Who Should Be Supergirl's Superman?

[Primetimer]

When the Man of Steel next shows his face on The CW as Supergirl's cousin, whose face should it actually be?

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[legaleagle53]

A black Superman?  Yeah, no.  There's no racism involved in my statement, before anyone protests.  It simply wouldn't make sense for Superman to be an entirely different ethnicity from his biological parents, his uncle Zor-El, and his only living blood relative (Kara), to say nothing of the fact that it would be throwing nearly 80 years of iconic, canonical precedent out the window just for the sake of going "outside the box."  And some of the others mentioned in that article are either far too old or far too young -- Kal in this universe is biologically and chronologically in his mid-30s (he was around 24 when Kara finally landed on Earth after having spent 24 years in the Phantom Zone, remember?  And then another 12 years passed before Supergirl became public).

[Kip]

I think Joe Manganiello would be a great choice. I think the Supergirl creatives put themselves into a corner when they cast Jimmy Olsen with Mehcad Brooks (who is 6'4"), finding someone who doesn't seem tiny compared to him could be hard. Manganiello is 6'5", old enough that he would have been an adult when she arrived (as a 12 year old), and I think he has enough of the Superman look, yet could also pass as a Clark Kent.

[Lisin]

Fist, Tom Welling got hot y'all...

 

Second, Matt Bomer right? That's who it's going to be I think. And I'm not mad about it. Though I wouldn't be mad about Tom Welling either because it's not his fault Smallville made him all emo and everything. 

[AndySmith]

Some of these choices are just...bizarre. A bit too long in the tooth. He's supposed to be her older cousin, in an older brother kind of way, not old enough to be her father (or grandfather).

My choice would be either Welling or Bomer, both not too old, but still more mature than the way Kara is portrayed.

And it would be nice to see Welling play a more upbeat, less dour version of Kal-El.

[Jesse]

Fist, Tom Welling got hot y'all...

 

Second, Matt Bomer right? That's who it's going to be I think. And I'm not mad about it. Though I wouldn't be mad about Tom Welling either because it's not his fault Smallville made him all emo and everything. 

100% Matt Bomer. But Welling does look good!

[Jediknight]

It should be Bomer.

He's got the acting chops, he looks like Superman, and he's the right age.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Jediknight

[LurkerNan]

Recently rewatched Superman Returns, and I don't think Brandon Routh got enough credit for that. IMO he can pull double duty... both as the Atom and again as Superman.

[reggiejax]

I know Kal Penn was kind of a joke choice, but I am still vehemently against Penn being cast in anything. His soul sucking presence already killed one of my favorite shows, Deadbeat, no need to go for another.

Tom Welling would be my choice. Normally I am against mixing the fictional universes that way, even if it is just casting and not an actual mixing of canon. But I kind of hate the way the film DCU has treated its TV counterpart like a redheaded stepchild. So I can break with policy and embrace Tom Welling being cast, whether he is playing Smallville's version or not.

Edited June 7, 2016 by reggiejax

[RustbeltWriter]

Anyone but the dour, moody Cavill. Honestly, Superman is supposed to be the bright, shiny embodiment of the American dream and he plays him like some guy who trudges off to cubicle hell everyday filing TPS reports.

[Trini]

So this whole article is a joke? Okay, whatever.

Matt Bomer - because I still want that musical crossover to happen.

[Kendra]

6 hours ago, Kip said:

I think Joe Manganiello would be a great choice. I think the Supergirl creatives put themselves into a corner when they cast Jimmy Olsen with Mehcad Brooks (who is 6'4"), finding someone who doesn't seem tiny compared to him could be hard. Manganiello is 6'5", old enough that he would have been an adult when she arrived (as a 12 year old), and I think he has enough of the Superman look, yet could also pass as a Clark Kent.

I very much agree about the Mehcad Brooks issue. The guy is huge! I hope they cast an actor that will not look completely outsized when standing next to James. 

[Kromm]

I know Dwayne Johnson was a joke suggestion, but even if it wasn't it won't happen because he's already set to be part of the DC Movie Universe.  Johnson is slated to play Black Adam (a DC character attached to 2019's Shazam). 

Edited June 8, 2016 by Kromm

[AndySmith]

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I very much agree about the Mehcad Brooks issue. The guy is huge!

Yeah, that wouldn't have been my first choice for someone to play Jimmy. I thought Donald Glover would have made a better choice for Jimmy, as he is 5'10".

[beacon]

Hey, the show is now going to be filmed in Canada, so they have to cast Victor Webster.  It's Canadian law.  :)

[Xenith22]

I dunno what to think about Welling?  On the one hand in an interview with Access Hollywood  (around the 2:30 mark) from February he sounded like he was definitely willing to make some kind of appearance on Supergirl (he just had not been ask yet).  

However thinking back he was the one that refused to ever be seen in the tights on Smallville even in the finale, because he thought it looked/felt too dorky.   So hopefully he has matured enough to be past that hang-up?  Maybe the no more red underpants (assuming costume based on Nu52) would make the difference?

Would love Bomer but sadly doubt that is going to happen...he has a ton on his plate right now?   Between the next season of American Horror Story, the HBO biopic movie, and a potential series with Amazon (pilot released next week, should know if it is picked up in the near future) I doubt he is going to be free and want to fly up to Canada at the time the Supergirl premiere is shooting?

Quote

Some of these choices are just...bizarre. A bit too long in the tooth. He's supposed to be her older cousin, in an older brother kind of way, not old enough to be her father (or grandfather).

I know right?  Age wise Kara is 24-25 years old.  She arrived when she was 13 so that is 11 years.  She tells us she was in space for 24 years.  So that means assuming that Kal-El was no older than 2 when he was sent away that any Superman cast should be able to pass for roughly 35-37 years old (ie probably no actors under 30, or past their early 40s), so yeah that does rule out quite a few of those dumb suggestions from the article.

Also if this is our Kara's Superman (as opposed to an alt-universe) then suggesting minority actors is really dumb given that we already saw him as a little boy during the Black Mercy dreamstate and he was clearly white.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Xenith22

[Kromm]

6 minutes ago, Xenith22 said:

I dunno what to think about Welling?  On the one hand in an interview with Access Hollywood  (around the 2:30 mark) from February he sounded like he was definitely willing to make some kind of appearance on Supergirl (he just had not been ask yet).  

However thinking back he was the one that refused to ever be seen in the tights on Smallville even in the finale, because he thought it looked/felt too dorky.   So hopefully he has matured enough to be past that hang-up?  Maybe the no more red underpants (assuming costume based on Nu52) would make the difference?

I don't think it's only about feeling dorky (although that's part of it). I think he's also claimed he never felt he was in good enough shape to play Superman in a costume where you're supposed to see his musculature (and well.... in the version that was around when Smallville was on, his package--so maybe it was both of those things). 

[Xenith22]

So apparently CBS just rejected Tom Welling's pilot (which is a shame as it sounded decent...but then again I guess it was not a boring procedural so he should have known better than to take it there).  So who knows he may be looking for a quick paycheck... *fingers crossed*

------

The more I think about Dalton the more I think it actually makes a lot of sense if Welling turns them down.

I mean first of all he certainly has the chiseled looks to pull off Superman, but lest we forget how much he looked like a mild mannered Kent when he put on the glasses for a mission during season 1. 

Acting wise he does commanding presence pretty well I'd say.  He hasn't really had many opportunities to display much range.  I mean Agent Ward was seemingly designed to be rather dull so to be unassuming before the plot twist.  He doesn't have a whole lot else to his credit to get much sense of his range beyond crazy bad guy... (How much can you tell from doing voice work for Until Dawn, Robot Chicken, and Jake the Pirate?   Other than that just a bunch of minor bit parts in stuff like an small part in an unmemorable Lincoln TV movie, a guy who dies without uttering a line on Blue Bloods, and a brief appearance on a Lifetime show?).  However Dalton himself comes off as having a good bit more personality when doing things such as interviews with the late night talk shows and stints on weird gameshows (what's that geek drinking one called again?) than what he was allowed to show on SHIELD.  Then again often times in the comics and media such as Justice League, Superman is often portrayed as not really having a ton of personality depth and being pretty much more wooden and business like so who knows if that even matters.

Plus he has developed his own following of fiercely loyal fans/fangirls, and is a major promotional force doing a ton of appearances at everything from charity benefits to conventions, gameshows, and everything in between.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Xenith22

[MarkHB]

Is Dalton actually available?  I don't watch AoS any more, but after some quick searching, there's still someone for him to play on that show, isn't there?  I can't imagine his contract allowing him to play Superman as recurring if he's still a regular on a Marvel program.

[Xenith22]

SHIELD Spoilers:

Spoiler

His character of Ward is definitely dead, and the character he became HIVE is either dead or at least clearly out of the picture for awhile his scattered atoms floating in space...  Basically the only way they could bring him back immediately is if they do something incredibly contrived and stupid like have had one of the first Life Model Decoys (teased in the finale) made in his image.  There just are not words to properly express how absurdly groan worthy that plot development would be right now, so I'm going to hold out hope that the show will be smart enough to not go to that well immediately if ever..

Edited June 10, 2016 by Xenith22

[FurryFury]

I suspect he's too strongly associated with both Marvel and a villain role to be cast as Superman, TBH. 

 

On 09.06.2016 at 6:08 PM, beacon said:

Hey, the show is now going to be filmed in Canada, so they have to cast Victor Webster.  It's Canadian law.  :)

Please no.

[The Crazed Spruce]

14 hours ago, FurryFury said:

I suspect he's too strongly associated with both Marvel and a villain role to be cast as Superman, TBH. 

Well, Affleck played both Daredevil and Batman, so I don't see that being a problem. (My vote's for Tom Welling, though.)

[Perfect Xero]

Age wise I've always been of the line of thinking that Kryptonians (under a yellow sun) would probably age much slower than humans once they reached their prime. So  I think they have the freedom to cast someone closer in age to Melissa (and I'd rather they give us a 30 year old Clark than one who looks old enough to be Supergirl's dad).

I didn't have a problem with Welling on Smallville, but I'd rather they not cast someone who'd been Superman in a previous project. Give the part to someone new who isn't a known name.

That said, if he wasn't already Ray Palmer I'd be good with Routh. I think that aging 10 years has actually made him look a lot more like Clark/Superman than he ever did in Returns.

[AndySmith]

Quote

However thinking back he was the one that refused to ever be seen in the tights on Smallville even in the finale, because he thought it looked/felt too dorky. So hopefully he has matured enough to be past that hang-up? Maybe the no more red underpants (assuming costume based on Nu52) would make the difference?

I always that came from the producers, not from Welling, since they said they had a "no tights, no flights" rule for Clark (minus a few exceptions and the finale, of course).

As per Welling wearing the suit in the finale, as per EP Brian Peterson:

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“[Showing Tom in the full suit] to me is just not super relevant and not what we were trying to do,” he said.

Edited June 12, 2016 by AndySmith

[Jediknight]

11 hours ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

Well, Affleck played both Daredevil and Batman, so I don't see that being a problem. (My vote's for Tom Welling, though.)

Affleck had over a decade between those 2 roles, and Dalton isn't as talented as Affleck.

[FurryFury]

Yeah, I think it's just too soon for Dalton. Plus, I don't think he does 'straight-laced heroic' well.

[Xenith22]

It's after the fact but just for the record there has been A LOT of actor crossover between the two universes.  In addition to Affleck that list includes:  Reynolds (Green Lantern/Deadpool), Fishburne (Silver Surfer/Perry White), Brolin (Jonah Hex/Thanos), Berry (Catwoman/Storm), Chiklis (Thing/Captain Barnes *Gotham*), McDonough (Dum Dum Dugan/Damien Darkh *Arrow*), Baccarin (Leslie Thompkins/Vanessa Carslyle *Deadpool*), Fassbender (Burke *Jonah Hex*/Magneto), Marsden (Cyclops/Richard White *Lois' fiancee in Returns*), Clarke-Duncan (Kingpin/Kilowog), Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson/Commissioner Gordon)

Some smaller roles (listed by character since a lot may not recognize the actor names):

Mariko(Wolverine) is Mercy(BvS), Kurse(Thor2) will be Killer Croc(Suicide Squad), Yukio(Wolverine) is Katana(Arrow), Papa Midnite(Constantine) is Korath(Guardians), Juggernaut is Brick(Arrow), Lara-El (Man of Steel) is Vanessa the Kingpin's girlfriend (Daredevil Netflix), Lady Deathstrike(X2) is China White(Arrow), Jor-El(Smallville) was Stick in Elektra. Also Bobbi Morse was Wonder Woman in the David E. Kelley pilot that was not picked up...

There are also a ton of minor guest star roles for actors such as Hawkman(The Flash) doing a stint as Whiplash on SHIELD, Drax having appeared on Smallville, Heatwave(The Flash) being in Blade Trinity, Harvey Bullock (Gotham) having been the vampire Quinn in Blade 1, Lionel Luther(Smallville) playing a reporter on Agent Carter,  Chas(Constantine) being Agent Shaw on SHIELD, Walter(Arrow) being in Punisher War Zone, Iceman having been Leech on Smallville, and the list goes on...

(Finally not included are any subsidiary Marvel/DC properties.  Stuff like the Losers (DC), Kick-Ass (Marvel), RED (DC), V for Vendetta (DC), The Spirit (DC), Preacher (DC), etc which again would grow the list quite a bit with some big name actors (Evans, Portman, Johansson, Carey, Weaving, etc).