Superman, where have you been?

Another failed story line would have pitted Superman against Batman. And at one point, Nicolas Cage hoped to star as Superman.

"I always thought that in a way, you want your Superman to be a total unknown," said Kevin Spacey, who plays villain Lex Luthor in "Superman Returns," a role he had discussions about with filmmaker Burton a decade ago.

"When there were other incarnations of the film being thought about and there were famous actors that were supposed to play it, I thought, it's going to be hard to make that leap of faith where you believe that person can fly," said Spacey, who won the first of his two Academy Awards for Singer's "The Usual Suspects."

As Donner did with Reeve, Singer went for an unknown in Routh. Singer also tossed out the origin story Warner Bros. had developed, crafting his own story with screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris that serves as a quasi-sequel to Reeve's "Superman" and "Superman II."

After Lois and Superman's ongoing dalliance in those films, "Superman Returns" has our hero abruptly leaving Earth to visit the ruins of his home world, Krypton. Finding nothing but a dead planet, he returns to Earth to find the world has moved on, including Lois (Kate Bosworth), who has a young son, is engaged to another man and has written her Pulitzer-winning commentary "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman."

Battling Lex Luthor again
She learns otherwise after Lex wins early parole from prison and sets out to steal Superman's Kryptonian technology in a catastrophic plan to take over the world.

"Superman Returns" co-stars Eva Marie Saint as Clark Kent's adoptive mom, Parker Posey as Lex's girlfriend, Frank Langella as newspaper editor Perry White, Sam Huntington as photographer Jimmy Olsen and "X-Men" co-star James Marsden as Lois' fiance.

Routh at times eerily resembles Reeve, who died in 2004, nine years after he was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident. The new film draws on design elements originated in Donner's "Superman," including the crystalline Fortress of Solitude that serves as Superman's haven. The movie also uses John Williams' rousing theme music from his Oscar-nominated "Superman" score.

Given the pains Singer took to pay respects to the early Reeve movies, reprising the theme music became almost as important to "Superman Returns" as Williams' fanfares were for the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" films.

"I think it's just that classic first couple of notes that transports you back to childhood or whatever memory you feel nostalgic about with Superman," Bosworth said. "Bryan did such an amazing job of maintaining the classic feel and giving a great homage to past `Superman' films, and even just real old-school filmmaking, but keeping it fresh and new and exciting at the same time."

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