Phil, I agree with practically everything you say here!
I, too, hate the idea of seeing a bumbling, empty shell of a Clark Kent. I, too, want to see Lois and Clark together. I, too, am completely against the idea that Jonathan should be dead, so that he can't be a part of Clark's life. I, too, absolutely hated Lois's romance with Luthor in the TV show - that was the one thing I hated most in the entire LNCTNAOS series!
There is, however, one - one - thing about the movie that might make it worth it for me. And that is quite simply if it is confirmed that Jason, Lois's son in the movie, is Superman's child as well. And why would that redeem the movie for me?
It's because I found the movie Superman II so devastating. I had been an ardent fan of Superman since 1968 and an ardent fan of Lois and Superman since 1969. Superman II destroyed everything that I had hoped for. It said that Superman had to choose between his powers and Lois, he couldn't have both. It said that Clark made love with Lois and then, cowardly and treacherously, took away her memory of it. It said that Superman was feeling very happy and satisfied with himself at the end of the movie, which had to mean that he was very happy to have used Lois and then dumped her forever.
I was devastated, almost shell-shocked, after I had seen this movie. I wouldn't have anything to do with Superman for ten years, not until I read in my local newspaper that Lois and Clark had become engaged in the comics in 1990.
However, before I gave up on Superman completely after seeing the movie, I kept asking myself if there was anything, anything at all, that could save Clark and Lois's relationship after the heartbreaking events of this movie. And the only thing I could think of was if Lois had become pregnant after her lovemaking with Clark, and if she gave birth to a superpowered child. Because if that happened, Superman would have to confess to her, sooner or later, that he was the father of her child.
So you can say that ever since 1980, I have wanted Lois and Clark's lovemaking in Superman II to result in a child. If that has happened now, in Superman Returns, I want to see it for myself.
Ann
