Superman actors, ranked!

James Gunn’s Superman reboot hits cinemas on July 11th, marking the latest in a long line of attempts to adapt DC’s iconic comic book superhero to the screen.

Few superheroes have had quite so many on-screen interpretations, whether that’s movie or TV. At last count, there have been 11 live action versions of the Man of Steel, including David Corenswet’s latest attempt.

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So which of these earlier versions of Superman, aka Kal-El, aka Clark Kent, is the best? Which would we happily send to the bottom of the sea with a big old chunk of kryptonite chained around their neck?

We’ll be updating this list to add Corenswet’s take just as soon as we’ve seen the movie. Early signs are that he’s done a bang up job in covering Supe’s wholesome idealism, while he certainly seems to wear that cape well.

For now, here’s our ranking of the 10 other live action Superman performances to date. And no, we’re not counting Nicolas Cage’s CGI cameo in The Flash. We’re sending that one to the Phantom Zone...

10. John Haymes Newton

John Haymes Newton has to be our lowest ranked entry for being fired after a single season of the slightly ropey Superboy series in the late ‘80s. This told the story of a college-aged Clark Kent more than a decade before Smallville covered similar ground – albeit with much less squeamishness about the whole Superman side of the equation.

Unfortunately for Newton, his early appearances coincided with a low budget and questionable production values for the show. After he was fired – supposedly over money complaints – actor Gerard Christopher flew in and saw the series through three far more assured seasons.

9. Gerard Christopher

Here’s an interesting piece of trivia. Gerard Christopher, who took over from John Haymes Newton in the title role of the Superboy series in seasons two through four, subsequently won the part of Superman for Lois & Clark. It was only when the producers belatedly noticed that he had previously played the role that attention shifted to Dean Cain!

Winning the part of Superman twice across two separate franchises is a heroic feat worthy of the last son of Krypton himself – though there’s no denying the cheesiness inherent to both the series and Christopher’s performance.

8. Brandon Routh

Poor Brandon Routh was onto a loser from the off. Not only was he essentially tasked with doing an impression of the quintessential live action Superman (Superman Returns is a direct sequel to Christopher Reeve’s Superman II), but he was also supplied with a drab script that simply wasn’t up to scratch.

After an impressive plane-rescuing re-entry, Routh spent much of the movie pouting over his estranged child and super-stalking his former beau, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). All the while, Kevin Spacey chews all the scenery as arch nemesis Lex Luthor. Ultimately, Routh didn’t quite convince as either Superman or Reeve.

7. Kirk Alyn

Kirk Alyn was the original Superman, appearing in a 15-part serial from 1948. Viewing some of these rudimentary black-and-white episodes back today, they’re undeniably quaint and decidedly lo-fi. However, you have to respect the ingenuity in the way they splice animated flight sequences in with the live action drama.

Seamless it ain’t, but I’d argue that it captures the comic book sensibility better than some of the ‘green screen’ flight sequences we’ve been treated to in the intervening decades. Alyn himself is all old fashioned derring do and zero nuance, but that’s kind of perfect for the Superman character.

6. George Reeves

We’re not going to sit here and pretend to remember Superman’s first feature film, Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves, all that well. Good luck tracking that one down on JustWatch. Its premise is certainly strange to a modern audience raised in the post-Christopher Reeve era, with our planet-shifting demigod coming up against a gang of small furry subterranean creatures.

However, Reeves would go on to star in the ensuing Adventures of Superman TV serial, which came to show our hero in a slightly more familiar light – quite literally, given that its final seasons were shot in colour.

5. Tom Welling

Really, Tom Welling’s was a Clark Kent brief rather than a Superman brief. He didn’t properly don the famous suit until the 217th and final episode, following ten seasons of adhering to a "No Tights, No Flights" rule.

By the time of his protracted reveal, this particular Kal-El’s ‘grounded’ nature had become faintly farcical, with much of the source material’s main beats (including a relationship with Lois and a longstanding rivalry with Lex Luther) having come to pass. Welling’s portrayal has plenty of fans, but he barely made a dent as Supes.

4. Dean Cain

Every live action Superman speaks to their time. Dean Cain was the perfect Superman for the ‘90s – a frothy, flirty, lighthearted hunk (Cain had enjoyed a very brief NFL career prior to acting) in a TV series that focused as much on the will-the-won’t-they relationship between its two leads as it did the main man’s crime fighting escapades. It wasn’t called Lois & Clark for nothing.

The series lost its way by the end, but for a whole bunch of Gen Xers and older Millennials growing up in between his cinematic outings, Dean Cain was their Superman.

3. Tyler Hoechlin

Making his debut as Superman in Supergirl – the Kryptonian cousin to our title character – Tyler Hoechlin would go on to co-lead his own series with the 2021 CW series, Superman & Lois. Together with Elizabeth Tulloch’s Lois Lane, Hoechlin’s Superman is a much more family-oriented hero, as the couple return to Smallville to raise their kids.

After several years of city-demolishing grimness from the Henry Cavill/Snyder take on the character, this marked a soapy return to a more domesticated Kal-El – less physically imposing, perhaps, but a lot more relatable.

2. Henry Cavill

The outcry that accompanied Henry Cavill’s loss of the red cape was quite extraordinary. He was definitely hard done by in the changeover to the current James Gunn era, but let’s not get this mixed up – none of Cavill’s Superman appearances were particularly great.

That’s got more to do with Zach Snyder’s Grimdark vision than Cavill’s slightly impassive performance, as he definitely wasn’t given the chance to show Superman’s lighter, more idealistic side. If super-heroic feats are what you’re after, however, then Cavill’s all-action Superman is right at the top of the pile. In physicality alone, this is the closest we’ve gotten to comic book Superman.

1. Christopher Reeve

There could only ever be one person topping this list Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Superman was so iconic, virtually every subsequent live action portrayal has tipped its hat to some degree or other. Brandon Routh’s ill-fated 2006 stint in Superman Returns was even supposed to be a direct follow-on from the Reeve era.

Reeve nailed Superman’s inherent decency and burning sense of responsibility better than any other actor, while his 6 foot 3 frame convincingly filled out that famous suit without the need for artificial padding or CGI. It’s arguable we wouldn’t even have the superhero movie genre today if it weren’t for Reeve’s Superman. To paraphrase the movie tagline, he made us believe a man can fly, and he's dearly missed to this day.

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