Which ones have worked and stood the test of time? The rose tinted glasses for Superman 1 and 2 are finally wearing off.
Based on what? Reeve is still held as the gold standard as far as Supes is concerned. As for the film, some of the most successful film origin stories of this era owe a lot to the template which the original Donner film perfected, as per the words of the creatives behind them such as
Nolan,
Jenkins, and
Feige.
So where are you getting this consensus the appeal of those films have worn off in any significant way?
Returns is liked by critics, disliked by Fans.
A film's longevity isn't going to be determined by the critics who liked it at time of release. Legacies are cemented by the audience and fanbase's reverence for it. SR will most definitely fall by the wayside, if it hasn't already.
Lois and Clark when brought up generate the "oh yeah, that happened" response.
It's a show very much of its time, but the cast still gets props. I know plenty of fans who hold their performances as top favorites for their respective roles.
Smallville is highly criticized to the point you suspect it only went 9 seasons because people were hate watching it.
Clark was carried by nearly everything else going on that show. For as much hate as people give it, it lasted a long damn time and the lore it built around itself is fairly impressive considering the restraints.
George Reeves has passed from living memory.
No arguments here.
STAS, JL, JLU are the Adaptations that still have a mostly positive reception and will be the ones to stand the test of time even though Timmverse Superman is even more Stone faced serious and put through the emotional ringer than Cavill Superman.
It's going to sound like sacrilege, but I truly believe Timmverse Supes has been uplifted by the tremendous goodwill of the universe itself more than the performance and writing. Much like Welling, Daly/Newburn didn't have many shining moments on their own show. I agree it definitely leaned into the more somber/serious take, but it's excused because everything around it was so well done.
I say all that to say --- if we're solely focusing on who succeeded with audiences as Superman/Clark, on the strength of their own talents and the writing behind them...it's only been Reeve and Cain. And maybe throw an asterisk on Hoechlin, as his appearances have been too minor (but the support is clearly there).
There's a commonality between all of them, and I'd argue that DNA hasn't been seen on film in decades.
