In a recent interview with the Geek House Show, Brandon Routh discussed why there was never a sequel to “Superman Returns,” and whether he would be interested in returning to play Superman again.
First donning the blue tights and red cape of the Man of Steel in the 2006 film “Superman Returns,” Routh once again played Superman in the 2019/2020 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover that took place across The CW’s superhero shows.
As for why a sequel to “Superman Returns” never happened, Routh says that a sequel was always in their plans, but various circumstances didn’t allow it to happen, including box office figures.
“The intention was to do a sequel, always to do, with a big tentpole movie like that. They want to make more as long as they feel like they’ve recouped the money that they invested into the film. At the end of the day, the studio, Warner Brothers, decided it was too much of a gamble for them to do a sequel. The creative entities, the writers and the directors were on to other things. Certain people at the studio who were excited about Superman had left to go on to other projects at other studios. So, it was both the passion and the interest in Superman dissipated and the movie, I guess for them, didn’t bring back enough monetary success for them to pull the trigger on it.”
With the possibility of multiverse versions of different DC characters popping up in the upcoming movie “The Flash,” Routh says he’s open to the possibility of coming back to play Superman one more time.
“I mean, yeah, I think that’s always a possibility. Of course, they’re bringing in Michael Keaton, which I’m excited about, and some other people from past DC projects.”
“I think it’s very exciting! It worked really well in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and I was extremely proud and honored to be a part of it and to reprise my Superman. So it’s absolutely a possibility. You can do anything! Everybody lives and dies all the time in those things.”
Would you like to see Brandon Routh make a cameo appearance as Superman in “The Flash” movie?
If they’re going to lean into the “Worlds of DC” idea, with the recent Joker and upcoming Batman films not being attached to the DCEU, it makes as much sense to give Routh his own project again. Personally, I’d like to see such a project a little more creatively distant from the Christopher Reeve films (even though I thought the Superman III joke in Crisis was hilarious), mostly so Routh can really fly on his own (see what I did there?!) Between HBOMax, the CW, and theatrical and home distribution channels, I can’t see why it wouldn’t make financial sense.