Superman's growing preoccupation with romance does mark a career step of sorts for Mr. Singer, whose first three films told stories about men engaged in elaborate games of secrecy and disclosure — that much remains the same — but without a dominant love story.

In "Public Access," an independent film made in 1993, a mysterious young man named Whiley (coincidentally, he looked and sounded like Clark Kent) arrives in a small town and starts a provocative call-in TV talk show, inciting gossip and scandal. In "The Usual Suspects," which won Oscars for the actor Kevin Spacey and the writer Christopher McQuarrie in 1996, Mr. Singer depicts the police interrogation of a man who weeps: "I'm a cripple! I'm stupid!" and turns out to be one of cinema's wiliest criminals. Next, in "Apt Pupil," the director told the tale of a boy who sets out to learn about evil under the tutelage of an old Nazi, and finds more than he wanted.

In each film the weak turn out to be strong: appearances are never what they seem. And in the end each of these main characters demonstrates his strength and power— his manhood, if you will — not by completing a quest for truth, but by demonstrating a facility with fiction. As the boy in "Apt Pupil" learns from his Nazi mentor, being honest "is a privilege of boys — a privilege that men must sometimes give up."

In his more recent movies, "X-Men" in 2000 and "X-2" in 2003, Mr. Singer has dabbled in affairs of the heart. Wolverine has his passion for the mutant Jean Grey, but he remains more committed to unlocking the secret of his own personal past; and Jean, not the vulnerable type, is probably best remembered for tricks like levitating an airplane telepathically. "I think that's a strong female character," said Mr. Singer.

Now 40, with a perfectly smooth brow and wide-set, pale blue eyes, Mr. Singer said the one common theme of his films is "the notion of identity." More than a few of his characters have multiple identities, something the director ties to his own background. "I'm adopted," he said. "So I've always drawn a parallel. I love my parents, they're my foundation, they're why I am the way I am. There's this other heritage that could be anything."

Mr. Singer described his characters as being "like onions, you peel back and they have different identities." He continued, "The stranger who comes to town ultimately has another darker side to him. The old man next door is a Nazi war criminal. The cripple in the police room is actually more than meets the eye. In 'X-Men' you've got a whole tribe of people trying to blend in with society but ultimately possessing these extraordinary powers. And in the case of Superman, he's a farm boy who discovers that he's the heir to a legacy of superheroes."

But Superman is also deeply in love with Lois, hence the 'chick flick' element that has Mr. Singer, apart from all the rollicking action beats, contemplating the Man of Steel from a woman's perspective. "He's virtuous, he doesn't lie, and he's handsome! And I think these are, these are idealistic qualities in the male that you, in someone that you'd want as a husband, I'd imagine."

Looking at his empty plate after consuming a pizza, Mr. Singer had a further thought about the nature of masculinity, super or otherwise. "If there's any virtue in it, it has a vulnerable side," he said. "Because without vulnerability one can tend to lack compassion. And without compassion one can tend to lack humanity. And these are some things a man should strive to have."

Then he groaned. "I sound like a politician."