Ilya Salkind had first conceived the idea for a Superman film in late 1973. In November 1974, after a long, difficult process with DC Comics, the Superman film rights were purchased by Ilya, his father Alexander Salkind, and their partner Pierre Spengler. DC wanted a list of actors that were to be considered for Superman, and approved the producer's choices of Muhammad Ali, Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. The filmmakers felt it was best to film Superman and Superman II back-to-back, simultaneously, and to make a negative pickup deal with Warner Bros. William Goldman was approached to write the screenplay, while Leigh Brackett was considered. Ilya hired Alfred Bester, who began writing a film treatment. Alexander felt, however, that Bester was not famous enough, so he hired Mario Puzo (The Godfather) to write the screenplay at a $600,000 salary. Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Richard Lester, Peter Yates, John Guillermin, Ronald Neame and Sam Peckinpah were in negotiations to direct. Peckinpah dropped out when he produced a gun during a meeting with Ilya. George Lucas turned down the offer because of his commitment to Star Wars.

Ilya wanted to hire Steven Spielberg to direct, but Alexander was skeptical, feeling it was best to "wait until [Spielberg's] big fish opens." Jaws was very successful, prompting the producers to offer Spielberg the position, but by then Spielberg had already committed to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Guy Hamilton was hired as director, while Puzo delivered his 500-page script for Superman and Superman II in July 1975. Jax-Ur appeared as one of General Zod's henchmen, with Clark Kent written as a television reporter. Dustin Hoffman, who was previously considered for Superman, turned down Lex Luthor.

In early 1975, Brando signed on as Jor-El with a salary of $3.7 million and 11.75% of the box office gross profits, totaling $19 million. He horrified Salkind by proposing in their first meeting that Jor-El appear as a green suitcase or a bagel with Brando's voice, but Donner used flattery to persuade the actor to portray Jor-El himself. Brando hoped to use some of his salary for a proposed 13-part Roots-style miniseries on Native Americans in the United States. Brando had it in his contract to complete all of his scenes in 12 days. He also refused to memorize his dialogue, so cue cards were compiled across the set. Fellow Oscar winner Hackman was cast as Lex Luthor days later. The filmmakers made it a priority to shoot all of Brando's and Hackman's footage "because they would be committed to other films immediately." Though the Salkinds felt that Puzo had written a solid story for the two-part film, they deemed his scripts too long and so hired Robert Benton and David Newman for rewrite work. Benton became too busy directing The Late Show, so David's wife Leslie was brought in to help her husband finish writing duties. George MacDonald Fraser was later hired to do some work on the script, but he says he did little.

Their script was submitted in July 1976, and carried a camp tone, including a cameo appearance by Telly Savalas as his Kojak character. The scripts for Superman and Superman II were now at over 400 pages combined. Pre-production started at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, with sets starting construction and flying tests being unsuccessfully experimented. "In Italy," producer Ilya Salkind remembered, "we lost about $2 million [on flying tests]." Marlon Brando found out he could not film in Italy because of a warrant out for his arrest: a sexual-obscenity charge from Last Tango in Paris. Production moved to England in late 1976, but Hamilton could not join because he was a tax exile.

Mark Robson was strongly considered and was in talks to direct, but after seeing The Omen, the producers hired Richard Donner. Donner had previously been planning Damien: Omen II when he was hired in January 1977 for $1 million to direct Superman and Superman II. Donner felt it was best to start from scratch. "They had prepared the picture for a year and not one bit was useful to me." Donner was dissatisfied with the campy script and brought in Tom Mankiewicz to perform a rewrite. According to Mankiewicz "not a word from the Puzo script was used." "It was a well-written, but still a ridiculous script. It was 550 pages. I said, 'You can't shoot this screenplay because you'll be shooting for five years'," Donner continued. "That was literally a shooting script and they planned to shoot all 550 pages. You know, 110 pages is plenty for a script, so even for two features, that was way too much." Mankiewicz conceived having each Kryptonian family wear a crest resembling a different letter, justifying the 'S' on Superman's costume. The Writers Guild of America refused to credit Mankiewicz for his rewrites, so Donner gave him a creative consultant credit, much to the annoyance of the Guild.

DC Comics president Jenette Kahn had been working for several years to sell the concept of a Superman television series. The series would be different. In 1991 Leslie Moonves and Deborah Joy LeVine helped sell the series to ABC television network with a new title, Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman. The series mirrored John Byrne's reboot of Superman, making Clark Kent more assertive and less clumsy. A few episodes directly emphasized that Clark was the unequivocal "dominant" personality, not Superman. Following this theme, an innovation unique to the series was the depiction of Clark Kent and Superman's traditional hairstyles being reversed—here it is Superman whose hair is slicked-back, and Clark whose fringe falls more naturally. An additional element that reflected the post-Byrne comics was the portrayal of Lex Luthor (at least initially) as a corrupt corporate tycoon, rather than the traditional mad scientist. Many of the stories in season one involved normal human criminals using advanced and powerful technology or involved in large and dangerous conspiracies—most, if not all, of the Lex Luthor stories of season one. After season one, series creator Deborah Joy LeVine left the show as a producer, and a new production team took over the series. Episode plots gradually shifted from those in which Lois, Clark, and Superman only became involved with criminal elements or dangerous situations through their own initiative to more fantastic plots. Often centered on comic-style villains who specifically targeted Lois, Superman, or Clark from the beginning, rather than endangering the protagonists as a reactionary measure when they became threats to other criminal plans. Later plots frequently revolved around villains with special superhuman powers and abilities. A fifth season of the series was initially announced by ABC. When the network unexpectedly canceled plans for season five, the producers and writers of the show were unprepared. The series ended on a cliffhanger where Clark and Lois find an infant in their home with a note saying the child belongs to them. This mystery was never solved on the series

Director and producer Bryan Singer conceived the storyline of "Superman returning to Earth after a five-year absence" during the filming of X2 (2003). He presented the idea to Lauren Shuler Donner and her husband Richard Donner, director of Superman (1978). Donner greeted Singer's idea with positive feedback. In March 2004, Warner Bros. was commencing pre-production on Superman: Flyby, which had a target theatrical release date of June 2006. McG was signed to direct with a script by J. J. Abrams, but dropped out in June 2004. That same month, Singer was approached by Warner Bros. to pitch his idea for Superman Returns, as he was preparing to leave for Hawaii on a short vacation with his X2 writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. While in Hawaii, Singer, Dougherty and Harris began to outline the film treatment. In July 2004, Singer signed on to direct and develop Superman Returns. Although he was not a comic book fan, Singer was most impressed with Donner's 1978 film, citing it as an influence of his, Dougherty and Harris's writing. With Singer's hiring, he dropped out of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and also had the Logan's Run remake pushed back. Superman Returns was financed 50/50 between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, and pre-production began in November 2004. By February 2005, Dougherty and Harris had written six drafts of the script. Early versions of the script contained references to the September 11 attacks before they were removed.

Warner Bros. considered shooting Superman Returns at Warner Roadshow Studios in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. After filming, this could have been used as an attraction for the adjoining Warner Bros. Movie World theme park, but the idea was scrapped for being too expensive. Set construction started in January 2005 at Fox Studios Australia for the film's 60 setpieces, while the start date was pushed back for two weeks. In an attempt to avoid public attention, Superman Returns carried the fake working title of Red Sun during filming. Starting in late March 2005, principal photography lasted until November. Filming of Superman Returns in New South Wales constituted hiring thousands of local workers, generating over $100 million into the local economy. 80% of filming took place at Fox Studios Australia, occupying all nine sound stages. Scenes set in Smallville were shot at Tamworth,[30] while the Australian Museum doubled for the Metropolis Museum of Natural History.

In June 2008, Warner Bros. took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters and directors on how to successfully restart the Superman film series. Comic book writers Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns and Brad Meltzer were among those who pitched their ideas for a reboot. "I told them, it’s not that bad. Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk," Morrison said. "The Incredible Hulk has proven the audience will forgive you and let you redo the franchise," said Waid. Morrison's idea was similar to his work on All-Star Superman, while Waid's was akin to Superman: Birthright. Mark Millar, teaming with director Matthew Vaughn, also planned an epic eight-hour Superman trilogy, each installment released a year apart, similar to The Lord of the Rings. Millar compared it to the Godfather trilogy, in which it would chronicle the entire life of Superman, from the early days of Krypton to the finale where Superman loses his powers as the Sun starts to go supernova.

n August 2008, Warner Bros. suggested a reboot of the film series. Studio executive Jeff Robinov planned to have the film released either by 2010 or 2011, explaining "Superman Returns didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman holds the key to the Superman reboot. He elaborated, "Everyone is waiting for Nolan to sign on for another Batman, once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other future projects will follow." In February 2009, McG, who previously planned to direct Superman: Flyby, expressed interest in returning to the Superman franchise. August 2009 saw a court ruling in which Jerry Siegel's family recaptured 50% of the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's share of the copyright in Action Comics#1. In addition, a judge ruled that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films. However, if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Siegel estate would have been able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film.

In August 2008, Warner Bros. suggested a reboot of the film series. Studio executive Jeff Robinov planned to have the film released either by 2010 or 2011, explaining "Superman Returns didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all." Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman holds the key to the Superman reboot. He elaborated, "Everyone is waiting for Nolan to sign on for another Batman, once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other future projects will follow."[61] In February 2009, McG, who previously planned to direct Superman: Flyby, expressed interest in returning to the Superman franchise. August 2009 saw a court ruling in which Jerry Siegel's family recaptured 50% of the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's share of the copyright in Action Comics#1. In addition, a judge ruled that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films. However, if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Siegel estate would have been able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film.

The plot of Man of Steel employs a nonlinear narrative, and tells parts of the story in flashback. During story discussions for The Dark Knight Rises in 2008, David S. Goyer told Christopher Nolan his idea regarding how to present Superman in a modern context. Impressed with Goyer's concept, Nolan pitched the idea to the studio, who hired Nolan to produce and Goyer to write based on the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight. Nolan admired Bryan Singer's work on Superman Returns for its connection to Richard Donner's version, stating that "A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that's what I know how to do," emphasizing the idea that Batman exists in a world where he is the only superhero and a similar approach to the Man of Steel would assure the integrity needed for the film. "Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other." Nolan, however, clarified that the new film would not have any relationship with the previous film series.

Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, spoke to Entertainment Weekly, and allowed a peek over the wall of secrecy surrounding their DC Comics plans: "It's setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it's definitely a first step." Plans included for the film to contain references to the existence of other superheroes, alluding to the possibility of a further DC Universe, and setting the tone for a shared fictional universe of DC Comics characters on film. Guillermo del Toro, with whom Goyer worked on Blade II, turned down the director's position on the reboot because of his commitment on a film adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, while Robert Zemeckis was also approached. Ben Affleck, Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Liebesman, Matt Reeves, and Tony Scott were considered as potential directors, before Zack Snyder was hired in October 2010. Casting began the following November. Zack Snyder confirmed both Booster Gold and Batman references in the film, indicating their presence in the DC shared film universe. When Zod destroys a satellite, the words "Wayne Enterprises" are scrolled on the satellite.