Dean Cain's Clark pretty much made me believe in Superman again. As a kid, I didn't care for the camp of the old movies. They we're fun and good action. But as a teen and adult now, I just need a character to relate to. The whole Kal-El/Clark/Superman crap from those movies just doesn't work for me.
"Lois & Clark" and the TAS versions are the way to go with Superman today. I love the way Clark and Lois interact and the way Luthor works against them and Supes.
Yes, Superman is different from other comic heroes because of the switched disguise. Thats fine and dandy, keep it to the comics. A movie must have a main character I can relate to, otherwise I don't care for him. When i wanna see a freaky alien creature that longs for acception in humanity, I watch "Hellboy". Even though I want a superhero movie to stick close to the source, there need to be slight adaptations to work in a movieworld. For ex.: the organic webbing for Spider-Man. It creates smoother stories and makes more sense on the screen because Peter is a normal guy rather than a crazy weird scientist teenboy. That way more people can relate to him and understand him.
Superman is, if you erase the Krypton origin, just a human with powers. He grew up on a farm and when the time was right, he created himself a disguise and went public to make the world a better place. The disguise is stupid whatever way you turn it. He wears no mask and at least the DP staff would expose him very fast. But that's part of the character in every portrayal, accept it or don't watch it.
The whole alien heritage was added to give him more stories, seeing as he was intended to be a Sci-Fi character. That doesn't erase his 20 something years he grew up as human on a farm. When he finds the fortress or creates it (whatever you like) he uses the knowledge to help earth and other civilizations in space. He doesn't suddenly turn into some weird alien that plays human like the old movies showed it. Donner worked with the material he was given at the time and if DC wouldn't have made a clean cut and recreated Superman in a more "Marvel" way, he would be dead by now.
That's my main problem with "Returns". I can't connect to the characters. Superman is some stupid alien I don't care for, Lois is a bit and the rest of the cast is plain boring. I can forgive a terrible story as long as the characters work, but in this case they just do not.
I wouldn't bring back Dean Cain, but someone who can act, looks the part and plays the Superman I, and many other people, know since the 90's.
