Brandon Routh had an emotional reaction to Superman’s return to the big screen. When the then-unknown actor suited up for 2006’s Superman Returns, Bryan Singer’s homage to Richard Donner’s 1978 classic Superman: The Movie, Routh was the first actor since Christopher Reeve to wear the cape and red underwear in a feature film. Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel followed (sans trunks) in 2013, and with James Gunn’s Superman, the first solo film in over a decade, David Corenswet has taken flight as the Big Blue Boy Scout in the new DC Universe.
“It was a lot of fun,” Routh told Variety of the new movie in an interview pegged to his sci-fi horror comedy Ick. “I really enjoyed it. I think David is fantastic. I cried no less than three times.”
Like Routh’s Superman, whose origin was previously established in the 1978 film and had a complicated relationship with fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), the new Superman picks up three years after Corenswet’s version of the character announced himself to the world and three months into his still-blossoming romance with Lois (Rachel Brosnahan).
“I see this in a different way. I come at it from a different perspective,” the actor added. “I really got into it as I’m watching him navigate those tricky Superman moments in the first conversation with Lois and Clark in the apartment. And then all of the family stuff for me really hit. It’s a big movie. There’s a lot in there. I have to go see it again.”
Routh was set to return in a Singer-helmed Superman sequel slated for 2009 with Kevin Spacey returning as villain Lex Luthor and Bosworth back as Lois, but the project was cancelled because Returns underperformed with $391 million at the global box office. Routh eventually returned to the role, on the small screen, as a Kingdom Come-inspired Superman in the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, and also portrayed the shrinking superhero the Atom on Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow.
“I really am excited for the potential for the DC Universe,” Routh said of the rebooted DCU kick-started with Superman, which has received rave reviews and already surpassed $400 million at the global box office since opening July 11. “A successful launch with this is just good for everybody who wants more of what DC has to offer. There are a lot of great properties that can be explored.”
Routh can next be seen in Ick, from Bodied director Joseph Kahn, which hits theaters on July 27.
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