James Gunn's Superman Made One Of The Previous Man Of Steel Stars Cry

Superman has been a part of American history for the better part of the century. He's famously faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. But he can also cry — at least according to one actor who once donned the iconic blue-and-red spandex.

While audiences might associate the character of Superman with either James Gunn's hope-punk defender of justice from his recent blockbuster smash hit "Superman" or with Henry Cavill's depiction in Zack Snyder's brooding "Man of Steel," the truly definitive performance of Superman against which all others are judged remains Christopher Reeve's iconic portrayal of Kal-El from 1978's "Superman." While the film's three sequels produced diminishing results, Reeve's performance endured in cinema history. So when "X-Men" director Bryan Singer was hired to direct a new take on the iconic hero in the mid-2000s, he looked back to Christopher Reeve and fashioned his film as a pseudo-sequel to "Superman" and "Superman II," signposting this ethos with the title "Superman Returns."

Filling Reeve's shoes was no easy task, and Singer found his new Superman in Brandon Routh. The young actor was given the seemingly impossible task of portraying not just Superman, but Christopher Reeve's Superman, and the fact that the film got as close to it did to succeeding is a testament to Routh's love for the character.

While Routh always held out hope "Superman Returns" would get a sequel, his hopes slowly fizzled out over the years. Now, almost twenty years later, Superman has returned to theaters, and Routh shared his thoughts and feelings about James Gunn's take on the character and David Corenswet's performance as Kal-El.

While Routh has been affectionately hyping up "Superman" online, imploring his fans to go out and see it in theaters, the actor finally had the chance to watch it himself before an interview with Variety promoting his new horror comedy, "Ick."

Routh describes Gunn's "Superman" as "a lot of fun," saying he "really enjoyed it" and thinks David Corenswet is "fantastic" as the newest iteration of Clark Kent/Superman. His performance brought Routh to tears, with the actor revealing that he "cried no less than three times" while watching the film.

Routh went on to explain how his personal history with Superman made the smaller character moments resonate with him very deeply:

"I see this in a different way. I come at it from a different perspective. I really got into it as I'm watching him navigate those tricky Superman moments in the first conversation with Lois and Clark in the apartment. And then all of the family stuff for me really hit. It's a big movie. There's a lot in there. I have to go see it again."

With "Superman" soaring high at the box office, the future possibilities of the DC Universe feel as endless as the multiverse, and Routh is excited to see what comes next: "A successful launch with this is just good for everybody who wants more of what DC has to offer. There are a lot of great properties that can be explored."

Only time will tell if Routh himself will return to the DC Universe in a different role, but it sounds like he might be game if Gunn gives him a call.