Bryan Singer’s 2006 film, “Superman Returns,” works as a sequel to Richard Donner’s 1978 “Superman” and Richard Lester’s 1980 “Superman II.” The film references events from those films, though only five years are meant to have passed between “Superman II” and “Superman Returns.” It does not reference the other films in the Salkinds’ franchise, “Superman III” (1983, dir. Richard Lester), “Supergirl” (1984, dir. Jeannot Szwarc), and “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” (1987, dir. Sidney J. Furie). The story begins with Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) returning from the ruins of Krypton and reconnecting with his mother (Eva Marie Saint). Once he’s had time to process his grief at finding no other survivors, he moves back to Metropolis and gets his job back at the Daily Planet from Perry White (Frank Langella). Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) informs him that some things have changed, notably that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has married Perry’s nephew, Richard White (James Marsden), and has a child, Jason White (Tristan Lake Leabu). When a Space Shuttle launch has difficulty, Clark dons his Superman uniform and flies to the rescue, reuniting with Lois. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is out of jail since Superman never turned up to his appeal and plans once again to create wealth through land. He travels back to the Fortress of Solitude, steals the crystal that created it, and tests how it will interact with water to create new land. While Superman works to reconnect with the world and those who matter to him, Lex steals some kryptonite in order to make his new land poison to Superman. Lois continues chasing the story of mysterious blackouts caused by Lex testing the kryptonite crystal, bringing her face-to-face with Lex, who leaves her for dead. Superman and Richard save her, but Superman nearly dies destroying the kryptonite landmass. Along the way, Superman and Lex each suspect that there’s more to Jason White than there appears as he demonstrates strange powers and appears to be able to see through Clark’s disguise. Finally, scenes of Marlon Brando from “Superman” and “Superman II” were re-used for Jor-El. Singer successfully crafted a film that reminded the public why Superman matters and why these characters are timeless. He updated things from the original franchise, adding cell phones and toning down some of the comedy, but the heart is there. Unfortunately, a series of delays and other issues prevented this film from getting a sequel that could continue Routh’s wonderful turn as the Last Son of Krypton, though he did get the chance to reprise his role in the Arroverse crossover special, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
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