Also posted at THE RANT KING

Christopher Reeve may be gone, but Superman lives. The movie franchise, at least. Actually, Superman Lives used to be a working title for one of the many false starts that the franchise has seen in the past few years. But it seems as though a movie might finally get made.

A few months ago, X-Men and The Usual Suspects helmer Bryan Singer was given the somewhat arduous task of making Superman fly again. He was the latest in a long line of directors attached to the project, officially or otherwise. But Singer seems to be making the headway that the others could not. The movie is no longer in pre-production hell.

But one critical thing is still missing — a man to wear the big "S" on his chest. And depending on which news/rumour site you read, that big guy will either be Jim Caviezel or Brandon Routh.

Brandon Who? Yeah, I haven't heard of him either. Mind you, before The Passion of the Christ, I hadn't heard of Jim Caviezel.

Singer is on record as stating he'd prefer to cast an unknown as Superman, which displeases those who like big names in their films. But then Christopher Reeve used to be Joe Nobody before he went and Clarke Kented himself. That particular bit of casting turned out pretty darn good.

Routh, like Reeve before him, has little claim to fame. Unless you're a fanatical follower of ABC sudser One Life to Live, you probably have no clue what he even looks like.

Caviezel, on the other hand, played Jesus Christ for Mel Gibson. Whether he's famous for portraying the Messiah or for being in "that Mel Gibson movie" depends on how religious you are. But either way, Jim Caviezel has reached the hallowed land of stardom, which makes him nobody's nobody.

So what's it going to be, Mr. Singer? Do you go with the proven, though somewhat older commodity in Caviezel? Or, like Dick Donner before you, do you roll the dice and cast young whatshisname?

Just please, let us all know soon, so we can get this damn thing in the movie houses where it belongs.