Casting Superman?

[Christopher]

I disagree. Zachary Quinto's voice may not have been a close match tonally for Nimoy's, but it has a similar mellow clarity and crispness and it worked very well as a voice for Spock. Routh's voice is just too nasal, for one thing. I just couldn't hear him as Spock, any more than I could hear him as Superman.

[Agenda]

Judging by Supes Returns, I'd say Routh - if anything - has a deeper voice than Quinto. I'm not saying he's a better actor, though he is better looking, imo.

[Bad Bishop]

Aragorn wrote:

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Matt Bomer in a Japanese car commercial:

My, look at those narrow shoulders. And some folks think he's Superman material.

[Christopher]

Beyond Antares wrote:

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Judging by Supes Returns, I'd say Routh - if anything - has a deeper voice than Quinto.

And if deepness were the one and only quality that mattered in a voice, maybe that would mean something here. I have a deeper voice than Quinto, but I wouldn't nominate myself as a better candidate for Spock.

Bad Bishop wrote:

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My, look at those narrow shoulders. And some folks think he's Superman material.

Do you have any idea how skinny Christopher Reeve was when he auditioned for the part? As I recall, he wore a heavy sweater to his first audition to make himself look bulkier than he was. And when he got the part, he put on a lot of new muscle. No reason Bomer couldn't do the same.

[Biggshow]

^^^Yeah, being a big fan of Reeve (and sharing a "family resemblance" back in the day), I was pleased to find out that before Superman, he was 6'4" (like me) and weighed 170 lbs. (like me). Let me tell you, that's skinny. For the movie, they apparently shot all the Krypton and Lex Luthor scenes first to give him time to bulk up. In fact, take a look at the Fortress of Solitude scenes in SII. The Luthor scenes were shot at the same time as the first movie but the fights with the Kryptonians were reshot by Richard Lester almost two years later. When Luthor and Supes are talking, Supes is definitely thinner. It apparently caused a headache for the editor trying hard to keep it less obvious.

Bomer's good but looks too boyish for me. My vote's still with Cavill or Routh. In fact, that everyone isn't saying much about Cavill is a positive in my book. Whoever's playing Superman should be as unknown as possible. Avoids the "look at Redford in that Superman costume" problem they were trying to get around in the '78 movie.

[RandyS]

Bad Bishop wrote:

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I'm with T'Baio here.

Any complaints about Routh's performance may be blamed in large part on the screenwriters for Superman Returns. Routh didn't have two continuous minutes of memorable dialogue anywhere in the film, and it is not his fault.

I don't know. One of the things that I think hurt Superman Returns was Routh was not acting at all. Instead, he was simply doing a Christopher Reeve impression.

Brandon Routh as Superman again? Why not?

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/08/03/br...again-why-not/

People here wouldn't mind.

[edit] Imagine a JL movie with Bale, Routh, Reynolds and whom ever they cast as Wonder Woman, The Flash & Aquaman for those movies. Apparently Zachary Levi wants to be The Flash.

[Christopher]

RandyS wrote:

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One of the things that I think hurt Superman Returns was Routh was not acting at all. Instead, he was simply doing a Christopher Reeve impression.

He was?? I didn't see any similarity to Reeve. Although I hadn't seen the Reeve movies in a long time when I saw SR, and I haven't seen SR in quite a while now that I'm re-watching the Donner film, so maybe I missed something. Still, my impression of the two actors is that they could hardly be more dissimilar.

[AviTrek]

Christopher wrote:

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He was?? I didn't see any similarity to Reeve. Although I hadn't seen the Reeve movies in a long time when I saw SR, and I haven't seen SR in quite a while now that I'm re-watching the Donner film, so maybe I missed something. Still, my impression of the two actors is that they could hardly be more dissimilar.

The clumsy Clark. The same lines. SR was very much Singer's tribute to the Donner movies. If you watch both movies together it's hard to miss.

[Electric Coleslaw]

I think the whole list here sucks, especially Hamm. Not quite sure why you'd want Hamm in the role unless the movie is titled, "Superman Retires".

I'd be okay with Routh returning. Whatever flaws SR had were not due to him. But I think you need to go with a total unknown and someone who has a "presence" about them. This is Superman, he's the biggest superhero there is.

The list was from...

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2010/02/12...play-superman/

Barrowman, Bomer, Cavill, Hamm & Routh.

http://www.fandango.com/movieblog/fi...an-590174.html

I pulled Chace Crawford from this list...also John Krasinski, Nathan Fillion, Scott Porter & Will Smith were mentioned.

Tom Welling was added because his name get thrown around because of Smallville and I added Christian Howard as my personal pick.

Joe Manganiello(True Blood, Spider-Man) has been mentioned before...he is 6'5" so he is tall enough.

[A beaker full of death]

Christopher wrote:

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He was?? I didn't see any similarity to Reeve. Although I hadn't seen the Reeve movies in a long time when I saw SR, and I haven't seen SR in quite a while now that I'm re-watching the Donner film, so maybe I missed something. Still, my impression of the two actors is that they could hardly be more dissimilar.

I found it painfully obvious. He was doing a Reeve impersonation, and a poor one. They bear a certain facial resemblance, and that is certainly why he was cast. Since Reeve was interpreting Superman and Clark, he was free to act, whereas Routh was just mimicking mannerisms and inflections -- poorly.

Aside from that, whether he in fact was or not, Routh just looked too young for the part. And, frankly, he wasn't the right type. His face was too skinny, his hair was awful, and he just isn't very good looking.

I'd take either of the guys who played Superboy in the 1980s over Routh.

[Christopher]

AviTrek wrote:

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The clumsy Clark. The same lines. SR was very much Singer's tribute to the Donner movies. If you watch both movies together it's hard to miss.

Well, obviously those homages are there, but that's in the writing. Those aren't "a Christopher Reeve impression," they're a continuation of concepts from the screenplays by Mario Puzo, Tom Mankiewicz, et al. RandyS and I were addressing Brandon Routh's acting, which is a different topic altogether.

[Corran Horn]

Routh is a fine choice. I like Jon Hamm, but he's probably too old.

[RandyS]

Christopher wrote:

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He was?? I didn't see any similarity to Reeve. Although I hadn't seen the Reeve movies in a long time when I saw SR, and I haven't seen SR in quite a while now that I'm re-watching the Donner film, so maybe I missed something. Still, my impression of the two actors is that they could hardly be more dissimilar.

I thought he was, yes. The way her carried himself, the way he spoke, the inflection of his voice. I was looking at Brandon Routh, but was SEEING Christopher Reeve. Maybe that wasn't the intention, but it was what I got out of it.

Ironically, I've heard Dean Cain of Lois & Clark claim that he consciously based his performance on Reeve, but in that instance, I didn't see it at all.