Director Bryan Singer burst onto the cinema scene in 1995 with the breakout hit, The Usual Suspects. His success continued with X-Men and X2: X-Men United. Considering his track record, it would be easy for fans to assume that Singer likes to make grim, brooding films. That’s why it’s surprising that his latest project is Superman Returns, slated for release on June 30 from Warner Bros. Pictures.

“For me, it’s the most emotional film I’ve done and the most romantic, and I’m very proud of that fact,” Singer says. “I think it will surprise some of my friends who are used to my darker sensibilities. Whether you’re 8 or 80, you’ll enjoy the picture.”

Singer is a long-time fan of the man from the planet Krypton, who is history’s very first superhero. Originally created in comic-book form by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, Superman was an instant hit, serving as the inspiration for all superheroes who followed.

But ever since the technology explosion of visual effects began, Hollywood anxiously has anticipated a Superman movie that’s even more realistic. Other directors first signed up for the project only to back out. At one point, rumors circulated that Nicholas Cage was destined to become the next Man of Steel, but nothing ever came of it. The project languished for years, and it seemed like the movies audiences would never see another Superman.

All the while, Singer had an idea bubbling in the back of his mind. At one point, Warner Brothers offered the job of revitalizing Superman to Singer, but he turned it down because he didn’t like the script he was asked to direct. He wanted to tell a new kind of Superman story, something that had never been done on screen before. He had a better idea, and he wasn’t interested unless he could follow his own vision. “The idea that has developed over a number of years, before I got involved, was a remake of the first film that altered the mythology a bit,” Singer says. “I didn’t want to try to retell the Superman origin story. I wanted to do a film that ultimately would be a return story.”

A year later, the third director who signed up for the project hit the road, and Singer nabbed the chance to push for the movie he wanted to make. This time, the studio was ready to listen, and everyone liked what they heard.

“I think it’s a cool story,” Singer says. “It captures a lot of the classic memories of Superman and yet presents a modern story.

“The idea is that Superman has already come to Earth, grown up, and existed in Metropolis and at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent and Superman. He had a relationship with Lois Lane. He has gone up against Lex Luther at one point, and Lex Luthor has been in prison. Superman has discovered there’s a possibility that his home world of Krypton may exist in some form and he leaves Earth on a search for some kind of closure. Upon returning five years later, he finds that the world has moved on, and so has Lois Lane. It’s a story about Superman reclaiming his place in the world and in the life of Lois Lane.”

In other words, Singer has created a story that reflects today’s world. When Superman leaves the planet, Lois Lane (played by Kate Bosworth of Beyond the Sea and Blue Crush) doesn’t spend five years pining for the man who got away. Instead, by the time Superman returns, Lois is engaged to Richard (played by James Marsden of X-Men and X-2), who is the nephew of Perry White (played by Frank Langella of Dracula and TV’s Unscripted), the chief editor of the Daily Planet, where Lois and Clark work. But a diamond ring isn’t all that binds Lois to Richard. They also have a son.

“That becomes a fundamentally unique obstacle,” Singer says. “With the exception of Kryptonite, there’s not much that Superman can’t overcome. The notion of Lois Lane moving on in Superman’s absence in such a definitive way became one of the few obstacles I could imagine. Even Superman can’t overcome it. He gets into entanglements with her changed personality and her progression on a personal level. It’s that awkward situation of a single mother dealing with what happens when an old boyfriend comes back into her life at a time where a marriage can be often tenuous and families are nontraditional.

“On a broader level, he confronts Lex Luthor, who has a diabolical plan.”

Luthor (played by Kevin Spacey of K-PAX and American Beauty), Superman’s long-time enemy, plots to render the superhero permanently powerless. When not battling Luthor, Superman struggles to find a way to bridge the distance he feels both with Lois and a society that has figured out how to get along without him.

The long delay in getting this movie off the ground has probably worked out for the best because of the way in which the world has changed during the past five years. Singer’s vision reflects his opinion of what audiences need.

“In a world of such socio-political cynicism, people are more interested in seeing a hero who’s idealistic and black-and-white like Superman,” Singer says, “instead of characters like X-Men and Spiderman, who are more angst-ridden. I think more than ever, people will welcome an idealistic character.

“Instead of having cynical superheroes existing in a simple world, you have a simple superhero existing in a complex world. I think the time is very ripe for that. Like in the ‘70s, we’re experiencing a bit of social upheaval, whether it’s overseas or here in the United States. There’s a lot of conflict over what we as a people and a world should be doing. Just like during the second World War, people very much welcome a breath of fresh air. Something positive and idealistic.

“At our hearts as human beings and as Americans, even though we don’t always make the right decisions, we like to believe we’re inherently good. That idealism is embodied by Superman. And yet for Americans it’s particularly interesting, because he’s the ultimate immigrant. He came to this country and was raised in the heartland of America, and yet he carries with him a heritage from another place. He wears that heritage with pride and then at times he blends in with us.”

At the same time, Singer is mindful of previous versions of his beloved superhero. “Superman Returns respects what Richard Donner created in the ‘70s,” he says, “but even if you haven’t seen that film, there’s enough recapped that you can understand Superman Returns. That’s one wonderful part about Superman. Even if you don’t know the specifics and the minutia behind the character, you know enough about who Superman is, growing up as a child. Through just the ubiquitousness of his character, there’s a starting-off point for the story.”

One of the greatest challenges that Singer faced was casting the actor to play Superman in the new millennium. It’s a task he describes as “extremely difficult.” Luckily for Singer, he’s shown a knack for casting over the years.

“There are a lot of handsome actors,” says Singer. “But there’s another quality that has to go beyond a fine actor and one that has a good, strong physical presence. There’s something that’s intangible. The character has to look and feel as though he stepped out of your collective memory of who Superman is. Something between the comic book, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and who he is in your sense memory. A lot of that has to do with the palette of the actor, the physical properties, and also the essence of the actor, of the person himself.

“I looked at a lot of tapes, I met a number of people, and eventually found Brandon Routh. I always knew I was going to cast an unknown. That was very important. I think stars come with too much baggage for this particular character.”

With a budget rumored to be just under $200 million, Superman Returns is poised to be the biggest blockbuster of the summer, packed with 1400 visual effects. While most major films require only a few months of shooting, Singer spent half a year behind the camera in Australia. He has also played a role in the development of the video game based on his movie, as well as related merchandise. “It’ll be one of the largest cross-promotions Warner Brothers has done in their history,” he says. “It has a huge merchandising element, and I want to be very hands-on to make sure that Superman is a cool brand and is not misrepresented during this campaign, that it maintains a synergy with the movie.”

Singer has been a very busy man. While in Australia, he directed the filming for 13 hours each day, spent two hours each night in the editing room, and then set his alarm clock for 3:00 am to work long-distance on The Triangle miniseries that premiered on the SCI FI Channel last year. You’d think that Superman would have worn out his welcome in the Singer household by now.

Not so. Maybe Singer has picked up some super-strength by osmosis. Even after a grueling year in Australia (spent scouting, preparation, and filming), Singer still bubbles with enthusiasm. He’s on a Superman high that seems to know no bounds. After shooting the movie, Singer came up with a new idea: he decided to produce a documentary about Superman. Look Up In The Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman is likely to air on television sometime in June, may see a brief theatrical release, and also will be released in June on DVD. The feature-length documentary is about the history of Superman and how he has survived 80 years of American history.

“There are so many things I didn’t realize,” Singer says. “The character has lasted through many incarnations and all over the world through various times. Before Superman, there were comic characters, but they were all characters of fighting crime or exploring.”