Superman Returns Does any one know what 6'3" and 225 pounds lean actually looks like?

[logansoldcigar]

Straight from Routh......6'3 215-220 of muscle for the role.

He's at 211 at the moment, I don't think 230 should be such a stretch for Superman 2.

Routh is 6 3? why did they put those chunky lifts in his boots? 6 3 is plenty big

 

[hurley711]

In one of the many articles I read, Brandon stated that he had around 4-6 months of training before the film. At that point he had to stop because they were ready to shoot and they had him "Maintain" the muscle he had put on. 4-6 months IMO is not enough time for him to change his body into a "Superman" type body that many expected, you can't just do that in that time span. He did get bigger for sure, but it still seemed his chest and shoulders might have been a tad too small still. Anyways, in the article he stated that for the sequel HE WILL be in the gym much earlier putting on muscle. So expect to see a bigger Supes in the next film. I still don't expect an overly muscle bound Supes, which is fine by me, but I bet he will be a little more rounded out. Remember too guys that for him to be bigger in SR they would have had to held off shooting for a few more months, which means delaying the film yet again. Nobody wanted to do that.

 

[hurley711]

Also, as stated in the original post, they don't want Routh to put on too much muscle because of the fact that it takes alot of athleticism to do the wire work necessary to play the role. If he is TOO muscle bound, he might not be able to do some of work which is required, and it might tend to look a little awkward with all that muscle packed on him

 

[not_a_victim]

Straight from Brandon: he was 220 during the shoot, after gaining about 22 lbs of muscle. He was perfect for me. i dont really want him to get above 225.

Yes, but 22 lbs of muscle is NOT a lot of muscle spread over a 6'3" frame! Muscle is almost twice as dense as fat. It's still quite lean, even if you start at around 210. When I was 5'8", 195, I looked way more muscular than Routh at 6'3" 225.
I've said it before, I really hoped that WHOEVER played Supes would be in the 6'3" 245-255 range. Clark would wear suits to downplay his body, and his size woudl be explained by saying he was a country boy who did a lot of chores as a kid.
When I looked at Routh as Clark, then Routh as Supes, I was not impressed by the difference. Just like when Lois and her boyfriend looked at Clark and started guessing his weight, they should have been saying, "He looks about 200.", and Lois should have been describing SUpes as around 240.
I AM NOT SAYING THAT Routh did not do a good job in the movie.
BTW, I had to go on 3 potty breaks with my son during the movie, did the movie ever establish where Clark lived once he moved back to Metropolis?

 

[TheBat812]

BTW, I had to go on 3 potty breaks with my son during the movie, did the movie ever establish where Clark lived once he moved back to Metropolis?

no, they didnt. For me, Routh was the perfect build for Superman, so I don't really want him to move up to 240. Kind of how Chris sort of became too big in SIII and IV.

 

[not_a_victim]

Also, as stated in the original post, they don't want Routh to put on too much muscle because of the fact that it takes alot of athleticism to do the wire work necessary to play the role. If he is TOO muscle bound, he might not be able to do some of work which is required, and it might tend to look a little awkward with all that muscle packed on him

I love it when someone states something like this.
Lemme knock this out of the air once and for all...
Have ever seen the Summer Olympics? They have these really muscular guys, and they do the MOST ATHLETIC things a person can do with the human body. They launch themselves into the air, flip, turn and spin. They revolve their bodies around 3" diameter bars, let go of the bar, flip, and catch the bar again. They are incredibly limber, strong, and (gosh) MUSCULAR!!! They are gymnasts. Yes, they work for a lifetime to get their bodies into the condition they are in, however...
There was NO WAY Routh was going to get "too muscular" to do wirework. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot become to strong/muscular to support your own weight. You can be too fat to do it, but not too strong.

 

[not_a_victim]

Hi all,

Not new to the boards, but have been lurking for a very long time. I read posts a lot, and I am of the group that does NOT like the way Routh looks as superman, or the costume changes.

At age 25, I am a life long superman fan, and comic collector as well, and this is far and away my favorite comic book character, so admittedly I am hard to please.

I am also an Iraq war vet with about 5 years in the army, and I have been an avid natural bodybuilder for a long time too, and have a good grasp on what bodyweights at certain bodyfat% look like, for given heights.

There seems to be a lot of argument on what build a superman actor should have. Some people here consider any muscular body a “muscle bound” freak, and think that 225 at 6’3” is skinny (not true at all). Others seem to favor a more Arnold Schwarzenegger type build for superman.

So what is “muscle bound?” The definition of muscle bound, is when a skeletal structure has so much muscle that is has lost a degree of movement to the point where it can no longer be athletic.

Let my say first off that only the most massive of bodybuilders are truly muscle bound. Guys like Ronnie Coleman 5’11” 300 pounds current Mr.Olympia, Jay Cutler 5’9” 300 pounds, Gunter Schlierkamp 6’2” 320+ pounds, Markus Ruhl 5’10” 300+pounds, are big time muscle-bound.

Lou Ferrigno, when he was on TV as the Hulk, although muscular, was only mildly muscle bound, and had the ability to still be athletic, so was Arnold S. Back in this time bodybuilders where not nearly as massive as they are to day.

For the most part, only bodybuilders, and some powerlifters, tend to be muscle-bound.

So by now you may be thinking that I would prefer a bodybuilder, like Mike O’hearn, to play superman? Absolutely NOT.

Remember Boagrius from the movie Troy (the giant guy Pitt kills in the beginning scene)? That was 6’11.5” 360+ pound bodybuilder, and WSM competitor Nathan Jones. That kind of build is WAY too massive for a role like superman, but would not be bad for a Juggernaut doomsday type character.

I think that bodybuilders tend to look way too muscular and especially the steroid using ones would just look cartoonish as Superman, on top of that they tend to be under 6 foot (not always the case, but many of them are), and even the taller ones these days still tend to be too built for the role of superman.

One thing we do agree on is that superman is ripped. He may not be a bodybuilder, but he can be very lean. No one wants a fat superman.

Then there is the “logical” argument that superman should be skinny because he could not lift weights to increase his muscular size. Nothing in the known galaxy would give him that type of resistance training. Not unless he was working out with planets, right?

WRONG, that is applying human physiology to him too much. If that were the case by the same logic superman would look sickly atrophied as everyday life would not give him the resistance his muscles need to maintain themselves!

Clark is an ALIEN, he can simply have whatever build that a Kryptonian has when under a yellow sun. No need to put logic to it, a strong lean muscular build (but NOT super-heavyweight bodybuilder), at a height of 6’3”. He can look like a guy who lifts weights even though he does not actually have to in order to maintain his body.

Then there is the Clark Kent argument, seriously, you think if a guy looked well built in a suit, that people would just assume he is a superhero? Absurd, it is well known that millions of men in the US. Lift weight to stay in shape, be muscular and healthy, and any one who knows him would just think “well he was a big farm kid, and he must work out”.

Also the real reason no one find his secret identity is that no one is looking for it! He does not wear a mask, so most people in the DC universe might just assume he does not have an identity he is trying to protect.

Now, officially, according to DC comics superman is 6’3” and 225 pounds. Sometimes it is printed as 235, like in the DC encyclopedia, but I will go with the 225 just to be conservative.

I happen to know what a lean 225 at 6’3” should look like. I know that some magazines have printed that Routh is 220 (even one typo that he was 250) yeah right!

Bull*****, Routh is not even 210, unless his bodyfat is >15%, and that IMHO is not lean enough to be superman if that is the case.

Some people may be thinking; “I have a friend who is 220 at 6’2”, and he does not look very muscular at all, to be muscular you got to be like 250”, well if that is the case your friend has a lot of bodyfat making up his weight%, or he is padding his weight to sound bigger.

I know several guys in my company who do work out, lift weights and who are lean by army standards, and weigh between 220-230, and are 6’2”-6’4”, and they all look way bigger than Routh does.

There are several guys who are the same weight as the guys who work out a lot, but who do not work out as much, and the difference is huge. The guys who work out minimally still are in half ways decent shape, and although they are not as lean as the better shape guys, even though they weigh similar, the visual difference in muscular size is huge. It all has to do with the bodyfat %. 6% fat vs. 18% at the same weight the 6% will look far more muscled.

6’3” at around 225 pounds, ripped, is actually more like an in-between Vin Diesel, and the Rock build. Vin only weighs about 210, and the Rock in the Run Down, and Walking tall weighed about 245 pounds at 6’5”.

So what Singer should have done was found a guy of that build with a face that resembled the current comic superman, and who can act, and I am sure that lots of guys can fit that bill.

That is just the way it is. Physically, IMHO Routh does just not look like a "superman", at all.

Reeve I think could have been about 15-20 pounds more muscular for his superman portrayal; and that still would not have been bodybuilder or muscle-bound proportions, or even closely resemble a Schwarzenegger look at all.

His face also does not look right, he looks too young. His face lacks the masculine qualities that Christopher Reeves had. Sure he may resemble Reeves, when Chris was 16 years old, but Routh does not look like superman to me. Not at all.

I think that the costume has also been changed too much. All the small changes add up to being a big change, and the hair cut on him is too long. Superman does not have a buzz cut, and sure his hair should be long enough to be wavy as Superman, but still look like a conservative business haircut on Clark.

Also the portrayal of Clark in modern day comics is much more head strong and less nerdy than it was during the Reeve era. More like the Bruce Tim animated Superman cartoon than the previous Superman movies.

I'm sorry, but I have to RESPECTFULLY say that you simply don't sound like you know what you are talking about.
Pretty much, the term "musclebound" just doesn't exist anymore. The thinking in the past that muscle mass=loss of athleticism has been proven wrong with so many physiological studies that it is not even studied anymore.
Ronnie, Jay, and others have lost NO athleticism, and have GAINED athleticism. Have ever watched Ronnie pose? Then you know that even pre-contest weight, AND DURING POSING ROUTINES, he does unassisted (no hands) full leg splits, then retuns to standing without using his hands. And this from a man who is not only the largest bodybuilder in the world, but probably stronger than about 90% of powerlifters. Have you never seen the footage of Jay running those football drills? Explosive power, quickness, and speed. There is also footage of a pro, I THINK it is Ronnie, out juking T.O. on a football field. Too many times, bodybuilders are judged by the layperson by there appearance/behavior at competitions. and yes, AT COMPETIONS, bodybuilders are the weakest they will be for the training cycle. They have dehydrated their bodies, lived of almost strictly protein for weeks, and are, admittedly, slow and weak. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE "MUSCLEBOUND" Yes, I have seen the footage of Ronnie getting gassed climbing the six steps at Mr. Universe. Give him three days to get glucose and water back in his

body, and he could probably outsprint all of us.
Again, "musclebound" is not a term seriously used by any athletic trainer in the 21st century

 

[Spare-Flair]

Routh was limited by the suit both in it's design in showing a swimmer's look and not the delta shape...and the fact that they molded it in a way that Brandon could not bulk up anymore without ripping it.

 

[hurley711]

I love it when someone states something like this.
Lemme knock this out of the air once and for all...
Have ever seen the Summer Olympics? They have these really muscular guys, and they do the MOST ATHLETIC things a person can do with the human body. They launch themselves into the air, flip, turn and spin. They revolve their bodies around 3" diameter bars, let go of the bar, flip, and catch the bar again. They are incredibly limber, strong, and (gosh) MUSCULAR!!! They are gymnasts. Yes, they work for a lifetime to get their bodies into the condition they are in, however...
There was NO WAY Routh was going to get "too muscular" to do wirework. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot become to strong/muscular to support your own weight. You can be too fat to do it, but not too strong.

As YOU stated in your own post, they work for a lifetime to get their bodies into that condition....A LIFETIME. So Brandon is supposed to bulk his body up to those standards in 4-6 months AND be able to control all of his movements like a gymnast....WHO SPENT A LIFETIME TRAINING FOR IT????

 

[not_a_victim]

As YOU stated in your own post, they work for a lifetime to get their bodies into that condition....A LIFETIME. So Brandon is supposed to bulk his body up to those standards in 4-6 months AND be able to control all of his movements like a gymnast....WHO SPENT A LIFETIME TRAINING FOR IT????

No, no no, I see I didnt make that clear. Thank you.
Hanging from wires and doing Olympic gymnastics are two different things, but to say that Routh's size would have limited wirework is a fallacy. Thanks for pointing out how unclear that was.
More strength does not mean less athleticism.

Edit: in my defense, I never said that Routh would have to perform anything like a gymnast. I simply tried to put forward that gymnasts are quite muscular, and it does not in any way impede there athleticism. It helps it.

 

[hurley711]

No, no no, I see I didnt make that clear. Thank you.
Hanging from wires and doing Olympic gymnastics are two different things, but to say that Routh's size would have limited wirework is a fallacy. Thanks for pointing out how unclear that was.
More strength does not mean less athleticism.

Edit: in my defense, I never said that Routh would have to perform anything like a gymnast. I simply tried to put forward that gymnasts are quite muscular, and it does not in any way impede there athleticism. It helps it.

Yes, through years of training their bodies to do that kinda work. Now go grab your average Joe off of the street and bulk his ass up with a ton of muscle and no flexibility training. Then stick his bulked up ass in a harness and ropes and see how flexible he is at that size without proper training. Know what you get? Michael O'Hearn flying around like a jacked up ass. This is why Routh also did yoga work, to power up his core zone and allow his body to stay flexible as well as strong.

 

[JBElliott]

Also, as stated in the original post, they don't want Routh to put on too much muscle because of the fact that it takes alot of athleticism to do the wire work necessary to play the role. If he is TOO muscle bound, he might not be able to do some of work which is required, and it might tend to look a little awkward with all that muscle packed on him

That's a stale old idea. Muscle = immobile. Today's athletes know that's not true. It's possible to be large, flexible and fast.

 

[Agentdemon]

Routh is 6 3? why did they put those chunky lifts in his boots? 6 3 is plenty big

I'm guessing they wanted him to be 6'4'' like Reeve. In the film lois remarks that he's 6'4''.

 

[Superwoman Prime]

Holy WOW, that was a long introduction post. I read about half of it.


It isn't the case of Routh being to thin, really. It is the suit that makes him look thin. Perhaps he does need to put on a few more pounds of muscle... but at the end of the day, it is the SUIT'S fault!

 

[PSU442]

for a good comparrison, look to the NFL...

Brandon Routh 6-3 225
Terrel Owens 6-3 224
Matt Leinart 6-5 225
Vince Young 6-5 230
Larry Johnson 6-1 230 (had to put him in)

If you ask me, Brandon carries himself just as well as these other guys. I thought he looked good in the movie. When he's getting the crap kicked out of him, he really looked big (ironically --- not sure why that is.) But, I'll admit that the small symbol might make him look smaller.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Hi all,

Not new to the boards, but have been lurking for a very long time. I read posts a lot, and I am of the group that does NOT like the way Routh looks as superman, or the costume changes.

At age 25, I am a life long superman fan, and comic collector as well, and this is far and away my favorite comic book character, so admittedly I am hard to please.

I am also an Iraq war vet with about 5 years in the army, and I have been an avid natural bodybuilder for a long time too, and have a good grasp on what bodyweights at certain bodyfat% look like, for given heights.

There seems to be a lot of argument on what build a superman actor should have. Some people here consider any muscular body a “muscle bound” freak, and think that 225 at 6’3” is skinny (not true at all). Others seem to favor a more Arnold Schwarzenegger type build for superman.

So what is “muscle bound?” The definition of muscle bound, is when a skeletal structure has so much muscle that is has lost a degree of movement to the point where it can no longer be athletic.

Let my say first off that only the most massive of bodybuilders are truly muscle bound. Guys like Ronnie Coleman 5’11” 300 pounds current Mr.Olympia, Jay Cutler 5’9” 300 pounds, Gunter Schlierkamp 6’2” 320+ pounds, Markus Ruhl 5’10” 300+pounds, are big time muscle-bound.

Lou Ferrigno, when he was on TV as the Hulk, although muscular, was only mildly muscle bound, and had the ability to still be athletic, so was Arnold S. Back in this time bodybuilders where not nearly as massive as they are to day.

For the most part, only bodybuilders, and some powerlifters, tend to be muscle-bound.

So by now you may be thinking that I would prefer a bodybuilder, like Mike O’hearn, to play superman? Absolutely NOT.

Remember Boagrius from the movie Troy (the giant guy Pitt kills in the beginning scene)? That was 6’11.5” 360+ pound bodybuilder, and WSM competitor Nathan Jones. That kind of build is WAY too massive for a role like superman, but would not be bad for a Juggernaut doomsday type character.

I think that bodybuilders tend to look way too muscular and especially the steroid using ones would just look cartoonish as Superman, on top of that they tend to be under 6 foot (not always the case, but many of them are), and even the taller ones these days still tend to be too built for the role of superman.

One thing we do agree on is that superman is ripped. He may not be a bodybuilder, but he can be very lean. No one wants a fat superman.

Then there is the “logical” argument that superman should be skinny because he could not lift weights to increase his muscular size. Nothing in the known galaxy would give him that type of resistance training. Not unless he was working out with planets, right?

WRONG, that is applying human physiology to him too much. If that were the case by the same logic superman would look sickly atrophied as everyday life would not give him the resistance his muscles need to maintain themselves!

Clark is an ALIEN, he can simply have whatever build that a Kryptonian has when under a yellow sun. No need to put logic to it, a strong lean muscular build (but NOT super-heavyweight bodybuilder), at a height of 6’3”. He can look like a guy who lifts weights even though he does not actually have to in order to maintain his body.

Then there is the Clark Kent argument, seriously, you think if a guy looked well built in a suit, that people would just assume he is a superhero? Absurd, it is well known that millions of men in the US. Lift weight to stay in shape, be muscular and healthy, and any one who knows him would just think “well he was a big farm kid, and he must work out”.

Also the real reason no one find his secret identity is that no one is looking for it! He does not wear a mask, so most people in the DC universe might just assume he does not have an identity he is trying to protect.

Now, officially, according to DC comics superman is 6’3” and 225 pounds. Sometimes it is printed as 235, like in the DC encyclopedia, but I will go with the 225 just to be conservative.

I happen to know what a lean 225 at 6’3” should look like. I know that some magazines have printed that Routh is 220 (even one typo that he was 250) yeah right!

Bull*****, Routh is not even 210, unless his bodyfat is >15%, and that IMHO is not lean enough to be superman if that is the case.

Some people may be thinking; “I have a friend who is 220 at 6’2”, and he does not look very muscular at all, to be muscular you got to be like 250”, well if that is the case your friend has a lot of bodyfat making up his weight%, or he is padding his weight to sound bigger.

I know several guys in my company who do work out, lift weights and who are lean by army standards, and weigh between 220-230, and are 6’2”-6’4”, and they all look way bigger than Routh does.

There are several guys who are the same weight as the guys who work out a lot, but who do not work out as much, and the difference is huge. The guys who work out minimally still are in half ways decent shape, and although they are not as lean as the better shape guys, even though they weigh similar, the visual difference in muscular size is huge. It all has to do with the bodyfat %. 6% fat vs. 18% at the same weight the 6% will look far more muscled.

6’3” at around 225 pounds, ripped, is actually more like an in-between Vin Diesel, and the Rock build. Vin only weighs about 210, and the Rock in the Run Down, and Walking tall weighed about 245 pounds at 6’5”.

So what Singer should have done was found a guy of that build with a face that resembled the current comic superman, and who can act, and I am sure that lots of guys can fit that bill.

That is just the way it is. Physically, IMHO Routh does just not look like a "superman", at all.

Reeve I think could have been about 15-20 pounds more muscular for his superman portrayal; and that still would not have been bodybuilder or muscle-bound proportions, or even closely resemble a Schwarzenegger look at all.

His face also does not look right, he looks too young. His face lacks the masculine qualities that Christopher Reeves had. Sure he may resemble Reeves, when Chris was 16 years old, but Routh does not look like superman to me. Not at all.

I think that the costume has also been changed too much. All the small changes add up to being a big change, and the hair cut on him is too long. Superman does not have a buzz cut, and sure his hair should be long enough to be wavy as Superman, but still look like a conservative business haircut on Clark.

Also the portrayal of Clark in modern day comics is much more head strong and less nerdy than it was during the Reeve era. More like the Bruce Tim animated Superman cartoon than the previous Superman movies.

This is what a lean, 6'3" guy looks like.

Though I hear that DC has bumped Superman's comic book height up to 6'4" because the movies keep saying he's 6'4" like the late Chris Reeve.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

I won't bother taking the time to reply to all you've written since it's so utterly wrong. Thanks for playing though.

Right.......so, I'm SO wrong, you won't reply?

LMFAO.....wow, you should be a politician. I mean, wow......talk about runnining around.

Bale is 6'1 (if your cynical) to 6'2. He's NOT 6'0.

And Routh is between 6'3 and 6'4, although....honestly...I keep hearing 6'4.