When Superman Returns flew into cinemas back in 2006, it was the Man of Steel’s first big screen outing in nearly 20 years. A quasi-sequel to the earlier film franchise headlined by Christopher Reeve, Bryan Singer’s movie – which starred Brandon Routh in the lead role, alongside Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor – received broadly positive reviews, but underperformed at the box office.