Ranking every Superman ever

Ash Walker • 22 Jul 2025 Features

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s… a great actor!

There’s a new Superman movie in cinemas! Not only that, but there’s a new actor playing the Man of Steel, too.

All of which means that it’s the perfect time to rank all those guys who’ve portrayed Superman on the big and small screens throughout history. In live action; we won’t be looking at any of the countless animated Supermen - sorry Channing Tatum.

9. Kirk Alyn - Superman (1948)

Holds the distinction of being the first actor to play the Man of Steel in live action, in the 1948 Superman serial and its sequel, Atom Man vs Superman (1950). Alyn also had a fun cameo as Lois Lane’s father in the 1978 Superman movie.

His Superman is perfectly good, if a little dated, but suffers from some pretty ropey special effects - when this Superman flies, he literally transforms into a cartoon.

8. Tom Welling - Smallville (2001 - 2011)

Although he never properly donned the cape and the red underwear, Tom Welling played an adolescent Clark Kent for ten years on beloved CW show Smallville.

This is a very different Clark than we’re used to seeing - still very much a hero, but a somewhat reluctant one who is never fully comfortable with his powers or his Kryptonian heritage. And he’s sooooo angsty.

Welling got a nice little coda in the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, reprising the character as an older man who has given up his powers. Which says it all really.

7. Dean Cain - Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1994 - 1997)

At its height in the mid-nineties, Lois & Clark was one of the most popular shows on TV. It drew in a huge audience by focussing more on the relationship between its titular characters, rather than superhero action.

But it did have a tendency to drift into soap opera territory… Lex Luthor here was a romantic rival to Clark Kent.

Dean Cain is a perfectly fine Superman/Kent, managing to just about balance good old fashioned earnestness with slightly smarmy ‘90s heartthrob appeal. But come on, really this show was all about Teri Hatcher as Lois.

6. Brandon Routh - Superman Returns (2006)

Ok, Superman Returns isn’t a great movie - its climax is literally just Superman lifting something heavy into space - but Brandon Routh is an excellent Superman.

Being the first big-screen Superman since Christopher Reeve, and in a movie positioned as a kinda, sorta direct sequel to those films, Routh had some huge (red) boots to fill. But he did it ably, pairing a commanding but empathetic Superman with a spot-on impersonation of Reeve’s Clark Kent.

It’s a shame he only ever got the chance to do it once.

5. George Reeves - Adventures of Superman (1952 - 1958)

Much like Christopher Reeve (no relation), Reeves was the defining Superman for an entire generation. After making his debut in the 1951 movie Superman and the Mole Men, Reeves went on to play the Man of Steel over six seasons of the spin-off TV show.

Reeves was apparently a little conflicted over his typecasting as Superman, but rarely complained. In fact, he took the role incredibly seriously, making sure to always act like the Big Blue Boy Scout around children, especially if they truly believed he was the real Superman.

The series came to an end after Reeves’s untimely - and mysterious - death, and the character lay dormant on both big and small screen until 1978…

4. Henry Cavill - Man of Steel (2013)

Probably the most Superman-looking Superman to ever Superman - Cavill literally looks like a Greek sculpture, perfectly capturing the mythical, godlike aspect of Zack Snyder’s divisive version of the hero.

He’s also the most angsty Superman since Smallville, constantly wrestling with his power and his place in the world. And really, that’s the only thing holding Cavill’s version of Superman back.

The films he appears in take themselves very seriously, and his Superman comes off as a little cold and distant. But you can’t deny that he looks the part.

3. David Corenswet - Superman (2025)

The most recent on-screen Superman and, honestly, one of the best. James Gunn’s blockbuster extravaganza really focuses on the Man of Steel’s humanity, and Corenswet’s performance leans heavily into that too.

This Superman isn’t a perfect, godlike being. By his own admission he ‘messes up all the time’, but still tries to do the right thing anyway. He’s kind to a fault, protective of all living beings - even squirrels - and thinks being nice is punk rock.

He’s also got some absolutely sizzling chemistry with his version of Lois Lane, played by Rachel Brosnahan. And bonus points for a truly convincing Clark Kent; must be the hypno-glasses.

2. Tyler Hoechlin - Superman & Lois (2021 - 2024)

One of the best modern portrayals of Superman, and one of the best ever. Over the course of four seasons we get to spend a lot of time with Hoechlin’s version of Superman, and that helps to dig deep into a character that can sometimes feel a little, well, alien.

This is a Superman dealing with different issues than we’re used to seeing. He’s a husband and a father to two teenage boys, and he’s also moved back to Smallville from the big city.

You’re more likely to see Hoechlin’s Superman dealing with modern, real-world issues than punching giant robots into the sun, but he nails the empathetic heart of the character without ever feeling like a retread of what’s come before.

1. Christopher Reeve - Superman: The Movie (1978)

Still the greatest Superman performance, and the one that all others will be forever compared to. Christopher Reeve just is Superman.

He’s perfect as the heroic, confident hero, gracefully leaping from rooftops and zooming through space with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, and he’s equally brilliant as the bumbling, shambolic Clark Kent.

He’s so good in fact that you could totally believe that Superman and Clark were two completely different people.

Even in the lesser Superman sequels, Reeve shines bright in the role that would define his entire career. It’s a true shame that he only put on the cape and boots four times before his tragic accident but, in true Superman fashion, Reeve spent the rest of his life trying to help real people through his spinal paralysis foundation.

You will believe a man can fly.

Check out DC’s brand new Superman movie, in cinemas now. And you can see it for free with a Sky Cinema subscription! All Sky cinema customers get two free cinema tickets, every month.