Superman Returns

Superman returns to discover his 5-year absence has allowed Lex Luthor to walk free, and that those he was closest to felt abandoned and have moved on. Luthor plots his ultimate revenge that could see millions killed and change the face of the planet forever, as well as ridding himself of the Man of Steel.

Superman Returns landed in a genuinely divided space: broadly favorable among critics at the time of release but consistently described as lukewarm rather than triumphant, and audience opinion has drifted cooler still in the years since. Singer's reverent, myth-heavy approach split reviewers most sharply on whether the film's emotional weight was a virtue or a drag — and whether Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth were the right choices to carry it.