ve easily been filmed/edited as a simple conversation between Lois and Richard without Superman’s spying. Superman abusing his super-hearing and vision to eavesdrop on a private conversation between Lois and Richard is both creepy and morally reprehensible. This isn’t a matter of a once-acceptable behavior falling out of favor. Stalking wasn’t acceptable back in 2006, either. I still can’t see how this scene ever got the green light.

Note: This scene evokes Superman’s first ‘night on the town’ from the 1978 movie, albeit with very different crimes and crises all over the world–including China. Earlier in the film, editor Perry White rhetorically asks “Does he still stand for truth, justice and all that good stuff?” This is a more inclusive variant of Superman’s older, outdated motto of fighting for “Truth, justice and the American way.” Over the decades, Superman has come to symbolize hope for the entire world, and not just the US. After all, it was mere coincidence his capsule crash-landed in Smallville, instead of somewhere else on the globe. In the graphic novel, “Red Son of Krypton,” set in one of many alternate DC universes, young Kal-El’s capsule crash-landed in Soviet Russia instead of the US, and he’s raised to honor the Soviet way of life.

Note: As much as I appreciate the obvious homage to Superman and Lois’ first flight together in the 1978 film, this scene is an exercise in frustration rather than romance, since there is never any question of whether Lois will leave Richard. Her almost kiss with Superman is pointless. I never understood why the movie didn’t simply have Superman and Lois rekindle their romance. The comics saw these two getting married, as did the TV shows “Lois and Clark” (1993-1997) and “Superman & Lois” (one of the best live-action incarnations of the character to date). An emotional, hard-won romantic reunion between these two would’ve made a fitting conclusion. Instead, we’re left with a hint of a queasy love triangle that settles rather than satisfies.

Note: Throughout the film, I kept thinking that Parker Posey (“Lost in Space”), with her energy, intelligence and comedic timing, would’ve made a vastly superior Lois Lane. Her age difference with Routh’s Superman is negligible; even Margot Kidder was a few years older than Christopher Reeve. Kate Bosworth is simply too young to be believable as the mother of a five-year old boy and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for a major newspaper. Posey was sooo right for the role.

Note: Lois takes her son with her to cover a story that involves illegal trespassing, and which lands them both in the clutches of a supervillain who once tried to kill her, Superman, and nuke half of California. This is deliberate child endangerment. I can’t imagine a responsible firefighter taking their 5-year old son with them to deal with an out-of-control inferno.

Note: Once again, Lex is all about land, land, land. Never mind that this new land will be nothing but sterile crystalline rock with no prospects for green grass, farming, resort communities, or anything else. Krypton was a dying planet–trying to rebuild it on Earth is like introducing malignant cells into a healthy patient.

Note: Two-time Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been accused of doing some truly reprehensible things, but his tremendous talent is inarguable. He brings a creepiness and genuine lethality lacking in the campier version of Luthor played by the late, great Gene Hackman–like a sly snake instead of a barking dog.

Note: Once again, I appreciated that Richard isn’t made out to be some rich prick. He’s a good man, who saves his family and Superman. Sadly, none of this helps the movie, since we’re predisposed to root for Superman and Lois getting together.

Note: Composer John Ottman‘s music in this sequence is simply breathtaking, and he’s talented film editor as well; Ottman won an Oscar for his editing of “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), also directed by Bryan Singer.

Note: Director Bryan Singer has a cameo among the well-wishers gathered around the hospital. Longtime Star Trek fan Singer also cameoed as the Enterprise-E’s navigator in “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002). Singer fell into controversy after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, which put a cloud over his long-successful career. As of this writing, Singer has not been convicted.

Note: Given Lex’s resourcefulness and cunning, I don’t think exile to a tiny remote island with Kitty and her little dog is fitting punishment for the guy who nearly shanked Superman to death.

Note: Like the Donnerverse Superman movies, the film ends with Routh’s Superman doing his own version of Christopher Reeve’s fourth-wall breaking trip around the Earth.

The End.

Summing It Up

“Superman Returns” is a troubled movie. Many parts of it are spot-on, while other parts are a trainwreck. Writers Michael Dougherty (“Trick ‘r Treat”), Dan Harris and director Bryan Singer (“X2,” “The Usual Suspects”) are talented folks who know how to make a movie, yet somehow things get derailed. As much as I love the late Richard Donner‘s first two “Superman” movies (“Superman: The Movie” “Superman II: The Donner Cut”), this quasi-sequel to “Superman II” owes too much of its identity to that nearly 50-year old vision. I certainly get the impulse to carry that vision into the 21st century, since the more recent “Superman” reboot movies didn’t really resonate with me, but “Superman Returns” is more a slavish recreation of the past than a way forward.

Many elements of the film work. There’s that amazing space shuttle rescue, the reverent music, the production design, the sheer scale of it, and, most importantly, the casting of its titular character. I have nothing but praise for Brandon Routh, who is a near-perfect embodiment of the late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), but with enough freshness to carry the role beyond impersonation. Kevin Spacey also brings a darker lethality to Lex Luthor that works very well. On the negative side, this semi-sequel doesn’t fit as well with the “Superman II” timeline as it aspires, and the romantic triangle between Lois, Richard and Superman creates a frustrating, dispiriting obstacle that didn’t need to exist in the first place (see: the successful marriage and parenthood of Lois and Clark in TV’s underrated “Superman & Lois”).

Speaking of the romantic triangle, Kate Bosworth‘s too-young Lois Lane is a less colorful, more dour version of the character who lacks the joie de vivre of the late Margot Kidder. Bosworth’s Lois isn’t helped by that infamously ill-conceived scene of Superman using his super-senses to stalk Lois and her new family. Even in 2006, I remember physically cringing in my seat when Superman abused his powers to break the inviolable intimacy of Lois and Richard’s home. Jeezus, what were they thinking? That scene, as well as the post-MeToo revelations surrounding Bryan Singer and Kevin Spacey make this movie a difficult watch today. It’s too bad Routh’s Clark/Superman couldn’t be transplanted into a better film somehow. Routh is the one constant in this deeply uneven film.

According to podcaster/filmmaker Robert Meyer Burnett (“Free Enterprise”), who was attached to the production of “Superman Returns,” there was an original three-hour cut of this already lengthy 154-minute film which included a lot of since-excised material. However, I don’t know if reinserting deleted scenes (including the lengthy opening detailing Superman’s return to Krypton) would’ve helped with the movie’s underlying issues, which are more rooted in core structure than editorial additions or subtractions. All the same, I’m glad Brandon Routh got his much-deserved second chance to play Superman again on TV’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” saga, which ran on multiple crossover episodes of the CW’s “Superman & Lois,” “Supergirl” and “The Flash.” Routh’s own graying hair worked well for his middle-aged, angrier version of the character, too.

20 years later, “Superman Returns” remains a flawed attempt to recapture the mojo of Richard Donner’s first two “Superman” movies. While the movie succeeds in fits and starts, it ultimately crashes to Earth, like its title character. Sometimes you really can’t go home again. Yet despite its myriad issues (both within and beyond the filmmakers’ control), there remain elements of “Superman Returns” that fleetingly recapture the joy and wonder of the Donnerverse Superman movies–something I haven’t really experienced in a Superman film since.

Where to Watch

“Superman Returns” is currently streaming on HBO/Max (whatever its called these days), as well as Hulu, and can also be digitally rented/purchased on various streaming platforms, such as GooglePlay and YouTube. The movie is also available on physical media (DVD, Blu-Ray) from Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com and other sellers.