Best Superman actor: All Clark Kents throughout the years ranked
Dare I say, everyone on the planet knows who The Man of Steel is. The fictional superhero first appeared in American comic books published by DC Comics, and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. Today, many Superman movies, comics, cartoons, and TV shows have been created, and multitudes of actors and voice actors have played the popular comic book superhero. Ever wondered how many Superman actors have played the superhero? Find out by reading this post about the actors who played Superman.
Source: Getty Images
Check out this extensive list of Superman actors.
Top Superman actors ranked
Ever wondered who played The Man of Steel the best? Check out this list of the actors who have portrayed the superhero.
1. Bud Collyer
Bud Collyer was the first actor to portray The Man of Steel in the media (both on the radio and in the classic cartoons from the Fleischer and Famous studios).
The actor played The Man of Steel for roughly 2000 radio episodes that aired between 1940 and 1951.
He then returned to the role in 1966 for Filmation’s The New Adventures of Superman animated series.
As the only Superman of radio, the silver screen, and television, he has logged more hours as the Man of Steel than any actor in history.
He played the superhero in:
- The New Adventures of Superman (1966-1968)
- Aquaman (1967)
- The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967)
- The Batman/Superman Hour (1968)
2. Tom Welling
Tom Welling starred on Smallville from 2001-2011. Smallville told the tale of a teenage Clark Kent and his eventual destiny as Metropolis' resident superhero.
Welling got to play The Man of Steel again during the Arrowverse's mammoth Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event in 2019.
3. Henry Cavill
Source: Getty Images
Henry Cavill debuted as The Last Son of Krypton in 2013's Man of Steel. He returned to the cape for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and The Justice League Part One (2017).
4. Michael Daingerfield
The actor played The Man of Steel in 2005’s Krypto: The Superdog.
5. Kevin Caliber
Actor Kevin Caliber portrayed the character in the opening credits of Supergirl‘s first season. He then he portrayed the character in the 2019 independent film Supermen: World War.
6. Jeff Kramer
Kramer had his most prominent role in 2002's Superman: The Man Of Steel.
7. John Haymes Newton
He played the superhero in:
- Superboy (1988-1989)
- Superman Classic (2011)
- Bizarro Classic (2012)
8. Gerard Christopher
Gerard Christopher played the character for an impressive 73 half-hour episodes of Superboy between 1989 and 1992.
9. Yuri Lowenthal
Source: Getty Images
The actor voiced The Last Son of Krypton on the two-season animated Legion Of Superheroes from 2006 to 2008.
10. David Wilson
He played the character in It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (1975).
11. Alan Tudyk
Tudyk voiced The Last Son of Krypton in the first animated film inspired by DC's New 52, 2014's Justice League: War.
12. Kirk Alyn
Kirk played Clark Kent as earnest and cartoonishly mild-mannered in Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) .
13. Christopher Reeve
He portrayed the character in: Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
14. George Reeves
- Superman and the Mole Men (1951)
- Adventures of Superman (1952-1958)
- Stamp Day for Superman (Short 1954)
- Super Circus (TV episode 1955)
- I Love Lucy (TV episode 1957)
15. George Newbern
Source: Getty Images
George Newbern voiced The Last Son of Krypton for five years in the early 2000s on Justice League, earning additional credits for The Batman a few years later and Superman videos in the 2010s. He played the role in:
- Justice League (2001-2004)
- Static Shock ("Toys in the Hood," 2003)
- Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006)
- The Batman (2007-2008)
- Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010)
- DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection (2010)
- Superman vs. The Elite (2012)
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013)
- Injustice 2 ( 2017)
- Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019)
16. Tim Daly
From 1996-2000, Tim Daly served as the best and only version of Superman available with his role in Superman: The Animated Series.
17. Sam Daly
Tim Daly’s son, Sam, took on the role of The Last Son of Krypton on a time-altered Earth in the 2013 animated Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
18. James Denton
James Denton lent his voice to the 2011 animated film version of the popular All-Star Superman series.
19. Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton played the role in American Express: Superman (Video short).
20. Johnny Rockwell
Johnny played the character in the 1961 pilot for The Adventures Of Superboy.
Source: UGC
21. Roger Rose
He voiced the Man of Steel on the Battle Of The Superheroes episode of the series Batman: The Brave And The Bold.
22. Leonard Teale
The success of the Superman radio show in America led to one in Australia, which ran from 1949 to 1954 with a production of 1,040 episodes. Actor Leonard Teale provided the voice of The Man of Steel and Clark Kent.
23. Christopher Corey Smith
Smith voiced The Last Son of Krypton in 2008's Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe.
24. Marc Silk
This British-born actor voiced The Last Son of Krypton in the 2011 video game LittleBigPlanet2 and 2012's LittleBigPlanet PS Vita.
25. Jerry O'Connell
O'Connell voiced The Last Son of Krypton in Justice League: Throne Of Atlantis (2015) and Justice League Vs Teen Titans (2016).
26. Kyle MacLachlan
The actor took on the role of The Man of Steel in the 2008 animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.
27. Mark Valley
The actor voiced The Man of Steel in 2013's adaptation of the Frank Miller classic, The Dark Knight Returns.
28. Maurice LaMarche
LaMarche voiced the Man of Steel in the 1992 made-for-video film Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation.
Source: UGC
29. Beau Weaver
In 1988, Ruby-Spears produced the animated series Superman, which saw Weaver cast as the voice of the title role.
30. Travis Willingham
Travis Willingham voiced Lego Superman in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (2012), Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (2014) and Lego Dimensions (2015).
31. Brandon Routh
Routh filled in the Red Boots in:
- Superman Returns (2006)
- Batwoman ("Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two," 2019)
32. Joseph May
While he has spent a lot of time voicing Thomas the Tank Engine, Joseph brought the Man of Steel to life vocally in 2008’s motion comic Batman Black and White.
33. Dean Cain
Cain starred as Clark Kent for four seasons of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, up until the show was canceled in 1997.
34. Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin voiced the Man of Steel in 2007's Superman: Doomsday.
35. Bob Holiday
Bob Holiday was the man who brought The Man of Steel to the Broadway stage in the musical production It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman in 1966.
36. Peter Jessop
Actor Peter Jessop voiced The Man of Steel in the 2014 animated JLA Adventures: Trapped In Time.
37. David Kaye
David Kaye played The Man of Steel in 2010's animated film DC Super Friends and, beginning in 2013, the DC Nation animated shorts, Tales Of Metropolis.
38. Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum starred as a toy version of The Man of Steel in the popular The Lego Movie and its follow-up, 2017's The Lego Batman Movie.
Source: UGC
39. Tyler Hoechlin
Tyler Hoechlin first played The Man of Steel on the Arrowverse's Supergirl series, then later brought the character over to both The Flash and Arrow as part of the Elseworlds and Crisis on Infinite Earth crossover events.
He also appeared on Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman as part of the latter crossover.
His credits include:
- Supergirl (2016-2019)
- Arrow (2018-2020)
- The Flash (TV episodes 2018-2019)
- Batwoman ("Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two," 2019)
- DC's Legends of Tomorrow ("Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five," 2020)
- Superman and Lois (2020)
40. Ben Affleck
Technically, Ben Affleck never played The Man of Steel, per se; But, in 2006, Affleck put on the cape and tights as he portrayed George Reeves, who starred in The Adventures of Superman in Hollywoodland.
41. Barton Tinapp
Barton voiced The Man of Steel for The Multipath Adventures of Superman: Menace of Metallo.
42. Kenichi Suzumura
In DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon, Kenichi Suzumura voices The Man of Steel.
43. Max Mittelman
With an extensive array of voiceover credits, Max played The Man of Steel in 2019’s DC Super Hero Girls: Super Shorts and DC Super Hero Girls.
44. Cameron Monaghan
Cameron voiced the Superboy clone in the animated film Reign of the Supermen.
45. Nolan North
Although he is not a main character in the Young Justice animated series, Nolan North’s version of The Man of Steel adds a surprising new depth to the Kryptonian thanks to its heavy use of Conner Kent, A.K.A. Superboy.
His credits include:
- Young Justice (2010-2019)
- Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered (2014)
- Lego: Master Builders of the Universe (2015)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! (2015)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash (2016)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout (2016)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash (2018)
- Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis (2018)
46. Daniel DiMaggio
Daniel DiMaggio portrayed Young Kal-El in Supergirl.
47. Jeff East
He was the teenaged Clark Kent in 1978's Superman: The Movie (whose voice was dubbed by Christopher Reeve).
48. Crispin Freeman
Freeman is The Man of Steel in the 2006 Justice League Heroes game.
49. Greg Miller
Greg voiced the character of Superboy for the game DC Universe Online.
50. Lucas Grabeel
Lucas played the Connor Kent version of Superboy on an episode of Smallville.
51. Keith Ferguson
Keith took on The Man of Steel in the 2012 animated production of Super Best Friends Forever.
52. Danny Dark
Danny Dark spent much of his career voicing The Metropolis Marvel. His credits include:
- Super Friends (1973-1983)
- The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977)
- Challenge of the Super Friends (1978)
- The World's Greatest Super Friends (1979)
- Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984)
- The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985)
53. Armin Shimerman
He voiced The Metropolis Marvel in the animated filSuper-Pets.
54. Jason J. Lewis
He wore the red cape for:
- Justice League Action (2016-2018)
- Justice League Action Shorts (2017)
Source: UGC
55. Scott Porter
Although he voiced Superboy in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Scott was actually cast to play a young Superman in George Miller’s planned 2007 production of Justice League Mortal.
56. Troy Baker
The 2015 Infinite Crisis video game gave Troy Baker some time to consider voicing the Man of Steel:
“On the surface, he’s flawless, and as humans we naturally search for a flaw. That’s one of the disconnections he has being an alien. Everyone else looks normal in our view and he puts on a costume. But for Superman, Clark Kent is the costume and it becomes this juxtaposition of who the hero is and what the mask looks like.”
57. Stuart Milligan
In 1988, the British actor started voicing The Metropolis Marvel in a variety of radio productions based on different story arcs from DC Comics. It began with Superman on Trial and continued with The Adventures of Superman and Doomsday and Beyond. The latter was released on CD in the form of Superman Lives.
58. Christopher McDonald
The animated series Batman Beyond (which launched in 1999) is set 50 years in the future, and while the focus is on a new, younger Batman, an older version of the Man Of Steel appears. Actor Christopher McDonald voices the character.
59. Matthew Mercer
Matthew Mercer provided the voice of The Metropolis Marvel in the 2015 animated shorts DC Super Friends.
60. Ray Middleton - The original Superman
The actor who has the distinction of being the first to ever bring The Metropolis Marvel to life is Ray Middleton, who donned the character's red and blue costume for Superman Day as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The date of his appearance was July 3, 1940.
61. Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon took on the part of the Man Of Steel in the 2010 animated film Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths.
62. Bob Hastings
Bob Hastings voiced the Boy Of Steel in The Adventures of Superboy segments of The New Adventures Of Superman animated series from 1966-69.
Now that we know who plays Superman in what, how about we have a Superman movies list?
Source: UGC
All Superman movies listed
How many Superman movies are there? Here is a list of all of them:
- Superman (1978)
- Superman II (1981)
- Superman III (1983)
- Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)
- Superman Returns (2006)
- Man Of Steel (2013)
- Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)
- Justice League (2017)
Who is the current Superman actor?
The current Superman actor is Henry Cavill.
In a Men's’Health December cover story, Cavill revealed he had not given up the role.
“The cape is still in the closet,” he said. “It’s still mine. I’m not going to sit quietly in the dark as all the stuff is going on. I’ve not given up the role. There’s a lot I have to give for Superman yet. A lot of storytelling to do. A lot of real, true depths to the honesty of the character I want to get into. I want to reflect the comic books. That’s important to me. There’s a lot of justice to be done for Superman. The status is: You’ll see.”
Who among these Superman actors is your favourite, and why? Let us know in the comment section below, and keep reading Legit.ng for more interesting facts.
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