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 for All Seasons as his prom date. Finally, a short story in "Superman/Batman" #26 (June 2006) titled "Sam's Story", Superman recounts his friend from high school who died of cancer when he was very young. The "Sam" character is based on Jeph Loeb's son, Sam, who died from the same illness. Described as the catalyst by DC Comics; the mini-series was even used as the inspiration for the television series "Smallville". Jeph Loeb even served as the writer and executive producer on the show. Superman for All Seasons Superman for All Seasons was a 4-issue comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb