The project has had a long and protracted history stretching back to the mid-1990s with Kevin Smith and Tim Burton being signed on to write and direct and Nicolas Cage slated to star as the Man of Steel in a movie version of the Death and Life of Superman storyline (then called Superman Lives), for release in the summer of 1999. A Q&A session concerning Smith's dissatisfaction with Burton's intended direction of the project can be seen on the DVD release An Evening with Kevin Smith. Other reasons for this project's collapse can be attributed to the skyrocketing budget figures in pre-production, and Warner Bros' unwillingness to release this film alongside 1999's juggernaut Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Other names attached during the years included directors Brett Ratner, Michael Bay and Charlie's Angels' McG, and actors Sandra Bullock, Beyoncé Knowles, Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, James Caviezel, Henry Cavill and Matthew Bomer. J.J. Abrams turned in a script that not only substantially revised the premises of the franchise (e.g. Luthor as an alien, Krypton not destroyed) but was also leaked onto the internet, receiving a generally hostile reaction by fans.

For a brief period in 2001 and 2002 a Superman and Batman film, Batman vs. Superman, was also put on the fast track to production with Wolfgang Petersen set to direct. Petersen eventually left to direct the film Troy and Warner Studios decided to concentrate on separate movies for each character.

i was really hoping that Tom Welling would play supes as i think he does a great job in Smallville, but yeah i cant wait for this movie to come out either.