> Buy the complete Superman Blu-ray boxset on Amazon.

Christopher Reeve
(Superman I-IV, 1978-1987)

Sadly wrenched from our grasp, Christopher Reeve was a human being practically constructed in Superman’s image. Sporting all-American good looks – with a jaw that could topple buildings – and coupling it with an easy, likeable charm, he even won over disillusioned co-creator Joe Shuster, who said simply ‘I got chills. Chris Reeve…really is Superman’. More high praise, we cannot think of.

That he also managed to win over cinema audiences and critics the world over is testament to a fine performance in at least two rather fine films. With luck, despite Superman being rebooted for 2013’s Man Of Steel under the watchful eye of Christopher Nolan, we won’t forget who truly brought Superman to the forefront of cinematic heroes.

Tom Welling
(Smallville, 2001-2011)

Okay, so this one is sort of a cheat, as strictly speaking, Welling didn’t actually step into the famous blue and red costume until the final scene of the final episode of the series, but for an entire generation, he is Clark Kent. Over the course of 10 seasons, he evolved from a bullet-proof farm boy who had to deal with some rather contrived teenage versions of Supes’ lesser-known villains to a fully-fledged hero, fighting off the likes of Darkseid and Doomsday.

It was always a slightly risky move to combine super powers with high school dramatics, but in a way, this is perhaps the essential version of the hero previously known as Superboy, with Welling cutting mustard as the awkward, shy teenager that would surely grow into the Daily Planet reporter we know and love, as well as developing the steel-eyed persona of his alter-ego.

George Reeves
(The Adventures Of Superman, 1952-1958)

Reeves is perhaps the old school Superman that everyone actually remembers, if only for the fact that he was another of the many lives that were claimed by the so-called ‘curse of Superman’.

People usually forget the powerful figure that strutted across the television screens of the 1950s, mesmerising audiences with heroics featuring state of the art visual effects, which these days come off as deliciously kitsch. He was also the first to nail the dichotomy between Superman and Clark Kent, and despite the fact that he never squared off against any of the key members of the DC rogues’ gallery, the sheer variety of colourful mob bosses and mad scientists kept audiences entertained for six triumphant years, until the woes of being typecast got the better of Reeves. A sad end to a rather brilliant series.

Kirk Alyn
(Superman and Atom Man Vs Superman, 1948/1950)

If you haven’t seen the deliciously old school Superman serials from the late 1940s, you pretty much owe it to yourself to seek them out. Featuring delightful special effects – given their budget limitations – that combine some superb miniature work and hand-drawn animation in a rather admirable attempt to convince you that a man can fly, Kirk Alyn is the glue that keeps it from falling apart.

In typical early 20th century fashion, he plays Supes as a straight-cut hero, all out-thrust chest and heroic one-liners, so heroic it can’t help but bleed over into Clark Kent. The prototypical live-action Superman, he set the bar for Reeves to follow.

Brandon Routh
(Superman Returns, 2006)

It was always going to be difficult, following in the late, great Christopher Reeve’s distinguished footsteps, and it’s hugely telling that it took 19 years for the big blue Boy Scout to return to the big screen. But return he did, both literally and titularly, in 2006’s Superman Returns. Whatever faults you may have found with Bryan Singer’s movie, it is incredibly difficult to find fault with Routh’s rather uncanny recreation of the cinematic Superman that we knew and loved.

He didn’t just nail the look – although he could almost be Reeve’s son – he also nailed the mannerisms, both as the last son of Krypton himself and as Clark Kent. A fitting tribute to a legend, it’s just such a shame that the film itself couldn’t have been better received.

> Read our review of Man of Steel.

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Watch the Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology trailer…