Brandon Routh talks SUPERMAN RETURNS and explains why it didn’t get a sequel

Director Bryan singer’S Superman returns it was actually a good movie, and I thought Brandon Routh he did a great job as Clark Kent aka Superman. He just has that wonderful Superman charm. It was the closest thing we came to Christopher Reeve from the original Superman movies.

At the time, I actually would have liked to see a sequel made, but that sequel was never meant to be. Singer was actually working out a sequel deal with Warner Bros. before the film was even released because everyone had faith in the project and thought it would be a much bigger hit than it was.

Routh made a guest appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You and talked about the film and why a sequel wasn’t made. He said:

“The movie was heavily reviewed, people liked the movie, but, you know, it made almost $400 million worldwide, but it wasn’t enough. two, three years and I did everything I could do, that I thought, in my world to help make it happen.”

Playing Superman was a once in a lifetime opportunity for Routh, and I guess watching the film slowly fade away at the box office was a difficult experience for him and there really wasn’t anything he could do to help. Over time, his fame for playing Superman also faded, and while he’s had a solid career, it’s not what it could have been had the film been more successful.

In an earlier interview with Geek House Show, Routh said that “the intention was to do a sequel,” but “Warner Brothers decided it was too big a gamble for them.” Furthermore, it is explained that many of the creative people involved with the project have moved on and stopped fighting to make a sequel. He said:

“The director and the writers were kind of busy with other things, and some people at the studio who were excited about Superman had left for other projects and other studios. And so both the passion and interest in Superman dissipated , and furthermore the movie hasn’t, I guess for them, achieved enough monetary success for them to actually pull the trigger.”

Routh also spoke about the trauma he faced during that time in his life, saying, “I’d say the end of my run as Superman in Superman returns It didn’t go the way I thought it would, like everyone around me thought. I’ve really had to come to terms with a lot of that.

Routh became addicted to the game World of Warcraft. It’s become a compulsion, but he says to his wife, Courtney Fordwas able to help him emerge to the other side: “He knew me better then, he knows me better now and so he’s going through the whole trauma of Superman Returns, the end of Superman returns it was a long and drawn out process where i was in denial through most of it and luckily, i guess, i didn’t lean into drugs or alcohol, partying. I’ve played World of Warcraft over and over… it didn’t help me. It was a coping mechanism, but she wasn’t teaching me things until I finally got there, you know, I’ve had several experiences where I’ve had to deal with that and she was part of it.

While this was a rough experience for Routh, he got through it and ended up getting the opportunity to play the Kingdom Come version of Superman on the Arrowverse, and it was great to see him dressed again!

As you know, Warner Bros. started working on the Superman reboot again, and it went through several hands until Zack Snyder came along and made Man of Steel.

Would you have liked to see Routh get to make a Superman returns followed at the time?