Is this even a fair match up?
It seems to me Man of Steel should win hands down. I am shocked I have seen people say they prefer Superman Returns.
While I get that some people do not like Superman killing in Man of Steel, most will admit that it was really his only choice, and they object to him being backed into a corner, not to him actually doing it in the setting where he did.
In SR we get Superman as a dead-beat dad, which was one thing in "Chip off the Old Clark" where it was a false accusation, but is another where he really is the father who abandoned his son.
Realistically, if SM cares about his son's emotional well being at all, he would not try to rekindle a relationship with Lois, and realize it is best to leave the son with the one father he has ever known.
The other big problem is that Clark lacks a sufficiently compelling reason to go to Krypton. This gets even worse if this is a sequel to Superman 2. There we have a major problem because there is no Superman for a few days. He says he won't leave again and then leaves for 5 years. How does that make any sense?
I have to admit I loved Man of Steel, but will admit it could be better. Still, it certainly beats Superman returns in my view. OK, I will take Lois knowing any day, but if it is Lois does not even know the full identity of the father of her child.
I think I would rate Man of Steel as the best Superman movie ever, and I am tempted to rate Superman Returns as the worst, but on the bottom of the scale, I have to say that Superman IV is very cringe-worthy, and Superman 3 almost writing Lois out of the script is very problematic too.
