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Who played the best Clark Kent, Superman, Lois Lane & Lex Luthor?

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Kadin

Member
Yes, I specifically split apart Kent from Superman because they're clearly two different roles in the films/shows so why not. Which actor played their respective role better than any others before or after them? Did you have a favorite which got replaced or did it always stay the same?

I will always enjoy Christopher Reeve's version of Clark Kent more than anyone else. Reeve's Kent is still number one in my book. Just played him so well. Loved his goofiness. Great comedic moments here and there along with a very vulnerable believability.

As for Superman, I have to go with Henry Cavill. His version of Superman just really hit a home run with me. Excellent. I didn't expect much from him but I was very impressed with his performance.

As for Lois, I actually liked Teri Hatcher's Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. This role I had the hardest time deciding on because they were all good - but none really great.

Now Lex Luthor. This has been a hard one. Really, really liked Gene Hackman's version for a long time even after the Superman Returns and Smallville. But for the past couple years I've really learned to like Michael Rosenbaum's version best. He was so solid in that part and you could really have sympathy for him at times. He wasn't ruthless the entire time. But when he was, he took it to a whole other level. Wasn't much a fan of Spacey's version - just not a good role for him I thought.

edit: So yeah, I meant live action guys. My mistake...
 

botty

Banned
Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent because you can really sense the authentic American blood running through his veins.

Henry for Superman because his body.

Margot Kidder as Lois Lane because of that scene in family guy.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Clark - Christopher Reeves - Played the physicality and unassuming nature of him perfectly.

Superman - Tim Daly/George Newbern - Powerful, authoritative, but still with the world's best interests at heart.

Lois - Dana Delany - No live-action Lois has had the pitch-perfect sass, critical thinking, intelligence, and her humanity all rolled perfectly into one the way Delany did.

Lex - Clancy Brown - Fuck everyone else. Michael Rosenbaum was cute as young Lex but he was never really the megalomaniac that embodies the character. Hackman is fun and cheesy but when it comes down to it, he's just sniveling and weak. Lois & Clark's Lex didn't even shave his fucking head if I remember. Clancy Brown is perfect Lex in every line he reads. He's powerful, manipulative, evil, and most importantly, he knows he is fucking untouchable.
 

CronoShot

Member
Christopher Reeve for both Clark and Superman (I do like Cavill though)
Erica Durance for Lois
Michael Rosenbaum for Lex
 
Erica Durance was the best Lois Lane:

tumblr_inline_mll5rxz6Sh1qz4rgp.jpg


Michael Rosenbaum was the best Lex Luthor.

michael_rosenbaum.jpg
 

D.Lo

Member
Clark Kent - Reeve

Superman - Reeve

Lois Lane - Teri

Lex Luthor - Spacey

Jor-El - Brando

Pa Kent - Bo Duke

Ma Kent - Dianne Lane

Zod - Stamp
 
Clark- Tim Daly
Superman- Christopher Reeve. Everyone else is just pretending.
Lois- Dana Delaney
Lex- Clancy Brown


Yeah, the animated series did a lot of things damn well. But Christopher Reeve was, and forever shall be, Superman.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Clark - Christopher Reeves
Superman - Tim Daly/George Newbern
Lois - Dana Delany
Lex - Clancy Brown

Yes.

Erica Durance was the best Lois Lane:

Michael Rosenbaum was the best Lex Luthor.

I think they did a fantastic job for what Smallville gave them.

Jor-El - Brando

Pa Kent - Bo Duke

Ma Kent - Dianne Lane

Zod - Stamp

Yes for these too. John Schneider is the definitive Pa Kent for me. Diane Lane was great in Man of Steel.
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Yep, I pick the Superman TAS/Justice League voices.

Clancy just has that perfect b lend of smooth villain that makes you fear him most because of how confident he always sounds similar to Roscoe Lee Brown as Kingpin. And Daly just sounds so much like what you'd expect someone with the name 'Superman' to sound like.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Smallville's casting was great overall. I quit watching a long time before it ended because of the writing, but the casting was great.

Only Kristin Kreuk, Sam Jones III and maybe Sam Witwer strike me as weak links in the cast. In hindsight the actors all did a good job even if the writing and production weren't up to standard.
 

Kadin

Member
Only Kristin Kreuk, Sam Jones III and maybe Sam Witwer strike me as weak links in the cast. In hindsight the actors all did a good job even if the writing and production weren't up to standard.
The first what, 3 or 4 seasons were damn good from a writing perspective. I can't remember exactly when it was but the whole creature of the week that eventually took over really did it in for me. But I still stuck it out and watched it to its very end. Always hoped Rosenbaum would return...
And got what I hoped for!!
 

TheOMan

Tagged as I see fit
Clark Kent = Christopher Reeve

Superman = Christopher Reeve

Lois Lane = Erica Durance and/or Margot Kidder

Lex Luthor = Michael Rosenbaum
 

kunonabi

Member
Clark Kent - Tom Welling
Superman - Christopher Reeve
Lex Luthor - Micheal Rosenbaum
Lois Lane - Erica Durance

Lois Lane is tough.I really liked Durance but there were times were her acting could get a little uneven.. I'd probably put Hatcher second despite my general distaste for her.

I know nobody is going to agree with me on Welling but aside from the occasional character assassination bits to push Lana he really embodied just about every trait I wanted to see in Clark. Of course it certainly helps that he had the role so long that he was able to cover so much more ground than any other actor. As much as the CW wanted to push Clark/Lana/Lex as the heart of the show it was always Clark and his parents that drove the show for me and Welling always hit those moments. He also had to make the most out his character beats since much of them usually came from smaller story lines and episodes. His speech to Jonathan as he was heading out to the football field in particular was always one that stuck out to me. Obviously, Reeve's acting was superior but I liked the more confident Clark that Welling got to do. Cain had that too but his look was always too distracting for me.
 

KamenSenshi

Junior Member
Clark Kent = Christopher Reeve

Superman = Christopher Reeve

Lois Lane = Erica Durance and/or Margot Kidder

Lex Luthor = Michael Rosenbaum

Basically this, but since I see Reeve as the unreachable high standard, I'll change that to Tom W. for Clark.
 

Leunam

Member
To this day, every time I read Lex in the comics I hear Clancy Brown. No one else has come close to playing him so well.
 

Kadin

Member
Clark Kent - Tom Welling
Superman - Christopher Reeve
Lex Luthor - Micheal Rosenbaum
Lois Lane - Erica Durance

Lois Lane is tough.I really liked Durance but there were times were her acting could get a little uneven.. I'd probably put Hatcher second despite my general distaste for her.

I know nobody is going to agree with me on Welling but aside from the occasional character assassination bits to push Lana he really embodied just about every trait I wanted to see in Clark. Of course it certainly helps that he had the role so long that he was able to cover so much more ground than any other actor. As much as the CW wanted to push Clark/Lana/Lex as the heart of the show it was always Clark and his parents that drove the show for me and Welling always hit those moments. He also had to make the most out his character beats since much of them usually came from smaller story lines and episodes. His speech to Jonathan as he was heading out to the football field in particular was always one that stuck out to me. Obviously, Reeve's acting was superior but I liked the more confident Clark that Welling got to do. Cain had that too but his look was always too distracting for me.
Welling is a close 2nd for me. I had really no issues with his portrayal throughout the series. I thought he did a very good job especially since he had to make it similar yet clearly different from past actors.

If it wasn't already apparent, I still watch the show these days. Spent a small fortune on all the dvd's and it really is a fun show overall but there are episodes I'll skip that were a chore to get through.
 

Merc_

Member
Clark - Christopher Reeves - Played the physicality and unassuming nature of him perfectly.

Superman - Tim Daly/George Newbern - Powerful, authoritative, but still with the world's best interests at heart.

Lois - Dana Delany - No live-action Lois has had the pitch-perfect sass, critical thinking, intelligence, and her humanity all rolled perfectly into one the way Delany did.

Lex - Clancy Brown - Fuck everyone else. Michael Rosenbaum was cute as young Lex but he was never really the megalomaniac that embodies the character. Hackman is fun and cheesy but when it comes down to it, he's just sniveling and weak. Lois & Clark's Lex didn't even shave his fucking head if I remember. Clancy Brown is perfect Lex in every line he reads. He's powerful, manipulative, evil, and most importantly, he knows he is fucking untouchable.

Yep, this is perfect.
 

Yaboosh

Super Sleuth
Should Superman even be ripped? Does he ever even get resistance training? Lifting an airplane is like paper to him.
 

foxtrot3d

Banned
Clark- Tim Daly
Superman- Christopher Reeve. Everyone else is just pretending.
Lois- Dana Delaney
Lex- Clancy Brown


Yeah, the animated series did a lot of things damn well. But Christopher Reeve was, and forever shall be, Superman.

This man is correct, especially with regards to Lex Luthor. Any answer that is not Clancy Brown is wrong.
 

Toothless

Member
I always feel like it's such a shame Spacey didn't really have an opportunity to define his own Lex. Based off House of Cards, Usual Suspects, and a lot of his other films, he could've been a truly unique, definitive Lex Luthor, but instead Singer told him to play it like Gene Hackman and thus, so much potential was lost. :(
 

Dysun

Member
Smallville had a great Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Pa Kent

I'd probably say Christopher Reeves for Superman/Clark
 

DedValve

Banned
Erica Durance was the best Lois Lane:

tumblr_inline_mll5rxz6Sh1qz4rgp.jpg


Michael Rosenbaum was the best Lex Luthor.

michael_rosenbaum.jpg

Smallville had a great supporting cast. Hell even Welling would have made for a good Clark if they ever bothered to grow his character past the second season.

Ma and Pa Kent, Louis, Lex,
Chloe is canon dammit
, anyone that wasn't the goddamn justice league or past S4 where they started bringing in Superman villains was pretty great. Made me wish Lionel was canon.
 

D.Lo

Member
I always feel like it's such a shame Spacey didn't really have an opportunity to define his own Lex. Based off House of Cards, Usual Suspects, and a lot of his other films, he could've been a truly unique, definitive Lex Luthor, but instead Singer told him to play it like Gene Hackman and thus, so much potential was lost. :(
I think he did a fantastic spin on it. He was much more powerful and self-assured than Hackman. Much smarter, angrier, more arrogant, less snivelling. Basically a completely different character honestly, much closer to President Luthor.

The only Hackman thing left was the real-estate plan.

Routh was great too in a similar position - playing Reeve playing Superman, but in that movie's weird busted '25 years later = 5 years later' timeline except everyone actually looks younger...

If only that cast (minus Bosworth who looked like a college girl), that music, that production design, that cinematography - could have been given a much more standard re-boot movie, it could have worked out so well. And we couldn't have had the insane Michael Bay-esque grey filter Hulk movie overreaction MOS ended up as.
 

Sheroking

Member
best lex has to be the dude from smallville

I agreed, but even Rosenbaum, as good as he was relative to the rest of the cast, wasn't really definitive. He can be topped (and I think ultimately will be topped by Eisenberg).

His Lex was a lot of really pretentious story-telling. That was his MO. "You know Clark, I once did [thing] in [thing] and it taught me [thing]". The show kind of peaked with him in the Lexmas episode in Season 5, and from there, his writing was so bad that he was just kind of incoherently motivated. What he wanted and why he wanted it were not things the show bothered to explain. He just kind of did bad things because Lex is supposed to be evil now.

Not threatening at any point either.
 

MisterHero

Super Member
It's not really a question of "better or worse" to me. Dean Cain was probably a mediocre serious Superman, but he and Teri Hatcher were a perfect romantic comedy couple.

Reeve and Kidder were perfect for dramatic interpretations.

The best Lex Luthor would be Clancy Brown's. His version was the only one that got to explore all the mad scientist and businessman angles. IIRC Gene Hackman's version was the inspiration to make Luthor a businessman in the first place; it just wasn't realized fully.

You can't help but feel bad for Rosenbaum Lex. He just wanted to be Clark's friend and Clark kept acting like a dick.

Smallville had a really, REALLY good cast actually. What a giant shame most of the characters were written poorly.
 

Tekniqs

Member
Clark and his parents that drove the show for me and Welling always hit those moments. He also had to make the most out his character beats since much of them usually came from smaller story lines and episodes. His speech to Jonathan as he was heading out to the football field in particular was always one that stuck out to me.

would you happen to have a link to a clip of this?
 

carlsojo

Member
I'm super partial to the cast of Smallville, probably just because I grew up watching it. I never saw the Reeve movies, so my only comparisons are to the Routh/Caville movies, both of which I thought were mediocre.

I wonder if Wells/Rosenbaum/etc. will ever appear in CWDC-verse? They already have precedent when they brought back Hamill as the Trickster.
 
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