I haven’t really done this on the site before, but I’m sending a request to Christopher Nolan and / or Jonathan Nolan, should the rumors that he is at the top of the list to direct the next Superman film play out: Please bring back Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. Speaking to CinemaBlend at a recent roundtable for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Routh made it clear that he’d be up for another outing as Kal-El: “I certainly would [love to play Superman again].
As much as I say I’m working to shake that off or shake it up, I
certainly don’t want to extinguish or get rid of it because it was a
great honor and I would love to be able to return as that character.”
Routh is aware of a reported internet trend supporting his return and said he wants to “turn [it] into a tsunami,” adding “I think the
brothers Nolan are both very talented and so that makes it a different
kind of film that would be than Bryan’s vision, which I think was a
very nice film that I’m very proud of.” Superman Returns wasn’t the film it needed to be to reboot the franchise. However much you may have liked or disliked the story in that movie, put that squarely on Bryan Singer. His film, his vision. What clearly worked for me in that film, though, was Routh in the role. There were instances when I thought he was very reminiscent of Christopher Reeve, whom, I’ve previously stated, embodied the character for me as much as any actor in any other role ever has.
Now a lot of that opinion springs from childhood nostalgia, but to me those first couple of films are iconic and still match up against the current trend of modern superhero films. I felt that Routh did a credit to the late Mr. Reeve, and shouldn’t end up becoming the George Lazenby of the Superman mythology simply because the film didn’t live up to expectations. Routh has put in some good work in other things he’s done recently, most notably as spy Daniel Shaw on Chuck. And his upcoming role as Todd Ingram in Scott Pilgrim will hopefully get him back out there to a positive degree.
Everybody’s got their opinion on this and that’s fine. This is mine. I liked him as Superman and would prefer to see him continue. Bring back Brandon Routh. Reboot and rework anything and everything else in the film that you want to and need to. But bring back Routh.