Bryan Singer's Superman Returns has been called out by DC fans for an overlooked - but fundamental - flaw in villain Lex Luthor's master plan. The 2006 superhero movie, starring Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel and Kevin Spacey as his follicle-lacking arch-nemesis, was a continuation of the original Superman film franchise. Although a sequel had been slated for a 2009 release, the movie neither met box office expectations nor proved to satisfy mass audiences (though its critical reception was largely favorable). Continuing the story was ultimately replaced by a wholesale reboot in 2013's Man of Steel, which saw Zack Snyder settle into the director's chair and Henry Cavill don the red cape.
A Luthor steals Kryptonite from the Fortress of Solitude to create a new continental landmass (which will displace most of North America). His ultimate endgame: real estate development. As responding Redditors have pointed out, though Luthor may have ample reason to believe that no nation on Earth can stop him, he also vastly overestimates the market demand. As Reddit Jasonotg0 puts it:
"He's going to destroy the majority of the earth and sell salvation on a barren radioactive rock to the rich and powerful. WITH WHAT MONEY LEX. Congrats you're the king of nothing on a pile of worthless money because money has no value if you cause a global apocalypse"
Why Superman Returns Never Got A Sequel
DC fans are revisiting the cinematic history of its various superheroes in the wake of the recent change of creative direction under James Gunn and Peter Safran. With Cavill officially out as the Last Son of Krypton, the question of what is needed from a good Superman movie is circulating again among the fanbase. While Superman Returns has always stood out from the crowd of superhero movies in the modern era, this has never been entirely for the right reasons, with a legacy best described as functional but lackluster. Despite a decent box office performance, it was considered an overall disappointment by Warner Bros., who also felt that it had not energized either DC fans or general audiences.
Despite the lukewarm attitude towards the film itself in subsequent years, DC fans have fully embraced Routh as a deserving incarnation of the character. His return to wearing the cape as part of the Arrowverse's 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' TV event was a major talking point for fans of the show and DC fans, most of whom warmly welcomed Routh back to the role thirteen years later. Although a sequel to Superman Returns was also seeded by the introduction of Jason, the son of Superman and Lois Lane, what narrative threads that might have led to remain unknown (though Routh's TV encore did make mention of his son, implying that their relationship did continue following the events of the movie).
Part of the reasoning for why Luthor's major planning oversight in Superman Returns escaped scrutiny for so long might also be explained by DC fans focusing more on the machinations of Jesse Eisenberg's incarnation in recent years. The Luthor of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while shown to be a capable manipulator of mortals and superheroes alike, was the subject of criticism for having schemes that felt overly convoluted and underpinned by a thinly plausible rationale. Though Eisenberg is unlikely to be seen again in the new DC Films franchise under Gunn and Safran's leadership, audiences can certainly expect to see more battles of both brain and brawn between Superman and Luthor in the future, hopefully even featuring the latter's famous mech-suit.
Source: Reddit
