No doubt the casting of Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman will prove as divisive, whatever the outcome and Deadline are telling us that the process of selecting Brandon Routh’s successor, or indeed of selecting Brandon Routh again, has begun in earnest. Although Brandon Routh worked excellently as Superman and Clark within the film crafted by Bryan Singer, there are legitimate concerns as to whether he would be as good a fit within what may prove to be a more stylised milieu, care of Snyder.
Producer Christopher Nolan and Snyder are apparently looking for someone aged 28-32 and are open to creating a new star by either casting someone wholly unknown, or at least someone not very well known. Thoughts therefore turn to actors who are established in assorted TV series, subject to concerns about the shooting schedule wreaking havoc with whatever commitments those actors might have to the programmes to which they are already committed. With shooting scheduled by Warner Bros to start around next June, Nolan and Snyder have plenty of time, but will no doubt want to make the decision as soon as possible to assist with pre-production preparation.
Deadline are throwing out a number of names. Armie Hammer, who played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network would be ideal physically at a strapping 6’5″, though he is only 24 years old. He was in fact provisionally cast as Batman in George Miller’s planned Justice League film a number of years ago, before the project fell through. Joe Manganiello of True Blood (aged 34) and Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries (only 5’9”) are also being mentioned.
Brandon Routh certainly cannot be excluded at this point, although a reboot with so clear a connection to the last film may feel like too much of a stretch. Likewise Tom Welling from TV’s Smallville should still be in the mix, even if he does look a little young and has perhaps had enough of all things Superman after 10 seasons on Smallville.
Whether this will run as long as the director decision did, we shall see. We will let you know as soon as we hear anything. In the meantime, who would be your ideal choice?