Ranking the Live Action Superman Actors Worst to Best

[@ChrisDurban]

Who is your favorite Superman?

[@silversmoke4159]

Live action > Henry Cavill Animation > Tim Daly

[@MLJ7956]

Christopher Reeve, always #1 in my book 😀

[@silversmoke4159]

@@MLJ7956 I respect that I did enjoy Superman 2

[@MLJ7956]

Yeah, I liked both versions of Superman II (the 1980/1981 Richard Lester theatrical cut & the Richard Donner re-edited cut from 2006). Both have their good points (and are so very different from each other). I am even one of those rare people who liked Superman III as well (the one with Richard Pryor). I may be in the minority in that one but it does have some good moments (the good Clark vs. evil Superman being one of them) and a few lite laughs. As for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace...Well, Reeve & the rest of the cast tried but no one could save that bomb by Cannon films...however all is not totally lost, it is a good (as in 'so bad it's good') film to riff on (as in Rifftraxs/MST3K style) with a bunch of friends. 😁

[@silversmoke4159]

@@MLJ7956 The only Christopher Reeves Superman I watch was Superman 2, I only saw little of Superman 1.

[@MLJ7956]

Christopher Reeve was my commencement speaker when I graduated from college. This was after he already had his accident and was confined to a wheelchair. He gave a rousing speech about going after your dreams, never giving up even when things look bleak & triumphing over adversity. I got to talk with him for a little bit afterwards & even have my picture taken with him (which I still have). He truly was Superman to me (both on & off the screen). 🙂 RIP, always in my heart & never forgotten.

[@ChrisDurban]

Wow!! What an honor! So cool. That's awesome you had that opportunity to meet him.

[@neshas7471]

Christopher Reeves will always be the best but personally I loved Dean Cain as both Superman and Clark.

[@ageofcinema6724]

My favourite is also Christopher Reeve the perfect Superman and Clark Kent.

[@ChrisDurban]

Indeed. His portrayal is timeless and tough to beat.

[@remusturner9993]

My favourite has always been Dean Cain. I just love everything about the Lois & Clark series. And I like BvS more than MoS, because I missed Clark Kent in MoS. MoS was a pure Superman movie, and maybe the fact that I love Lois & Clark so much, which is obviously very Clark focused, made MoS even worse for me.

[@ChrisDurban]

I totally get that. I really liked Lois & Clark too. Great show!

[@jordonfletcher8166]

Tom Welling will always be my Superman.

[@ChrisDurban]

I will always have a special place in my heart for Smallville.

[@MLJ7956]

He was great on that show 😀

[@Ricki_47]

I grew up on Smallville I always had Tom welling as my favorite, I knew about Christopher Reeves but I've never seen his movies but when I did go back and watch them I saw instantly why he is legendary and I had to make him my favorite superman as much as I love Tom welling

[@ChrisDurban]

Tom Welling and Christopher Reeve are amazing. But yeah, Reeve embodied Superman. It’s like he understood the character, and gave him such heart.

[@SirTyJensen]

Henry Cavill or Christopher Reeves is my favorite Superman. I didn't think you would include Tom Welling.

[@ChrisDurban]

True, Tom Welling isn't "Superman" yet. But he is Kal-El, and I loved Smallville. Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill are both great as Superman. I like Cavill as a great modern Superman. But I have so much nostalgia and love for Chrisgopher Reeve as Superman.

[@SlayersSquadYT]

My favorite is Christopher Reeves and Brando Routh

[@ChrisDurban]

Is that because Brandon Routh's performance was so close to Christopher Reeve's performance?

[@SlayersSquadYT]

Yeah

[@darrylruiz2573]

Brandon Routh was good but Superman knocking up Lois and leaving Earth is not cool

[@afghyper5113]

Tom welling

[@fredaf3700]

For George Reeves what you've described was Stamp Day for Superman. It was put out as a PSA by The Department of The Treasury, so it wasn't actually part of the show, AoS. It was provided as an extra on one of the DVD sets, (Season 2, I think.)

[@JulianDobrev912]

My ranking 1 Tom Welling 2 Christopher Reeve 3 Henry Cavill 4 Dean cain 5 Brandon routh

[@jordansweet8054]

That intro is why we love Durban! 1.Christopher Reeve-of course. 2.Henry Cavill-You convinced me. 3.Brandon Routh-A good remake. 4.George Reeve.-Funny You love the cornball throughout the franchise(me too) but why does that ruin Spiderman 1-2? I just don't get it. Nothing there is cheesier than Christopher Reeves stuff and Smallville. I really love your points, though.

[@edoelvis3242]

Tom Welling is it for me. I watch Smallville almost every day and, when I have finished watching the entire season, I'll give it some weeks' rest and start off again on a Smallville thrill ride!

[@Outlaw8908]

First ever Superman I saw as a kid outside of comics… Was the first two Christopher Reeve movies. So yeah Christopher Reeve for me is the definitive Superman.

[@ChrisDurban]

Yeah, he defined the role for sure. He captured the heart of Superman.

[@collinschoenfelder677]

Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, and tyler hoechlin are my absolute favorite

[@natashanorris650]

Superman is my favorite superhero. But I REALLY REALLY REALLY have such a bad taste in my mouth for modern Superman portrayals. Aka anything after Christopher Reeve ... and I could go on and on and on as to why. I won’t bore you. Great video! Love all of your insights.

[@ChrisDurban]

Superman is my favorite superhero too! One day I'd love to hear why you have a bad taste past Christopher Reeve.

[@annamcuthbert3993]

Great review

[@ChrisDurban]

Thank you!

[@aaronwhite3298]

1. Christopher Reeve 2. George Reeves 3. Brandon Routh 4. Tom Welling 5. Henry Cavil 6. Tyler Hochlen 7. Dean Cain 8. Kirk Alyn

[@thenoirknight5729]

*I have not seen all Supermen in live action. I will rank the ones that I have seen though, of course. Note: Even if I am including these actors, that does not mean I have seen all their films or season of their show. I will list the seasons and movies seen *Superman Actors Ranked* • #5 Dean Cain (I have only seen a few episodes of him as a kid. Superman with Clark Kent hair always bothered me) • #4 Tom Welling (Season 1- 3) • #3 Tyler Hoechlin (Supergirl, Crossovers, S&L) • #2 Brandon Routh (SR, CoIE) • #1 Henry Cavill (MoS, BvS | TC, BvS | UE, JL, ZSJL)

[@syazsmallville6460]

i agree wit ur ranked..🙋🙆

[@ChrisDurban]

Thank you!

[@mandyfocken3689]

Smallville is always my #1

[@R3ddragon42]

I’m curious to see how you rank these now after crisis on infinite earths and Superman and Lois

[@BelindaNeal66]

Henry Cavill. Tyler Hoechlin and Tom Welling are my top three.

[@silversmoke4159]

I agree with your ranked This was comicbookmovie.com idea of how the dceu should have done, I just edited it 1. Man of steel 2013 2. Man of steel 2015 -Take away the whole Batman going up against Superman as it is far too early into the DCEU for a movie as big as this. Instead, have it be a proper sequel to ‘Man of Steel’. Keep the whole arc of the public reacting badly to the destruction of Metropolis, as well as the death count, keep the political opinion on whether there should even be a Superman as this way it truly shows Superman struggling to find his identity in this world. He’s sad, confused and feels like he’s alone. The main bad for the sequel would be Lex Luthor, who obviously blames Superman for the destruction of Metropolis and as a result, he is working on a project called ‘The Bizarro Project’. Throughout the movie, we see Lex working on this project as he uses the DNA of General Zod to create a Superman clone that he could control. Now, throughout the movie Clark Kent becomes less active as Superman because he truly believes he isn’t doing any good. Of course, Superman can’t just get away with all the destruction in Metropolis though, right? Keep the scene in which Superman goes to the courtroom to discuss and finalise what will happen with him and BAM, the courtroom explodes as it did in BvS and of course it was set up by Lex Luthor to make Superman look bad. Lex Luthor goes on record and states to the public that Superman must be stopped, the people who are now even more afraid of Superman are with Lex Luthor on this. When Superman goes to confront Lex Luthor, ‘The Bizarro Project’ is revealed and before the fight happens, Lex and Superman talk about why Lex is doing this and that he sees Superman as a deterrent to the city. This way Lex isn’t really just a villain doing villainy things. This way Lex seems like the guy fighting for the people of the city rather than just fighting for the survival of the city. When the fight breaks out between Bizarro and Superman, we see the two of them causing havoc once again in Metropolis… Superman realises that he is fighting the wrong fight and instead of only focusing on Bizarro, throughout the fight he saves as many people as he can. After a short while of fighting through the city, Superman pushes the fight away from the city as much as he can and into space. After a long, exhaustive fight, Superman defeats Bizarro and as a result, Lex is sent to either Blackgate Penitentiary in Gotham or Arkham Asylum. The movie can either have a montage or one specific scene where Superman helps to rebuild Metropolis due to any destruction caused during the fight, it can also show Superman saving several people and we see the people’s thoughts on Superman transition and they finally begin to trust him. For an after-credit scene, they could have a cameo/Easter Egg of Batman if they want to set up Batman's existence in the DCEU at that point. My idea for the after-credit scene would be that Batman vists Lex in prison except we wouldn't see Batman himself. The lights go out completely, it's pitch dark except for this little light flickering, we see a shadow with a bat-symbol on the chest area and the shadow continually gets closer to Lex. He threatens Lex that he'll be watching him from now on. 3. Wonder Woman 2015 4. The batman 2016 5. The flash 2016 6. Justice league 2017 7. Suicide Squad 2017 - David Ayer:“Wish I had a time machine. I’d make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story. 8. Batman 2 2018 9. Aquaman 2018 10. Shazam 2019 11. The Flash 2 2019 12. Wonder Woman 1984(2019) 13. Greeb Lantern Corps 2020 14. Justice League 2020

[@ChrisDurban]

Nice! And I love the detail for your Man of Steel sequel. I'd really like to see that movie!

[@ColtonWilliamCoyne95]

I like Tyler as sups but I don't think a whole would be feasible for the simple fact they've spent to much time on supergirl. But I'm interested on what they do with the CW crossover this year which i believe he's supposed to be involved

[@ChrisDurban]

I haven't watched Supergirl since the end of its 2nd season. But Tyler Hoechlin stood out to me. I agree, the focus has all been Supergirl and this is a universe where Superman has been Superman for awhile. But that could be interesting. I do look forward to the crossover event.

[@stillkicken2007]

My top two Christopher Reeves Dean Cain

[@StareachValcin]

To me, Christopher Reeve is the best live action Superman.

[@ChrisDurban]

Can't argue with you there. Christopher Reeves truly embodies the heart of this character in an incredible and unique way.

[@StareachValcin]

@@ChrisDurban agreed.

[@kennedysamarakody4925]

Would you rank Tyler higher now?

[@yasseryasser1842]

1. Christopher Reeve 2. Tyler Hoechlin

[@cellmate1]

Tyler is much better now In Superman and Lois

[@MLJ7956]

Are you going to do a live action Lex Luthor ranking?

[@RickardoMute]

Chris Reeves is no doubt #1 superman. But even more so hesthe #1 Clark Kent, and 2nd place of Clark isn't even close. Tom Wellings Clark is good, but its a different Clark. Reeves did the nerdy Clark so well, nobody else has even come close since

[@gustavofbo]

when the DCEU was bad, it was really bad. And when it was bad, It was really bad 🤣

[@Welsh_Dragon756]

Christopher reeve IS superman