Superman Returns turns 20 on June 28, 2026. Two days before that, on June 26, Milly Alcock’s Supergirl arrives in movie theaters as part of James Gunn’s new DCU. It’s a big week for Kryptonians, including Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill, who showed up at the Royal Ascot in a top hat, and Superman Returns actor Brandon Routh, who arrived at the Dances with Films indie film festival in Los Angeles to promote his new comedy Out of Order. Naturally, audiences asked the latter for his thoughts on the new Supergirl.
“I mean, like they’re doing — look like they’re doing great already. You know, I think sky is the limit. Um, I just — they — you know, you can’t please everybody all the time but as long as the tone is that of hope and light and that they’re — there’s better possibilities ahead of us then I’m for it and that’s what I’ve seen thus far in James Gunn’s Universe,” Routh answered when an interviewer asked what advice he’d give to the other Kryptonian coming out with Supergirl.
That’s exactly how a former Superman should react to a new Kryptonian taking the spotlight. Not with a meme. Not with a comment designed to get a laugh at someone else’s expense. Routh’s response sits in stark contrast to what Dean Cain did when Alcock’s casting made news. Cain leaned into the discourse, and it completely backfired.
Routh, who arguably got a far rougher deal from Hollywood given how abruptly his own franchise ended, opted for something rarer: genuine goodwill. The guy who had the most reason to be bitter chose not to be.
That “hope and light” comment from Routh was of course the entire thesis of Superman Returns. Bryan Singer’s 2006 film, which opened June 28 of that year to a divided audience, built its version of Clark Kent around earnestness and restraint — a Superman who could stop a plane full of passengers without throwing a single punch and then step into a baseball stadium and receive applause. The film got punished critically for being too sincere and lacking action in a post-Batman Begins world that wanted its superheroes brooding and conflicted.
Even Superman Returns’ own editor, John Ottman, eventually admitted the film’s bigger problem wasn’t actually Routh at all. It was the casting of Lois Lane. While Kate Bosworth is a great actress, she seemed completely out of place in the film. Whether that’s because she wasn’t a great fit or that her character was badly written is up for debate. But what Ottman is clear about is that it definitely wasn’t Routh’s fault.
Twenty years on, the tone Routh championed looks a lot like the tone Gunn is rebuilding. The DCU isn’t Zack Snyder’s dark universe, which leaned hard into grey skies and existential weight. Gunn has been unusually specific about what he wants — specific enough that things like Kara Zor-El’s pierced ears became an actual conversation he addressed publicly.
Alcock, 25, who built her career as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, walks into a role with a fraught film history. The 1984 Supergirl starring Helen Slater bombed so thoroughly that it effectively shut the door on female-led superhero films for nearly two decades. Alcock is the first actress to carry a Supergirl theatrical film since then.
Routh has no stake in the DCU’s success, no role in Gunn’s plans, and no reason to perform enthusiasm. When he says the tone he’s seen so far is one of hope and possibility, he’s measuring it against his own experience and what he thinks Superman and Supergirl should embody.
Twenty years after Superman Returns was dismissed for being too earnest, James Gunn is finally building a Superman universe around the very qualities Brandon Routh was defending all along.
