Routh Would Like to Reprise Super Role
If asked, actor Brandon Routh would be happy to don the cape and tights again.
After taking over for the Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel in “Superman Reutrns,” Routh says he hasn’t been contacted by anyone at Warner Brothers about reprising the role in the upcoming Superman reboot.
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t interested.
“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,” he tells Blastr.
Routh says that neither Christopher Nolan nor David Goyer have made any contact with him about the role.
Told there was an internet groundswell supporting his hiring in the role, added he wants it to “turn into a tsunami.”
I personally didn’t mind Routh in the role. The script was what I thought was lacking overall, although I still enjoy watching the movie.
I liked Routh, but “Returns” was really a continuation of the Reeve legacy. I would really like to see Warner pull the DC Universe together (as Marvel is doing with Avengers project), and that in my opinion warrants a Superman reboot.
On a related note, we need to genetically engineer human beings that look like the Alex Ross paintings. That would settle any DC movie casting debate.
I agree that the problem with Superman Returns was the script, not Routh’s performance. I think trying to do it as a sequel to Superman II was a mistake in general. Those movies were a product of their time and were long enough ago. If Batman can be rebooted just a few years after the Batman and Robin stunt show, then Superman can be rebooted nearly 30 years after Superman: The Quest for a Plot That Makes Sense.
I didn’t particularly like Routh in the role and I definitely found the movie dull (a killer in my opinion) and a remake of Superman I. The best scene was, in my opinion, the saving of the airplane scene. After that, I didn’t get excited again for the whole movie.
I’ve wondered since then if it was the palette of grays in which the rest of the movie seemed to be painted.
Well my reason for not liking the last Superman was that if featured no minorities. Except for Cal Penn. Even the crowd scenes featured no diversity. If you are going to do Superman or anyone else, please reflect the current era, not something from the 1940s. Yes, movie makers, diversity does exist. Quit making “lilly white movies with lilly white casts. It is a turn off to a lot of people and subsequently, you won’t have the desired box office dollars. Besides, I think the Weller guy from Smallville would be a better Superman. He has already displayed he has depth of character.
Routh wasn’t the problem with Superman Returns, it was Bryan Singer. I hated his X-Men films and SRs was a waste of time. The ONLY interesting thing about SRs was super-kid. I’m in the minority, but I thought that angle was kind of cool, especially the fact that he’s immune to Kryptonite.
@KG, I’m curious what you hated about the X-Men films, the first two anyway. IMO, I thought X-Men and X-Men 2 were the first Marvel adaptations done right. Hell, X2 got me excited about comic book movies again because he learned from the missteps in the first one and just got it all right. And I also knew that X3 was going to hit the ball foul without his guidance (pissed me off… he could have done that story real justice).
Superman Returns looked pretty, and completely underutilized Kevin Spacey, but Singer should have turned down Superman and stuck with X-Men. It really shows when your heart’s more Marvel than DC, no matter how much you try to diversify your tastes, and yes, I’m kinda speaking for myself as well here
@Summer, my main problem with the films was the characterization of the players and the casting in general. Outside of Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Romijn, it was like watching a bad soap opera – oh, and they have powers. The characterization I hated the most was James Marsden’s ‘Cyclops’. Instead of a slightly annoying, occasionally brooding but all around great leader, we got a mostly brooding, whining and forgettable representation of the most signature character in the X-Men next to Wolverine and Storm. Don’t get me started on Storm. That was just the worst casting I’ve ever seen. I love Halle Berry in other roles, but instead of the silky, strong, confident, regal Weather Goddess – we got Angela from ‘Boomerang’… in a white wig. In both films, she was directed as mostly meek and secondary. So, my issue was with the casting and the direction of the characters.
Now, I’d be a fool to sit here and say that the first 10 minutes of X2 wasn’t anything but one of the most brilliant sequences I’ve ever seen in movies, however that’s about it. The rest of the movie dragged and dragged and dragged along to the mostly entertaining ending Wolverine/Deathstrike sequence. I can even say I enjoyed some of the changes made to the “God Loves, Man Kills” storyline, but I just couldn’t get past the fact that the direction of the story for the most part lacked. Again, the complete and total misuse of Cyclops and wussification of Storm irked me to no end.
The only reason I tolerated X3 was for one simple reasoning: Since it’s the not the X-Men I know or care about, at least Ratner gave me the SUPER in a superhero movie that was lacking for the most in X and X2. It wasn’t good, but I was entertained. I was rarely entertained in the first two films. So, I’m still unhappy that Singer is on the Superman franchise and I groaned when he re-attached himself to the X-Men franchise. Singer has made only one movie I ever thought he showed skill, unfortunately it was his first film. I jumped off the Singer train a long time ago.
@KG, gotta agree with you on Storm and Cyclops there. IMO, Cyclops whined a lot in the comics too (eg, when a de-powered Storm wiped the floor with his ass), but I always thought Marsden was way too young to play him. But don’t get me started on the casting of Storm… when Angela Bassett was first cast, I was giddy for a week. Then when they announced a few months later that it would be Halle Berry instead, I was so angry I could have spit railroad spikes.
I almost wept with joy because of the opening AND closing sequences of X2 (that hint of the Phoenix effect rising through the water as the camera shot swung over the lake… brilliant!), plus Wolverine’s rampage defending the school was the best pure Wolverine out of all three movies. I also thought the actual stories in X1 and X2 were better executed than in X3… talk about the wussification of a whole SLEW of characters: X3 completely mishandled Phoenix, Mystique, Angel, Juggernaut and even Wolverine to a point (is it bad that I thought killing Cyclops off was a good thing?).
They could have cut back on a few characters and improved development on the ones left… I always thought they only loaded X3 up with mutants so they could sell action figures for them, half of them were so not needed.
I went into X3 with excited anticipation, and left midly disappointed. That didn’t happen with the first two, so we are about opposite in our opinions. Maybe I should watch X3 again more objectively, and refrain from yelling obscenities at the screen whenever they misuse a mutant