Who is Your Favorite Superman?

Who is your favorite Superman? I expanded the list from movies to also include television Supermans. There have been three distinct movie Supermans and three distinct television Supermans. Probably the most well known version has been played by Christopher Reeve. He appeared in four Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s. The first two films were outstanding. The original set up the story for Clark Kent/Superman, and the effects for the time were amazing. A man who could really fly and had super strength! The sequel, Superman II, is one of those rare cases where a sequel is considered even better than the original movie. It had an iconic villain with Terence Stamp as General Zod, and it was more intense and emotional than the first. The second two films had much weaker scripts and even became comical, not in a good way. However, Christopher Reeve did not phone in his performances, he was still great not only as Superman, but especially as Clark Kent. He truly embodied the bumbling, naive, honest, good-natured and loveable qualities of Clark, while then pulling off portraying the strength and resolve of Superman. I grew up watching Christopher Reeve as Superman, and he will always be my favorite.

For the other movie versions of Superman, there was Brandon Routh in Superman Returns (2006) and Henry Cavill in Man of Steel (2013). Out of these two, I preferred Brandon Routh. I thought while he had the perfect look and quality for Superman, he also was a more believable Clark Kent. The story was unique, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor was a real bonus. Now, in Man of Steel, Henry Cavill definitely captures the spirit of Superman, but his Clark Kent was less than to be desired, for me.

For the television versions, there was the original George Reeves in Adventures of Superman series from the 1950s. I saw some of these years ago, and they were well done and pretty exciting. Then, there was Dean Cain as Superman in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from the early 1990s. I never saw this show, so I can't really comment. Finally, there was Tom Welling as Clark Kent in the Smallville series from the 2000s. The show went on for a decade with Welling only playing Clark Kent. I watched the first few seasons, but then it just seemed to be dragging on. Go to Metropolis already! Well, apparently in the final episode, he finally emerges as Superman. I've included a screen shot of just this. So, I think he deserves to be included in the discussion. He was a great Clark Kent and definitely had the look for Superman. I thought they were grooming him for a movie role, but it doesn't look like that will happen now. It looks like the next movie installment will be Henry Cavill returning as Superman in a yet untitled Superman-Batman project. That could be really interesting! Wait and see. These are my thoughts on the subject. Please share yours.