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Superman Returns star Brandon Routh says if his Superman had kept going, he'd want him to be part of the Justice League

Superman Returns star Brandon Routh would've liked to see his version of the Man of Steel join the Justice League

Brandon Routh may have had only a brief stint as Superman, but he's got some thoughts on what his take on the Man of Steel would be doing if his adventures had continued - including joining "some kind of 'League'."

Routh's comments springboard off an audience question during GalaxyCon Richmond 2026's Superman Q&A, which also included Smallville star Tom Welling as part of the conversation. The fan asked what Routh and Welling's versions of Clark Kent would be doing had they both kept appearing following their fan-favorite cameos in CW's multiversal TV crossover 'Crisis on Infinite Earths.'

"I actually haven't thought about it in this context," Routh confesses. "I don't know, I think he'd be kind of stoked about the whole different worlds aspect. And I think he'd want to be part of some kind of 'League.' Be more connected. Mine would have wanted to be the Paragon of Justice."

Routh made his debut as Superman 20 years ago in 2006's Superman Returns, reprising his role all too briefly in the 'Crisis' TV event, in which his Superman took on some of the qualities of the Clark Kent of the classic DC comic story Kingdom Come, in which Lois Lane is murdered by the Joker (unnamed but hinted at in the CW event). He takes on the mantle of the so-called Paragon of Truth, one of the heroes destined to save the destruction of every world in the Multiverse.

Meanwhile, Welling's answer about what his Clark Kent would be doing after his own check-in in 'Crisis,' and it's a lot more mundane than Routh's superheroic thoughts, focusing more on the human side of his Clark Kent, always something of a reluctant hero in Smallville, which debuted 25 years ago.

"I think from the scene I was in, where I meet Lex, but not my Lex, all that kind of stuff. And then Clark gave up his powers, at least in that version of the 'Multiverse', which is very confusing to me," Welling states. "But I think he went into the kitchen, and unloaded the dishwasher, and he tried to get his girls to eat some food. I think he was a parent. I think he was trying to be a dad."

"You save the world, and then someone tells you there's a Multiverse, and it's like 'Oh my god'," Welling jokes about his confusion about the Multiverse. "It gets bigger and bigger and smaller and smaller all the time," adds Routh.


George Marston

George Marston: George Marston is a media critic and journalist who has specialized in superheroes and comics for nearly two decades. Along with focusing on comics and superhero media at Newsarama, George has honed a critical voice exploring TV, movies, and video games with bylines at Total Film, SFX Magazine Online, Space.com, GamesRadar+, and more. During George's time at Newsarama, the site received the 2020 Tripwire award for Best Comics-related Website / Publication. (They/Them)

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