Today, I’m going to rank all the men who’ve played Superman in a live-action film or TV show thus far, based on my opinion of their performances.

First, I’m going to start with four “honorable mentions,” as three of these men didn’t technically play Superman, but are almost close enough.

4) NICOLAS CAGE

I remember back in the late 1990s when the rumors of him playing Superman in a film directed by Tim Burton first surfaced, and I think I was one of the few people at the time who wanted to see that happen. No, he doesn’t look like you’d typically envision Superman to look, but I’d been a longtime fan of Nic Cage, ever since I saw him in Valley Girl, so something just told me that he could pull it off. This brief CGI-generated cameo in The Flash was honestly one of the highlights of that mostly-forgetable film and it makes me even more regretful that the Burton film never happened.

3) GERARD CHRISTOPHER

He played SuperBOY in the second to fourth seasons of the syndicated Superboy TV series from 1989 to 1992. His Clark/Superman was decent, but after the second season, I stopped watching the show regularly and would only catch a few episodes now and then.

2) JOHN HAYMES NEWTON

He starred in the first season of Superboy from 1989 to 1990, and he was the best actor. He made us feel like we were watching the early adventures of Christopher Reeve’s Superman. He also had better on-screen chemistry with Stacy Haiduk, who played Lana Lang for the entire series, than I thought Gerard did.

1) TOM WELLING

From 2001 to 2017, he played Clark Kent in the TV series Smallville. The biggest problem with the show is that it was a victim of its own success in that it just ran too darn long. But I guess as long as the ratings were profitable, WB/CW wanted to keep it on the air. To me, the first four seasons were the best, focusing on the show’s original premise about Clark Kent going to High School in Smallville while trying to learn more about his developing superpowers. Once he graduated and started going to college in Metropolis, it just didn’t feel the same because now it’s like, why isn’t he Superman yet? But the show just kept stalling that decision even as it embraced more of the traditional Superman tropes, including having him meet and start dating Lois Lane and them both working at the Daily Planet. But through it all, Welling’s earnest performance as Clark remained perfect. It’s a shame we never got a chance to see him properly play Superman.

Now, on to the big guns…

7) KIRK ALYN

He’s basically last on the list by default, as he played Superman in the 1948 Superman movie serial and its 1950 sequel Atom Man vs. Superman. I know I tracked both down on video and watched them when I was a kid, just out of my love for the character, but I really don’t remember much about either of them (and don’t feel inclined to rewatch then now), other than that I liked its unique trick of switching to animation for the scenes that had Superman flying.

6) BRANDON ROUTH

I almost hate to put him so low on the list, as I believe that he had the potential to be a great Superman. He played the title role in the 2006 film Superman Returns, and he did a great job with the material he was given, but that just wasn’t a good film, and he was restrained by the fact that he was basically playing Christopher Reeve’s version of Superman, which just made him feel like a cheap imitation to me. I believe he would have been much better if he’d starred in a complete reboot as a new young Superman. I think he was somewhat redeemed when he reprised the role years later in the big Arrowverse TV crossover.

5) TYLER HOECHLIN

He’s another actor that I wish I could put even higher. He first appeared as Clark Kent/Superman on the Supergirl TV show, and although I didn’t care for his costume, I thought he was great in the role. They gave him a better costume when he starred in his spin-off series, Superman and Lois, and continued to perform well, but I just couldn’t stick with the series. I just personally don’t care for the status quo of Superman and Lois being married, living in Smallville, and raising their two teenage sons, so I don’t have much interest in watching it. I’ll probably check out the series finale, though.

4) DEAN CAIN

In Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Cain was essentially playing the John Byrne version of the character. Thus, his biggest weakness is that he didn’t really portray much difference between Clark Kent and Superman (then again, neither did George Reeves). But he was very good in the role and, since the show was basically a romcom, the fact that his on-screen chemistry with his co-star Teri Hatcher (who is the best live-action Lois Lane, in my opinion) was burning hot makes this a classic performance.

3) HENRY CAVILL 

Okay, let me be clear; overall, I’m not a fan of The Synderverse, and I am glad that it’s over. However, none of my criticisms have anything to do with Henry Cavill’s performance. From the day he was announced as being cast in the role, I was happy, as I’d already been a fan of his since seeing him in The Tudors. And he was great with the material he was given (nothing beats the first flight scene). I won’t get into what I didn’t like about Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, or Justice League (full disclosure: I’ve never seen the Snyder Cut, so I can’t comment on it), as I don’t need any rabid Synder fans finding this and flooding my comments with angry rebuttals, but I honestly was happy with it was announced that he was coming back to the role after Black Adam. I still wanted to see him get a chance to star in his own proper sequel, where he could make the role his own. But I accept that the time has passed.

2) CHRISTOPHER REEVE

I know, it’s probably a shock that I’m putting him second on my list, as most Superman fans, certainly those around my age, consider him the embodiment of the character. But, make no mistake, I think he was great. The tagline for his first film was: You will believe a man can fly. But I think the tagline should have been: You will believe that people, even those closest to him, can’t tell that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person. He’s really the only actor to pull that off.

But, frankly, while I loved his films as a child, I don’t think they hold up as well as they should over time. The first one is too slow in the beginning, and Gene Hackman’s Lex is a little too campy and non-threatening (a trait that will only get worse in his subsequent appearances). Zod and his cronies are as threatening as a bunch of clowns in the second film. The third film only works if you look at it as a 1980s Richard Pryor comedy film with Superman in it. And the less said about part four, the better.

But Reeve himself always sincerely gave his best, even in the worst scenes. You could tell he recognized and embraced the challenge of bringing this iconic character to life, which showed every time he wore that costume.

Thus, my top spot goes to:

GEORGE REEVES

Reruns of The Adventures of Superman were probably my introduction to the character, and I’m sure nostalgia fuels at least some of my enduring affection for his take. But even with the cheap special effects and black-and-white film, his performance remains legendary to me. He was the most SUPER of all the Superman. When he comes bursting through the wall, you know you’re safe. He’s Superman, and he’s going to save the say.

As I alluded to before, he didn’t make much of a distinction between how he played Clark Kent and Superman, other than the way he dressed, which is the only criticism I’d have for his performance, but that’s just how it was written. I know that John Byrne has said that this series was also his first introduction to Superman, and when he rebooted the character in the comics, he also lessened that distinction, emphasizing that Clark Kent was the real identity and Superman was the disguise (even though the intro to this show stressed that he was Superman who was sometimes “disguised as Clark Kent”).

So that’s my ranking for now. I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing David Corenswet’s performance in James Gunn’s new Superman movie next year. Hopefully, he’ll end up at the top of my list someday.