Every actor who's played Superman, ranked from worst to best, including David Corenswet

Henry Cavill, Christopher Reeve, and David Corenswet as Superman.Warner Bros. PicturesSuperman is one of the most beloved characters of all time. Over the years, 12 actors have played him on TV or in movies.Here's where David Corenswet, the newest Superman, fits into our ranking.Superman hasn't had a solo movie for over a decade, but the Man of Steel is flying back into theaters on Friday with James Gunn's "Superman." This time, he's played by "Twisters" star David Corenswet.The 32-year-old actor joins a pantheon of icons who have all donned the hero's cape and tights since he was first portrayed in live action back in 1948.Gunn's film takes a fresh stab at the character by jumping past his over-told origin story and instead drops audiences right into a fully-formed DC Universe.Here's how Corenswet stacks up against other Superman actors.12. Brandon Routh ('Superman Returns,' 2006)Brandon Routh in "Superman Returns."Warner Bros.Routh had the deck stacked against him from the moment he put that "S" on his chest.Playing the first Superman on the big screen since Christopher Reeve played the character in the 1980s, audiences suddenly had to adapt to a new actor.With a par-for-the-course movie, plus Routh's performance hardly giving audiences a "wow" factor, his Superman is pretty forgettable.It also didn't help that Routh was one-and-done with the character.11. Dean Cain ('Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman' TV show, 1993)Dean Cain as Superman.Timothy White/Disney/GettyPlaying the character for four seasons, Cain certainly had the look and great chemistry with Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane.What doesn't help his case is the show's corny TV sitcom vibe, which made him feel more like a TV dad than a superhero. 10. Channing Tatum ('The Lego Movie,' 2014)Channing Tatum voices Superman in "The Lego Movie" franchise.Warner Bros. PicturesTatum's overexaggerated and ego-filled portrayal of the superhero is fun and perfect for "The Lego Movie" franchise, including "The Lego Batman Movie."9. Kirk Alyn ('Superman' TV show, 1948)Kirk Alyn as Superman.YouTube screencapHaving the distinction as the first actor to ever portray Superman in a live-action work, Alyn was so synonymous with the character that when the serial first came out in theaters, his name didn't even appear on the screen when the serial first came out in theaters.The 15 episodes, which played in theaters before the main feature — a sequel serial, "Atom Man vs. Superman," followed in 1950 — laid the foundation of how we would see the character on-screen for the decades to follow: a beefy actor with striking looks and a proper attitude.8. George Reeves ('Adventures of Superman' TV show, 1952)George Reeves as Superman.YouTube screencapReeves' TV portrayal leaned heavily on the "American way" vibe of the character, which led to major popularity for the show and for the actor.7. Bud Collyer ('The New Adventures of Superman' animated TV show, 1966)Bud Collyer voiced Clark Kent and Superman in "The New Adventures of Superman."CBS/GettyCollyer was the voice of Clark Kent and Superman in the 1940s for the radio series "The Adventures of Superman." Thanks to the popularity of Alyn and Reeves in the role, Collyer was called upon to take on the character again, this time in animated form.The Sunday-morning cartoon was a fixture at family houses for four seasons. Collyer would portray Superman differently from Kent by making his voice deeper when he was the superhero.6. Nicolas Cage ('The Flash,' 2023)Test shots of Nicolas Cage as Superman.YouTube screencapOK, we know that Cage never really got to play Superman, as his casting as the Man of Steel in Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" got only as far as photos of the actor in the iconic suit during preproduction before Warner Bros. scrapped the whole thing.In "The Flash," we get a glimpse of Cage as Superman while Barry Allen races through the multiverse.So somewhere, we guess, "Superman Lives" is a reality, which means producer Jon Peters' vision of Superman battling a giant spider also came to fruition. And we also have to assume that the combination of Cage and Burton on the project was magic.It's hard to imagine Cage as Superman not being memorable.5. Tyler Hoechlin ('Superman & Lois,' 2021)Tyler Hoechlin as Superman.CWHoechlin has the distinction of being the actor who's played Superman in more projects than anyone else on this list, thanks to appearing throughout The CW's superhero universe in "Supergirl," "Arrow," and "The Flash." So he certainly knows how to play the part.He also did a more than worthy job on his own series, "Superman & Lois," which ended in 2024.4. Tom Welling ("Smallville" TV show, 2001)Tom Welling as Superman.The CWPlaying a young Clark Kent for 10 seasons, Welling became a fixture for Superman fans and was perfect in portraying perfectly portrayed a young man trying to figure out who he really is.3. Henry Cavill ('Man of Steel,' 2013)Henry Cavill as Superman.Warner Bros.Love or hate the movies he was in throughout Zack Snyder's DC Extended Universe, you can't argue that Cavill had the look and right performance to play the character convincingly in the world we live in.2. David Corenswet ('Superman,' 2025)David Corenswet as Superman.Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. PicturesStrapping on the red cape in 2025 is no easy feat, given how familiar audiences are with the character. But Corenswet brilliantly portrays Superman as an imperfect person with godlike abilities, who strives to do his best in a chaotic world.Add his palpable chemistry with every actor in the cast, and Corenswet delivers one of the best, three-dimensional performances of both Superman and Clark Kent.1. Christopher Reeve ('Superman,' 1978)Christopher Reeve as Superman.Handout/ReutersFrom that smile to the bumbling way he played Clark, and, of course, how he flew, Reeve was born to play Superman.It also helped that the first two movies in the franchise he was a part of are up there as the best superhero movies ever made.In many ways, Reeve's performance is the high bar that every subsequent actor is measured against to see if they can fully embody the Superman character on screen the way he did.Read the original article on Business Insider

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