12 Actors Whose Careers Were Destroyed By A Single Movie
7. Brandon Routh - Superman Returns
The Actor: Like Henry Cavill, Brandon Routh looks like the ideal Superman. All chiseled features and rippling muscles, Superman Returns should have been the breakout role for Routh. With no previous jawdropping performances to note, it was clearly his looks that bagged him the role.
The Film: I never understood the hate levelled towards Superman Returns. It may not have been the best superhero film of Bryan Singer's career, but there was a reverence for the original films and no one can deny the plane scene isn't flat out awesome. But as with the likes of The Phantom Menace, which likewise got good reviews on release, fanboy disappointment has coloured the films long lasting reputation.
What Happened Next: The film admittedly performed poorly at the box office, failing to keep afloat in the middle the blockbuster saturated summer of 2006, but it's the audience distaste that really hurt Routh. Despite any issues with the film coming from Singer's directing, he's the scapegoat used whenever the film's quality is raised. He managed a large camero in Chuck and popped up in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, but in both cases he was there as 'the guy who was an OK Superman once'. Other than those two projects, everything else has been small roles, often in straight-to-DVD movies or deleted before the film hit cinemas.