Okay, I'm getting fed up with this absurd assumption that Singer is obsessed with the Donner movies and refuses to deviate from them.
Superman Returns was OBVIOUSLY a send off to the Donner films. This is extremely evident in many ways:
- The plot mirrors that of Superman: The Movie, not because Singer was ripping it off, as some posters incorrectly assume, but because it is to reflect a new start, a second origin, so to speak.
- Metropolis looks completely different.
- The suit looks completely different.
- Lex Luthor is bald most of the time, if the Donner films were truly his only frame of reference, he would constantly be wearing a wig.
- Superman has a freakin' son now! If that isn't deviating from the Donner films, then I don't know what is.
Superman Returns was all about moving away from the past and looking into a new direction. This is shown in the movie by how he lands to earth in a ship a second time, reintroduces himself by catching a plane, and dies and is ressurected. He also flies off into the sunset, which in movies is often used to show new adventure is ahead.
Basically, if you think Singer is afraid to move on from the Donner films, you don't know what you are talking about.