You can argue about the timing — especially considering that it comes so soon after the death of the previous movie "Superman," Christopher Reeve, but Warner Bros. and director Bryan Singer have their Man of Steel.
As initially reported by the entertainment Web site Latino Review and then later confirmed by Variety, relatively unknown 25-year-old television actor Brandon Routh will be putting on the tights and cape as Superman in the upcoming movie "Superman Returns," based on the long-running DC Comic series.
Obviously, it's too soon to make comparisons between the two, but like Reeve, who got his big break on the daytime soap opera "Love of Life," Routh also got his start on a soap, in the recurring role of Seth Anderson on "One Life to Live." He has also had guest roles on the television series "Gilmore Girls," "Will & Grace," "Oliver Beene" and "Cold Case."
Routh's casting ends months of speculation about who would don Superman's tights, with such names as Jim Caviezel, Brendan Fraser and even Hayden Christensen, of the "Star Wars" prequels, being bandied about. (And some may remember that a couple of years ago, even Nicolas Cage was considered for the part in a version of the movie that was eventually scrapped.)
Speculation now turns to which actress will play his love interest, intrepid reporter Lois Lane. Some names being bandied about are television actresses Mischa Barton ("The OC"), Charisma Carpenter ("Angel"), Mia Kirshner ("24"), Evangeline Lilly ("Lost") and Keri Russell ("Felicity"), as well as one genuine movie star, Natalie Portman.
That casting will have to be done soon. Shooting is scheduled to begin next month in Australia, with Singer at the helm.
As for the script, Singer and his "X2" screenwriting cohorts Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty have evidently started from scratch. Earlier drafts had been written by Kevin Smith and JJ Abrams (TV's "Lost" and "Alias"). And Abrams' script included a revised origin for the character. Evidently, both treatments have been tossed out, according to an interview Harris gave the Chicago Sun-Times, saying, "We're not going to do the origin story again. Our view is, if you're over 25 years old, then you've seen the Reeve films, and that's Superman to you. If you're under 25, then you watch TV's 'Smallville,' and that's Superman to you."
He also said the film will be a sequel to the first couple of Reeve movies. "We're taking off from the first two 'Superman' films with Christopher Reeve. We use his history and then move on with big twists and great special effects."
If that isn't enough, Harris said the story will begin with the character still in his late 20s. "He lost his powers in 'Superman 2,' and now he has the powers back. But something has happened because he's been away for a long time."
Needless to say, hearing that there are screenwriters and creative people involved who have an obvious love for the characters — and movies — is definitely encouraging.
AS THE CAREER TURNS. . . . Watching Bryan Singer's career progression has been fascinating. He made his big splash with the twist-filled 1995 thriller "The Usual Suspects." But since then, he's become the go-to guy when it comes to superhero movies, having made two solid "X-Men" flicks before taking on the upcoming "Superman."
Watching John Woo's career progression, however, has been heartbreaking. His latest project? Another live-action movie based on the "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" cartoons. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com