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 in film the evil Superman. Salkind's rejected proposal was later released online in 2007. Upon gaining the rights for the film "Superman," Alexander Salkind and his son, Ilya Salkind, also purchased the rights to the character of Superman's cousin Supergirl. "Supergirl" was released in 1984 as a spin-off of the Reeve films; Reeve was slated to have a cameo but he ultimately backed out of the production. It stars Helen Slater in her first motion picture in the title role, while Faye Dunaway (who received top billing) played the primary villain, Selena; the film also featured Marc McClure reprising his role as