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The new version of
Superman
It is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Many fans (and even non-fans) are excited to see how director James Gunn (who became famous with the three “Guardians of the Galaxy” films for Marvel) worked on the DC Comics hero. The production is the starting point for the DCU (the English acronym for the DC Universe) in cinemas.
radarsantri.com: did you see:
“Superman” is silly and optimistic, and a good first step for DC’s ambitious plans in cinema.
To embody the title character, Gunn chose the little-known David Corenswet (seen recently in the horror film “Pearl” and the blockbuster)
Twisters
), becoming the sixth actor to wear the blue outfit and red cloak on the screens. In addition to the fine print, Corenswet has been highly praised for his performance as the character.
O
radarsantri.com
assisted all the films starring the most illustrious son of Metropolis and made a ranking of all the actors who have played the iconic comic book character.
See below the list of Supermen, from worst to best:
6 – Kirk Alyn
Super Appearances:
Superman (1948)
The Atomic Man vs. Superman (1950)
“Superman,” released in 1948 in cinemas, but in the format of a serial for matinees, with 15 episodes, was the first live-action adaptation of the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. To play the hero and his alter-ego, Clark Kent, the chosen actor was the dancer Kirk Alyn, who proved to be charismatic and managed to make his two personalities distinct.
With the success of “Superman,” Alyn was called to star in another serial as Superman. Two years later, “The Atomic Man vs. Superman” arrived in American cinemas, also with 15 episodes. This time, the hero must face Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot, the first actor to portray the villain on film), who wants to use a new identity and a teleportation machine to commit crimes.
In both series, the actor does not convince in most scenes where he needs to appear stronger or more powerful than other humans. Moreover, the technique of replacing Alyn every time Superman needed to fly with animation (because they did not know how to create a convincing effect at the time) makes everything even more caricatural and weakens his performance. Still, it’s worth watching these two series as a curiosity.
5 – George Reeves
Super Appearances:
Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
After the success of the two movie series, TV producers decided to bring Superman to television. However, Kirk Alyn did not want to continue in the role and was therefore replaced by George Reeves, who already had a long career as an actor.
Reeves, who had previously participated in the classic “Gone with the Wind” (1939), was hired to play Superman in “Superman and the Mole Men” (“Superman and the Mole Men” in free translation), the first feature film starring the hero in cinemas.
In the story, Clark Kent (Reeves) and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) go to investigate strange phenomena in a small town, which may be related to creatures living underground. But Superman discovers that things are not what they seem.
The film is not remarkable for its technical aspects and has some rather clumsy moments. But at least, Superman does not turn into a cartoon when he needs to fly. And Reeves uses his charm to make his version of the hero quite charismatic. He only fails by not making any distinction between Clark Kent and his alter ego, in a way that makes it implausible that no one notices the two are the same person.
In any case, Reeves was approved as the new Superman and starred in the series “The Adventures of Superman” from 1952 to 1958, with 102 episodes. But the actor always complained that the role practically ended his career, as he would not have received more opportunities in Hollywood. His death in 1959 was surrounded by much mystery and inspired the film “Hollywoodland – Behind the Fame” (2006), with Ben Affleck portraying Reeves.
4 – Brandon Routh
Super Appearances:
Superman – The Return (2006)
After several failed projects following “Superman IV – In Search of Peace” (1987) that never made it to the screen, the Man of Steel returned to cinemas almost 20 years later with “Superman – The Return”.
The director Bryan Singer, who was successful with the two “X-Men” movies, decided to leave the Marvel mutants to direct the film that would revive the hero’s adventures on the big screen, starting from “Superman II” (1980), ignoring the third and fourth parts starring Christopher Reeve.
Just as Richard Donner did when he directed “Superman: The Movie” (1978), Singer decided to cast an unknown actor to play the protagonist, and the chosen one was Brandon Routh, who at the time had only stood out in music videos. Moreover, he had some physical features that reminded people of Christopher Reeve, which would help the public accept the new hero.
But physical similarity was not enough for Routh to do a good job as Superman. The actor (who also resembles Brazilian Reynaldo Gianecchini) seems so concerned with imitating Reeve in gestures and even in the way he speaks that he looks more like a highly produced cosplay, yet cold and inauthentic. Even as Clark Kent, he sounds forced, because he tries hard to seem shy and clumsy, but never convincing.
As the movie did not earn what the studio expected, a sequel was discarded and Routh once again became a near unknown in cinema. But years later, he returned to portray the hero in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” saga in 2019, which connected several DC superhero series (broadcast in Brazil on Warner Channel). With more experience as an actor, Routh was highly praised by fans of the character for portraying a older and more tormented version of the hero.
3 –
Henry Cavill
Super Appearances:
The Man of Steel (2013)
Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Justice League (2017)
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
(2021)
Black Adam (2022)
As “Superman – The Return” did not take off, some years passed until a new project involving the hero from Metropolis emerged. But after the success of his Batman films, Christopher Nolan was called upon to bring back Superman. But he only wanted to take on the production and called
Zack Snyder
to take the lead. The director of “Watchmen”, an adaptation of Alan Moore’s comics, has chosen Henry Cavill to be his new protagonist in “Man of Steel”.
Cavill, who had already tried to be the hero in “Superman – The Return,” but lost the role to Brandon Routh, stood out in the role because of his appearance, which was quite similar to the character in the comics, and a good performance in the 2013 film, although he didn’t have space to create nuances between Clark Kent and Kal-El (Superman’s Kryptonian name). Anyway, he was one of the reasons for the movie’s success, and a sequel soon received the green light.
But “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice,” released three years later, did not win the audience as much as “Man of Steel,” and several problems were detected in the film. One of them is that Cavill, although still stood out with his physicality, made Superman indifferent and even annoying at times. Moreover, the bitter and overly serious tone had nothing to do with the hopeful way the character is and that makes him so admired by fans and newcomers alike. Only unconditional fans of Zack Snyder appreciated this darker style of the hero.
The situation did not improve much with the following films, and for a while, Cavill seemed increasingly likely to be replaced from the role, although he always said he liked the character. In 2022, he appeared in a post-credits scene of “Black Adam” and announced on his social media that he would return to wear the red cape. However, a week later, it was announced that director James Gunn would be taking over the DC Comics characters’ films, and subsequently, it was confirmed that Cavill would no longer be Superman, ending his era sadly.
2 – David Corenswet
Super Appearances:
Superman (2025)
David Corenswet had a big responsibility to replace Henry Cavill, still very popular among the fans of the hero, and at the same time, to make a Superman that was different from anything that had ever been seen before, yet respectfully acknowledging the previous actors who came before him.
Fortunately, the American actor understood the message and portrays a more human, more flawed Superman, who effectively conveys his emotions and helps maintain the audience’s interest throughout the film. Moreover, he has great chemistry with the rest of the cast (especially Lois Lane played by Rachel Brosnahan) and demonstrates good humor that was greatly missing in the versions portrayed by Cavill and Routh, for example. It is a shame, however, that he did not have as many scenes as Clark Kent in “Superman” to better show his versatility.
With a solid and charismatic performance, he has everything to become one of the most memorable actors to portray Superman for many years, and therefore, with just one movie, he managed to surpass his predecessors (except one).
1 – Christopher Reeve
Super-Apparitions:
Superman – The Movie (1978)
Superman II – The Continuing Adventure (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV – In Search of Peace (1987)
There’s no way around it. Even with the efforts of several actors, none managed to surpass the sensational work that Christopher Reeve did when he first portrayed Superman in the 1978 film.
Reeve (who was not related to George Reeves) was a theater actor when he passed the test to play Superman. From then on, his life changed forever. With an outstanding performance, he managed to convince everyone that the hero and Clark Kent were two different people.
One of the scenes that became famous in recent years is when the shy reporter takes off his glasses and tries to reveal his true identity to his beloved Lois Lane (played here by Margot Kidder). He changes his voice and posture surprisingly and “becomes” Superman for a few seconds, then immediately regrets it and returns to being the clumsy Clark Kent. A performance with no special effects that nobody has managed to surpass to this day.
Moreover, Reeve convinced in the numerous flight scenes of the character, with poses and movements that helped make these moments enchanting and still cause admiration for many people, even though some of the effects have aged poorly.
Even when the franchise started to decline in quality in “Superman III” and especially in “Superman IV,” Reeve was always one of the highlights of these movies. That’s why, when he suffered a severe accident after falling from a horse and becoming paralyzed in 1995, the world was shocked by what had happened to him.
Still, he showed incredible strength and did not stop working as an actor (even with his limitations), in addition to establishing a foundation for stem cell research and helping people with disabilities. His journey inspired the documentary “Super/Man: The Story of Christopher Reeve,” from 2024, which shows that he was also a Super-Man in real life.
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