Even though many hardcore fans weren’t happy with 2006’s Superman Returns, most people were pleased with Brandon Routh’s performance in the title role.

The film was expected to make Routh a star.

Instead, it was a disappointment at the box office. A sequel was rumored for a number of years but never materialized despite the filmmakers behind it pushing hard to get the green light for it.

Routh was a guest on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast where he spoke about his disappointment in not being able to continue playing the role on the big screen.

“I would say that the end of my run as Superman in Superman Returns that did not pan out the way I thought it was going to, the way everyone around me thought it was going to. I had to really come to terms with a lot of that.”

Superman Return‘s biggest problem was that it made only $391 million on a budget of over $200 million. The film was in development for over a decade and at one point had Tim Burton attached to direct and Nicolas Cage attached to star in it.

Warner Brothers eventually rebooted the entire franchise when it cast Henry Cavill to star in Man of Steel.

“…it, you know, made almost $400 million worldwide but that wasn’t enough. And it was a very slow fizzle out of the possibility of a sequel over the next two, three years and I did everything that I could do, that I thought, in my world to help make it happen.”

The inability to give it a second go hit Routh hard, but he found solace in his love of gaming and his wife.

“…the end of Superman Returns was a long drawn out process of me in denial for much of it and thankfully, I guess, I didn’t lean on drugs or alcohol, partying. I played World of Warcraft endlessly … it wasn’t helping me. It was a coping mechanism but it wasn’t teaching me things until I finally came, you know, had several experiences where I had to come to terms with that and she was part of that.”

Routh did eventually get a chance to revisit the character when he suited up again as Superman for the CW crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths this past winter.

He also briefly spoke about what it was like working with director Bryan Singer on Superman Returns, who has since been in legal trouble after being accused of sexually abusing underage victims.

“He wasn’t always the kindest person to everyone.” 

No surprise there really.