The franchise lay dormant for some time, until nearly 20 years later, in 2006, Superman Returns was released.
This time, Brandon Routh starred in the eponymous role, and the movie received a 75 percent rating, which was higher than those which followed.
A sequel was loosely planned to take place, with one idea being to bring in the use of supervillain Brainiac.
Writer Michael Dougherty said: “In my mind, if the Kryptonians really were a space-faring race … it would only make sense that there would’ve been colonies and off-planet missions … other Kryptonians making their way to Earth seemed like a pretty big one.
“It wouldn’t necessarily be evil right off the bat. That’s too easy and cliché … I think it’d be interesting to see how these other Kryptonians show up, land and have all these powers and [have to learn] how to adapt to them.”
