Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Virgin Galactic!

An article in The Guardian confirms reports that Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic will have a cameo appearance in this summer’s Superman movie:

Branson, a postmodern business figurehead, has a cameo role in the Superman (alongside a Virgin Galactic spacecraft) and Bond movies to be released this year. “It’s fantastic promotion,” he says, finally getting enthusiastic. “They aren’t using Nasa and they wanted to bring Superman into the modern era.”

Earlier reports had suggested that Branson and his son would play pilots of a Virgin Galactic spacecraft attacked by Lex Luthor, who must be rescued by Superman.

Guardian reporter Jane Martinson also offers some insights and tidbits about Virgin Galactic:

Even I, who typically feel sick on a funfair ride, enjoyed a brief moment of wanting to watch the curvature of the Earth after seeing Galactic’s promotional video. Branson, who is investing $240m (£138m) in the venture, has said that he will go on the inaugural flight, with his parents and children.

1 comment to Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Virgin Galactic!

  • […] So desperate, it seems, that we’ve turned to the movies for insight? In a LiveScience.com blog post, SPACE.com’s Tariq Malik notes that a new ad for the upcoming summer blockbuster Superman Returns features a spacecraft, presumably the Virgin Galactic spacecraft piloted by Richard Branson in his cameo appearance in the film. “But is it SpaceShipTwo or just another Hollywood spaceship with Branson at the wheel?” Malik asks. Based on the screen grabs from the ad, the answer would be no. Previous reports have all suggested that SS2 will be a scaled-up version of SS1, but the spacecraft in the movie looks more like a scaled-down cousin of the shuttle (or an X-38-like derivative): note in particular the shuttle-like cluster of engines in the back. This vehicle in particular would not be able to perform the “carefree” reentry mode by raising its wings and tail section, like SS1; Burt Rutan has been adamant that this is one of the breakthroughs that made SpaceShipOne possible. The carrier aircraft also looks like a modified jumbo jet than a version of White Knight. […]

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