2. Christopher Reeve
Appeared in: Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman III, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
It’s truly impossible to imagine where Superman would be without Christopher Reeve. The beloved actor stepped up to play the Man of Steel in what many consider to be the first modern superhero film in 1978’s Superman: The Movie and instantly etched his place in the comic book genre’s history.
Kindness, heart, triumph, integrity; qualities that come to mind when you think of Superman, and Reeve had them all, delivering a performance so incredible it looked and felt like the Man of Steel had just stepped out of a comic book and onto the big screen. And he merged it all with the “golly gee!” dorkiness that Clark Kent is renowned for, gifting us with the two sides of the same coin we had never quite seen before. It’s honestly no wonder why he returned for three sequels after the timeless Richard Donner movie’s success.
Though the third and fourth movies in the franchise paled in comparison to the first two, Reeve remained a touch of class in both of them, with his performance being the only good thing about the notoriously poor Superman IV.
A lot of the great actors on this list have earned the title of “definitive Superman” to many people, but none are more deserving than Christopher Reeve; the man who made Superman a legend all over again, and his endearing performance will never be forgotten.