Can A Reboot Save The Superman Franchise?

It was recently announced that Brandon Routh will not reprise his role in the Superman reboot.  Instead the role has been given to actor Henry Cavill. 

Henry Cavill

This is welcome news. My thoughts are that the producers want to distance themselves as much as possible from the disaster that Superman Returns was. A lot of people felt that Brandon Routh couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.  Rather than put his own personality (if he has one) into playing Superman and Clark Kent, he played Christopher Reeve playing Superman and Clark Kent. His rendition was hollow at best, like bringing a corpse back to life without a soul. 

Christopher Reeve. Often imitated...

Brandon Routh

Clark Kent was never this geeky

Although Superman Returns with state-of-the art special effects made me believe a man could fly, that was as far as my belief could go. The movie itself was nothing but a re-hash of the 1978 Richard Donner Superman film with better special effects.  Right down to the same villain (Lex Luthor which was a similarly uninspired performance by Kevin Spacey) and flying Lois Lane through Metropolis with the same song playing in the background. 

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor

"Can You Read My Mind"--again?

What was more unnerving were the Christ-like inferences yet juxtaposing that with human shortcomings such as, eavesdropping on Lois and her family, fathering an illegitimate child and being a dead-beat dad.  Someone on the production crew should have been asking what would Jesus do? Is nothing scared anymore?  Superman is supposed to be above all that.  The way Superman was portrayed was more frightening than any horror movie I've ever seen. What sort of message was this movie sending to our children?  It probably set Superman's image back 50 years and had creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster rolling in their graves.  

I seriously hope this reboot will get the character back on track. And just a suggestion, along with a new Superman, let's have a new villain too. I've seen enough of Lex Luthor to last a lifetime.