Superman Returns

ID: I want to take a break from the heavy stuff. I want to talk about Bryan Singer

S: Oh Lord

ID: Funny choice of words.

S: . Look. I'm not the messiah. I have no pretensions to godhood, and when I signed off on Singer's biopic, with the proceeds purportedly going to charity, I had no idea the turns it would take. Obviously, there were certain things that I shared with them, and other things, like the romance between Lois and I, that were based on rumors and used artistic license to craft what I imagine they assumed would be a more engaging story.

ID: So you’re saying you never left Lois heavy with your bastard (or worse, left her to “deal” with it)?

S: Do you think it’s even possible I’d have an illegitimate son? My own father would have put a shotgun to my head if that happened- besides which, obviously, Lois and I are actually married, and have no children. And I am firmly against abortion.

ID: Whoa.

S: That seems like a revelation to you, and it’s something I’ve tried to keep to myself, but it comes with the super senses. I can hear a fetus- the heartbeat, sounds of its organs, even the noise it makes as its first cells divide. I don't know if that's when life begins or not, and I'm not sure if that makes me anti-choice- it’s an argument I’ve half-had with my wife- but I have trouble saying a woman should be forced to incubate a child she never intended to carry, too. Frankly, it’s a decision I’m thankful isn’t mine to make.

ID: Hmm. Okay, let’s back up a little bit. How did you feel when you heard the Superman Charity Movie Project, as it was called then by Warner Bros., was going to be headed by Bryan Singer?

S: Singer’s a really excellent director. He’s good at taking very cerebral, complicated and complex stories and ideas and blending them with action into a cogent whole that’s satisfying over a 2-hour span.

ID: So there wasn't any trepidation that he would use the movie as a commentary on the gay experience in America, in much the same way he did in the X-Men films.

S: You know, I never really thought about it like that. I guess he did in certain scenes underscore the mutant conflict in such a way to draw parallels to homosexuality, but it never really felt burdensome

ID: Except maybe in that Iceman scene.

S: Yeah, maybe then.

ID: So you weren’t troubled when you heard rumors Singer had an agenda with the movie, that he was perhaps going out of his way to find a gay Superman who would then come out during publicity for the film.

S: You know, I wasn’t, really. I think, when I was younger, fresh out of school, still uncertain about myself and untested, and still largely ignorant of what being a homosexual was, I think it might have bothered me, that people might have inferred that I was gay, or assumed that I was part of pushing a homosexual agenda. But I’m to a point in my life now where I don’t care. In fact, if I could lend some of my, uh,

ID: Credibility

S: right, to the idea of homosexual rights, then that would be a positive thing.

The only uncomfortable part would be that I'd be pushed to answer whether or not I was a homosexual, which is something I don't want to do, because the denial assumes there’s something wrong with being gay; I’m comfortable enough with myself and my sexuality that I don’t care what people whisper behind my back, but there are people, here and abroad, who would view me differently, might even be more reluctant to accept my help. But as far as personally, anyone who might decide to treat me differently because of a perceived flaw- particularly where the flaw was in their thinking and not in mine or anyone else’s lifestyle- I just don’t have time to concern myself with that kind of person.

And, I mean, Lois has a way of reassuring me, and I don’t just mean that in a dirty kind of way, but she’s just, anything that’s bothering me, she can make it all okay.

ID: I have to ask: what was with the Kryptonite island?

S: You know, what’s funny is the original script for the movie was darker. I’ve read parts of it, particularly the heroic moments, and it featured Luthor and a robotic menace which was based pretty faithfully on something he actually did, and he got a court order banning them from using it. I mean, his legal team tied up a dozen different drafts of the film, to the point where I think they just gave up, and went for something a little bit silly, because they figured they could sell that without Luthor raising a stink. Of course, his final lawsuit was simply for points on the gross. The ending amount that went to charity was a few hundred thousand dollars; Bruce ribbed me that I’d let them violate my legacy for the amount he weekly writes a check for for combating AIDS in Africa. And it wasn’t actually Hollywood accounting this time; the FX budget was enormous, and Luthor cost them a good chunk with all his legal challenges. And, you know, people just didn’t see it like Warner thought they might.

ID: But what about the... undertones of the film?

S: I’ll say this again, once more, for the record: I have no overarching messiah complex. I want to help people, I believe, with my abilities, I have a responsibility to help people- I believe that it's the purpose for which I was brought to this planet.

ID: So you believe in fate?

S: I believe in order. I'm not certain enough of what that order's purpose is- even if there's any kind of consciousness behind the organization of things- but I've seen enough of the Universe to say that entropy isn't the only force at work in shaping things. There's some meaning out there, even if you sometimes have to get out there and make it.

ID: But isn't it's true that you've been the center of your own religious tradition.

S: There was a cult that emerged around the time of my “death” fighting Doomsday, but I certainly never cultivated it, never encouraged it- in fact, at every opportunity, I've encouraged people not to follow it as a religion. Religion is something bigger than me, bigger than the things even I do. Some days I struggle to be a good husband and man- I'm just not up to the task of being someone's God.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.