10. Gerard Christopher
Appeared in: Superboy (seasons 2 – 4)
After Superboy‘s first season was, well, not very well-received, the show underwent a complete overhaul that saw a change in its direction. While comic book fans certainly noticed some of those changes, they were visible to everyone simply because the Boy of Steel himself had been recast.
Gerard Christopher stepped into the role from the second season onwards, replacing John Haymes Newton as the young Clark Kent and his heroic alter-ego. He fared better in the role than his predecessor but that could be down to the fact that he had stronger material to work with. The show’s new direction meant that it had become much more comic-accurate, allowing us to meet many of Superman’s enemies from the source material. By the time the show concluded, it was essentially a Superman show, and that probably played into how it ultimately managed to run for four seasons after such a shaky start.
Christopher’s performance was a large part of that improvement though as he led the series well. Even though Superboy wasn’t cutting edge or particularly great, he was very convincing in the role as he oversaw Clark’s growth into Superman. He looked the part and acted it well, and so it’s no surprise that he then landed the same role in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (before the producers discovered he had already played the role and went with Dean Cain).
9. Dean Cain
Appeared in: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Superman might be a regular of the silver screen, but one thing about the Man of Steel is that he has enjoyed an even more successful run on television. One of the greatest examples of that is the classic ’90s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
What made the show different from previous iterations was how it balanced Clark’s personal and professional lives at the Daily Planet with his adventures as Superman, meaning that his relationship with Lois Lane was the most important part of the series. To say Dean Cain had to do something never seen on-screen before would be an understatement, but he pulled it off very well.
His performance as Clark Kent was charming, as was his Superman, but there was a subtle distinction between the two that really made the show work. And his chemistry with co-star Teri Hatcher was undoubtedly the best thing about the show.
After the iconic Superman movie franchise’s poor third and fourth offerings, the Man of Steel was on a big screen hiatus. Thankfully, it was time for a new generation-defining Superman to take over, and he made himself right at home on our TV screens for four super years. While not all of it has aged well, and we could have had a bit more super to that Superman, this outing was an important and pivotal part of the Man of Steel’s on-screen legacy.