Superman (casting, rumors, pix till release)

[Greg Cox]

Out Of My Vulcan Mind wrote:

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It's payback for American actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger, and Anne Hathaway nicking famous British parts.

Not to mention Robert Downey Jr. playing Sherlock Holmes!

And Kevin Costner playing Robin Hood.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Costner played Robin Hood like 20 years ago, then Cary Elwes after that and now Russell Crowe

[Captaindemotion]

A few years ago, it looked like Aussies had superhero & villain roles sewn up - Jackman, Bana (Hulk mk1), Ledger, Weaving, McMahon (Dr Doom). Now it definitely is the Brits' turn.

[davejames]

Looks a bit too much like just another generically handsome actor to me (I would have preferred someone with a more distinctive look, like a Bomer or Manganiello), but I guess he'll do.

[Temis the Vorta]

Shit, that guy was so booooring in The Tudors. Then again, Superman is an inherently boring character, at least I've always thought so. I ignored the Routh Superman, and I'll ignore this one too.

bigdaddy wrote:

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That wasn't even filmed in America!

Nothing is, anymore. America is too expensive.

[Bad Bishop]

I've never seen Henry Cavill in any film or TV program. Is he as tall as anyone who's ever played Superman before in live-action?

[Temis the Vorta]

Cavil is 6"1" - not particularly tall, really.

[Captaindemotion]

^ 6'1" according to http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0147147/bio

[23skidoo]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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It may film in Alberta:

http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...oot-in-alberta

The Calgary Herald's a good source (that's where the blog got its info from) and there have been similar reports. It makes sense since the first Superman and Superman III also were shot in part out there.

The sad part about the casting announcement is the maniacs have already come out of the woodwork. Some guy posted a comment on a Zap2It blog report about the casting calling Cavill a terrorist and making a death threat, apparently because he was mad that an American wasn't cast. I reported the post to the authorities, but it's a shame that casting a frelling movie is making some people think of violence. God help us when the time comes to recast Batman again.

Alex

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

For comparison: Christopher Reeve was 6'4". Brandon Routh and Tom Welling are 6'3". Dean Cain is 6'.

[Donald Draper]

Reeve created the expectation that Superman should be "Very Tall". While before that he was usually portrayed as average height or slightly more than that. As first drawn by Joe Shuster he seems short by todays standards.

I am 6'1" and I am treated as a giant by a significant portion of the population! LOL!

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

6'1'' is certainly tall enough to enable a director and his camera crew to make an actor look imposing on screen. Hollywood has a lot of experience at that sort of thing given how many major stars are shorties.

[T'Baio]

bigdaddy wrote:

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That wasn't even filmed in America!

Being that the majority of the film takes place during and in WWII, and being that the majority of WWII took place NOT in America...it kinda' makes sense.

[middyseafort]

Donald Draper wrote:

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Reeve created the expectation that Superman should be "Very Tall". While before that he was usually portrayed as average height or slightly more than that. As first drawn by Joe Shuster he seems short by todays standards.

I am 6'1" and I am treated as a giant by a significant portion of the population! LOL!

The expectation that Superman is really tall started when Wayne Boring started drawing the character in the late 40s. Boring made Superman (and Kent) taller than Shuster's squatter, beefy-brawned Superman. And, of course, the great Curt Swan also drew Supes at 6-foot-plus.

Superman: Earth One has gone back to the averaged-height Superman, eschewing the taller, overly buff (or overly flexed depending on the artist) version that normally appears in the regular books.

Cavill looks the part, but I can't really remember him from The Tudors. Then again, I've only seen part of the first season.

I happened to like Routh. I thought he captured Clark Kent in away that wasn't too over the top in his awkwardness. He really captured the "mild-mannered" aspect of the character more than Reeve.

One of the problems with "Returns" is that it didn't give Routh a lot of opportunity to really act as Superman.

[Christopher]

Out Of My Vulcan Mind wrote:

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For comparison: Christopher Reeve was 6'4". Brandon Routh and Tom Welling are 6'3". Dean Cain is 6'.

According to DC Comics, Superman is officially 6'3". So Cavill is close.

Other Superman/Superboy actor heights, because I like making lists:

The first two screen Supermen, Kirk Alyn and George Reeves, were both 6'1", the same height as Cavill. Both stars of the syndicated '88 Superboy, John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher, were 6 feet even. David Wilson, star of the TV version of the infamous musical It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, is just shy of 6'3".

I'm not familiar with Cavill, but he has the right facial structure. In fact, he's one of the most classically square-jawed actors ever attached to the Superman role. He looks more like Superman to me than Tom Welling, Dean Cain, or particularly Brandon Routh.

And I don't think it matters that he's not American, considering that he's playing a character who isn't even native to Earth.