20 years after Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns crash landed in movie theaters, the film’s editor, John Ottman, is reflecting on the one scene from the film everyone still talks about today: the sequence where Brandon Routh’s Superman saves Lois Lane from the plane/shuttle disaster. According to Ottman, the plane scene was originally very different and actually required reshoots to add more tension.
In a candid interview with Billy Barnell on Half the Picture, the editor revealed how he went about editing the sequence. “When you animate the story boards you look at the scene, it’s all very exciting,” Ottman explained. “But what you forget when you’re watching something like that is the human factor is missing.”
The sequence had been painstakingly previsualized, but it felt flat without all the reaction shots from the actors inside the plane. So, Ottman and director Bryan Singer went back and shot additional footage of passengers being thrown around the cabin. “What really [makes] people find it exciting — it’s not the plane ‘s**t,’ it’s the people inside, what’s [happening] to them,” Ottman said. “That really transformed the sequence.”
Then came the music. Ottman, who is also the film’s composer, had to contend with the agony of competing with his own temp score (the placeholder tracks editors use during the cut that inevitably become what the film feels like before the real score is written). “I had the agony of trying to outdo my temp score,” he said. “That was a really hard cue for the orchestra to get through. It’s so frenetic and fast-moving, changing time signatures all over the place.” The cue was so complex that they recorded it in sections.
Ottman also acknowledged something that fans have long debated: the plane sequence probably should have opened the film. “That scene should have been the opening of the movie,” he said plainly. Instead, the film opened with a six-minute Krypton journey (that Singer eventually cut after realizing that the film began with nearly 45 minutes of silence where nobody had said a word).
Ottman’s eleventh-hour fix was to open on Lex Luthor to establish the villain early and get a ticking clock going. It helped, sure. But, as Ottman will tell you in hindsight, he would rather have opened the film with the plane scene, which, according to him, was actually an option at the time. There was a script that began with the scene, too.
Superman Returns’ Plane Scene: Still the Best Superman Moment Ever Filmed
We all have a favorite Superman movie. Whether it’s the epic theatrics of the Richard Donner era or the grandiloquent action of the Snyderverse, there’s a version of the Man of Steel for every type of fan. That said, it’s rare to hear someone say their favorite incarnation is Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns.
For the record, I don’t think there’s anything unfixable about Returns. If anything, we can all agree that it was a beautiful homage to the Donner saga, with all the larger-than-life heroics that made those films so memorable. And nowhere is this more evident than in the spectacular Superman Returns plane sequence – a scene that might just be the most epic sequence in any Superman movie to date.
The Plane Rescue Scene in Superman Returns, Explained
In true comic book fashion, the scene begins with a daring new technological breakthrough: NASA is about to send a space shuttle into orbit with the help of a Boeing 777. Such a momentous occasion deserves the best reporter on the scene, so Lois Lane joins the passengers on the plane for the historic flight. Of course, Lex Luthor messes things up. Luthor accidentally causes a major power outage on the East Coast, which, in turn, puts the entire mission in jeopardy. With the plane burning up and about to send both the shuttle and the airplane crashing down, only a certain Kryptonian could save the day. Naturally, this leads to Superman leaving his retirement and introducing the world to Routh’s take on the Man of Steel. And what an introduction it was.
Immediately, the airplane sequence turns into the highlight of the entire movie. One common complaint I hear about Superman Returns concerns the movie’s terrible pacing. Returns spends most of its runtime as a slow-paced drama, doing very little to showcase Superman’s talents. The fact that the movie essentially begins with such an impeccable scene might set your expectations a bit too hard (space high, to be precise) from the get-go.
Why the Plane Scene Is the Best Superman Moment Ever Filmed
The sequence showcases everything that we love about Superman. Forget all of Homelander’s babble about how it would be impossible for him to stop a falling plane: Superman makes the impossible possible – and he makes it look easy in the process. Sure, the physics don’t make sense, but neither does anything else related to the Man of Steel, so let’s cut Returns a little slack.
Not only does Superman save Lois Lane and a plane full of people in this scene: he also sends a space shuttle into orbit and saves an entire stadium from having their game (and their lives) cut short.
To top it all off, you can hear the epic Superman theme composed by John Williams all throughout the scene. It goes incredibly well with the action, really selling you the idea that this Superman is somehow a more “legendary” character than any other of his live-action incarnations.
The Scene John Ottman Says Should Have Opened Superman Returns
Superman Returns is far from being a perfect film – let alone the best Superman movie. But in this one perfect sequence, we see the shadows of what could have been. It’s an optimistic and genuine piece of comic book filmmaking that stands the test of time amazingly well – even the CGI looks better than whatever the hell was going on in The Flash.
Now that James Gunn’s Superman has given the character a fresh start, the airplane scene from Returns feels even more like a landmark — proof that Routh’s one perfect moment still hasn’t been topped. It’s the culmination of all things Superman in cinema, and easily the best the Man of Steel has looked on the big screen. Sorry, Cavill. Sorry, Corenswet.
For more from Ottman on Superman Returns, read our earlier piece where he unpacks the real problem with Lois Lane in the film.
