The Superman Look: Shaping Superman

[halfapple]

One way or the other, it looks like he has alot of working out to do for the sequel. recent pic:

Looks to me as if Routh's body has gone catabolic.

I'm sure he will get back into the gym to work out and get his groove back on ~ but honestly I do not belive he is into working out and trying to improve where he left off from the SR.

Well I guess there is always the short cut for him to get anabolic again and kick start that metabolism.

Reeve continued to workout and shared his what knowledge he came to know about lifting and improving himself. For both the role as Superman and just for himself and his health.

I certainly wish Routh would do something similar in say Muscle and Fitness magazine and entire 3 page interview from the Man of Steel himself. But I doubt that would happen - because it would have happend already if he was into that sort of thing.

So disappointed that he never shared how he prepared to become the Man of Steel physically.

Sure there is the DVD cut ~ but I am refering to an acctual interview/article, it would be inspiring to both young and old just to read about it from the Man of Steel.

But yeah, Routh looks catabolic!

 

[jcas0516]

I wonder if the costume designer created costume without the low trunks. Or with a bigger "S". And maybe a wider neck seam??? Its ashame we never get to see pre-custom designs.

 

[lujho]

I wonder if the costume designer created costume without the low trunks. Or with a bigger "S". And maybe a wider neck seam??? Its ashame we never get to see pre-custom designs.

I'm sure they did do some of those things, especially when they were working on the other guy's lifecast with the different body type, before Routh was cast.


The male model who's bodycast they were using had more ideal proportions - Routh was less than ideal so that had to adapt (somewhat unsuccessfully).

 

[SatEL]

Anyway back on topic yes i think Routh really needs to do some more training but as we saw in the dvd of returns it wasnt his fault he didnt get bigger they told him to stop.

 

[JamalYIgle]

Reeve continued to workout and shared his what knowledge he came to know about lifting and improving himself. For both the role as Superman and just for himself and his health.

I wonder where you got that idea from...

This is a still from Deathtrap whcih came out a year after Superman 2. While there is some definiton,Reeve was no where near the shape he was in Superman.

 

[Brainiac 2009]

Yep Reeve lost alot of weight after filming and put on like double for the third film.

Brandon could easily do the same.

 

[NotFadeAway]

Muscle Memory!

 

[SatEL]

Welling doesnt train.

Of course welling trains you can see he has made vast improvements from season1 to season4 and then in season5 dont know what the hell happened to him but he put on more BF and Season 6 is still debatable.

 

[Brainiac 2009]

It's prolly just casual exercise not crazy training.

He prolly has a weightroom at his home.

 

[Manhunter]

Muscle Memory!

FTW!!

 

[Brainiac 2009]

For the record, neither Tom, Brandon or Chris started out naturally big at first. They all got bigger over time; and in Brandon's case the least amount of time (5 weeks) led to the least result so far.

But if Chris can go from way skinner than Brandon started off at, in Chris' audition to his built in Superman III....and Tom from this;

to where he is now; It's definately possible for Brandon given the right time and training.

 

[DorkyFresh]

i've said it before and i'll say it again...if you didn't have a problem with Reeve's build, then you shouldn't have a problem with Routh's.

edit: once again...all that's really needed is small changes in the proportions of the suit. a wider neckline and a higher waistline...those 2 things ALONE would make Routh look much bigger.

 

[Spider-jedi]

looking at thoses pictures just makes me hate the color of the cape and boots brandon has on

 

[Super Kal]

yep, me too...

 

[SatEL]

i've said it before and i'll say it again...if you didn't have a problem with Reeve's build, then you shouldn't have a problem with Routh's.

edit: once again...all that's really needed is small changes in the proportions of the suit. a wider neckline and a higher waistline...those 2 things ALONE would make Routh look much bigger.

The diffrence is that Reeve didnt have a muscle suit on all that was natural.

 

[LadyVader]

Because the fabric was a lot thinner. Routh didn't need padding because he wasn't buff. He needed padding because the material was constricting.

 

[DorkyFresh]

The diffrence is that Reeve didnt have a muscle suit on all that was natural.

true, Routh had a muscle suit but it wasn't because he wasn't big enough. the fabric that Routh had to wear was so tight that it actually compressed his muscles and smoothed out most of the definition on his body, so to combat that problem they went with a muscle suit to fill in what the suit took away. in other words, if Routh were to wear the same material Reeve wore he'd probably look just as big as he did with the muscle suit and ultra tight fabric.

 

[Manhunter]

...
edit: once again...all that's really needed is small changes in the proportions of the suit. a wider neckline and a higher waistline...those 2 things ALONE would make Routh look much bigger.

Here's hoping Singer clues in.

 

[lujho]

i've said it before and i'll say it again...if you didn't have a problem with Reeve's build, then you shouldn't have a problem with Routh's.

edit: once again...all that's really needed is small changes in the proportions of the suit. a wider neckline and a higher waistline...those 2 things ALONE would make Routh look much bigger.

But you can see chris is clearly broader. It's not about how much muscle development each has - Routh has about the same amount packed onto his frame and it is visibly much more sculpted thanks to the suit and so on...


... BUT Chris is simply broader and looks better as Superman. If you somehow had Brandon's naked skeleton alongside Chris', you be able to see and measure the difference between them, completely regardless of muscle and fat.

If Chris was wearing Brandon's suit with its padding... he's look as sculpted as Brandon AND be bigger/broader. Seriously, if Chris had had a suit like that (speedo fastskin bodysuit, foam latex under-padding) he would have looked absolutely AMAZINGLY PERFECT, rather than just "as good as they could to for the time". Brandon will never look as good as Chris potentially could have because of his narrow frame. It's a simple matter of the shape and size of his actual bones.

Not that I don't think they can dramatically improve his look with a few design tricks and some extra muscle/padding, but never as much as someone with Reeve's build could potentially be.

 

[DorkyFresh]

But you can see chris is clearly broader.

as an artist who's been studying anatomy for over 10 years, no i cannot CLEARLY see that...their body types are close enough to compare. about the only thing that Reeve has over Routh is wideness of the waist. once again, the reason Routh looks so slim is mainly because of the cut of his suit. look what happens if you just give Routh the same kind of cut on his trunks that Reeve has (not messing with body proportions)...

suddenly Routh doesn't seem so "slim". this manip shows just how important of a role the cut of his trunks play when it comes to Superman's image.

 

[DrMylesOBoogie]

Routh's main problem is his hair which is too long and brushed to the wrong side. I agree that the suit is rubbish and it was stupid for them to make all the suits as he was still getting in shape.

 

[Majik1387]

He looks better slimmer.

 

[bigtizzle]

In that red carpet pic is Brandon wearing a shirt that says Eastvale Logging Camp? Isn't that from Warcraft? What an odd fashion choice. . .

 

[lujho]

as an artist who's been studying anatomy for over 10 years, no i cannot CLEARLY see that...their body types are close enough to compare. about the only thing that Reeve has over Routh is wideness of the waist. once again, the reason Routh looks so slim is mainly because of the cut of his suit. look what happens if you just give Routh the same kind of cut on his trunks that Reeve has (not messing with body proportions)...

suddenly Routh doesn't seem so "slim". this manip shows just how important of a role the cut of his trunks play when it comes to Superman's image.

Well, the change in Routh's beltline does improve the appearance of his proportions, but he still has narrower proportions than Reeve. Reeve's broader chest is fairly obvious. Actually, very obvious. I mean, look at the width of Reeve's pectorals in comparison to his hips. Then look at Routh:

Routh has the look of a narrow chest - a very unremarkable looking chest - with some really impressive big shoulders on either side. Reeve, and Gerard Butler in the first post has the look of a wide chest, which is kind of spreading out in front of the shoulders a little bit.

Routh's chest is not much wider than his hips. Reeve's is significantly wider. Routh's Torso is a rectangle, Reeve's is a trapezoid:

Routh has these huge developed back muscles and muscles under his arms (the sides of his ribcage) though. From the back and in silhouette he really DOES look broad and top-heavy (in a good way - the way Superman should). But then you see this narrow little chest sitting in the front and it's just... less than impressive.

If this wasn't the case, Routh's S-shield would have been bigger. You can see it takes up about the same proportion of the width of his chest as Reeve's does - nipple to nipple, it looks like - but it is clearly smaller than Reeve's.

I don't know... maybe it's something that can be fixed. Either by developing the muscles differently or with padding. I sure hope so. I just get the image of Routh developing his chest more than in the first film and his pecs simply protrude more and more and not getting any wider at all.

As an aside: Reeve in a bodysuit like Routh's - I manipped this a while ago, overlaying Routh's suit on Reeve's body as accurately as I could. What Reeve could have looked like with modern costuming:

 

[DorkyFresh]

i see how Reeve's chest is a lil' wider than Routh's but the problem with your comparison is that Routh is in a relaxed state while it's obvious that Reeve is deliberately sticking his chest out (shoulders back) to make his chest appear bigger than it normally is. not to mention you can tell that the restricting fabric is squeezing at Routh's armpits which can create the illusion that his chest isn't as wide as it really is. you can tell it's squeezing because the folds on Routh's armpits point straight up instead of outwards like Reeve's do.

anyway, i've already conceded that Routh's chest is probably a tad thinner than Reeve's, but it's close enough to compare. if us 2 artists are having a debate over their bodies then they're obviously similar enough to warrant me saying "if you didn't have a problem with Reeve's build then you shouldn't have a problem with Routh's".

besides...Routh had about 5 months to get from regular shape to as big as he got and he got pretty damn close to Reeve's build, so with more time to prepare he'll undoubtedly achieve a bigger look for the sequel.