Superman: All 10 Clark Kent actors ranked from worst to best

3. Christopher Reeve

Appeared in: Superman: The Movie, Superman II, The Superman III, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

When you think of Superman, there’s a pretty big chance that you’re also going to think of Christopher Reeve. The man redefined the role for a whole generation, inspiring audiences around the world with his performance in the character’s first big-budget feature movies and changing the game for the superhero movie genre in the process.

He also redefined the role of Clark Kent. Reeve is the first actor to perfect the differences between the two personas, playing Clark in a completely different way to how he played Superman. This wasn’t a confident and determined reporter enjoying the competition with Lois Lane for stories at the Daily Planet like many of his predecessors, it was an unsure, awkward and downright nerdy young man trying to balance heroism with everyday life.

Reeve did a wonderful job with the role, effortlessly switching between Clark and Superman whenever he was required to, and yet marrying the two aspects of the character together beautifully so that we could see that Clark Kent and Superman were very much one and the same (even if everybody around him couldn’t).

Christopher Reeve is the yardstick for all aspects of the Man of Steel and that applies to his game-changing performance as Clark Kent, too. We owe the modern day version of the character to that performance, and we’ll always be grateful to him.