Do you believe "Superman was never cool" ?

[lotchj]

I don't know what you mean??? Do you believe "superman was never cool"!! Superman has always been cool!!

[Adekis]

Anyone who can't think of a time Superman was cool, hasn't been paying attention. Superman's almost always cool. Like let's take George Reeves, known as "your Dad's Superman" in many circles - this Superman is cool as f*ck. In his first appearance he stands down an angry mob, rips their guns right out of their hands, tanks a blast from a mole-man super weapon... Utterly cool. Or Chris Reeve, known for his "aw-shucks" cornpone style, which sometimes gets blamed for certain writers thinking of Superman as naive. Are we forgetting the immortality of "Would you care to step outside?" One of the coolest lines in anything! 100% cool! And I don't even like large swaths of Superman II, but it's definitely not uncool!

Superman's cool, man. Superman's always been cool.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I will note that Superman was decidedly not cool post resurrection when he started sporting the mullet and listening to Van Halen.

That didn't come off as very cool then or now.

Now, there's nothing wrong with Van Halen, but that was not cool in 1994, nor was that haircut, unless looking like an extra on Melrose Place was considered cool.

[Sacred Knight]

Funnily enough the look goes over better now. In a post-LOTR/GOT world, long hair has been cool again for a while.

[DochaDocha]

Someone who has a workout on his mind most of the time. Someone who likes flexing his muscles and giving a pose.That's generally it.

So a day after you posted this, I got a YouTube suggestion for a video about whether Kumail Nanjiani is natty (as in "natural," as in developed his body without the use of performance-enhancing drugs). That kind of led me down a rabbit hole, so I ended up watching a bunch of related videos, which made me think back about this thread.

Anyway, it made me think about how conscientious WB was about making sure that Henry, or anyone who ended up playing Superman, absolutely was not tied to PEDs. It would be "Un-Superman-like" to use illegal substances just to create a strong-looking physique for film. Nevermind that they don't care if their Batman, Affleck, had gynecomastia. Our future Black Adam, The Rock, is almost certainly not natty. Is it a good thing that Superman's actor needs to have a clean image about his physical conditioning avoid the negative stereotypes associated with gym rats?

For those of you at home taking score, Cavill, Evans, and Pratt are probably natty, whereas Jackman, Affleck, Hemsworth, the Rock, Nanjiani, and Hardy all are probably not so clean.

[manwhohaseverything]

So a day after you posted this, I got a YouTube suggestion for a video about whether Kumail Nanjiani is natty (as in "natural," as in developed his body without the use of performance-enhancing drugs). That kind of led me down a rabbit hole, so I ended up watching a bunch of related videos, which made me think back about this thread.

Anyway, it made me think about how conscientious WB was about making sure that Henry, or anyone who ended up playing Superman, absolutely was not tied to PEDs. It would be "Un-Superman-like" to use illegal substances just to create a strong-looking physique for film. Nevermind that they don't care if their Batman, Affleck, had gynecomastia. Our future Black Adam, The Rock, is almost certainly not natty. Is it a good thing that Superman's actor needs to have a clean image about his physical conditioning avoid the negative stereotypes associated with gym rats?

For those of you at home taking score, Cavill, Evans, and Pratt are probably natty, whereas Jackman, Affleck, Hemsworth, the Rock, Nanjiani, and Hardy all are probably not so clean.

Rock was in the wrestling business.Him being clean would be a huge feat. Hugh jackman was old and was stuck playing wolverine.The physicality is the reason he quit . @bold Well, i would prefer that. Not because its "unsuperman" like but because i feel it's btter to give it all and be comfortable with yourself with out any "cheats".my reasoning has more to do with health and burnouts that might occur,than legality.

As for "un-superman-like", The guy gets his body and strength without any effort or anything close to it. His ethics regarding his physicality is sketchy at best. Sure, you can the sun isn't unhealthy or illegal. that's besides the point, if superman's can get stronger that way without any ethical dilemma. what's to stop him from performance enhancers of any kind. I can see goku saying,"nope! Don't need this". But, classic superman i don't know. I could easily write the dude using bane's drug or mamoth's drug, if he got depowered. There is no tangible reason why superman wouldn't. The only time goku uses energy from others is with spirit bomb. Even then that's more of a contract. He has to request for it. Superman on the other hand might feel its his birthright,to be strong.

Anyways, i wasn't really talking about PEDs. Ofcourse, if superman is to be written like the gym enthusiast or strongman. He would have to face the ethical and moral dilemmas regarding the methods of gaining strength. I was more emphasising on him actually working out and him being at the look out for a physical challenge. Him building functional strength with strongman training.I like the working class superman interpretation. Strongman superman just fits with that interpretation. Sungod superman thing doesn't fit. That might fit with later interpretation with him being krypotonian royalty and all that stuff. I don't particularly find it appealing.

[Vordan]

Funnily enough the look goes over better now. In a post-LOTR/GOT world, long hair has been cool again for a while.

And long hair Superman is back in Death Metal!

[DochaDocha]

Within the limits of the 80/20 rule, this will NEVER look cool.

[stargazer01]

are you kidding me?? Superman is the definition of cool.

The only times he isn't is when he is shown as incompetent and very insecure.

[Ascended]

Is it a good thing that Superman's actor needs to have a clean image about his physical conditioning avoid the negative stereotypes associated with gym rats?

I don't think it's ever okay to endorse or use PED's, so yeah I'd rather not have my superhero actors pumped up full of chemicals. It's not just a "Superman" thing, it's a "nobody should be doing this" thing.

Of course, you hear stories about these actors dehydrating themselves for days before a shoot so they look more ripped, and losing or gaining crazy amounts of weight for a role, and that sh*t ain't healthy either.

I also figure, if you've got an army of personal trainers and diet experts at your beck and call, the best equipment money can buy, and you've got six-eight months before filming where your only responsibility is to get in shape.....you shouldn't *need* PED's for that.

The rest of us don't have any of that; no army of experts carefully calculating everything we do or eat, no high-value gym all to ourselves, no multi-million dollar payday to encourage us. We gotta squeeze our work outs around real life; jobs and family and everything else. If we can do that, then these Hollywood people should be able to muddle on with everything they've got at their disposal without having to resort to chemicals.

I wouldn't boycott a movie over it or anything though. I don't know these people personally and the world is full of much more important matters to occupy my attention.

[Netherman14]

Superman is the very epitome of cool, he's just a guy who embodies the best of both Kryptonian and human cultures and fits in superbly despite his differences. He is the guy who always does the right thing, but is no pushover.

tumblr_aee9eaa7bb1053987688d83ec29cb901_951baec0_1280.jpg

[Cyberstrike]

He's not cool in that trendy, "I listen to the newest music and know the latest hashtag" kind of way. He's not cool in a obvious, "trying too hard" kind of way >coughbatmancough<

But Superman has always been cool. He's cool in that truly alpha, "I don't need to prove sh*t to anyone" kind of way. He doesn't give a damn if you think he's cool or not, he just goes out there and does the job. And there's nothing cooler than that.

^This 1000%

The coolest Superman story IMHO was a 16 page PSA book called Superman: For the Animals where he has 4 pages (or 3 if you don't count the cover) the story of a young boy new in small town falls in with some kids whose "leader" is killing animals at one point the little brat throws a kitten or a puppy off an overpass and Superman flies in and saves the day the new kid finally stands up to leader and punches him and he falls on a suitcase filled with collars of animals that he killed and the kid writes a letter to Superman and as he's walking out of a store Superman stranding next to the building just tells him "You are my hero." and flies away as the kid turns around and then goes "It couldn't be." Then runs off to be his friends.

[Kuwagaton]

Here is an interesting quote gentlemen and ladies, superman was supposed to be the original cape crusader.

From Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt. But, i tend to agree. Supes is a legit strongman. The strongman workout ethics:

Superman at one point did in fact have the moniker of caped crusader, but it's hard to remember the examples.

And yeah, I know about Shuster and uh, his workouts lol

Also Godfall’s cycle and outfit was sick and it actually increased sales!

You can tell Kelly loved that stuff, too.

I think Superman is always the coolest guy in the room because he isn't ever trying to be. I don't like cool Clark because I think it defeats the entire purpose of the character. It doesn't mean Clark has to be a doormat, but I am a strong believer in dork Clark.

That pretty much means no George Reeves.

Yeah! Swearing and breaking fourth doesn't seem "cool". As for spiderman, wasn't amazing spiderman taken to task for making peter parker into a cool dude?

You'd think a few years after the movie his popularity would dwindle, but Deadpool is still very huge. Unlike a Harley, he's got massive appeal with both genders here.

Amazing Spider-Man was probably misunderstood, because Peter wasn't all that cool. But even if he was, it's not more than what the Romita era gave us. Peter as a lonely nerd (retroactively without a backbone, because nerds) is so ingrained in pop culture but it's pretty much like the leaping Superman.

I will note that Superman was decidedly not cool post resurrection when he started sporting the mullet and listening to Van Halen.

That didn't come off as very cool then or now.

Now, there's nothing wrong with Van Halen, but that was not cool in 1994, nor was that haircut, unless looking like an extra on Melrose Place was considered cool.

Batman is similar but just super aggressive to make up for it I suppose.

So a day after you posted this, I got a YouTube suggestion for a video about whether Kumail Nanjiani is natty (as in "natural," as in developed his body without the use of performance-enhancing drugs). That kind of led me down a rabbit hole, so I ended up watching a bunch of related videos, which made me think back about this thread.

Anyway, it made me think about how conscientious WB was about making sure that Henry, or anyone who ended up playing Superman, absolutely was not tied to PEDs. It would be "Un-Superman-like" to use illegal substances just to create a strong-looking physique for film. Nevermind that they don't care if their Batman, Affleck, had gynecomastia. Our future Black Adam, The Rock, is almost certainly not natty. Is it a good thing that Superman's actor needs to have a clean image about his physical conditioning avoid the negative stereotypes associated with gym rats?

For those of you at home taking score, Cavill, Evans, and Pratt are probably natty, whereas Jackman, Affleck, Hemsworth, the Rock, Nanjiani, and Hardy all are probably not so clean.

I remember the weird outrage over Nanjiani. The guy sporting that Men's Health physique certainly attainable through 75% diet and 10% photo prepping being blasted as "unnatural." For losing maybe 30 lbs in six years? Weird because with a PED (well, not like he has a performance to boost) he would actually need to work harder than someone without. It's not like the passive surgery touch ups people get, which is kind of a double standard in that more people understand why shaming is wrong there. No one in their right mind shames a woman for implants.

I think we should be done with those sort of stigmas and more appreciative of guys like Jackman and Johnson who actually work to look like the characters they play. Going back to Superman's appeal in the earliest phase, yes he is designed to be an impressive figure. The idea of a guy who looks so powerful even with his whole body covered has lasted us all this time.

[manwhohaseverything]

Superman at one point did in fact have the moniker of caped crusader, but it's hard to remember the examples.

And yeah, I know about Shuster and uh, his workouts lol

I don't think it fits superman anymore, if it ever did. I wonder if landis got the idea for the batcape from that. That would have been one big throw back.

One one hand, grip strength training is pretty important. So, what if his training methods aren't well polished. Its the mindset that counts. The idea of these segments were pretty cool. Also, if not grip strength those stretches can help the joints. Especially, if you are lifting weights. That's just my experience. A physical being not feeling like a physical being is no fun, in my opinion.Why does the guy even have muscles?