As much as we really love Henry Cavill, and we’re terribly sad to see him go, there can only be one best Superman, and, unfortunately, he wasn’t it.
This past couple of months have been rather tumultuous for DC fans, especially so for those who loved Henry Cavill as Superman. There’s a reason why the Man of Steel actor is such a big name for fans of the DCEU: for many, Henry Cavill has been the best man to ever portray Superman in live-action. He brings a certain something to his portrayal that makes the character feel more imposing than ever – fitting for the overall tone of the Snyderverse.
However, the news that James Gunn would be the one responsible for the future of the DCEU all but confirmed the worst fears of every Henry Cavill fan: the actor would not reprise his role going forward – and what’s more, there were even rumours that his scenes in the The Flash film were scrapped.
As Cavill hangs his cape in what has been a historical run for the Last Son of Krypton and David Corenswet puts it on, now it’s perhaps the best time to reflect on what he brought to the table with his iconic performance. As much as Henry Cavill might be remembered as one of the best actors to ever wear the Superman suit, I believe calling him “the best” might be a bit too much.
Cavill’s performance is not bad by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, I’d say he was great, considering the movies he had to work with. Still, there’s a certain something that Cavill lacked during his time as Superman, and that’s something that we saw present in who I believe is the best Superman to ever grace the big screen: Christopher Reeve.
Picking Reeve out of every actor who has ever played the Man of Steel seems a bit like an obvious choice, right? Why not choose Kirk Alyn, for example, the first actor to play the character in live-action? Or Tom Welling, since so many Superman fans love Smallville? Or even Tyler Hoechlin, who gave us a version of the character we hadn’t seen before? The reason lies in how Reeve approached the character, and how the Superman movies from the late ’70s and the ’80s developed the subject of the unbeatable Kryptonian.
Before we delve deeper into what difference there is between the two actors, I should begin by saying that Reeve’s Superman is not the same character as Cavill’s. Sure, they’re both Superman, but they both worked on films that had a fundamentally dissimilar understanding of the character – a product of the times in which they were released.
Man of Steel comes after the Marvel Cinematic Universe changed the game for superhero flicks forever. The bombastic setpieces and loud action sequences mean that there’s not much time for focusing on characters and genuine human interactions, even though Zack Snyder did his best to develop Superman’s character as much as possible in his first DCEU film.
On the other hand, 1978’s Superman, directed by Richard Donner, follows the basic steps of filmmaking that were present all over the decade. The pacing was much slower in Superman than it ever was in any of the DCEU films, which in turn allowed for more dialogue and intimate moments between the characters.
Perhaps these two different approaches to filmmaking are the reason why Christopher Reeve had the time to develop such an endearing portrayal of not only Superman but Clark Kent as well. He’s perhaps the only actor that achieves Superman’s goal of making his alter-ego seem vulnerable in the eyes of his peers. When we see Reeve’s geeky portrayal of Clark Kent, we actually believe that he’s just another reporter – his obvious disguise might even work on the audience in 1978’s Superman.
No one would believe that someone like Henry Cavill would be just a spineless journalist. His brief time at the Daily Planet seems rather out of place, but not in the way that we would expect Clark Kent to feel while working incognito.
When we talk of actors who played the best version of Superman, we have to include the whole package in the description, and that includes pulling off Clark Kent in a believable manner. In that regard, Christopher Reeve has Henry Cavill beaten by a landslide.
That said, there’s more to the Superman character than just Clark Kent. As an icon of Truth, Justice, and the American Way, people have to look up to Superman as a true hero, beyond the religious analogies that Snyder and Cavill’s Superman goes for.
True, the Henry Cavill version of Superman is the closest thing to a god in the modern superhero film industry, but Christopher Reeve’s Superman is the most similar thing we’ve ever seen to a Golden Age hero from the comic books coming to life in live action. From the way he moved as Superman to the way he talked, everything about Reeve seemed carefully calculated to be as heroic as possible.
Cavill’s version of the Man of Steel is more of a tragic hero, while Reeve does what he can to offer a glimmer of hope to humanity. If you were to ask which version of the character I prefer to believe would be the closest to a real-life Superman, I’d say that I’d prefer Reeve, although Cavill’s tone makes the character feel much more real.
That’s another reason why so many fans still agree that Christopher Reeve had the best version of Superman of all time: he might not feel like a real person, but neither should Superman himself. One key aspect of the Superman mythos is that he’s above what most humans are, both in strength and personality. Having him be just another jaded human goes against the intended set of ideals created for the character, and it’s why Reeve feels more like a hero than Cavill.
While Cavill’s Superman feels like a troubled man flying a bit too close to despair – as is the general tone of the DCEU, to be honest – Reeve embodied the sense of hope that Superman is supposed to represent. Cavill looks the part and is, without a doubt, the best modern version of Superman we’ve ever seen, but Reeve will always be the greatest of them all. Yes, even better than David Corenswet’s. Reeve set a gold standard for the Man of Steel, and it’s one we hope to see embraced in whatever new direction the DCEU is going in.
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Do you think that Henry Cavill was the best Superman, or is Christopher Reeve better?
