Alternative versions of Superman establish a new continuity for DC, affecting not only Superman, but all of the DC Comics characters. The versions of Superman from this time period are traditionally divided into three main periods. The first version of Superman began being published by DC Comics in 1938 appearing in "Action Comics" #1. To explain discrepancies in the aging of Superman across several decades, his earliest stories were retroactively portrayed as having taken place on an alternative world called Earth-Two. These stories take place from 1938 until the late 1950s, although the exact dividing line is unclear and some stories happened identically to
Superman in film it was in early development. Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics, still expected Routh to reprise the title role, but Routh's contract for a sequel expired in 2009. ""Superman Returns" didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to," Warner Bros. President of Production Jeff Robinov admitted in August 2008. "It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had "Superman" worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman