Outside View: Will Singer have the Kryptonite touch?

Let's take a moment and talk "Superman Returns" shall we?

After about 3,000 failed attempts to bring Superman to the big screen, it seems that Bryan Singer is finally going to be the one to do it. Singer, as I'm sure you probably recall, was the man who managed to not screw up the "X-Men" movies. Not once, but twice.

But is he really the right guy for "Superman Returns"? I'm not sure. Looking at Singer's filmography prior to "X-Men," his two big films where dark think pieces about loathesome characters with despicable intentions. He seemed completely inappropriate for the four color world of superheroes. But because he treated the X-Men like anything but superheroes, he wound up being the perfect man for the part.

Singer accomplished what most other director's would have failed at: realizing the X-Men. Their world isn't a fantastic world we can't imagine living in. Both films had a fine sense of understanding what story had to be told and what could just be implied. With the characters, Singer stripped the superfluous and left the characters to develop naturally. He understands that X-Men are human first, mutant second. So treat them as such.

Clark Kent, however, is a different man than Wolverine. Superman is the idyllic superhero. Cut and paste, good versus bad, dry as a bone Supes. At least, that's what everyone envisions. Everyone knows the Superman story so well, it's almost no worth telling. Worse still, Singer has competition from every angle, notably from Christopher Reeve's "Superman" and Tom Welling's Clark Kent in "Smallville." The tagline to Donner's film was "This Summer, You Will Believe A Man Can Fly." For "Superman Returns," it feels more like "This Summer, You Can Expect A ManTo Fly."

Admittingly, all we have to go on so far is casting and endless rumors about what angle the film will be taking (thank god, that whole alien Lex Luthor thing was axed). The casting so far brings nothing inspiring to the table. The main parts are being filled a bit too young. The twenty-something Clark and Lois feel closer to the cast of "Smallville" than the cast of a "Superman" movie. And I really have no idea what to make of Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, particularly because there often seems to be no difference between Kevin Spacey acting and Kevin Spacey hamming it up.

What would make "Superman Returns" really outstanding would be if Singer were to do the impossible and give us a new Superman. Why not? He brought darkness and realism to the comic-to-movie world with X-Men. The kind of maturity Singer could bring to the franchise would put a dark edge of reality unexpected. Fanboys would love it. Apathetic moviegoers would appreciate it. If done right, even those hesitant classic "Superman" lovers would even come around. Here's hoping Singer makes Superman more real.

Well, as real as a flying guy in tights can get.