Okay I'm going to interject a little into the whole Incredible Hulk not doing as well as people expected and what that bodes for a Superman sequel/reboot.
The Incredible Hulk was bound to under perform, and here's my reason: If you have a movie that does not do well, is not what the fans or the public expect, isn't on par story or plot wise with what people are used to, it's not going to do well and whatever you do next in that series of movies is also not going to do well, especially if it's with in a decade of each other.
Here, I'll paint the picture.
Superman III, not what the public or the fans were expecting, probably the weakest of the series at the time and a horrid Richard Prior performance/crappy character.
Lead into Superman IV; A quest for peace. Bombed, of course you could say that it was because Superman IV was a terrible movie that never should have been made but, really, nobody went to see it anyway.
Here's another, The Matrix Reloaded. Did really well at the box office especially since the first movie was damn good. The Matrix Revolutions, after Reloaded left people scratching their heads Revolutions severely under performed.
Batman and Robin, yeah it killed the Batman series for almost a decade and left people not wanting to see Batman for a very long time, even made some of the most hardcore Batman Fans want to wear a paper bag over their head.
Batman Begins, This stellar reboot actually under performed at the box office compared to the other comic movies coming out at the same time. I mean it did lead into the #1 comic adaption of all time, but we didn't know that then.
Hulk, was a poorly adapted film, even if it did have some neat new camera tricks and a some what inspired performance by Eric Bana, it didn't do as well has the studio expected. The Incredible Hulk, an excellent adaption of the Character with inspired performances from a good cast, but still under performing according to the studio and the fans even though it did make more money than it's predecessor.
So what's this all mean for Superman?
Superman Returns, if you liked it or hated it, didn't seem to grab the public. And we as fans do hold sway over these films. Our word of mouth does translate to box office dollars, so if only half of us promote a film, while the other half bad mouths it, chances are the general public is going to be 50/50 on the film as well. It had a largely inflated budget and did do any where enar what the studio wanted it to do. So if a reboot or sequel happens chances are, it's not going to bring in mega bucks just because the last movie didn't grab the general movie going audience.
What needs to be done is a well thought out competent movie made for about 150million dollars that both stays on course with the Source material and grabs the public in a way that it inspires and wows people. Reboot or sequel. Then when people find out how good this movie is the next one will rake in the money hand over fist.
Look I know everything I said may not hold weight with everyone but is a trend that has happened more than once. And I know creating a stellar Superman movie for 150 million is a tall order, but it's what needs to happen to have a successful franchise started again.
Just my two cents.
t:
A sequel underperforming would damage the franchise either way, due to the fact it would be two Superman films that have underperformed. Do you think WB will just be like hey the sequel to that underperforming Superman film tanked lets reboot?
