Superman and Batman: The World's Finest

Superman and Batman: The World's Finest is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Joe Johnston, written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Ehren Kruger and produced by Tim Burton, Richard Donner, Jon Peters and Charles Roven based on the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash. The film is the sixth and final installment in the original Superman film series, the fifth and final film in the original Batman film series and serves a homage sequel to Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) while ignoring the events of Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1984), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). The film stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman, Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Lynda Carter as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Chris Casamassa as Edward Nygma/The Riddler, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, Kim Basinger as Nicki Vale, Malcolm McDowell as Alfred Pennyworth, Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon, with James Marsden, Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Kal Penn, Sam Huntington, Eva Marie Saint, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Shawn Ashmore. The film tells the story of the title character who returns to Earth after a five-year absence. He finds that his love interest Lois Lane has moved on with her life, meets a wealthy industrialist from Gotham City named Bruce Wayne, a warrior from the island of the Amazons named Diana Prince, and a speedster from Central City named Barry Allen, and that his archenemy Lex Luthor, who teams up with Two-Face, The Riddler and Captain Cold, is plotting a scheme to kill Superman and reshape North America.

After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Superman and Batman on screen following the critical and financial failure of The Quest for Peace and Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. Pictures hired Joe Johnston to direct and develop Superman and Batman: The World's Finest in July 2004. The majority of principal photography took place at Fox Studios Australia, Sydney, while the visual effects sequences were created by a number of studios, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, Framestore and Industrial Light & Magic; filming began in March 2005 and ended in November.

Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, who complimented its visual effects, story, and performances (particularly Brandon Routh, Michael Keaton, Lynda Carter, John Wesley Shipp, Kevin Spacey, Billy Dee Williams and Chris Casamassa). However, it received criticism focusing on its runtime and homages to the other films.

Cast

 * Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman: The Kryptonian superhero whose alter-ego is a mild-mannered farmer-turned-journalist.
 * Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman: The wealthy industrialist who comes from Gotham City to Metropolis. Keaton reprises his role from Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), with this film ignoring the events of the subsequent films Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), in which Keaton did not star.
 * Lynda Carter as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
 * John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Kevin Spacey
 * Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent/Two-Face: The newly elected district attorney of Gotham City who had half of his face burned by acid.