Is Kevin Spacey too busy running his theater over in London to come back to fight Superman? Or has Warner Bros. decided that bald villains are just out this season? Either way, Latino Review is floating the rumor that Lex Luthor won't be part of the next Superman movie, which they swear really will happen one of these days.

Apparently one of the villains from the rogue's gallery might take the lead, be it Doomsday, Brainiac, or any of the other baddies that most Americans aren't particularly familiar with. And while this may thrill the geeks who have read all about these guys' adventures, wouldn't that provide a problem in selling the movie to a larger audience? Sure, it worked for Batman when he faced off against the Scarecrow, but that was the beginning of an untested franchise, not an attempt to follow up on a movie that wasn't particularly well-received, nor well-remembered now. Can they really afford to throw away the formula that made hits for Superman in the past?

Plus, personally, I'll miss Kevin Spacey-- he and Parker Posey were a nice antidote to the snoozy blandness of Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth. Superman's never really been particularly full of personality, and you need a larger-than-life supervillain to counterbalance that. While I'd be happy for them to leave Superman alone for now, let the other superheroes take over, I at least hope they'll let the best villain come back for the second go-round.