Brandon Routh, who plays Superman in director Bryan Singer's upcoming Superman Returns, says that the late Christopher Reeve's partly influenced his performance. "Obviously it's influenced by Chris' performance," Routh told Sci-Fi Wire. "We're somewhat using that as a vague reference, so it has to follow somewhat that character a little bit. And beyond that, it's within the writing. It's within Clark's relationship to Superman and what he needs. It's 'What is Clark to Superman? What purpose does Clark serve for Kal-El and for Superman?' And that ranges depending on the situation, but he's always a bit of a spy. He's the guy that can find out information. ... He finds out information about himself through how Lois feels about Superman. He's always there. He's the fly on the wall."

Routh says that playing Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent, helped channel Reeves in part. "I've seen and heard ... how Bryan describes Clark and Superman; sometimes it's the spitting image of Chris, and sometimes it's my own thing, and it's hard for me to judge that," Routh said. "So I do my own thing, and it's a character. Clark is also that kind of character that I've done before, whether it's in acting class or plays in high school or just myself, getting into those situations, being nervous about things. So it's all of that mixed together."

Describing Clark Kent, Routh says that Kent is "the way Superman gets to relate to everyone, how Kal-El gets to relate to the public. Clark is Superman. He gets to be humorous and fun, and I think sometimes that is not only a disguise, but it is fun for him. ... Clark isn't just completely made-up, I think. It's part of him, just as Clark is part of me and Superman is part of me. You can't be Clark without having it be a real part of you. So I think he enjoys that part of it as well."

Kate Bosworth (Louis Lane) and Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor) join Routh in the movie, which opens June 30th