We may not know when the next Superman film is heading into production, but at least we know who will be there to pester the Man of Steel: why, the greatest criminal mastermind of all time, of course. Lex Luthor will definitely be in the next Superman in some capacity, with Kevin Spacey reprising his Superman Returns role.
Variety has confirmed that Spacey has signed on for the next chapter in the Superman Saga, with the intent of filming his part in a six-week block like he did with Returns, leaving the actor free to pursue other projects instead of signing up for a year-long ordeal. The plan is for Spacey to film after he finishes David Mamet’s Speed the Plow in April.
What’s interesting about the article is that it goes to great lengths to clarify that Spacey is not retiring from screen acting, but it continues the alleged story that Bryan Singer won’t start work on a Superman film until he finishes Valkyrie and The Mayor of Castro Street. Singer was accused of abandoning Superman last week in favor of Castro Street and his people were quite active this week stating that wasn’t true. So which is filming after Valkyrie: Supes or Mayor? It seems unlikely that Singer could finish two movies before April, when Spacey’s available, so I’m guessing the Man of Steel is back on the priority list.
So it appears Lex Luthor will be back to plague Superman for yet another movie. Whether he’ll be the primary villain or accompanied by others is yet to be determined, but with a potential 2009 release date, I have the feeling we’ll be finding out more information very soon.
