Ya know, I’m just sad that Warners has pinkslipped Bryan Singer from the “Superman” franchise; after all, his “Superman Returns” follow-up promised to be rather epic – Singer telling an over-Starbucks’d Comic Con audience a couple of years ago that he envisioned it as being the “Wrath of Khan” of the “Superman” series.  And I don’t doubt it. “Superman Returns” was clearly only a warm-up lap for a bigger, faster race – albeit one that will never be broadcast now.

They say “Superman Returns” didn’t do well enough to warrant a Singer-led sequel – that’s bullshit. It made like $191 million internationally. Sure, that ain’t “Dark Knight” figures – but it’s a number that still warrants a ‘hit’ tag, not the ‘flop’ designation it’s been ashamedly dealt. The real reason Warner have cut loose Singer, not to mention star Brandon Routh (who’s option expired about a year ago – and the studio has no plans to reneg), is because of the complaints. A lot of folks, it seemed, didn’t like the movie – “it’s not action packed enough”, “there’s no Nuclear Man!”, “this is too soppy!”, “Superman is too much of a wimp in this!”, “What is this?! A Superman movie or Tender Mercies?!” – well, boo-fuckin-hoo! You want to pay ten bucks to see a one-dimensional “Superman” flick with wall-to-wall action and zilch characterization?  Hop on over to H.G Wells’ pad and ask if you can borrow the time machine… you’ll want to set the coordinates to Summer 1987, when “Superman IV : The Quest for Peace” came out! But seriously, remember the alternatives at the time? – Tim Burton’s gothic fuckflip “Superman Returns” (canceled about a week into production – due to an escalating budget, not the fact that Nicolas Cage was playing a Superman that wore black and had no cape) and, of course, Brett Ratner and McG were attached to “Superman Returns” before Singer got the nod; one can only imagine how Tylenol-inducing their take on the property would’ve been. In short, “Superman Returns” was the best film we could’ve hoped for. But it didn’t just deliver – it delivered in spades. I, quite frankly, love the movie.

But, of course, Warner can’t have unhappy customers, let alone a tentpole that doesn’t break box office records, so they’re going back to the well.

Having given them their biggest superhero hit in years, the studio has tapped Christopher Nolan to produce the film – though he won’t direct. Nolan’s “Batman Begins” collaborator, writer David Goyer is writing the script. So that’s two of the key positions filled.

For the longest time it was rumoured that James McTeague (“V For Vendetta”) may be the film’s director, and for a while there, there was a suggestion that the Wachowski’s were involved in some capacity. Heck, for all we know, they may have been in the mix there for a while. “Wanted” scribe Mark Millar did lobby for the job (he’d mapped out an epic three-picture “Superman” series) – but he, not having the name recognition of well, the guy that the studio may be going with, was refused entry into the Fortress of Solitude.

So who are producer Nolan and Warner Bros considering letting take the reigns on the “Superman” reboot? (God I hate that word – it’s just a coward’s take on ‘Remake’) – none other than Summer Box Office Movie Champ (except in 2010, where his “Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief” made less money than a pimply, smelly whore) Chris Columbus.

Our friends at Superman Homepage heard from an insider who suggests that an “offer has been sent out to Chris Columbus to direct the 3D Superman reboot for December 2012″.

The insider adds that David Goyer (“Blade”) had wanted to direct the film but Warner Bros wanted someone a little more of note to helm.

Columbus, of course, is no stranger to superhero movies – having come close to directing a few of them. After his success with 1984′s “Gremlins” (which he wrote) , “Adventures in Babysitting” (1987) and, of course, “Home Alone” (1990), Spielberg’s one-time ‘go to guy’ was offered the chance to direct both a big-screen “Spider-Man” movie and a “Daredevil” feature. He nixed the “Spider-Man” offer, opting instead to bring J.K Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” to theaters, but did have a stab at co-writing “Daredevil”, a film he considered directing at one stage. His script was ultimately unused, as were his services as a director on that particular project. More famously, Columbus was attached to direct Fox’s “Fantastic Four” but ultimately opted to serve as the film’s producer, leaving Tim Story to shoot the blue man group.

So, Columbus has a history with superhero properties – and I guess that means he’d also hve an idea of how to make a good one…. though there’s no real way of knowing whether he is the right man for “Superman”. All we can go on are Columbus’  past flicks – “Gremlins”, “The Goonies”, “Young Sherlock Holmes”, “Harry Potter” and, of course” Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief” – and on the whole, they’re very entertaining movies, especially those earlier efforts.

So, yeah, I guess he could potentially could deliver a good “Superman” film – but will it top the one that Singer had in mind? Nah, I doubt it (I’ve heard rumblings of who the WB might be eyeing to play Superman this time, and I tell ya, he isn’t going to better Brandon Routh, not by a long shot – Routh was terrific).