The folks over at FilmRot pointed me to this story posted at Latino Review:
So who is Jor-El in Superman Returns you ask? Apparently, none other than Marlon Brando himself! Yes, yes we all know he is no longer with us so just how will this happen? As far as we can tell Brando will not be CGI, but Singer plans to use stock footage of Marlon Brando that was originally shot by “Superman” director Richard Donner. Considering that Jor-El’s role in Superman Returns is very minor this might just work.
Brando and Christopher Reeve were once filmed interacting with one another to be used in Superman II, but due to a lawsuit against the Salkinds for a percentage of the sequel, the scenes were deleted and re-shot using the mother (Susannah York) instead.
Sound a little far fetched? Well, take into consideration that Latino Review was also the very first site to report that Brandon Routh was the new Man of Steel (something I still think was the right decision as opposed to casting Tom Welling).
Also, with technology being what it is these days, cutting footage of another character into a scene is hardly rocket science anymore.
If this is indeed true, I think it’s a wonderful way to pay homage to the original Superman movies and will give a real taste of nostalgia to the project. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Bryan Singer is a genius.
