7 Actors Who Could Play Superman On Supergirl

Finally, the showrunners of Supergirl have cottoned on to what the fans want and have announced that the Man of Steel himself will feature in the show’s sophomore season. Kara’s cousin Superman is set to make his long overdue debut on the series – which will move to The CW – in the first two episodes of season two. This is definitely good news for fans – not only because it means we get to see another variation of the character, but also because the explanations of his absence from the show were beginning to seem a little forced. Obviously, keeping him out of season one made sense, to let Kara stand on her own two feet, but it's now time for the Big Blue Boy Scout to make an appearance. The big question is, though, who will play him? Superman is probably the most coveted superhero role ever, next to Batman, and no doubt the audition process will be a tough one, as there are so many strong potential candidates. We think these 6 actors though could all be solid choices for the role, and would be happy to see any one of them appear on the show next year. 7) Henry Cavill Yes, this one isn’t very likely, but we'd be remiss if we didn't include him on this list. Seeing as the actor is the current incumbent of the red cape in the movies, it would make a lot of sense if Henry Cavill reprised the role in Supergirl. There's even a common fan theory that Supergirl takes place in the DCEU. It would be incredibly strange, however, if the brooding, sulky Superman Cavill portrays was to turn up in the bright and optimistic world of Supergirl. Plus – spoilers for Batman V Superman ahead – we did just see him die on the big screen. And we really don’t think DC are going to rap that story up on a TV show instead of the Justice League films. So, despite the fan-pleasing correlation this would make between the TV series and the movies, realistically, the chances of this one happening are fairly slim. 6) Tahmoh Penikett Though he might not be as familiar a name as others on this list, Tahmoh Penikett would be a great choice for Superman as he has proved in his many supporting TV roles that he can play complex heroic characters. You might think Penikett being Canadian would stand against him embodying one of the great American heroes, but the British Henry Cavill is playing Supes on the big screen, so there’s no reason why Penikett couldn’t take the role on TV. He also has big geek appeal from his roles in Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse, so he would certainly fit into the Supergirl ethos. Moreover, the actor has previously appeared in two other iterations of Superman – he played Jed Eubanks in Man of Steel and Wes Keenan on Smallville. Supergirl has cast several people with links to the Superman mythos before (Dean Cain, Helen Slater and Laura Vandervoort spring to mind), so this is just an extra tick next to Penikett’s name. 5) Jim Caviezel Just as he was nearly cast as Cyclops, Persons of Interest star Jim Caviezel was also in the running to play Kal-El in Superman Returns. However, it's commonly thought that his previous role as Jesus in The Passion of the Christ put director Bryan Singer off, not wanting to make the messianic comparisons with the character even more overt. Maybe it was the right move for that film, but Caviezel is definitely a strong contender to don the blue tights in Supergirl. On one hand, the actor is 47, which could count against him. On the other, there's the feeling in the show that Superman has been around for quite a while, so Caviezel’s age might not necessarily be a bad thing. The boy who played a young Kal-El in an episode of Supergirl season one even slightly resembled Caviezel. Maybe they've had this bit of casting up their sleeve all along? 4) Matt Bomer Another actor who reportedly lost out on the part before is Matt Bomer. Now known for appearing in White Collar, Chuck and the most recent season of American Horror Story, Bomer was the top choice to play the character in Superman: Flyby, a J.J. Abrams/Brett Ratner movie that never got off the ground. He’s a fan-favourite to play Clark in Supergirl, as well, and you can see why: he definitely looks quite a lot like Henry Cavill. What’s more, something that could definitely be in his favour is that he has experience in the role. He voiced the character in the straight-to-DVD animated movie Superman: Unbound in 2013 and, slightly less officially, he played Superman in a couple of Toyota Prius commercials, which you can see below. While they obviously don’t give a feel for how he would be able to handle the part on a dramatic level, you do have to admit that he really looks the part. 3) Zachary Levi Another Chuck star who would make for a great Superman is Zachary Levi. He was massively rumoured to be taking on the role before Man of Steel came out, but of course, that didn’t turn out to be the case. You can see how the idea started, though, as he could be done up to look like the classic image of the character and is a fan-favourite actor who would no doubt have a lot support in the role. What’s more, he's a dab hand at more comedic parts. And since it's safe to say that Supergirl will see a lighter version of the hero than we've seen recently, he would definitely fit the part in that regard. He’s also no stranger to the superhero world, having played Fandral, one of the Asgardian Warriors Three, in the Thor movies. We’re sure Marvel wouldn’t mind if we swapped over to the blue side to play the Man of Steel. At least, we hope they wouldn't. 2) Brandon Routh While Superman Returns is not remembered fondly by fans and is just not remembered full stop by the public at large, its star Brandon Routh was praised for nailing the character as best he could in the confines of the movie. Now is the perfect opportunity, then, to give a great number of fans what they want and put the actor back in the suit. Hold on, we hear you cry, Routh is already in The CW-verse as Ray Palmer AKA The Atom. Well, to you we say that there is a handy explanation to get around that fact – alternate Earths. Just like Henry Allen’s Earth-3 doppelganger is The Flash, why can’t Ray’s Supergirl doppelganger be Superman? It makes perfect sense, in a comic book kind of a way. Routh was cruelly denied another shot at the character (preferably in a better film) when the character was rebooted with Man of Steel, so this would be a welcome and unexpected return to the role for the actor. In fact, there is only one candidate who would excite Superman fans more… 1) Tom Welling This is the rumour that the internet has gone wild over since Superman’s arrival in Supergirl was announced. As the star of Smallville, which ran for a colossal ten seasons, Tom Welling holds the record for playing Clark Kent the most. However, it is ironic, then, that he has never really played Superman. The prequel series finally showed him going into action as Supes in the final moments of the finale, but didn’t give us a proper look. It's previously been said that Supergirl’s tone most closely resembles that of Smallville, so it would make a lot of sense to finally let the actor don the costume in a guest appearance on that show. Welling has not sounded keen on returning to the role in the past, but hopefully he can be persuaded otherwise. If it did happen, fans would obviously be hung up on the fact that Smallville’s Superman and Supergirl’s can't be the same as the details differ. This can be explained away in the same vein as Routh’s appearance could though – it happened on a parallel world. Come on CW, there is literally no downside to this happening.