Superman Returns star Brandon Routh is open to reprising his role as Superman again and has even pitched a Kingdom Come style series. Routh played Superman in the 2006 film, Superman Returns, and was set to continue the role in sequels. However, after the film underperformed, Warner Bros. scrapped those plans in favor of a full reboot in the form of Man of Steel. Routh would reprise his role as Superman 13 years later in The CW event, Crisis on Infinite Earth, with Routh playing a Superman that is heavily molded after the Kingdom Come storyline.
Kingdom Come was a four-issue mini-series published by DC Comics in 1996. Written by Mark Waid with art by Alex Ross, the series imagined a future where, after retiring, Superman and a group of old retired heroes return to inspire new generations whose heroes have become more violent and less heroic. The story was a critique of the state of comics in the 1990s, and became one of the most well-regarded comics in DC’s history. It has been a visual inspiration, from Kevin Conroy’s Batman in Crisis on Infinite Earth to Wonder Woman’s Golden Eagle Armor in Wonder Woman 1984.
In an interview with CBR, Routh revealed that he has pitched the idea of a Kingdom Come-inspired Superman story before. He reveals that the story has resonated with him as to how he has always viewed Superman. He isn’t ruling out the possibility of reprising his role as the Man of Steel again in the future, as he said even with the various different Superman iterations, he believes there is still a place to tell this story. Routh said:
“Given the story is the right story and Superman [is] portrayed in the way that I see Superman. I was absolutely always interested in that. I have made my own investigations about the possibility of something like that. Right now, the truth is that we’re flush with Superman stuff, with the success of Superman & Lois — and Tyler [Hoechlin]’s doing an awesome job on that — and then there’s a couple scripts and stuff going around for features, I think, in different iterations at Warner Bros. I don’t know [what all of the plans are], but I do know that [The Flash] is coming out and that is opening up that world. When that happens and with, I suppose, the success of that, that opens up other opportunities. Just like Marc Guggenheim did with “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” you can have multiple Supermen, and it works. That experiment is actively in process and hasn’t been tested yet on the feature film side, but I think that’s what maybe they’re gearing up for. It’s hard to say what the next few years will bring, but where I used to say, I didn’t think I’d ever play Superman again, having been able to play him again in “Crisis,” now I say, the sky’s the limit. Who knows?”
There are various Superman projects in development at the various subsidiaries of Warner Bros. Superman & Lois airs on The CW and takes places as part of the Arrowverse, while a separate Superman show is in the works at HBO Max from producer Michael B. Jordan, focused on the Val-Zod incarnation of the character. J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates are currently working on a reboot of the Superman film franchise which will feature a Black Superman. Meanwhile, Henry Cavill still says he is open to reprising his role as the last son of Krypton in the DCEU, but no official word has been given.
Routh’s time as Superman was short-lived, but it was one that still generated a lot of fans. After the character was absent from movie screens for 19 years, Routh’s role in Superman Returns was, for many, the first time they saw Superman on the big screen. His turn in Crisis on Infinite Earths was positively received by fans and critics alike, and with DC having a number of different Batman projects in development, and The Flash film set to feature two different Batman actors, it is certainly possible that Warner Bros. could consider a Superman series with Routh reprising his role. An adaptation of Kingdom Come would make a great addition to the upcoming block of programming based on DC Comics coming to HBO Max.
