10. John Haymes Newton
Appeared in: Superboy (season 1)
These days, DC Comics fans associate the term Superboy with Kon-El (a.k.a. Conner Kent), but once upon a time, it was the name that a young Clark Kent took on when fighting crime as the Man – well, Boy – of Steel. These adventures took place on television, and John Haymes Newton was tasked with playing the title character.
The young actor never really got a chance to show us what he was capable of on the show. That might sound like a bit of a strange thing to say given that he was the lead, but Superboy had no idea what it wanted to be in its first season, so everything was a bit all over the place. Newton unfortunately got lost in the crowd, doing what he could with some very limited material. He looked amazing in the suit, and his Clark showed potential, but he was replaced after the first season when the show rebranded.
Speaking of which…
9. Gerard Christopher
Appeared in: Superboy (seasons 2 – 4)
Gerard Christopher took over the title role from John Haymes Newton after the first season of Superboy when the show underwent a change in direction, and even though it wouldn’t be winning any awards, it did find something of a solid footing to build upon. Now essentially just a more direct superhero show, it began to embrace the comic book elements and that gave Christopher far more to work with than his predecessor.
His performance as Clark Kent showed real promise, too. He also looked the part, but he was given more of an opportunity to build out the character and put his own stamp on it. While the show cared more about his adventures as Superman, Christopher did good with Clark’s storylines too.
He had grown into the role so well that he was actually cast to play Clark Kent again on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman until the producers realized he had already played the character before.