Videos by ComicBook.com
Since then, countless actors have portrayed Superman/Clark Kent in live-action film and television. Not all of them have been revered by Superman fans or become instant pop culture classics. However, when ranking them from worst to best, it becomes immediately clear they’ve all had some form of impact on the larger world. Superman doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and neither do the actors who’ve portrayed him in live-action.
8) Henry Cavill
Everything went wrong with Henry Cavill’s Superman, and not because of any controversies over “comics accuracy.” Henry Cavill’s Superman just didn’t work from top to bottom, including with his terrible supersuit. The textures on this Superman outfit just looked unpleasant to the eye while the removal of the red trunks was a big mistake. One little contrasting garment kept the default Superman outfit from being a garish blob of unending blue. Meanwhile, Cavill struggled selling discernible fun or dramatically compelling variations in the Clark Kent and Superman personas.
His Superman also wasn’t very compelling thanks to Cavill’s limited chops as a performer, a drawback that sank other movies like Argylle and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. His lack of any concrete aura in the role made his Superman a black hole of personality. Needless to say, that just wasn’t very interesting to watch across Superman’s various DC Extended Universe appearances. Genuine props to Cavill and company for trying something new with this character, but the execution was woefully tedious. When even the Superman suit looks lackluster, you know you’re in trouble.
7) George Reeves
There’s an innate intensity to the George Reeves Superman that’s hard to get past. Maybe it’s because of how often he came crashing through various walls, or perhaps it’s just that Reeves had a decidedly older face than many of the other men who’ve portrayed this character. That quality and Reeves (much like Cavill) struggling to provide concrete differences between his Clark Kent and Superman personas make this one of the weakest takes on Superman in live-action. Still, George Reeves deserves roses for proving that this character could work in the “real world” over a long-form TV show. Tom Welling, Dean Cain, and so many others owe their careers to this man.
6) Dean Cain
There are undeniably fun charms in Dean Cain’s main performance as Clark Kent/Superman across four seasons of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He’s got amiable energy befitting a ’90s genre TV show that aired on ABC. However, he’s undeniably overshadowed on the program by Teri Hatcher’s infinitely more acclaimed work as Lois Lane. Plus, the inherent limits of what kind of writing or depth a TV program from this era could accomplish mean Cain’s Superman was always on the shallow side. There’s fleeting entertainment in this Superman, but nothing that leaves a lasting impression.
5) Brandon Routh
Thank God for the Arrowverse. If it weren’t for that sprawling continuity of DC shows, Brandon Routh’s Superman would only be judged by his Superman Returns appearance. On those grounds, Routh would’ve ranked even lower than Cavill on this list. Returns is a morose slog of a movie that saddles Routh with a flatly written version of Superman too enamored with channeling the Christopher Reeve incarnation of the character. Neither the film’s mopey tone nor the reverent yesteryear-obsessed writing gave Routh room to make the character his own.
When the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover rolled around in 2019, though, Rotuh returned to the Superman role as a version of the character inspired by the Kingdom Come comics miniseries. This iteration of the character gave Routh so much more to work with, particularly in how this Superman has lost so many people (including Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen) over the years. The small screen gave Routh a memorable chance for redemption that finally washed away the sour taste of Superman Returns.
