Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Who is your favorite in the role?

For some reason, Jessi and I keep discussing this topic, these days. And I've said I'd make a poll a few times, so here it is.

There are 4 questions, one for each role: Superman, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor.

Yes, I'm listing Clark and Superman as two different people - in most ways, they are. And you'll notice that Tom Welling isn't in the list of choices for the role of Superman - that's because he's never BEEN Superman in the series.

My personal picks are these:

- Superman: Christopher Reeve
- Clark Kent: Dean Cain
- Lois Lane: Teri Hatcher
- Lex Luthor: Kevin Spacey

All, except the last one were absolute no-brainers for me... The last could easily have gone to any, save for Gene Hackman who just doesn't cut it, in my opinion.

And there you have it. Now, what's YOUR opinion?

Your personal picks are exactely what I thought!

Christopher Reeve was a great Superman but there wasn't really showed much of Clark in the movies. Dean Cain on the other hand made a really good Clark Kent and in mine eyes the best!
Olso Lois Lane, I've only seen three and I thought Margot Kidder was oké, but Teri Hatcher was super in her role as Lois. Really she was fabulous . I think Kate Bosworth was the worst though.
Lex was as you said the most difficult. But I really enjoyed Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns, so I picked him.
So there you go!!

I agree, Teri Hatcher embodied Lois Lane perfectly. And Dean Cain of course was absolutely fantastic as Clark, but I felt Christopher Reeves was the better Superman. I actually went with John Shea for Lex, even though I thought Kevin Spacey was wonderful. I think just because I hated John Shea so much more because of the things he did. (Clone arc to name one...) Plus the fact that he was a romantic rival to Lois. I thought that was such a cool spin on things.

I think Dean and Teri can't be beaten as "Lois, Superman and Clark". As for Lex Luthor - he's never been a favourite of mine, so I haven't paid attention to the respective guy playing him. Thus, I chose 'other'. :p

Laura pretty much sums it up for me - so go read her post. All, except for Kevin Spacey. As I haven't seen Superman Returns, I can't speak to his role as Luthor.

LabRat

I know you have 'other' as a choice, but there were several people left off your list. I also know that this poll has been done before... somewhere, sometime, but who cares, it's still fun.

Just for the heck of it I'm going to list, in order, everyone I can remember who has played the roles, including the voice cast from the animated series.

First, foremost, and by far the most important... Lois Lane!
Teri Hatcher (it goes without saying that she made the role her own), Dana Delaney (animated series), Erica Durance, Kate Bosworth (she's just too darn young, and the kid didn't help), Phyliss Coates, Noel Neil, and last and definitely least, Margot Kidder. I never saw Leslie Ann Warren in her role as Lois in the musical so I can't comment on her performance.

Superman: Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, George Reeves, Dean Cain, Tim Daly (animated), Kirk Allyn, and the guy who played in the musical. I saw a clip of one of his performances and it was pretty awful.

Clark Kent: Dean Cain (the only one who was allowed to be a real person), George Reeves, Tim Daly, Brandon Routh, Chris Reeve, Kirk Allyn, and Tom Welling. Both Chris Reeve and Tom Welling suffer from bad writing so it's hard to guess what they might have been able to do with a better written character.

Lex Luthor: This is actually the hardest one to pick from. First would be the fellow who does Lex for the animated series (I'm sorry, but I don't remember his name), John Shea (he had the advantage of time to 'perfect' his Lex),Kevin Spacey, Michael Rosenbaum (who suffers from being 'out of context'), Lyle Talbot, and finally Gene Hackman, a great actor who was horribly written in the orginal Superman movies.

I'm sure I might have forgotten someone, but these are the people I remember.

Tank (who might just have betrayed a bit of his age here)

I go with Chris Reeves as Supes, because he's taller and even though Dean did well, Chris gave that feel of majesty and detachment. Clark Kent=Dean Cain. Lois Lane=Teri. It's all in the title, actually.

For Lex, Shea just that cool, collected evil. The other two just seemed to maniacal to be taken too seriously.

I think Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman had an (almost) perfect casting. Although I agree that Christopher Reeves was the best Superman, Dean, Teri and John got my vote on their characters.

Before I cast my vote it should be known that I never saw the series' that were on before Chris stepped into the role of Superman.

I have seen all four Superman movies. All four series of Lois and Clark, of course. Superman Returns, just because of dandello's crossover. I saw a couple of scenes from Smallville but was turned off almost immediately. I just sat there thinking 'Dean wouldn't have done that'.

So Chris Reeves as Superman. I agree that Dean just didn't have the height. [By the way, has anyone seen Switching Channels? Chris Reeves' character is afraid of heights. And the scene in the glass elevator...

Sammy (who is up way past her bedtime)

To me, Dean never seemed really comfortable playing Superman, and I thought Chris Reeve did it better. Unlike Dean, Chris Reeve seemed to be enjoying himself playing the superhero in spandex. Brandon Routh was graceful and beautiful, but he was a bit, well, expressionless. So my vote goes to Chris Reeve.

As for Clark Kent, well, there are no contenders, are there? Dean wins hands down, and the people behind the show must have cast him because he was such a great Clark Kent. But we should remember that Dean was the only one who got the chance to turn Clark Kent into a real person.

Similarly, Teri Hatcher was almost frighteningly perfect as Lois Lane. She had the perfect Lois looks (unlike Margot Kidder and Kate Bosworth), and with her great acting ability, she gave us a wonderful Lois.

As for Lex.... People, I don't like Lex. I honestly, honestly don't like him. I don't have a favorite Lex. I voted 'other', but in my case it means 'no one'.

Ann

Yeah, I know. I could have listed them all, but figured it might be smarter to list only those who were likely to get any votes. I seriously didn't think anyone would pick cartoon characters... (then again, if you happened to ask me who my favorite "Flash" is, I'd have to say the one from JL Animated, making my fav Michael Rosenbaum - imagine that. *lol*)

Ooh - btw, the actor who voices Lex in the aimated series is Clancy Brown.

TOC, I don't like Lex, either. I just voted for Shea because he scared me the most.

Yeah, Chris Reeves did seem to enjoy the Superman role more, and I think the difference was, Reeves had the "hero" smile, whereas Dean had the "cute guy" smile with a hint of smirk. Each was better suited as an actor for the side of Kal-El that the producers tried to emphasize.

Tank, you are such a geek. Thanks for the listing of ALL the players. We like you, in spite of your age (you're not old, you're just portrayed that way... )

Um...I voted LnC all the way. I agree that Chris Reeve looked the part of Superman, but I didn't...like...him. Too stiff, too flat, too cartoon-y. I know that Dean didn't have the height, but I thought that he acted the parts well, and there was a distinction between Clark and Superman - Dean held himself differently, used a more formal voice as Supes, and had fun, which really comes through.

Of course, Dean as Clark, the only real Clark listed.

Teri is the perfect Lois - bright, driven, dedicated, clueless, funny, just perfect. I say this, but I never saw the George Reeves series, so honestly can't make a choice. I just like Teri's Lois.

I chose John Shea as Lex because he was sooooo scary - a psychopathic businessman with lots of bodies hidden away. Gene Hackman chewed scenery very well, didn't see SR so can't comment on Kevin Spacey, but didn't like the cartoon-y character of the movies, whilst I did really LOVE the evilness of the LnC interpretation. Infinitely scarier than a cartoon villian.

mmouse

I'm with you, Woody. In pretty much everything you said. That's what I voted and why I voted the way I did

~Anna.

I've gone for Brandon Routh as Superman, Cain and Hatcher as Lois and Clark (of course), and Michael Rosenbaum as Luthor.

I chose Routh because he seems to do the sheer alienness and loneliness of Superman at least as well as the others, and the whole "this is someone who knows how to use his powers" thing that is largely down to CGI but still pretty impressive - scenes like the earthquake in Metropolis where he's handling dozens of different problems simultaneously, the moment when he's shot in the eye at point-blank range and doesn't even blink, and so forth. He isn't as physically impressive as Reeve, and lacks some of his presence, but it really works on the powers level.

I don't think I need to justify Cain and Hatcher, but their interaction is a joy compared to the others. Neither Reeve or Routh seems to be able to move beyond "country bumpkin" as Clark, and the Smallville guy is just too young - similarly the movie versions of Lois are too two-dimensional, and the Smallville one is a joke.

As for Lex, I've always had problem with the character as a monomaniacal villain, at least Smallville shows us someone who started out with good intentions and is slowly corrupted by wealth and power - Rosenbaum plays him as the most interesting character in the show, with the possible exception of Chloe (who ought to be Lois, damn it!).

This is also my choice.

Superman: In my opinion Dean never seemed to feel comfortable in Spandex, I always had the feeling that he was a bit embarrased. Chris Reeve, although "my" first Superman ... well ... dunno ... Brandon Routh is just a bit sexier ...


Clark Kent: Dean Cain actually showed me the first real Clark Kent and though Tom Welling also did it later, he's still too young for me.

Lois Lane: Teri Hatcher is the best partner for Dean Cain

Lex Luthor: I think I would have given both John Shea and Michael Rosenbaum half a point, but in the end MR had won. He'd shown that Lex isn't just a pure maniac but he'd changed over the years. And somehow I always liked the idea that Clark and Lex were once friends

The first one was really hard for me. I wanted to pick Dean for Superman, but the reality is that I think Brandon was a better Superman.

The other three were easy...Dean for Clark, Teri for Lois, and MR for Lex.

Kevin Spacey and John Shea were both great Luthors but I absolutly love MR's Lex. I don't think I have ever felt so emotionly torn over a character. I love him and hate him at the same time. I love when he starts showing his evil nature and becomes more like the Lex we have always known, but it also makes me sad. He has almost brought me to tears twice now.

Right, my choice too.

The best Lex Luthor for me was Kevin Spacey

Who I picked:

Clark Kent - Dean, of course. As said he had better writing for his Clark. Chris R. they made Clark such a bumbling nerd that it was over written.

Superman - again I picked Dean because I like his slightly more layed aback approach to Superman. Chris R then Brandon are my second and third choices. Mainly because of their height their does seem to be an imposing presence about them but I found them both a little stiff for my taste. I like Dean's softer approach.

Lois Lane - Teri hands down. I always thought Margot Kidder was miscaste. For me Lois should be strong yet sexy and feminine at the same time. Margot came off to manish in her Lois for me to believe for a minute that Superman would be attracted to her. Teri on the other hand played the confident Lois but also with a softer side that I could believe would attract Superman.

Lex Luthor - billionaire - John Shea. His Lex was sauve, sophiscated, cool, evil and without a conscience. However, he could lie about his true nature and come off as this caring, giving person. All the others were either underwritten, overwritten or just plain played over the top. No subtley involved with John Shea had. But when needed he could do over the top.

I forgot my opinion on Kate Bosworth's Lois. Bad. Lois as I said she be both strong and yet vunerable, feminine. Kate had the feminine and way to much vunerable. Her Lois to me would defer to Richard not voice her view loudly. I see Lois as always voicing her view but at the same time being vunerable in private. Kate's Lois was just NOT LOIS to me at all.