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Bryan Singer got hooked on Superman as a kid not by reading comic books, but by watching the campy black-and-white TV show with a pudgy George Reeves as the Man of Steel.

Bryan Singer Interview

Singer, 40, says he wasn't so much attracted to the not-so-special effects as he was to the show's earnestness and the main character's honesty and integrity. As director of the highly anticipated Superman Returns, which opens Tuesday, Singer tried to bring those traits—and more—to his new film about his all-time favorite superhero.

Bryan Singer has been a Superman fan since he was a kid

Singer was so hungry to helm this project that he abandoned the successful X-Men franchise after directing that trilogy's first two films. He was on board to direct the third film, The Last Stand, but bolted when this super opportunity arose. In Superman Returns, the protagonist, who has disappeared without a trace for years, returns to Metropolis to find that the city has moved on without him—including Lois Lane, the love of his life, who now has a fiancé and a child. And Lex Luthor is still around, stirring up big trouble.

Though he calls himself a "secular Jew," Singer is keenly aware and appreciative of the Superman-as-Christ-figure mythology that has grown with the character through the decades. And though he didn't necessarily intend to make a "messianic movie," he hasn't shied away from such imagery either, especially in his choice to "resurrect" Marlon Brando's character—Jor-El, father to Kal-El/Superman—from the 1978 classic, starring Christopher Reeve in the title role.

Most tellingly, Singer chose to retain one key line of dialogue from that '78 film, the line where Jor-El tells his son, "Even though you've been raised as a human being, you're not one of them. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all—their capacity for good—I have sent them you, my only son."

Christianity Today Movies recently chatted with Singer via phone about his new movie, the messianic imagery, whether he's going to do a sequel—and the pudgy (but honest) George Reeves.

Why did you want to do this movie?

Bryan Singer: Cause I'm a huge Superman fan.

Bigger than an X-Men fan?

Singer: Yes. In fact, before I got involved with X-Men, I didn't even know what X-Men was. But I've been a fan of Superman since I was a kid.

A fan of the comic books, or the George Reeves TV show, or what?

Singer got hooked via George Reeves

Singer: The George Reeves TV show and reruns. I never actually read comics as a kid. I was more a fan of the TV show and its reruns.

So you became a fan of Superman watching pudgy George Reeves in a black-and-white TV show?

Singer: Yeah, well, when you're a kid, you kind of allow for … I mean, if you go back and watch some of the TV shows you grew up with, you probably find that some of the effects and scenes and sets don't quite hold up. But somehow your mind makes that leap when you're a kid and lets you kind of believe—as long as he does a few things that are convincing. I really enjoy the way George Reeves used to jump out of windows and land. He made it seem so effortless, and he played the character with such honesty, I kind of bought into it.

How old were you in '78 when the Christopher Reeve film came out?

Singer: Thirteen.

How did if affect you?

Singer: I was very captivated. I was very emotionally affected by the duality of his character, by the awkwardness of Clark Kent. He reminded me very much of myself in high school—he couldn't get noticed. But as Superman, he was so captivating and charismatic with Lois Lane. I was very affected by how torturous it must have been for Clark to watch his own relationship—to watch Lois Lane fall deeper and deeper in love with his alter ego, and he has to watch it every day from a desk next to her in the office.

Christopher Reeve's performance 'captivated' Singer

And I love the fact that he never lied. That's got something to do with the way he was brought up in the Midwest, and with his Kryptonian heritage and the sincerity of his father, Jor-El. And I'm adopted, like him. He's an only child, and I'm an only child. All of these things resonated with me.

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