Superman Returns

Superman Returns
Directed by	Bryan Singer
Written by	Comic Book: Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster Screenplay: Michael Dougherty Dan Harris
Produced by	Gil Alder Jon Peters Bryan Singer
Starring	Brandon Routh Kevin Spacey Kate Bosworth Eva Marie Saint Marlon Brando (Stock Footage)
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	John Ottman Elliot Graham
Music by	John Ottman John Williams (Themes)
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Legendary Pictures
Release dates	June 28, 2006
Running time	153 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$184,500,000

Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character, Superman. The film is directed by Bryan Singer, and stars Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay is by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris.

Filming began on February 2005 and the movie was released in the United States on June 28, 2006. Bryan Singer has said that the loose continuity established in the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films serves as its back-story, or, as he put it, a "vague history". The late Marlon Brando reprises his role as Superman's biological father, Jor-El, from Superman, using computer-generated techniques.

Released alongside the film was a documentary, Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, covering the history of the Superman franchise with input from Bryan Singer, as well as other past and present actors, directors, writers, artists, and fans.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The film opens with a short explantion of the plot up to the present. Krypton's destruction as a result of its star, a red dwarf, going supernova. Superman has been absent from Earth for five years; after astronomers on Earth pinpointed the former location of the planet Krypton, he left to see what remained of his home world. Then it shows Superman in his spacecraft crashing on the Kent family farm.

Superman's return to Earth generates much of the character development in the film, particularly for Lois Lane; during Superman's absence she became engaged to Richard White, nephew of the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet, and gave birth to a son, Jason. Lois' strong sense of disillusionment, and her resentment over Superman's original departure and long absence (she is to receive a Pulitzer Prize for an editorial essay titled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman"), combined with her lingering feelings for him, results in significant internal conflict which is never fully resolved.

The film's main storyline concerns an attempt by Lex Luthor (who was released from prison during Superman's absence) to harness stolen Kryptonian technology. Luthor steals several crystals from Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and uses holographic recordings of Superman's father to learn that on Krypton, such crystals were routinely used to "grow" useful objects such as buildings and vehicles, and could even be used to grow entire new landmasses. Luthor sets out to grow a new continent in the Atlantic Ocean, the size and displacement of which will cause most of the United States to flood. In the ensuing chaos, he will leverage his possession of the crystal technology to become a world superpower.

Luthor succeeds in planting the "seed" crystal and the continent begins to grow, but Superman is ultimately able to prevent large-scale catastrophe by lifting the new-formed landmass directly out of the ocean and throwing it into space, though at significant cost to himself. Superman had already been weakened by a fight with Luthor in which he was stabbed with a shard of kryptonite, and the seed crystal of the continent also contained kryptonite; it is only thanks to the initial bedrock covering the bottom that he is able to withstand it. The landmass begins to force its way through the makeshift barrier just as he reaches space. After throwing it into space, Superman lapses into unconsciousness and falls back to Earth, where he is rushed to a hospital. The doctors' effort to help him prove futile, since Superman's skin can't be penetrated by needles or electricity. He hovers near death before recovering.

The movie ends with Superman telling Lois, "I'm always around" and flying off around the globe, back as the protector of Earth.

Another significant sub-plot concerns the paternity of Lois' son Jason; though Jason is presented initially as Richard and Lois' son, several scenes imply that Superman is in fact his biological father:

• When Lois and Jason are being held hostage by Luthor, Jason shows an aversion to a kryptonite crystal. Luthor notices this, too, and seems to draw the same connection.
• On Luthor's yacht, one of his henchmen is prevented from attacking Lois by a flying grand piano, which Jason was playing only moments before. Although Jason isn't shown lifting or throwing the piano, he is seen with both hands outstretched, implying he had pushed it. Although some speculate it was a lurch of the boat that caused it, this is incorrect because the piano moves with far too much force while nothing else in the room moves at all.
• After Brutus the thug is killed by the piano, Jason is about to take a breath from his inhaler, but realizes he no longer needs it.
• In one of the film's final scenes, Superman visits the sleeping Jason and speaks to him, reciting the words his own father had left him in the holographs of the Fortress of Solitude.
• Jason is around five years old, which is roughly the same amount of time that Superman was away from Earth following the events of Superman II.

Cast

File:Brandon Routh as Superman Returns.jpg

Brandon Routh as Superman.

File:Lex-luthor1.jpg

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

Actor	Role
Brandon Routh	Clark Kent / Superman
Kate Bosworth	Lois Lane
Kevin Spacey	Lex Luthor
Marlon Brando	Jor-El (stock footage)
Eva Marie Saint	Martha Kent
James Marsden	Richard White
Sam Huntington	Jimmy Olsen
Tristan Leabu	Jason White
Frank Langella	Perry White
Kal Penn	Stanford
Parker Posey	Kitty Kowalski
James Karen	Ben Hubbard
Stephan Bender	Young Clark Kent
Jack Larson	Bo the Bartender
Noel Neill	Gertrude Vanderworth
Mike Massa	777 Pilot
Peta Wilson	Flight Attendant Bobbie Faye

Production

Shooting of Superman Returns was initiated in Australia, on locations that included a farm located outside of the regional town of Gunnedah in North West NSW, and Sydney. The film was shot entirely on high-definition video using a Panavision Genesis camera.

History

File:LoislanebosworthSR.jpg

Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane.

For more details, see Superman Lives.

In 1987, Warner Bros. and Cannon Films had planned to release a fifth Superman film utilizing leftover footage from Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, provided that IV was a success. However, it became a box office failure, and the project was shelved. Alexander Salkind, who previously owned rights to the Superman movie franchise, had himself planned a sequel using the mythos of his Superboy TV series. This film would have been titled Superman: The New Movie, but that fell through. A few years later, it was announced that Nicolas Cage would play Superman, Tim Burton would direct, and Anthony Hopkins would appear as Jor-El. Cage, a long-time fan of the comics, still lobbied for the production to get underway and even attended a costume fitting. In the mid-1990s, it was rumored that the film, called Superman Reborn, would be an adaptation of "The Death and Life of Superman". Doomsday, Brainiac, and the Eradicator would be involved in Superman's demise and ultimate rebirth. Batman (who would have possibly been portrayed by Michael Keaton) would appear at Superman's funeral to eulogize him. Several posters of a silver 'S' shield against a black background, stating "Coming 1998", were made before that project would be called off. Due to the increasing budget and Christopher Reeve's paralysing accident, the film was put into development hell.

Director (and lifelong Superman fan) Kevin Smith wrote a draft based on "The Death of Superman" storyline. Smith's script was reportedly hampered by interference from hairdresser-cum-producer Jon Peters and it differed greatly from the comics. Superman would not fly, he would not wear the blue and red tights (donning instead a black Supersuit), and he would fight Doomsday who would ride a giant mechanical spider. Tim Burton later took over the production, dropped Smith's script and renamed the movie Superman Lives, however the project was eventually shelved over conflicts about its direction. McG was tapped as the director for a time, but left due to a dispute with the studio over budget and location (he refused to film in Australia, as the studio had desired for cost reasons). Rush Hour director, Brett Ratner, was briefly brought in, and Josh Hartnett, Brendan Fraser and others were considered for the title role, while Johnny Depp auditioned for the roles of Jor-El and Lex Luthor. However, no major Hollywood actor would sign to play the Man of Steel, and the project was once again in limbo. Eventually, X-Men director, Bryan Singer, an avowed fan of the character, turned down helming X-Men: The Last Stand to direct Superman Returns. Due to his Academy Award-winning performance in Singer's film The Usual Suspects and friendship with the director, Kevin Spacey was immediately cast as Luthor. He in turn suggested Kate Bosworth, who played his wife, Sandra Dee, in the film Beyond the Sea, for Lois Lane, and she was hired after Singer saw her screen-test. Singer was having trouble casting the lead role, and he decided that the new Superman, like Christopher Reeve, would have to be an unknown. After viewing hundreds of auditions and casting calls from the previous directors who were attached, he found a 24-year-old bartender from Iowa named Brandon Routh, whose mid-western roots and meekness seemed to fit Clark Kent's bumbling persona. Routh got the part after a meeting with Singer, and in 2005, he was introduced to the media as the new Man of Steel.

Budget

File:Superman Returns production1.jpg

Bryan Singer (right) directs Kevin Spacey (center) and Brandon Routh (left) in front of a green screen set.

This film has been rumored to be one of the most expensive ever, with an alleged budget of $250,000,000. However, director Bryan Singer initially debunked this figure, claiming it was "a little lower than $200,000,000". He had supposedly admitted that the former amount was closer if not slightly less than the full amount spent, according to an erroneous statement made by Rotten Tomatoes. There is controversy over Singer's supposed admission, though, which took place during an episode of Sunday Morning Shootout. Co-host Peter Guber stated a figure that was referring to the total cost of bringing Superman back to the big screen from Burton to Singer rather than a budget overrun on the current production. Singer's statement that it was "more than that" was a reference to the same scenario. According to various articles on the character's journey back to the silver screen, the total amount spent before Singer came onboard was close to $150 million, as some of those involved had "pay or play" contracts — meaning that they get paid if production isn't started by a certain date. That figure, alongside Singer's $185 million, gives a total cost of $335 million. Also, since Brett Ratner had left production because his budget was too large (reportedly $234 million), it is unlikely that Warner Bros. would have allowed such a high expenditure for a single motion picture after denying a previous one, even with the financial backing of Legendary Pictures.

During production, Singer released a series of 'video diaries' on the internet at BlueTights.net, giving almost unprecedented up-to-date insight into the behind-the-scenes work being done on what would normally be a very secretive production. However, after 27 installments, the video diaries stopped for a while shortly before the teaser trailer debuted.

According to The Numbers.com, Bryan Singer was quoted as saying the budget for Superman Returns was $250 million in late 2004. He has since denied that figure. Warner Bros. has unofficially put the budget at $184 million, "factoring in tax breaks offered in Australia." Assuming the Australian tax break is 12%, that puts the actual production budget at $209 million. It is possible the "official" budget for the movie will be lowered when (or even after) it is released, since the studio can spread some of the costs between this release and possible sequels."

Marlon Brando's role

A digitally recreated Jor-El.

Bryan Singer recently explained how the late Marlon Brando reprised his role as Superman's father, Jor-El:

"What we did is we went back to footage from the original Superman and re-created Jor-El using computer technology based on references to the Richard Donner film. ... The challenge is that, when you have an actor, you can scan them using a cyberscan and a lumispheric scan to re-create them all the way down to the pores on their tongue or the hair on their ears. But since we didn't have Brando, we didn't have the actor. All we had was reference photography and film footage, so we had to reconstruct him in a computer. It was very challenging."

In June 2006, Rhythm and Hues, the studio that created the special effect, released a video detailing the process.

Trailers and TV spots

File:Supermanreturnsteaser.jpg

The original teaser poster for the film.

On November 17, 2005, Warner Bros. released the teaser trailer, containing John Williams' music and Marlon Brando's dialogue from Superman. The main theatrical trailer premiered online on May 2, 2006 (three days before its cinema debut). It appeared in theatres on May 5, 2006, along with prints of Mission: Impossible 3. On May 19 with UK prints of The Da Vinci Code, the studio released the film's international trailer. A second full version was issued with some prints of X-Men: The Last Stand on May 26, 2006. A third trailer appeared on the film's new official website in June, 2006, It also appeared online before the new site came on in the end of May.

On May 11, Warner Bros began a campaign of television spots:

• TV Spot #1
• TV Spot #2
• TV Spot #3
• TV Spot #4
• TV Spot #5
• TV Spot #6
• TV Spot #7
• TV Spot #8
• TV Spot #9

File:Supermanreturnsfortressofsolitude.jpg

Superman finds a surprise from Lex Luthor.

IESB uploaded 11 clips of Superman Returns to their website midway through June.

• "Do you know the story of Prometheus?"
• "I Thought I Would Never See You Again"
• "Lois Lane is A Mommy"
• "Unidentified Bogey"
• "Airplane Rescue"
• "Superman Returns"
• "Were you in love with him?"
• "I love that he can see through anything"
• "Where did you go?"
• "Lois, will you come with me?"
• "This just came through the fax"

Reactions

Template:Infobox movie certificates At the San Diego Comic-Con, Bryan Singer showed a five-minute montage of clips from the film to over six thousand viewers, who were so enthused by the footage, they gave it a standing ovation and had the director show it again.

Christopher Reeve's widow, Dana Reeve, in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005, was shown the press release photo of Brandon Routh and gave her nod of approval to the actor and the suit. She later sent Routh two pendants emblazoned with the Superman "S" and the words "Go Forward" to show the actor that he had her blessing. Dana Reeve died on March 6, 2006, before the film was completed. However, the film is dedicated to both Christopher and Dana Reeve in the end credits.

A new montage of footage was shown in March 2006 at the National Association of Theatre Owners ShoWest convention and was favorably received.

In a video segment at ShoWest, Richard Donner was featured giving his nod of approval to Routh as Superman, stating, "He looks so much like Chris it's extraordinary. I'm ready to see this guy take flight, and I know Bryan [Singer] is going to make it happen."

In late April 2006, a Coca-Cola commercial aired in Australia, advertising for special premiere tickets, showed the first glimpse of Superman flying. The reaction was a little mixed, but the majority approved. A clip from the commercial with the scenes of Superman is available at Aintitcool.com (QuickTime required).

The first spoiler-free review of the film showed up at the Superman Homepage in early June 2006, in which the reviewer proclaimed, "This movie is far greater than I could have ever anticipated, and I went in with extremely high expectations." Other reviews said that Singer had done the Superman character proud and that the whole cast had succeeded.

In contrast, Roger Ebert's reaction to the movie was very negative, saying, "This is a glum, lackluster movie in which even the big effects sequences seem dutiful instead of exhilarating." In addition, much of his disatisfaction cites both Routh and the character's general portrayal: "One problem is with the casting. Brandon Routh lacks charisma as Superman, and I suppose as Clark Kent, he isn't supposed to have any... It's strange how little dialogue the title character has in the movie. Clark Kent is monosyllabic, and Superman is microsyllabic."

The New York Times labelled the movie as "leaden"[1], while the San Francisco Chronicle observed that "Superman Returns finds no reason for being, other than that it's summer and computer graphics have improved since the superhero days of Christopher Reeve"[2]. Despite the critics' opinions, the movie has been, in general, received by broader audiences positively (it has been a Certified Fresh film on Rotten Tomatoes with 76% overall approval and 73% from the "Cream of the Crop").

Box office results

Superman Returns grossed an estimated $21,050,000 from its June 27 and June 28 screenings. As the movie did not begin showing regularly until June 28, 10 p.m. showings on Tuesday were limited in most locations to one or two screenings. However, this is counted as part of its Wednesday gross as the film lasts slightly longer than two hours, causing it to end early the next day. Superman Returns ranked eighth in the list of biggest movie openings for a Wednesday (and the 29th biggest overall opening day release). As of June 28, 2006 the movie has grossed around $23 million worldwide.

IMAX 3D release

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A poster for the film shown in selected IMAX theatres.

Superman Returns was released simultaneously in IMAX format, which includes approximately 20 minutes of specially converted 3D material. It is the first Hollywood live-action film to be released in this combined format. The movie will have on-screen cues so moviegoers will know when to put on and remove 3D glasses. The most recent 3D films to do this were Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, but these were not displayed in IMAX or in polarized 3D format; instead they were released theatrically in anaglyph format.

Connections to Superman and Superman II

Template:Spoiler Singer has said that this film uses the first two films in the Superman film saga that began with 1978's Superman as a vague history to the events of Superman Returns. By establishing this film as taking place after the first two films, it fundamentally retcons Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. As such, there are many references to the first two films. These include:

• In the first full trailer for the film Martha Kent is heard in voice over "Your father always said you were put here for a reason", directly quoting a Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford) line from the 1978 Superman.
• On the mantle in the Kent house, there is a framed photo of Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent’s adoptive father. The photo appears to be that of Glenn Ford, the actor who played Jonathan Kent in the 1978 Superman.
• Kitty implies that Lex Luthor has previously been to the Fortress of Solitude (which he does visit in Superman II).
• Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor paraphrased a quote made by Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor in the original 1978 movie: "Son, stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good, but they will always need land and they'll pay through the nose to get it!" Along with that, after Spacey's Lex prefaces that sentence with, "Do you know what my father used to tell me," Kitty answers, "Get out," at one point in jest, the same response Miss Teschmacher gave Hackman's Lex in the original to a similar question.
• Ben Hubbard, the man who takes care of Martha Kent and the Kent family farm, was mentioned in Superman and later in the comic books but is actually seen in this film, but only for a few moments and at some distance.
• A model of Mt. Rushmore is shown with one of the faces being blown off during Luther's experiments with a Kryptonian crystal. In the second film, Mt. Rushmore was defaced by General Zod and his followers, and the face of Abraham Lincoln was destroyed in the process.
• The score composed by John Ottman will feature leitmotifs created by John Williams for the original film. Aside from the main "Superman March" theme, Ottman references the "Leaving Home Theme", the "Krypton theme" and the "Lois Lane Theme" (aka "Can You Read My Mind") in the score for the film. The teaser trailer relies on the cue "The Planet Krypton", which was featured in the 1978 film.
• Some of John Barry's Kryptonian designs for Superman, including the Fortress of Solitude and the baby Kal-El's transport pod, have been recreated.
• The opening credits of this film use a three-dimensional, "zooming" text style similiar to the one used in the first film.
• The film mentions Lois' article "I Spent the Night with Superman" — written by the character in the 1978 film.
• As in the original two films, Lois still smokes (unlike her comic counterpart), and is still a horrible speller (as implied by the original film quotes, "How many T's in bloodletting" and "How many P's in rapist?"). In the new film, she asks, "How many F's in catastrophic?".
• The final scene shows Superman in space, smiling at the audience, in almost the same pose as in the final scene of the 1978 film.
• When Luthor and his henchmen steal the kryptonite from the museum, the placard indicates that the specimen was recovered from Addis Ababa in 1978. The kryptonite in the original Superman film was taken from Addis Ababa and the movie was released in 1978.
• In the original Superman film, after saving Lois, Superman says, "I hope this hasn't put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it is still the safest way to travel." Then she faints. In Returns, after he saves an entire press corps on board a flight by preventing the plane from crash landing he recites the same dialogue and Lois again faints.
• As established in the first two Christopher Reeve movies, Metropolis is essentially New York City. It's got the twin towers, the Statue of Liberty, etc (Richard Donner confirms this in his commentary for the film). This is in contrast to comic book continuity which mainatins that the two cities co-exist. Singer's film continues the canon established by Donner by setting Metropolis in place of New York City. This is supported not only by the maps on Lex Luthor's yacht, but also aerial shots of Metropolis in which Manhattan Island is clearly identifiable (its shape, Central Park, etc.) as well as its proximity to Roosevelt Island, the Hudson River, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, etc.
• In the first movie Lex Luthor plotted to destroy California...in Superman Returns his simulation of the flooded American continent shows that Californa will be one of the few locations spared

Trivia

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Action Comics #1 (June 1938), the debut of Superman. Cover art by Joe Shuster.

• Warner Bros. announced plans for a sequel months before the release of the movie, with pre-production beginning in late 2007/early 2008, for a scheduled release of Summer 2009 release.
• This was the first Superman movie to date to be wholly produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace was co-produced by Warner Bros. and Cannon Films.
• The producers of Smallville were allowed to visit the set during production.
• According to Bryan Singer, Superman has always been aged in his late twenties to early thirties, and will continue to be so.
• Kitty Kowalski's name has been the source for much confusion. It has been alternately spelled as 'Koslowski'; in a production blog one of her costumes behind the scenes is labeled 'Kowalski' and her name in the credits of the film is as such. This has been further exasperated in various articles and websites that list her name as either Koslowski or Kowalski. She was featured in director Bryan Singer's production blog #23 entitled 'Derailed' on BlueTights.net, in which Lex Luthor tests out a stunning train set whilst ignoring Kitty, who is visibly bored and lonely. She was also the subject of costume-design blog #27 entitled 'Bespoke'.
• Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent in the TV series Smallville talked with Brett Ratner, when he was still the director, about the role of Superman. Among topics in the discussion was the scheduling conflict with Welling's series and the movie.
• Routh put on 20 pounds of muscle for the role of Superman.
• The movie was originally planned to be released on June 30, 2006, but Warner Bros. bumped up the date to Tuesday, June 27 (both conventional and IMAX theaters hosted special screenings at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, a day ahead of its official June 28 theatrical release). Many see this as an attempt to collect three more days' worth of box-office revenue before the debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7, 2006.
• The companion album to the score, Sound of Superman, was released on June 13.
• The bartender in the movie was played by Jack Larson, the original Jimmy Olsen of The Adventures of Superman series.
• The old woman at the start of the movie was played by Noel Neill, the original Lois Lane of The Adventures of Superman series. She also played Lois' mother in Superman: The Movie, where she can be seen on the train with Lois when she sees Clark run past the train.
• When Superman saves Kitty in the 'out of control car' sequence, the shot of him putting the car down, and the picture taken from the event seen on Perry White's desk in the following scene, is nearly identical to the cover of Action Comics #1 (Superman's first appearance).

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A panel from The Man of Steel #1 by John Byrne inspired a sequence for Superman Returns.

• The concept of Superman's first public appearance upon his return in the film is a nod to the character's first public appearance in the comics. The Man of Steel #1, by John Byrne, tells the story of Clark Kent (sans glasses, and pre Super-suit) in Metropolis for the launch of a new space plane being covered by the press. When a technical malfunction places the crew in danger, and the lives of the spectators below, Clark instinctively springs into action and saves the plane. (It is here that he meets Lois Lane for the first time, and she names him Superman.) A very similar sequence takes place in the film for Superman's first public appearance in five years.
• In the film, there is a small reference to Gotham City in a news segment reporting where Superman has been sighted.
• Kryptonite in this movie seems to work much differently than it does in other films and media. Here, Superman seems unaware of its presence, where it would normally cause him recognizable physical pain. Secondly, it seems to drain his powers at a much slower rate, since he manages to lift the kryptonite-laced crystal mass even though he has a small shard embedded in his back and a much larger one in front of his face.
• The film is dedicated "with love and respect" to Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve.
• During the scene in which Superman is being beaten up by Luthor's henchmen, he turns his hands over and sees that they are badly scraped from his fall through the rock - during this scene, there is a small (but visible) happy face on the index finger of his left hand.
• At the end of the movie, the pajamas Lois Lane's son is wearing have DC Comics' Aquaman on them.
• During the opening credits, which roll immediately after we see the destruction of Krypton, we see a familiar but CGI-updated version of the original Superman I & II credits. However, interestingly, we see images of what appear to be the remnant fragments of Krypton reforming under their own gravity into a new celestial body around the orbit of the dying star that destroyed it thousands of years earlier. The camera during this sequence appears to sweep and scan the surface of this body, and appears similar in a few shots to a moment in one of the film's trailers, that showed what could be Kal-El's ship approaching a Kryptonian structure. Ironically, a major sequence from the script and novel adaptation was cut from the released film: Kal-El's actual visit to the dead remains of Krypton, which the opening credits appear to have been setting up.
• Lex Luthor talks about his bitterness that Superman has access to advanced technology yet refuses to share it with the world. This theme actually is reinforced by the use of the space plane. Symbolically, it represents humanity's attempts to reach the stars. However, Superman with his advanced technology can seemingly create intergalactic spaceships from his crystals.
• While this film is supposed to serve as a sequel of sorts to Superman 1&2, there are some instances where it doesn't quite fit the continuity. First, it seems to be a major point of this film that astronomers have discovered the location of Krypton. Yet in Superman I, Superman seemingly told Lois about its location. Lex Luthor was able to use the information Lois printed to calculate that a chunk of Kryptonite landed in Ethiopia. Further, with the amount of knowledge on the Fortress of Solitude crystals, the location of Krypton would likely be included. Third, in Superman III, Gus Gorman was able to scan the area of Krypton with a weather satellite. While Superman III may be ignored by Returns, it still establishes an intent that Superman already knew where Krypton was. Therefore, the plot device that astronomers discovered it is largely irrelevant. It would probably have made more sense, and fit better into the plot, to establish that Superman learned how to create a starship from his crystals.
• The plot point of Jason being Superman and Lois' son is difficult to resolve. The only possibility seems that he is the result of Lois and Clark's tryst in Superman II, yet Superman had already been made human by that point and so had no powers to pass on. In addition, Superman supposedly erased Lois' memories of their relationship, including the fact that she slept with him. The most likely explanation is that Jason did result from their tryst and that Lois' memory was not completely erased, merely altered to remove Lois' memory of his secret identity. Although Superman had lost his powers, his genetic code may have also contained dormant Kryptonian DNA which was passed on Jason. This may explain some of Jason's early health problems.
• A major plot point is that Superman's absence helped free Lex Luthor because Superman couldn't testify at Luthor's appeal. It seems unlikely Luthor would win an appeal even without Superman's testimony, considering he broke out of prison and aided three super criminals in conquering Earth.

Spin-offs

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Superman Returns XBox 360 Cover Art

• DC Comics has announced that it will release four titles throughout June 2006 to tie in with the movie, in addition to the official comics adaptation. The four 40-page editions will serve to bridge the story of Superman II and Superman Returns and are entitled Krypton to Earth, Ma Kent, Lex Luthor and Lois Lane.
• The novelization by Marv Wolfman was published by Warner Books on 1 June 2006 (ISBN 0446606529).
• Also scheduled is a Superman Returns video game for release on 20 September 2006.

External links

• Official website (including trailers)
• Official MySpace site
• Aintitcool.com: VFX video on Marlon Brando footage
• Superherohype.com: Superman Hype!
• Superman Returns at Rotten Tomatoes
• BlueTights Network
• Slant Magazine: Superman Returns Review
• BBC News: Critics wowed by Superman return
• Newsarama.com: Negative spoiler review
• Moviegrande.com: Superman Returns Production Information
• Superman Homepage: Up-to-date infos about Superman Returns movie and more
• Batman on Film's coverage of Superman Returns