I'm sure everyone has heard the Famous Christopher Reeve quote "The Character of Superman is more important than any actor who plays him"
The quote is something that rings true to me. In my own mind I have screen tested many Actors to see who could pull of the role of Superman, many of which are going to be heavily doubted among everyone, but I really feel that these actors can always offer new Interpretations of Superman which is what I'm going for. Anyone who has disagreements, to be purely honest, I would like to see you're opinions on who you would cast and why. I hope you enjoy my "Why" and "Why Not" as the majority of fan cast I've seen on here only explain the character, and not the reason for the actors. I'm devoting this article to one character to allot my self some room in which to work, I've planned many of these and have been working on them since so I hope everyone enjoy.
CASTING CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN (In Alphabetical Order)
MATTHEW BOMER: There's many reasons why I would put him on here, many of them probably aren't my reasons but are more likely others, My reasoning for him to be on here is not only his interpretation of Superman, but the style he would bring to Clark Kent. I my self imagine Clark as the Dominate Part of the Superman relationship. In Matt Bomer I believe we would see him build Superman off on the "Kansas Clark"(or in my opinion the Real Clark Kent) in a new manor. The way I believe he would handle Superman, would be to take Clark Kent as he is, a normal, average Kansas born American, and add on to it with a new modern perspective. In fashion his Clark Kent would be like a Mild Mannered Version of his Character Neal Caffery on the Show White Collar, an intellectual, well mannered, suave person and in that fashion I think he would use those aspects to create a more modern, and competitive Clark Kent to create a "Metropolis Clark". His Appearance as Clark would be to say the least, A Fresh Take, which would pull the character far from the Clark Kent of the 50's and 60's. In quality Bomer knows how to move his character in that sense. Making him seem more modern, and yet have some heart warming old fashion qualities (Possibly the kind that Forbid having a Superman Jr. in a film series) but when it would come to his Superman, in theory I think Bomer would know to create a different version of Clark, someone who has the same morals but represents them Differently. I think in part he would take much from his character of Eric from Platinum Dunes TCM Prequel, and give parts of that to Superman, such as, the Militaristic Attitude, the Never Say Die Spirit, and the Ability to encourage others to continue on. Part of Bomer's performance would really allow him to access a similarity with Clark Kent and Superman while keeping even the audience in the mystery of whether Clark Kent Really is. In short, Bomer as Clark in Metropolis would be a Suave, Stern, yet Friendly, and often helpful reporter, with his Superman being a Stern, Well Mannered, Very kind, yet certain and confident super hero.
GABRIEL MACHT: Now let me explain before any of you start throwing bat-a-rangs, and other dangerous geek weapons at me. We all know Gabe as the star of the Frank Miller box office bomb the Spirit. Well I saw something in that, something that would make me think that Gabe would be worthy of a Screen Test. We all saw how he played the Spirit, frankly he had a very 50's Esq attitude about things. He was mild mannered, polite, and made time for the press. Something I believe he could bring to the Role of Superman, Making the character as he is often seen as, a Role Model, just as he acted in the Spirit. Now the quality he could bring to his Superman could really shine in the event of washing away the red tied hero, and really allow him to form his own Superman off of what he's already learned playing a Super Hero. For him it would be a lot freer moving and more like a new challenge, he's no stranger to the idea of tights so it would be easy to negotiate the idea of him in the suit. Facing a role like this It's my opinion he would do everything in his power to create a new styled Superman using the quality of ideas that Superman came from. While Superman might be modern in his take, he would also have that old fashioned appeal that would connect with our dads, showing the world that even though it's not His Superman, he would think of him as he was. Much of this is what makes me believe he could carry a screen test well. My curiosity on him would lie in how he would portray Clark Kent. Certainly I can agree we wouldn't want to see a bumbling reporter again. I think that with the Carried balance of an Old and New Fashioned Superman, he would level the same with Clark, taking the character in different tones from all points of view. Showing Clark perhaps more of a friendly and helpful neighbor, while being an intent and hard work-a-holic. Showing off different colors making you guess whether his true color are Superman's Red and Blue, or Clark Kent's Timid Blue and Grey. Either of which I as a fan could look forward to, whether you believe Superman is Clark Kent, or Clark Kent is Superman, I think Gabe would know well enough to balance it out and let us to our own interpretation of the true identity.
CHRIS PINE: OK, this is going to be another rocky road. Now most of the people who think this is a bad idea might be right. We all have our own opinions, and to be honest, while I can admit Pine isn’t the best choice, there is still a reason why he would be a worthy screen test. One reason for such is the success of Abram’s Star Trek Reboot, which has no doubt put Pine as a bankable name to draw in crowds. But the reason I put him on this list is because of the Portrayal of Captain Kirk. OK I get it, Superman is not a womanizer, neither is Clark, I’m on record for knowing and admitting that. But, Superman is courage’s much in the fashion Kirk was to go onto Nero’s ship, and to even dare battle him and his 2nd command A’yel. In much retrospect one could begin to understand where I’m going with this. Basing partly from the corrigible acts he took in Star Trek and the level of displayed intelligence it begins to form what I believe would be how a modern styled Superman would act as a corrigible, fearless, happy, press friendly, confident, leader. Superman has always been thought of as a leader in the manners of convincing people to follow their dreams. Pine carries his performances well in my opinion, and I think given time to prepare for a role like this he could develop it into a suitable and well designed performance us Superman fans could enjoy. Now I myself am thinking what would his Clark Kent be like? Well I’d have to imagine the deal of development he would go through to create a Clark Kent unlike anything we’ve ever seen. I would guess that the style his Clark would fall under would be a well mannered, fun loving, worker bee. Never carrying it over but still keeping the character and the role fun without reducing the character to a bumbling, hapless loser. Something new in his representation of Superman and Clark would be something needed for a reboot, not just to connect with us as Superman fans but also new fans to create a new franchise to build upon the rest of Warner Bros. Super hero franchise.
BRANDON ROUTH: We’ve all seen Superman Returns, and with fans Routh has cause a split, either you love him or hate him. In my case Love, his performance of Superman in my opinion is the Second best. Of course only to Christopher Reeves, we all love and remember the performance. But we all want to see something new and yet something familiar. Routh could be the shining light for such. We all know that he can pull of bumbling Clark Kent, and in my opinion he knew how to play Superman, as if it were coded in his DNA. Now we all want to see something new, and we’d like to have a dab of the old to really help us change, and Routh could very well be the link for that. His Clark would no doubt be very old fashioned but I believe that he could bring a new perspective to Clark and bring something new into the role making it more than just the Clark from Returns. He could bring us a more John Byrne Styled Clark Kent, and perhaps a hybrid between Byrne’s Superman and Reeves’ which could very well create what would be considered the Perfect Modern Superman. I’ll say it right now, he’s the only one on my list who I would Offer the Role immediately.
TOM WELLING: OK, I’m already dodging the stones you guys are throwing at me (why do most of my choices immediately cause people to hurl rocks at my head?) Now we know he’s played Clark Kent on Smallville for about 9 or 10 years. So we know how he’ll approach Clark, and personally, I’m pretty fine with that, he doesn’t try to copy the comic book version of Clark and does as a good actor does and creates a unique Clark (who isn’t without flaws I’ll admit.) His Superman is why I would offer him a Screen test. In my opinion his Superman would match his Clark in many ways, but in many ways it could also deviate, seeing him actually put into a position where he’d have to research the Character would give him in site to really create a unique Superman, my guess would be he would draw much inspiration from Geoff John’s Superman, and hopefully Bruce Timm’s with Welling it’s quite possible that if he were to read the Superman Comics and Watch the Cartoon Series, he could possible create a new fan favored Superman, that could really wash away all the bad things Smallville has stirred up. All things said if were shooting for a Superman Movie with no previous ties and preset cannon, to draw in more crowds going the Smallville route might be best, and to be honest, it can’t be as bad as everyone might think.
PATRICK WILSON: Now I know for a fact most of you might not think this fits entirely, and might be surprised someone would bring him up for a role such as Superman. But there is a point, I like Patrick Wilson, his roles in Lakeview Terrace, Watchmen, and Little Children were all very well acted and deeply emotional for various reasons. I’m mainly going to draw from the Former of the two films I’ve mentioned. We all know about His Performance in Watchmen. His performance as Dreidberg was very well done, he has a way of understanding his own character and he would be a person who I could see respecting the art. Someone who would play a Mild Mannered Clark Kent and a heroic Superman, which I could see much of his performance taking inspiration from John Byrne’s Classic Man of Steel run and possible Geoff John’s Recent Superman run. In many ways he could connect with the character to bring a more modern and middle class take on Superman possible turning his performance into a commentary on the life of people and their hopes and dreams to better mankind representing those hopes and dreams. All in all it’s easy for me to see why I would be fairly quick to allow him a screen test, and hopefully anyone who’s had doubts before at least under stand my reasoning for putting Patrick Wilson on the list of People who could play Superman.
SAM WORTHINGTON: Now some are going to judge me as just chasing after a big name, and while his star power is a small positive, it’s not a main or even likely reason for me to put him on the list. Now we do know he has problems hiding his accent, but accent coaches can help improve this. The symbolic nature of allowing an Actor such as Sam, play a role such as Superman, enhances the meaning behind the character. Superman is in all Truth an Immigrant, a foreigner, and Worthington, being a true Aussie (even though he was only raised there, being born in the UK) He’s a decent actor who is living in the U.S. giving him a relate-ability to Superman. Someone who truly studies his roles and has the face the looks of a good person, I believe that when it would come to an audition that he would be able to understand the Kal-El side of Superman and wow the producers and director of the film by building on to how he could best understand Superman. Superman is not an easy role to cast; Worthington is admittedly not the best actor. The way he could pull the role off could be something that draws in fans just from curiosity. He could pull it off, he is a comic book fan, which could possible lead to him actually being interested in the role. As a Superman fan and a writer myself, I believe that it’s possible that with enough preparation he could deliver a new Superman that has never been seen as well as giving us a fun relate-able, and meaningful Clark Kent, something new audiences would more than likely enjoy.
I had posted pictures, so if they don't show up I'm sorry about it, but please read the article