Superman Returns is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer, and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It serves as a homage sequel to Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), ignoring the events of Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1984), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). The film stars Brandon Routh as Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, with James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint and Parker Posey in supporting roles. In the film, Superman returns to Earth after five years and discovers that his love interest Lois Lane has moved on from him and that his archenemy Lex Luthor is planning to kill him and reshape North America.

After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Superman following the critical and financial failure of The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros. Pictures hired Singer to direct Superman Returns in July 2004. The majority of principal photography took place at Fox Studios Australia, Sydney while the visual effects sequences were handled by a number of studios, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues Studios (R&H), Framestore CFC, Rising Sun Pictures and The Orphanage; filming began in March 2005 and ended in November.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual effects, storyline and Singer's direction, but criticized its screenplay and runtime. While the film was one of the biggest films of the year, earning $391.1 million on a budget of $204–223 million and becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2006, Warner Bros. was disappointed with the worldwide box office return and cancelled a sequel for release in 2009. The Superman film series was rebooted twice, first with 2013's Man of Steel, which was directed by Zack Snyder and starred Henry Cavill as Superman and launched the now-defunct DC Extended Universe, and then 2025's Superman, which is directed by James Gunn, as the first film in the DC Universe. Routh later reprised his role as Superman in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".