Brandon Routh in Superman Returns

Los Angeles, June 10 (Reuters): After weeks of Internet buzzing that the new Superman movie portrays the Man of Steel as gay, the film director issued a denial yesterday and said it was the most heterosexual character he has filmed.

Superman “is probably the most heterosexual character in any movie I’ve ever made,” said Bryan Singer, director of Superman Returns. “I don’t think he’s ever been gay.”

In recent months, the movie’s ability to lure its target audience has been questioned by Internet buzz probing the superhero’s sexuality.

A gay magazine, The Advocate, ran a cover story headlined “How gay is Superman” and the Los Angeles Times weighed in with its own on whether being gay might hinder the movie’s box office receipts. After all, gay romance Brokeback Mountain raked in $178 million.

So he wears a leotard and flies around in a red cape. Big deal, Singer said, noting Spider-Man wears tights.

The X-Men do too, and they aren’t gay. He ought to know, he directed 2000’s X-Men movie and 2003’s X2: X-Men United.

Singer said his version of the Man of Steel, played by Brandon Routh, is a “very romantic icon” ? handsome, virtuous and vulnerable. In the movie, Superman returns to Earth after five years.

Early on, audiences learn the love of his life, hard-charging reporter Lois Lane, moved on from her infatuation with him. She has a new boyfriend and a child.

Yet when he re-enters her life, Lois still has that sexy gleam in her eye, and he can’t wait to fly her to the moon.

“We were all scratching our heads,” said Paul Levitz, publisher of Superman-owner DC Comics. “He’s not a gay character.”