Has Henry Cavill replaced Christopher Reeve?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'm real fond of Smallville, and Welling's portrayal. The fact that he kept the character consistent and likable despite the roller-coaster writing necessary to create the illusion of change every season but NOT have him become Superman, is a testament to his talents and take on the character. I wouldn't have minded a Metropolis series to follow, or a movie, but apparently he never wanted to play Superman.

Chris

[palitoy]

It hit on all the major parts of the mythos and most importantly took a bland and boring character and made him relevant.

That's an interesting comment you made there. The character of Superman didn't appeal to you but through Smallville's different take, you became a fan. Kind of a good argument for such things. I was hot and cold with the series but I always thought it's popularity was good for the character in general...

[Hector]

Tom Welling, lol.

[Earth 2 Chris]

That's an interesting comment you made there. The character of Superman didn't appeal to you but through Smallville's different take, you became a fan. Kind of a good argument for such things. I was hot and cold with the series but I always thought it's popularity was good for the character in general...

I have a friend at work who used to watch Smallville with her family. It's the primary reason they went to see MOS this weekend. And they loved it by the way.

Chris

[kingdom warrior]

I hate on Tom Welling because he never wore the suit until the very last episode, and even then it was from afar, that's why I don't see him as Supes.

Had he donned the suit on a regular basis, yes, he would've been a hundred times better than Dean Cain for sure.

Helen Slater is better than Dean Cain...Hell Hector you in a Superman T-shirt is better than Dean Cain.....lol

[Hector]

Christopher Reeves as Superman was good but the movies he played him in are terrible. Even the first one. He also took the role a bit too far in his later years. I know the guy went through a lot but to hear him talk he made it sound like he was Superman for reals.

Sorry, I can't take your posts on this subject seriously anymore, I'm at a loss for words here.

[kingdom warrior]

Wow. I'm sorry but for me, Tom Welling was the best Superman.

errrr ummmm ummmmmm No. Welling Played Superboy and never wore the suit fully. George Reeves, Christoper Reeve Icons influenced a generation, millions cried their eyes off the day both men died. Henry Cavil if he does 2 more solid movies will most likely be held in the same regard......Welling will be signing autographs at cons 30 years from now as the guy who played Superboy with Dean Cain.....lol

[Hector]

Helen Slater is better than Dean Cain...Hell Hector you in a Superman T-shirt is better than Dean Cain.....lol

Helen Slater is better than any dude who has played Superman. This is not even open for discussion...




Dean Cain was a horrid Supes, he was the shortest actor ever to play Supes, he had the wimpiest voice, mediocre actor, and too exotic-looking, he would make a better Prince Namor, lol.

Like I've said before, Welling will NEVER be Superman in my eyes, the fact that he didn't care to be Superman, is just disrespectful to the character, to me, that's insulting, and for that, no way in hell does he deserve to be mentioned as one of the Superman actors.

[Hector]

Imagine Action Comics #1 with a jeans and t-shirt wearing Supes, lol.

You don't wear the suit, you ain't Supes, simple as that.

[Hector]

errrr ummmm ummmmmm No. Welling Played Superboy and never wore the suit fully. George Reeves, Christoper Reeves Icons influenced a generation, millions cried their eyes off the day both men died. Henry Cavil if he does 2 more solid movies will most likely be held in the same regard......Welling will be signing autographs at cons 30 years from now as the guy who played Superboy with Dean Cain.....lol

Amen, brother, amen.

[spacecaps]

That's an interesting comment you made there. The character of Superman didn't appeal to you but through Smallville's different take, you became a fan. Kind of a good argument for such things. I was hot and cold with the series but I always thought it's popularity was good for the character in general...

Well thank you. I like to think I make a lot of interesting comments here...

But seriously, yeah I've always found the idea of an unstoppable god-like being to fall flat for me. I thought the way they portrayed Superman in Smallville made the character interesting and complex. Smallvilles Superman humanized him and made him fallible in a way that we've never seen him before. For example, early on in the series, Clark wanted to join the High School football team. Jonathan was strictly against it. Clark wanted to fit in and excel at something he knew he'd be good at. John wanted to preserve his sons secret and was worried about the safety of the other kids. They clashed on this for several episodes and in the end, Clark decides to purse the interest and in the process disappoints his father and alienates his friends. Now I know this sounds like typical teen drama stuff but keep in mind this was a very small story arch that in most shows would have had little or no bearing on the show as a whole. Obviously when Clark plays football, he has to show tremendous restraint and despite having to hold back, he's successful at the game. In the end it isn't really fun for him because everyone is beneath him and he's not the same person he was before he joined the team. He eventually walks away from the game but again, he let Jonathan down and this wasn't something that just went away after this particular story line concluded. It got brought up seasons later, sometimes out of nowhere, sometimes hinted at in a glance at a photograph of Clark in his uniform. It became a decision that Clark made on his own that ultimately let down someone he cared about and he had to live with that for the rest of the series. He had to own that choice he made one day forever. A self satisfying decision he made in High School followed him around for the rest of the series. It influenced other decisions later in life and clouded happier memories of his father after he passed.

That's just one tiny example in a show that's chalk full of life lessons like this. They didn't club you over the head with "the lesson of the day" stuff either, they let it sink in and resonate with the audience. Heck the whole Pete storyline came to an end when Clark simply outgrew his childhood friend. That's life. Smallville being on for so many years got to show us a Clark that made choices that had serious repercussions not only one or two episodes later but years afterward. It brought to light just how hard it was for Clark to grow up the way he did and how paramount his family and friends were in raising him right and ultimately gave us a reason as to why Superman holds himself to such a high moral standard. The suit has nothing to do with who he is but everything to do with where he comes from. It shows us the importance of the Kents and what it meant to grow up with a father that was not only a parent but a mentor as well. To dismiss the show as farce because he "doesn't wear the suit" or because "Tom Welling" or because it was on the WB is doing it injustice. I think once you get past the cosmetics of the show, you have a really well thought out, well written script that treated the character with nothing but the respect and reverence it deserved and incidentally, told a good story along the way.

[spacecaps]

Sorry, I can't take your posts on this subject seriously anymore, I'm at a loss for words here.

When the movie came out in '78 it was huge. A superhero movie of that scale had never been done before. Gene Hackman was amazing. But if you weren't weaned on that movie as a child and can look back at it from a modern standpoint we're talking about a movie that features a villain that is essentially the equivalent to Donald Trump who devises a plot that would involve setting off a nuclear device so massive it would cause California to not only drop off into the ocean but in the process cause fallout the world over. A movie that features a poem that Lois Lane, a pulitzer prize winning author, wrote and reads aloud that is so terrible it not only stops the movie dead in its tracks and makes her sound like a giddy fourth grader but also questions just how good a writer she is in the first place. And a movie that has an ending so far fetched that it is so utterly unbelievable even for a comic book character.

And yeah while Christopher Reeves played a great Superman, hearing him talk after his accident made him sound like he really, really was Superman. From Krypton. And could fly. I found that very sad.

[Captain_Mego]

Actually Welling played Superman longer than any other actor on film.. 10 years
And keep in mind Welling was the only one endorsed by Superman himself Christopher Reeve.
Like I said, me and the family watched them for many years as a family. We really liked the wholesome sups he delivered.
No matter what went on he never killed anyone or compromised his integrity as the man of steel.
Guess I am old fashioned. But we really miss Tom around theses parts.

[VintageMike]

Back to the question at hand. Has he replaced him as the definitive actor? No, but it's only his first outing. Has Cavill made his mark as this generation's Superman? Absolutely and I'm glad for it. Such an iconic character deserves this.

[Hector]

When the movie came out in '78 it was huge. A superhero movie of that scale had never been done before. Gene Hackman was amazing. But if you weren't weaned on that movie as a child and can look back at it from a modern standpoint we're talking about a movie that features a villain that is essentially the equivalent to Donald Trump who devises a plot that would involve setting off a nuclear device so massive it would cause California to not only drop off into the ocean but in the process cause fallout the world over. A movie that features a poem that Lois Lane, a pulitzer prize winning author, wrote and reads aloud that is so terrible it not only stops the movie dead in its tracks and makes her sound like a giddy fourth grader but also questions just how good a writer she is in the first place. And a movie that has an ending so far fetched that it is so utterly unbelievable even for a comic book character.

And yeah while Christopher Reeves played a great Superman, hearing him talk after his accident made him sound like he really, really was Superman. From Krypton. And could fly. I found that very sad.

Dude, the man couldn't move below the neck and needed a breathing apparatus to survive, let him think anything he wants, the man was in a horrible situation, he went through hell, it was a method to combat depression, that's not sad, it's admirable, the only sad part, is that you think Reeve acting and thinking that way was sad, far from it, it was therapy, my man.