Best 2010's Live Action Superman Actor

[The Batman]

No doubt this has been a polarizing decade for Live Action Supes. Which actor do you think played him best?

 

[Rorschach2012]

Hoechlin
Routh/Welling (tie)
Cavill

 

[Fincher]

Well, I'm not too familiar with Hoechlin or Welling, but if I were to go by those clips I've seen from Crisis of Infinite Earths...Cavill? None of the others are exactly blowing me away there.

 

[Micromind]

I feel Cavill can do better than Routh but has not shown much range so far.

So, currently,

Cavill / Routh.

Hoechlin/Welling.

 

[Schlosser85]

Cavill, but he gets material that is uneven at best.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I liked Cavill in MOS, so I'll go with him. He was also one of the few decent things about JL, even if the weird mouth thing was distracting as hell. Routh has improved a lot as an actor since SR (where I thought he was abysmal) but I haven't seen how he does in Crisis yet so I can't really say. Hoechlin was good in what I saw of him in Supergirl but I can't help but feel he just doesn't quite have the right look for the character. Maybe a better cape and the spit curl might help. Welling is the epitome of mediocre and doesn't even look like Superman anymore.

 

[The Batman]

I'm going with Routh. He's the only Superman I wasn't disappointed with in some way, shape or form, he had the best costume, and he had stronger chemistry in ten seconds with Tulloch than Cavill/Adams and Hoechlin/Tulloch did with more time.

I wish WB would give Routh a one off HBO Max project or something, but it won't happen.

 

[-JKR-]

Henry Cavill, hands down. Followed by Brandon Routh.

 

[Pennywise]

Routh
Hoechlin
Cavill

 

[STARMAN]

Always felt Cavill had the most potential, Routh was the most satisfactory. I don't feel anything toward Hoechlin right now.

 

[Enriquespy]

Ma, I wish we had Tulloch as Lois back at SR. She and Routh screamed of classic Loise and Clark banter.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

To those who followed Smallville to the end (or at least watched episodes that premiered 2010-2011); do you think he performed different enough from one show to the next to count these as two different performances?

 

[frankgutz]

Cavill is still my fave

 

[titansupes]

Tough... They kind of all have things I think the others are missing, if that makes sense.

Hoechlin's warm, friendly and down to earth. He has a genuine breeziness and ease to him which is great, but lacks a certain mystique, authority and wow factor. He's also the one who seems the most comfortable and least posey in his suit.

Cavill has the wow factor and the masculinity, if you will. He has the best physicality of this crop, in terms of selling fight scenes. But he lacks the other areas for me (with certain scenes being exceptions) and is a little stiff, largely missing the friendly nature of Hoechlin. He comes across as trying to hard to be calm and 'soothing'... But when he got to have a little fun (a couple of scenes in MoS, several good moments in JL) he does well. I'd like to see more of that version of him.

Routh's (KC, specifically) was self-assured, charming and felt like a real veteran and leader... He almost managed to blend the above two, feeling the most like capital 'S' Superman, yet also felt the most like a caricature out the three. That could partly be down to the comparative lack of screentime, I don't know.

Welling (Crisis, specifically) I thought did a great job with his scene-- arguably the best of the episodes so far, along with 90's Flash big scene-- but I don't know if there's anything there that stands out to me specifically. He was cool and confident as a veteran Superman should be, but also well and truly over it... which, while well performed, isn't something that I need in my ideal Superman.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

Henry Cavill despite the questionable material he's been given. I feel like Tyler Hoechlin largely gets a free pass because of what they did with Cavills Superman.

 

[Lantern Venom]

If I think about what Superman would look like, sound like, and how he would move if he were an actual person, my mind instantly goes to Cavill. I'm not sure that anyone will be as perfect for that role as he was, but I'm warming up to Hoechlin as a suitable TV Supes.

 

[Batmannerism]

Okay Cavill is the best actor to play Superman, and straight up looks the part, but has had the worst material to work with - Man of Steel was okay , and I liked the bits of JL he was in but B v S was just bad. So good actor, poor characterization.

Hoechlin isn't as physically imposing but has a much better characterization to work with and does a good job with it. I'm really looking forward to the Hoechlin Superman series.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

I will say Cavill was the best.
For those who rip him ,saying he can't act , think of these 2 things that may change your mind.
1) Think of what he was asked to do & what lines he was asked to say, he didnt write the script or direct how any of it was worded or filmed
2) Maybe, because Superman is technically an alien, Henry was smart enough to answer in & react in a non human way not showing human emotions for certain scenes

 

[B]

Really this is a choice between Henry Cavill & Tyler Hoechlin because Tom Welling's had 1 season of Smallville in the 2010's & small cameo in Crisis & Brandon Routh has only had his appearance in Crisis as Superman.

With that in mind Henry Cavill by a landslide over Tyler Hoechlin in any category/sub-category you want to critique the 2.

Of the 4 actors mentioned I actually think Hoechlin's the worst Superman both as an actor & visually there is something off about him that I can't quite put my finger on.

 

[Captain Tired]

I'm sorry but Cavill's Superman feels more like a MacGuffin or a glorified plot device as opposed to an actual character in his own right. And that's a great shame because I thought Cavill had a lot of potential as the character. I voted Routh. Though it does feel a bit like winning by default, given how lackluster the other choices are, I still thought he was really great in the role. He made up for his relative lack of presence in Superman Returns. Perhaps Cavill will have a similar shot in future.

 

[WhoMani]

This is actually difficult as all of them have glaring flaws. I will go with Routh as he looks straight from the comics and this iteration has the characterisations of Superman that I like. Also I thought Routh's Superman was easily one of the best things in Crisis and honestly I would rather watch a Superman show starring Routh than the upcoming Superman show starring Hoechlin.

I enjoyed Cavill but he hasn't been giving great material and his Superman is very aloof. Hoechlin's Superman is often written as inferior to Supergirl and he lacks the assertiveness or presence that Superman should have but I do enjoy his scenes with Lois. But Routh is my favourite live action Superman from the 2010's.

 

[famicommander]

Brandon Routh is a creepy stalker who uses superpowers to spy on Lois and her family and never throws a single punch in his movie.

Tom Welling spends ten years crying in a barn.

Henry Cavill is emo Goku.

So Hoechlin wins by default.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Cavill, without any hesitation, for me.