The Comic: A three-issue DC mini-series based around the question everyone has always puzzled over (maybe)…what if Superman grew up in the Soviet Union?

The Movie Version: An entirely different beast from Brandon Routh’s ho-hum do-gooder, this Supes is a gritty, working-class hero, “the champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.” High-minded stuff then, although Lex Luthor’s plot to thwart Superman with an evil clone might look a bit daft on the big screen…

Dream Director: Obvious it might be, but we can’t look past Christopher Nolan for this one. This Superman is far less clear-cut in his heroics than the original, eventually replacing Stalin as the all-seeing, and slightly scary, leader of the Soviet Union. Oh and Batman crops up in the second comic, so it’s got to be Nolan really hasn’t it?

Dream Cast: Pretty-boy, all-American wholesomeness is out the window in favour of grizzled, granite-tough, Soviet steel. Viggo Mortensen might be pushing the age-barrier a bit, but we know he can do the accent, and how cool would it be to cast a Superman who actually looks as though he could kick your arse?