Superman Returns Sequel and DVD Details

Where can Superman fly from here? Time Out's Chris Tilly caught up with Brandon Routh, star of Superman Returns and asked him for details on a potential sequel to the summer blockbuster, "I want the story to continue where it's going. I think that Superman in another film would be happy at the start, so that would make a nice change. He'd be feeling good about himself, centred, and feel like he belongs, which is important and will make him even more powerful and strong. Also now, because of his current state of affairs, he's more connected to the earth, which could also make him more powerful. I don't know how you'd show that, but he has a deeper respect for earth and humanity because of his connection to humanity through blood. And I'm an eternal optimist, so I think Superman and Lois should be together at some point. The dramatic way to do that is to wait a while, but I think it might be interesting to find a way for them to get together quickly and still make it interesting to keep it going. It would be a challenge but it would be a breakthrough for films of this nature."

Should Superman Returns continue the pattern of the Batman films or the Spider-Man series, bringing in new villains for each installment or should they continue the success of Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor in the current adventure of The Man of Steel? Time Out ran into director Bryan Singer as well as Brandon Routh and asked the director of The Usual Suspects and The X-Men what he thought of bringing new villains into the new incarnation of Superman, "I'd be very judicious about bringing in lots of other characters...but I'm very story oriented, so whatever serves the story."

Superman tried to take off many times between the successful Christopher Reeve version of the man with the big red 'S' in the '80s and Superman Returns. Tim Burton, Kevin Smith, Jude Law, Nicolas Cage, and countless others were rumored to be attached to the red cape at some point or another. On BBC.com, director Bryan Singer theorized that the reimaginations didn't work because they didn't have the "return" angle of Superman Returns, "The studio took a chance with this return story, which is different, but kept the essence of what had come before. Hopefully you get the best of both worlds." Star Brandon Routh echoed the same sentiment, "People are able to accept this film, and me, because of the nods to that film. We are giving respect to that which has come before us, but also doing something new."

Meanwhile, Superman Returns star Kate Bosworth has told the press that two of her major collaborators on the summer film are the reason she's in the business at all. Kate Bosworth plays Lois Lane to Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor and she's quoted in Contact Music as saying, "When I was 14, I just remember being so blown away, so impressed (by The Usual Suspects), I thought, 'I don't know if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, but if it is, I want to work with Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer."

Finally, Time Out even got director Bryan Singer to spill some kryptonite beans on what to expect with the inevitable Superman Returns DVD. As the website reported, "He was more forthcoming about the current flick however, describing a 2hour 45minute version of Superman Returns that will be released on DVD with several extended scenes and a touching sequence revolving around Clark and his mother Martha on the Kent farm. More exciting still, the director revealed that he shot a spectacular return to Krypton sequence that was cut form the film, but may end up on a 3D IMAX version of Superman Returns somewhere down the line."

[Additional Sources: Time Out UK, BBC, Contact Music]