Superman in film that in his absence Lois Lane has given birth to a son and become engaged. Singer chose to follow Donner's lead by casting relatively unknown Brandon Routh as Superman, who resembled Christopher Reeve somewhat, and more high-profile actors in supporting roles, such as Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Singer brought his entire crew from "X2" to work on the film. Via digitally-enhanced archive footage, the late Marlon Brando appeared in the film as Jor-El. "Superman Returns" received positive reviews and grossed approximately $391 million worldwide. In February 2006, four months before the release of "Superman Returns", Warner Bros. announced a
Superman curse of random individuals. The following actors who played Superman have sometimes been cited as victims of the "Superman curse". Kirk Alyn played Superman in two low-budget 1940s serials but failed to find work afterwards because he was too closely identified with the role, and was relegated to voiceovers, commercials and uncredited screen roles. He later appeared as Lois Lane's father in the 1978 "Superman" film. Alyn had Alzheimer's disease later in his life and died in 1999 at the age of 88. Bud Collyer voiced the first "Superman" cartoon from 1941-43. He went on to enjoy a career in TV,