Now that Superman has returned, what menace will he battle next? That's the big question in Hollywood this week, and since Brandon Routh was discovered in casting sessions for a once-planned "Batman vs. Superman" flick, rumors of the
blockbuster smackdown have been resurrected. "I was at a party recently; Hugh Jackman had a benefit at his house," "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer said. "I went there, and Christian Bale was there, and I suddenly felt like Brandon should be there too. I had all these superheroes around me." Routh added that while he enjoyed sparring verbally with "Batman" star Bale recently at the MTV Movie Awards, he'd prefer to see the two heroes work together. "I don't think we should go toe-to-toe, unless one of us is deranged somehow by some mind-altering drug," he laughed. "We shouldn't be fighting each other; we should be combining forces." Singer said he'd consider directing a "Batman vs. Superman" flick, but only after the Man of Steel establishes his identity a bit more thoroughly. "I've thought about it for a long time ? even a longer time ago, actually," the director revealed. "But I don't know who would be the villain. I guess Batman would be the villain, but then he can't be too bad, because he is Batman. So not quite yet. ... I think Superman needs to have his own movies for a little while before that happens." Either way, Singer insisted that "everybody's excited to do more ... and I'm sure we'll do another one." And Routh had this word of warning for Bale: "I don't think Batman really, really wants to go and mess with Superman." ...