What is the corrent Superman timeline?

Okay so the tv series "Smallville" is a sequal to the Superman movies. It's based on Clark Kent's young life of him learning to use his powers and eventually becoming Superman. I haven't seen any of the Superman movies and I don't plan to until Smallville ends. I am wanting to watch everything in the correct time line.





Could someone list all the media of Superman in the correct timeline?|||Well...technically speaking...since Smallville is about Supes' teen life, you'd have to wait until the series ends, then pick up with the first Richard Donner Superman movie, followed by part 2 -- then totally skip parts 3 and four, because they're awful -- and go on to Superman returns.





Now, if you want to really confuse yourself, imagine this: the first Donner Superman movie took place in 1978. The second came a few years later in '81. Part three was '83, part four was '86. The story to Superman Returns tells us he's come back to earth after five years, which would place it around '91.





Confused yet? Wait, there's more.





Superman Returns is a continuation of events which occurred in Superman 2, and pointedly ignores parts 3 and 4. This being the case, since the story is set five years after Superman leaves earth, which the films tells us must have been immediately or not very long after Superman 2, then Superman Return must take place no later than 1986 -- despite the depiction of clothing and technology which could not possibly have existed until the time the film was released, in 2006, and with actors and actresses who are obviously years younger than Chris Reeves and Margot Kidder.





All that considered, about the only thing left to say is that when it comes to a timeline, ignore it. The filmmakers obviously did.