The Official Tom Welling Thread

[bizbaz20]

Yeah, Tom's totally lost his figure.


He used to have such a great body and I don't know where it's gone.


I admit working 16 hour days everyday would be exhausting but c'mon, if you're gonna get in that Superman costume you gotta be TONED!!

 

[sarahg89]

He still has the V taper at his waistline as well which isn't something you'd usually see on someone if they were out of shape.

That is so hot on him!

He's just grown up, that's why he's bulkier. What his body isn't allowed to change in 10 years?! Geez, some people...

 

[Webhead2006]

I don't rwally see his face more pudgy just more define and mature since he is 33 and was 25 when show first started.

 

[Mike22]

I'll give you that Tom doesnt look as jacked as he did during "Spell" in Season 4 but to say he looks "bad" and "pudgy" in just WAY off base.

IMO, during that torture scene, he did in fact look bad. The lats are were gone completely, the shoulders looked underdeveloped and the abs weren't as they were before, and overall just not ripped. The only thing that looked good were the biceps.
It was only when he rose from the chair and the light hit him in a more favorable way that his more Supermanly big boned look appeared.

As for the "pudgy" comment. Due to him gaining more weight and neglecting his work out, his face has added more fat, therefore loosing the more bony look he sported the earlier seasons. That was a truly worthy Superman look and made him look like a comic book character come to life. His present look isn't entirely like that, not as square and defined as it once was, not necessarily bad, but not as comic book like as it once was. Maybe not entirely "pudgy", but definitely "pudgier" than before for sure.

 

[Webhead2006]

well maybe if the break they are having is longer then the usual length it can give welling time to rest from working on both hellcats(though i dont know how much say he has in it) and sv. And maybe give him some time to work out a bit. I still think he looks fine.

 

[Batgort]

I actually think his face in the past 2 seasons has gone full superman, as opposed to kid-superman. My comment on lower muscle mass, was that in season 8? he had bigger arms/chest. Not saying he looks pudgy, nor does he look bad.... just lower muscle mass than previous season. One could theorize he's trying to "shrink" to fit into the SR suit. Or you could theorize he's not bulking up as much anymore if he doesn't have time

 

[Webhead2006]

I doubt he is loseing size to fit in routh suit. Its been stated before they only using it as a prop and tom likely isn't going to be wearing that actuql suit. Plus even if he did it would need to be retaliored to fit him. And I doubt they would be able to alter it since its from wb archives lot. If anything while smallvillegets to use it there costume folks are using some elements/concepts from it as much as I hate the sr suit. To build/ make there one tom will will. We don't know. Plus I think he could bulk up more if he wants to or the producers want him to. If he isn't wearing the final suit to last episode that wont be shoting to april. So they have there upxcoming break in dec he could work out more. Plus also if I recall during shooting of most second half of seasons there is another short break in production so he could do more working out. But like I dod point out. We don't know how much free time he has when not working on sv and hellcats.

 

[sarahg89]

I actually think his face in the past 2 seasons has gone full superman, as opposed to kid-superman. My comment on lower muscle mass, was that in season 8? he had bigger arms/chest. Not saying he looks pudgy, nor does he look bad.... just lower muscle mass than previous season. One could theorize he's trying to "shrink" to fit into the SR suit. Or you could theorize he's not bulking up as much anymore if he doesn't have time

I agree that his face does look more Supermanly now. I noticed his lower muscle mass too last season. It seemed like he was getting leaner again as opposed to bulked up. I could really tell in the last Clois scene in Persuasion when he was wearing that navy blue shirt. I think he looks great for Superman either way. I know he's gonna fill out that suit nicely.

And I'm glad he knows he's in awesome shape because I got Tom shirtless 3 eps in a row now! t:

 

[B]

His face doesn't really look pudgy in comparison to earlier seasons, he just looks older..

Infact if anything he looks more like Superman now than he did in those earlier seasons because he had quite a fresh face & a very teen'ish/young look.

 

[MJZ]

He's clearly not as lean as he was say in Season 3 but by no means looks "bad."

 

[Johnny]

Yep, if he looked bad, he wouldn't play Superman. And he's better than in let's say S6.

 

[Mike22]

well maybe if the break they are having is longer then the usual length it can give welling time to rest from working on both hellcats(though i dont know how much say he has in it) and sv. And maybe give him some time to work out a bit. I still think he looks fine.

I've been hoping this will happen myself. That he takes advantage of his little break from filming and hits the gym. Frankly all he needs is to work on shoulders (above all)and lats and lose some fat for definition and he's good to go. He may not be as defined as he once was, but he's still a very big guy, and just needs some tweaks here and there and then bring on the suit.

He's clearly not as lean as he was say in Season 3 but by no means looks "bad."

My slight criticism of Welling on this particular area can be compared to that of a strict teacher pushing his best student to work harder to achieve he best possible result because he knows that his student has incredible potential for greatness.
You get the point.
All I'm saying is, he can and should look better.

 

[Webhead2006]

Well hopefully he does do it with break but if not I still think he is just fine now.

 

[Man of Tomorrow]

He looks the same as recent years

(3 years ago)

 

[triplet]

He looks the same as recent years

(3 years ago)

That second link is broken, it looks like, I'd be curious which image that was, but I saw Abandoned again today and I agree he hasn't changed much in recent years.

I don't think he looks 'flabby' or 'out of shape' at all, or even fat.

Yeah, he's beefier than he was when he was younger, but he isn't fat. No, he's not as cut as he was back in earlier seasons, but that doesn't necessarily equate to him looking fat or flabby.

In the first part the scene after his shirt was off his arms were up and were spread out by those chains, stretching his muscles and making them flatten out.

It's when muscles flex that they look bigger.

In the part of the scene where Granny Goodness had him strapped to the chair, he looked beefier because his muscles were flexed.

Keep in mind that those scenes were probably shot the same day, or on subsquent days, because they were in the same location. He didn't suddenly lose muscle tone within hours or over night.

I only think I can think of what people were seeing was the way that scene was shot (the harsh lighting) and his body position that made him look less beefy.

 

[Mike22]

Well hopefully he does do it with break but if not I still think he is just fine now.

"Fine" is not good enough, Spandex is very unforgiving. Sure the overall big guy look is there and he's not "fat" by pure definition, but he's gonna put the spandex suit on in a few months and well, let's just put it this way, if the new Superman actor for the reboot was in this kinda shape for the movie, he'd be criticized mercilessly. He looks OK, but that's not enough when wearing spandex. But hey, at the end of the day I understand him, he doesn't have the time, but since we're getting close to the finale and the unavoidable suit, I'd recommend he hit the gym, unless they really aren't planning on showing him in the suit in which case building himself up to a higher level wouldn't serve any real purpose.

 

[MJZ]

All of that stuff is influenced almost entirely by changes in body water levels. Why do you think bodybuilders resort to diuretics right before a contest, getting rid of the water reveals all the fine "cuts" and definition once you've lowered your body fat as low as it will go. Same goes with muscle size. Your muscles have more in common with water balloons than they do with bricks.

Tom looks fine. He doesn't appear all that tan either another big factor influencing the look of his physique.

He fills out those t-shirts just fine it is still impressive.

 

[Mike22]

All of that stuff is influenced almost entirely by changes in body water levels. Why do you think bodybuilders resort to diuretics right before a contest, getting rid of the water reveals all the fine "cuts" and definition once you've lowered your body fat as low as it will go. Same goes with muscle size. Your muscles have more in common with water balloons than they do with bricks.

Diuretics? Lol, Welling can piss away all the water he wants, it's still not gonna magically make his shoulders bigger and rounder so to say, or his lats more developed, which you need if you're gonna be wearing Spandex and all, at least if you wanna look good. I'm fully aware of the nature of muscles, but Welling relies way to much on his big-boned body type.
Puffing up ones chest and good lighting can only get him so far. No doubt he's still a very big guy, but that's not as much because of his muscles as it is more to his natural size. Still a big guy, an does pack on muscles, just not as much as it appears on screen.

He fills out those t-shirts just fine it is still impressive.

I've ALWAYS been impressed with Wellings size, but that's 95% more due to his big-boned nature than his actual muscles.
With Wellings body type good lighting and a puffed up chest give the illusion of pure muscles, especially when the t-shirt is designed to accentuate the frame by being tight around the chest and loose in the lower sections, but that's something that wont work to the same degree when wearing spandex, because in that case every inch of his body will be revealed and not just the frame as is the case with the t-shirt.

Three pictures, same episode, one from filming and two from behind the scenes.
Impressive isn't it?!

Now for when the lighting isn't as favorable and he hasn't puffed up his chest. His more natural state isn't quite as impressive.

Point being, he has to hit the gym, pronto. Work on shoulders above all, lats and lose as much weight as he can for definition. He should be able to do it within the next few months.

 

[sarahg89]

Dude, you really need to not be so freakin worried about Tom in the suit, lol. Many of the actors that have been in superhero films have had their muscles enhanced with body pads, lighting, and shading on the costumes. I even think I've read somewhere about Justin Hartley talking about them using body pads under his Green Arrow suit sometimes. The crew is going to do everything they can I'm sure, to make Tom look absolutely perfect in that suit. In my opinion he won't need much help though.

As for the pics from homecoming, he's relaxed and standing with his shoulders hunched. He's not required to be in character 24/7. On the show he just stands up straight holding his rib cage up resulting in a puffed out chest. That doesn't mean what you see really isn't there or as big, it just depends on the way a person carries themselves.

 

[Mike22]

Dude, you really need to not be so freakin worried about Tom in the suit, lol. Many of the actors that have been in superhero films have had their muscles enhanced with body pads, lighting, and shading on the costumes. I even think I've read somewhere about Justin Hartley talking about them using body pads under his Green Arrow suit sometimes. The crew is going to do everything they can I'm sure, to make Tom look absolutely perfect in that suit. In my opinion he won't need much help though.

Guys like Routh, who are physically wrong for the part need padding.
Welling doesn't, in any frikkin way. If he ends up looking bad, it's due to a lack of effort on his own side. I don't blame Brandon Routh for looking bad, he has a poor bone structure, but I will blame the hell out of Welling if he ends up looking like he does now, because he does have the proper bone structure.
People always blamed me for favoring Welling when I criticized Routh for his weak build and thought I was incapable of doing the same to Welling, they were wrong. As he is, he's in NO shape to put on spandex.
And I do think about it because this is my favorite Superhero and Welling has incredible potential to be like the comic book superman, and this might very well be the only time we'll ever see someone as physically accurate.

As for the pics from homecoming, he's relaxed and standing with his shoulders hunched.

His relaxed state shows his true appearance. And IMO not a very supermanly build.

He's not required to be in character 24/7.

No, but it shows his true size when he's not puffing his chest.

I always expected him to look like this by the last season. He has disappointed big time.

Compare this to that picture of Welling as it is very similar in pose and look at the difference.
Puts Welling to frikkin shame.

 

[DavidB1111]

It's not really fair to compare Tom Welling to Vin Diesel.
Vin Diesel was a freaking bouncer at a club. He's built like the proverbial brick wall you don't want to mess with. And he's awesome because he used to play D&D and says he's kind of a nerd.

Tom is an actor first and foremost.


Tom Welling is good at playing Superman. He doesn't need to pump iron to the point where he can juggle anvils. Which the world's strongest man could do.

Really, you cannot compare Tom to Vin.
It's like comparing a heavily armored car (Tom) to a freight Train (Vin). Sure they're both strong.

But a train will always beat a car. Especially head on.

 

[Mike22]

It's not really fair to compare Tom Welling to Vin Diesel.
Vin Diesel was a freaking bouncer at a club. He's built like the proverbial brick wall you don't want to mess with. And he's awesome because he used to play D&D and says he's kind of a nerd.

Tom is an actor first and foremost.


Tom Welling is good at playing Superman. He doesn't need to pump iron to the point where he can juggle anvils. Which the world's strongest man could do.

Really, you cannot compare Tom to Vin.
It's like comparing a heavily armored car (Tom) to a freight Train (Vin). Sure they're both strong.

But a train will always beat a car. Especially head on.

We were talking about muscles, and body types, bones structure.
I had seen one of his movies and remembered thinking to myself that Superman should have that type of look so I goggled and that picture came up.
It was a mere example of what proper looking muscles look like, and what a huge difference they make.
And just so we're clear, a fully pumped up Tom Welling will look much better than Diesel, he has a superior bone structure.

 

[DavidB1111]

However, Tom hasn't gone south.

I knew you were talking about Muscles. I just thought you were trying to compare the two in a way that's not really fair.

And yeah, maybe if Tom felt like pumping iron he'd look good.

Heck, I'm 6 foot 2, and I weigh 314 pounds. I'm the one who needs to lose weight here, and put on tons of muscle, which weighs more. Not Tom.

He looks fine to me. He has his shirt off enough at it is, just like Justin. I think the female fans are happy enough with what he looks like.

I just don't think it's fair to say Tom needs to train up his muscles that much.

Also, Superman, look at Christopher Reeve, and then look at a picture of Silver Age Superman.
They were close to a degree. Because back then, Superman wasn't overdrawn with crazy muscles.
I think Tom Welling can pull off what Christopher Reeve did, which is wear the suit, and be a good Superman.

 

[Mike22]

However, Tom hasn't gone south.
I knew you were talking about Muscles. I just thought you were trying to compare the two in a way that's not really fair.

DUDE, this has nothing to do with fair or unfair. I argued that Welling needs to work out because he has the potential to look truly amazing and people can't help but jump to his defense to what they perceived as harsh criticism.
He DOES need to work out more. That picture of Diesel is what he could be if he really had given a bit more of an effort, like he did for season 7 when he came back and looked huge.

He looks fine to me. He has his shirt off enough at it is, just like Justin. I think the female fans are happy enough with what he looks like.

I couldn't possibly care any less what the females think of him or how often his shirt is off, it's the end result I'm taking into account.

I just don't think it's fair to say Tom needs to train up his muscles that much.

Why? What is that diesel has on him that Welling couldn't get?
Big shoulders,( a small muscle group to work out and is fully doable in the time he has left) bigger triceps, also fully doable and loose some weight for definition, and that's that. I'm not asking him to go all bodybuilder, just enough so he'll do justice to Superman.

They were close to a degree. Because back then, Superman wasn't overdrawn with crazy muscles.
I think Tom Welling can pull off what Christopher Reeve did, which is wear the suit, and be a good Superman.

I think he already IS a good Superman, but is lacking a few things for the actual suit.

 

[sarahg89]

I'm not saying Tom needs body pads. I was just making a point that not all actors who are cast in big films have the absolute perfect physique like in the comics. You seem to have this extremely high standard for what Superman looks like in your mind. And judging by the pic of Diesel, you like him bulging muscle out of his tights. I don't prefer Superman that way so I'm ok with Tom's build the way it is. However, you are entitled to your opinion. I just think it's extremely harsh to keep emphasizing that Tom is in NO shape to wear the suit when he is in fact very good physical condition. He is going to be able to wear the suit and look amazing, just maybe not what you have pictured in your own mind.

Also, Superman, look at Christopher Reeve, and then look at a picture of Silver Age Superman.
They were close to a degree. Because back then, Superman wasn't overdrawn with crazy muscles.
I think Tom Welling can pull off what Christopher Reeve did, which is wear the suit, and be a good Superman.

^This

Same day from behind the scenes of homecoming. Doesn't look like he's trying too hard to puff out his chest.