who looks the most like superman from the comics.
who looks the most like superman from the comic books.
- Thread starter wonderhero
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Jackson Bostwick
http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2009-09-07/shazam_24047345
http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2009-09-07/shazam_24047345
Since we can only pick one, I went with Cavill, whose jawline comes closest to the iconic Curt Swan Superman. George Reeves would be second; he's a pretty good match to the original, stockier Superman drawn by Joe Shuster.
Christopher Reeve doesn't really look that much like the comics' Superman, except in the sense that comics made after his tenure have sometimes used his look for inspiration (notably John Byrne's version). His features were actually a good deal softer, but he made up for that with his performance -- he acted like Superman more convincingly than anyone, so it made us think he looked the most like Superman too.
Christopher Reeve doesn't really look that much like the comics' Superman, except in the sense that comics made after his tenure have sometimes used his look for inspiration (notably John Byrne's version). His features were actually a good deal softer, but he made up for that with his performance -- he acted like Superman more convincingly than anyone, so it made us think he looked the most like Superman too.
personally i think christopher reeve looked the most like superman with those blue eyes and dark hair and square jaw i really don't think george reeves looked much like the superman from the comics except a little when he has the clark kent glasses on. kirk alyn looked the least like superman to me he had no strong jawline. routh looked a bit like superman from the comics and tom welling in my opinion comes second cause he has greenish blue eyes and dark hair and also has a strong jawline cavill also ties in second.
Byrne's Superman didn't look anything like Reeves....Like most of Byrne's stuff then, it was more of a realistic version of a cartoon character.
Christopher Reeves doesn't look anything like Superman. Even as a kid watching Superman in the theater in 79, I thought the guy looked like a wrongly cast actor trying to be Superman. He lacked the jaw, his nose was definitely wrong, seriously lacked the physique and had the voice of a wimp regardless of whether he was Clark or Superman.
This stood out for me the entire movie when I was 12, and it's only magnified as the years have passed.
Gary Frank and Geoff Johns had Superman drawn like Christopher Reeves, a disservice to a character that has been around for over seventy years, and is greater than any actor on screen.
Cavil, more than any actor before him, has the jaw, the physique and a better (read deeper) voice. Here's hoping he owns the role and becomes the definitive screen version.
A matter of opinion, of course, but I've read that Byrne was influenced by Reeve's Superman. Though maybe it's more in the attitude than the facial features.
But that's just why he was so brilliant at it. He didn't look the part, but he embodied it so well that it didn't matter. He projected everything that Superman should have -- the strength balanced with kindness, the innocence balanced with intelligence, the effortless confidence and authority, the fundamental good nature.
That's why there's such a big difference between "the best actor for the role" and "the actor who looks most like the character." There's so much more to embodying a character than looks.
Oh, and it's George Reeves and Christopher Reeve.
While it wasn't a photo ref like Gary Franks, Byrne's Superman did invoke Reeve. Something about the smile and eyes, IMO.
I would hesitate to call Byrne's Superman "more realistic" than what we had seen before. Curt Swan, Neal Adams, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and a host of others draw more "realistically" than Byrne does. Not sure the stories were any more real either, just presented in a different way.
John Dunbar
Ensign
If we are talking the New 52, then I'd say maybe a cross between Welling and Reeve. As for the classic Superman, I'd say Cavill is a good choice.
Superman has a very chiseled look in the comics. I went with Henry Cavill.
I haven't looked forward to seeing a Superman movie in a long while. However, I can't wait to see "Man of Steel".
I haven't looked forward to seeing a Superman movie in a long while. However, I can't wait to see "Man of Steel".
It depends on the era. George Reeves and Kirk Alyn looked very much like Superman of their era. While the influence of Christopher Reeve can be seen in many post-1980 depictions of Superman. So it really depends on the era and the artist.
For that reason, I can't answer the question. I can say who came off least looking like Superman. Dean Cain and Tom Welling. Nothing against either as an actor, and Dean made a great Superman (while Tom never really got the chance; he played a character named Clark Kent who was suggested by characters created by Siegel and Schuster), but when I think Superman neither really fits the image. Routh did, and so did Reeve. And Alyn and G. Reeves are special cases due to their vintage nature; look at Superman comics pre-1960 and they fit perfectly - a guy in his 40s like George R could get away with it - but from the 1960s onwards, no.
Alex
For that reason, I can't answer the question. I can say who came off least looking like Superman. Dean Cain and Tom Welling. Nothing against either as an actor, and Dean made a great Superman (while Tom never really got the chance; he played a character named Clark Kent who was suggested by characters created by Siegel and Schuster), but when I think Superman neither really fits the image. Routh did, and so did Reeve. And Alyn and G. Reeves are special cases due to their vintage nature; look at Superman comics pre-1960 and they fit perfectly - a guy in his 40s like George R could get away with it - but from the 1960s onwards, no.
Alex
Ohh, Welling had plenty of chances to be Superman. The show ran for ten seasons and its last three years were all about moving Clark toward his superhero role. But the producers had to drag that process out as long as they could because Welling refused to wear the tights. Even in the series finale, we never got a real look at him as Superman because he simply would not allow it to happen, so they had to fake it with CGI and extreme close-ups. So it's not that he never got the chance, it's that he was unwilling to embrace the chance.
In terms of his look, I think Welling could've made a reasonably good Superman if he'd been willing. It's in terms of his acting that I think he fell short. Some of it was the fault of the writing, but I hardly ever found him convincing as a person who could one day become Superman.
Did he refuse or was that just a creative decision by the producers? I say it was probably a mixture of both, but more of the latter. Besides, the show was never about him being Superman nor was it ever intended to be. It was about the road to becoming Superman. You can argue that they stretched it out too long (which is a very fair claim), but to say he had plenty of opportunities (which many people online have declared before) strikes me as expectations not aligning with the hard reality of the situation and desires of the showrunners. Since the first year, the producers said that he wouldn't become Superman until the very end of the last episode. Can't fault Smallville for telling fans what they were going to do and then sticking to it.
My understanding is that Welling himself was emphatically opposed. Hell, if he'd been willing, surely we would've at least gotten one full-length shot of him in costume in the finale.
Yes, it was supposed to be that when they thought it was only going to run for 5-7 years. By the time they got to seasons 8, 9, and 10, the writers were visibly straining at the bit to tell Superman stories, because they'd frankly run out of pre-Superman stories to tell. Basically they were writing Superman stories in all but name by that point. So I don't believe for a minute that the writers didn't want to tell Superman stories in that phase of the series. To me, as a writer, it's painfully clear that the writers really, really wanted to make their show about Superman, but were being artificially held back.
But those producers, again, never expected the show to run more than 7 seasons, tops -- and they left after the 7th season! The people producing the final three seasons were different showrunners. As soon as season 8 begins, you can see them aggressively trying to move beyond the limitations that Millar & Gough imposed on the show. They finally broke Clark out of his "I'm just a farmboy and I don't care about anyone's problems but my own" rut that M&G had kept him in for seven increasingly tedious years. They moved him to Metropolis and remade him into a character who wanted to move forward with his life and wanted to become a hero. They advanced his heroic career, they advanced his journalistic career, they advanced his relationship with Lois, and they hit practically every major beat of the Superman story except for the flights and tights. Yes, they honored the letter of the rule that he wouldn't don the costume until the last episode, but it was obvious that they wished they didn't have to. And they were right in that, because it was ridiculous to drag out "He's not Superman yet" for ten whole years instead of the 5-7 the creators originally envisioned.
A lot of people suggested that instead of just dragging out Smallville, they should've had Clark don the costume and revamp the show as Metropolis. I think maybe that was actually considered behind the scenes, but that could've just been some blogger's wishful thinking. But Welling simply did not want to play Superman, ever.
I think the thing he was opposed to was playing Clark with glasses as it might "stereotype" him. If you notice that, besides one episode, anytime he put on glasses, they were off within minutes.
While I don't disagree with your statements, the fact still remains that, for whatever reason, the producers (old and new [and the new were around under the old regime]) stuck to the original intention of the show. I remember reading a convention report for either the beginning of season 8 or 9 that had an attendee asking the producers of those seasons on if Clark will wear the suit that season, and they responded with a basic "If he did that, the show would be over!" While they might have wanted to tell Superman stories, it is very clear they still wanted to do the whole uncertainty factor on what it means to be a hero.
Probably wishful thinking as, how I mentioned earlier, fan expectations were different from what the production team were telling and ultimately doing.
I don't know Tom Welling, so I have no real idea of what he did or did not want to play. But it seems to me that the producers/writers didn't want Superman on their show either.
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