It's not enough to be good, the next Superman needs to be Great!
I’ll start with the look. Tom Welling has the best look to play Superman, I mean just look at the guy. 6’4 about 2, 225lbs (LOL). His face looks perfectly spot-on. Some will say he looks too young. That’s because they only know him from Smallville, but he is 31 (32 in April) and remember, on Smallville he is playing a young Clark Kent. The intent of the show is to make him look younger. In a movie he would obviously be made to look his age. Also in the current season of Smallville he is being made to look older as he develops the secret identity of Superman. Now back to the look. Blue eyes, right build although I would imagine that he would get a bit more cut for a movie appearance. The look is SOO important, I can’t stress that enough. Every aspect of the look, to include eye color (not brown), is important. If you want to be Superman you have to have the ENTIRE look (crack at BR). Second, let’s look at the relationship he already has with the character and the Superman audience.
I remember the first time I saw him before “Smallville” came out. It was in an article in Wizard magazine. There was a story about the show and a picture of this guy. I thought, “Wow this guy looks perfect! But, can he act?” I got my answer, and it was hell yeah! As Smallville has grown, so has Tom in his acting ability, and in the character. As a sample of his acting ability, take a look at this clip on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5xQa2T-CwE. Not many actors can shed a tear on command, but Tom does it here, and the scene is one of many amazing scenes from Smallville. Here are a couple more clips to checkout if you like. Just go to my YouTube channel at (http://www.youtube.com/user/tenaciousbt1) and I will have them there. Just look for Superman Reborn, and Tom Welling for Superman.
Now I know what some of you are going to say. But, the writing on Smallville is crap. And there have defiantly been some crappy writing on the show, but there has also been some really terrific writing. So don’t judge whether Tom is right for the role solely based on your Smallville experience, especially if you have only seen a handful of episodes here and there. I have seen them all; in fact, I have seen every single episode. That’s a lot of TV. Now it doesn’t happen every week but there have been some moments on the show where Tom Welling comes off as ten times the Superman as anyone else (minus Reeve).
Speaking of Christopher Reeve, he was on Smallville a couple of times before he passed away (RIP), and it has been reported that he would have liked to see Welling as Superman. That may not mean anything to some, but I think you have to give some respect to the fact that he handed the baton off to Tom Welling. Here’s some proof, I pulled this is a line from http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/biography.html
“In February 2003 he handed the Superman torch over to Tom Welling on the popular science fiction drama Smallville playing Dr. Virgil Swann, a character created just for him.”
There is no question that Tom Welling is the man for the job. Will he accept, is the real question?
I hope he accepts. I know if he does everyone will see how right he is for the role, if they don’t already see it. I have been reading superman comics my entire life. I have seen every superman movie multiple times. I have watched every episode of Lois & Clark, Smallville, Superman the cartoon series, Justice League unlimited...basically everything about Superman, and I couldn't find a better Superman than Tom Welling if I tried. He is exactly what you imagine when you think of what superman would look like if he were flesh and blood. Tom Welling was born to play Superman, and the fact that this guy found his way into acting and then into Smallville is, well I'll just say it, its destiny. Tom Welling was destined to play Superman! It would be a true tragedy of the art of film making especially in this era of super-hero filmmaking if Tom Welling doesn't play the role he was born to play...SUPERMAN!
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tenaciousbt
1/2/2009
tenaciousbt1