Released almost ten years ago, Man of Steel is perhaps the most controversial adaptation of Superman yet. Featuring the Last Son of Krypton in a darker and far more realistic world than previous films, the movie drew heat for its less than conventional depiction of Superman. Despite this, there was a previous Superman movie that deserved this same level of criticism -- and much worse.
A sort of finale to the Donnerverse Superman flicks from the '70s and '80s, Superman Returns was completely antithetical to the character of Superman. Outside of just being a boring chore to sit through, the film utterly removes any sense of morality from the Man of Steel, making Zack Snyder's criticisms seem pretty ridiculous. Here's how Bryan Singer snapped Superman's proverbial neck long before the DCEU director.
Superman Returns Ruins Superman's Morality
One of the biggest criticisms of Superman Returns involves Superman's morality, though these criticisms don't go far enough. Superman is usually referred to as a "deadbeat dad" by detractors of the film, which is usually responded to with the fact that Superman didn't know about the existence of his son, Jason. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly true. By the end of Superman Returns, Superman knows all about his son, but he doesn't tell his son or the child's "father" the truth. He gives a monologue stating that "the son has become the father," echoing Jor-El sending him to Earth as a baby. The difference is that Jor-El and Krypton literally died, whereas Superman has simply forced this on Richard White. That's not even getting into the fact that Lois Lane, due to the memory kiss at the end of Superman II, doesn't remember when she and Superman conceived Jason. This turns the situation creepy and raises some serious concerns about Superman's idea of sexual consent.
Then there's the fact that he's also a stalker, as Superman sneaks around and spies on Lois Lane, despite her having moved on from him. This moving on happened when Superman deserted the Earth for five years to look for remnants of Krypton, which turned out to be in vain. Why did this journey take Superman so long with all of his speed? Why wasn't he in contact with Earth, and how could he simply leave behind everyone he loved? These are all things that Superman would never do, and they make him out to be utterly selfish and caring little for his friends and family, among the other labels that it gives him.
Why Isn't Superman Returns Criticized Like Man of Steel?
Despite all of the heinous destruction of Superman's morality and character in Superman Returns, the film is never given half of the heat for "ruining" Superman that 2013's Man of Steel got. That film is mainly criticized for the level of destruction in its action sequences, despite this being straight out of the comics that have a more seasoned Superman. It was especially necessary after the action-less, bore-fest that was Superman Returns, which preferred to feature Superman stalking a woman that he mysteriously impregnated instead of letting him throw a single punch. His killing of General Zod is also criticized, but all of his actions in Returns are far worse, and arguably make even the Superman from Injustice seem heroic.
The biggest reason why all of this is never taken into account is that Man of Steel and much of the DCEU, in general, have a more realistic and modern tone and filmography. Superman Returns idiotically tried to ape a movie from 1978, one which had arguably already become campy in comparison to the first Tim Burton Batman movie released 11 years later. Due to having at least the veneer of the classic Christopher Reeve Superman movies, it was able to escape most, if not all, of its deserved walloping from critics and fans alike.
Ironically, despite its many detractors, Man of Steel has just as many if not more devoted fans and defenders, many of whom like Zack Snyder's work in the DCEU as a whole. On the other hand, Superman Returns is largely forgotten, though this could be because the boring character assassination is largely forgettable. The DCEU also has a much better Clark/Lois romance than Superman Returns, though it helps when its version of Superman isn't a stalking, deserting deadbeat.