The Most Iconic Superhero Will Be Back!

Both Reeve's (left) and Routh's (right) Supermen were iconic entirely in keeping with the perceived notion of what Superman should be.

Tim Burton's Superman was entirely arbitrary, something new that would have to be learned by the audience and accepted.

Who is Superman?

Brandon Routh was great Superman, you could clearly see the inter-textual links between his performance and Christopher Reeve's. He was an unknown, just like Reeve was at the time. He was just stuck with a bad script about an emo Superman who likes hanging around voyeuristically spying on Lois. Is he gonna be Zack Snyder's Superman? I don't know probably not.

I mean originally actor's like Robert Redford and other big stars were considered for the role. But superman is so iconic you cant really have someone who's already known playing him because you'll perceive the actor as much as you'll perceive the character of superman, which is why I think an unknown was a great way to go and it's the route Snyder should take.

After all we were saved from Tim Burton's idea of superman which terrified me not only because he wanted to redesign the superman outfit as this sort of black pvc bondage suit, where the "S" is made up of a set of knives which he uses as weapons, but also because he wanted Nic Cage to play Superman!?!?!?!?!? Nic Cage is a good actor but the thought of him as the Man of Steel is frankly terrifying. It would be like casting Graham Norton as Batman and giving him a burnt sienna batsuit to wear, just wrong! You can't have an icon playing an icon. They cancel each other out. We already have this idea of who Nic Cage is, so all we see is Nic Cage. When it comes to superman all you should see is the character. Christopher Reeve achieved this. When he was playing superman, he was superman. The same goes for his portrayal of Clark Kent. This was true even after he became famous. An known actor playing superman becomes arbitrary, the relationship has to be learnt because both the actor and the role are so iconic they cancel each other out.

Brandon Routh could be great a great Superman if he's given the chance but i think its going to be Timothy Dalton/Bond all over again. I.e. by the time the studios have gotten their act together and started doing a new Superman film they'll want someone new in the role which is a real shame! He fitted the idea of casting an unknown perfectly, before this his biggest role was a small part of the sitcom Will & Grace. Therefore the audience in general knew him only as Superman/Clark Kent.

Equally however this iconic status has it's cons. The Superman curse. Actor's associated with the role have become so much a part of the idea of Superman it becomes hard for them to be associated with anything but the Man of Steel. George Reeves is the most prominent victim of the iconic status. However others have accepted the idea and even capitalised on it. Christopher Reeve wholly embraced his status as the last son of Krypton, even after his crippling accident.

What about Lex Luthor?

I never really liked Gene Hackman as Luthor. According to the producers of the original he was chosen because the studios decided you could only have an unknown as Superman if you had someone well known to star against him. Hence gene Hackman's casting. But is Lex Luthor going to be the villain in the new film or are we goign to see a wider scope of the villainry? Say Doomsday or Brainiac?