While “Superman Returns” disappointed at the box office and with critics, Routh has never soured on DC. Over the years, he’s appeared in several adaptations of its comic book IP in a variety of roles.

David Corenswet as Superman was not an idea that just dropped out of thin air. In fact, that idea has been gestating for at least six years. The actor even told Men’s Health writer Evan Romano at the time in 2020 that it was his “pie-in-the-sky” dream to play the ultimate comic book hero.