Routh: 'Superman shouldn't be darker'

Superman should not develop a dark side in his next big screen appearance, Brandon Routh has said.

The actor will reprise the superhero role after assuming the mantle in Superman Returns, but said he does not think the character needs to brood.

"I think he is kind of dark in a sense, emotionally dark, in Superman Returns, and the movie as a whole was slightly dark. They could have had more prowess in it, I suppose, and I think that's one thing that can be done in the sequel," he told IESB.

"I don't know how much darker you want to make it necessarily. You make the stakes higher, you make the villain darker, I think that's a way to do it, but I don't think Superman himself needs to be darker."

Routh added that he would like to see Brainiac as the main villain in the next movie, claiming that "there are a lot of interesting things you can do with [him]".