Superman & fam in Live Action general thread

[Primal Slayer]

Superman and his supporting cast have been adapted to live action continuously over the past 50+ years both on the big screen and small screen.

Currently we have 1 live action show that is on going and the movie that is in development so of course those have their own dedicated areas to really speak about them but for the others (and those if you want) here's a place to talk about the various versions. Our likes, dislikes, and hopes for the future.

[CosmeticSkull]

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Can't wait to see what they bring to the table.

[Kuwagaton]

I have a long history of live action Superman that is just archived. I don't really have the attention span to sit through tv shows but in thinking of enjoyable interpretation, I hope to post something whenever I visit this thread.

[superduperman]

Which versions do you think borrowed the most from the Donner movie? My list:

Smallville: This is more or less the Donner Superman as a teenager.

S&L: This one lifts entire scenes from the movie. Especially the Fortress construction.

Superboy: We don't get to see much of this one since he didn't even know where he came from in this universe but the few clips we do get to see include an episode where two aliens pretending to his parents look like the movie versions and apparently the ship he came to Earth in is the exact one from the movie.

Supergirl: Superman himself was kind of a minor character on this show so we don't know a lot about his history but the Fortress very much looks like the one from the movie and the symbol is of course a family crest.

Least influenced:

L&C: The only thing they seemed to borrow from was Jor-El's costume and the family symbol. The globe filled the role of the crystals.

MOS: This one seemed to take almost nothing from the Donner movies with the exception of the symbol being a family crest.

Krypton: Since Superman never actually appeared on the show it's hard to gauge what the influences were other than the symbol being a family crest.

[Jeffrey2]

An oft forgotten version is Superboy. The TV series that ran in syndication in the early 90s. Starring Gerard Christopher as Superboy (he was 30 when the show filmed) and Stacy Haiduk as Lana (basically Lois), it had incredible stories written for seasons 3 and 4 by DC writers such as Cary Bates. Writers who got the character. Roads Not Taken was an episode that did a multiverse years before it was done on TV/film let alone in the comics. 3 Supermen (yeah Gerard was Superman by this point) - one evil, one good and one jaded. This ep could easily have been made into a film. Indeed, Cary Bates wrote a feature film script featuring Brainiac which was to star the Superboy cast. L&C came along and WB forced the TV series to end even though it was a top ten syndicated show. WB also blocked rerun syndication of Superboy and only in the mid 2000s allowed it to be released on DVD. The plan was for 6 seasons with the last 2, which they did not get, being Superboy moving to Metropolis and becoming Superman.

It was a great series. The best live-action traditional suit ever. They took the Reeve suit and improved it. Christopher was very buff - a triathlete at the time - but not overdone like Cavill. They didn't need to use padding in the suit. Hopefully Corenswet emulates the Christopher look rather than the Cavill look.

The key to Superman is, of course, Clark and Lois. The best iterations of the characters are Reeve/Kidder, Welling/Durance, Christopher/Haiduk and Hoechlin/Tulloch. If we are lucky, and I think we will be, Corenswet and Brosnahan will join that list. Either way Gerard and Stacy had chemistry! The FX was better than that of L&C and especially the flying. Superboy used the Reeve flying team as consultants.

So yeah, if you are a Superman fan and have not seen this series you need to. It can be purchased online for about $30. 4 seasons, 100 eps. Well worth it - why you should watch Superboy:

https://superboylegacy.com/video/why...atch-superboy/

[CosmeticSkull]

Which versions do you think borrowed the most from the Donner movie? My list:
Supergirl: Superman himself was kind of a minor character on this show so we don't know a lot about his history but the Fortress very much looks like the one from the movie and the symbol is of course a family crest.

I mean, Supergirl was basically a Superman show, just with a gender-swapped Superman.

[Primal Slayer]

An oft forgotten version is Superboy. The TV series that ran in syndication in the early 90s. Starring Gerard Christopher as Superboy (he was 30 when the show filmed) and Stacy Haiduk as Lana (basically Lois), it had incredible stories written for seasons 3 and 4 by DC writers such as Cary Bates. Writers who got the character. Roads Not Taken was an episode that did a multiverse years before it was done on TV/film let alone in the comics. 3 Supermen (yeah Gerard was Superman by this point) - one evil, one good and one jaded. This ep could easily have been made into a film. Indeed, Cary Bates wrote a feature film script featuring Brainiac which was to star the Superboy cast. L&C came along and WB forced the TV series to end even though it was a top ten syndicated show. WB also blocked rerun syndication of Superboy and only in the mid 2000s allowed it to be released on DVD. The plan was for 6 seasons with the last 2, which they did not get, being Superboy moving to Metropolis and becoming Superman.

It was a great series. The best live-action traditional suit ever. They took the Reeve suit and improved it. Christopher was very buff - a triathlete at the time - but not overdone like Cavill. They didn't need to use padding in the suit. Hopefully Corenswet emulates to Christopher look rather than the Cavill look.

The key to Superman is, of course, Clark and Lois. The best iterations of the characters are Reeve/Kidder, Welling/Durance, Christopher/Haiduk and Hoechlin/Tulloch. If we are lucky, and I think we will be, Corenswet and Brosnahan will join that list. Either way Gerard and Stacy had chemistry! The FX was better than that of L&C which the top ten rated Superboy series was canceled to make room for.

So yeah, if you are a Superman fan and have not seen this series you need to. It can be purchased online for about $30. 4 seasons, 100 eps. Well worth it.

I've been on a Superman kick with all the new casting news....and its annoying that DC Universe had the Superboy series streaming but MAX has left it off for some reason. Same with Adventures of Superman. Makes zero sense.

Though it looks like Smallville & Supergirl may end up being the only series that end of their own accord since even L&C got a last minute cancellation and AoS ended due to GRs death.

[Jman27]

I remember how much I wanted that red jacket from Smallville as a kid probably why I like it when heroes can wear cool jackets with their suits if possible

[superduperman]

I've been on a Superman kick with all the new casting news....and its annoying that DC Universe had the Superboy series streaming but MAX has left it off for some reason. Same with Adventures of Superman. Makes zero sense.

Though it looks like Smallville & Supergirl may end up being the only series that end of their own accord since even L&C got a last minute cancellation and AoS ended due to GRs death.

I love this!

[superduperman]

I mean, Supergirl was basically a Superman show, just with a gender-swapped Superman.

I would love an in universe explanation for why her symbol looked so much different than his!

[Primal Slayer]

As I go through each of the live action origin stories...it's so weird to have the serials/AoS not yet have the Kents as Martha/Jonathan.

I love this!

Updated as I missed a version.

I would love an in universe explanation for why her symbol looked so much different than his!

Her outfit is manmade, specifically by whatshisname, her bff in episode 1.

[Frontier]

We may not have gotten enough Superman cartoons but live-action has surprising served the character well .

[Jeffrey2]

Live action has indeed served Superman well on TV though not in the films. From 1980 through 2025 there have been/will be 3 Superman films - in 45 years! SR, MOS and SL. Since 1980 and through 2025 there have been live-action TV shows from 1989 through 1996 (Superboy, L&C), 2001 through 2011 (Smallville) and 2021 through 2024 (S&L). 22 years of live action Superman in the same 45 years. When you translate that into hours of screen time it's 7/8 hours vs about 385 hours.

[Primal Slayer]

Live action has indeed served Superman well on TV though not in the films. From 1980 through 2025 there have been/will be 3 Superman films - in 45 years! SR, MOS and SL. Since 1980 and through 2025 there have been live-action TV shows from 1989 through 1996 (Superboy, L&C), 2001 through 2011 (Smallville) and 2021 through 2024 (S&L). 22 years of live action Superman in the same 45 years. When you translate that into hours of screen time it's 7/8 hours vs about 385 hours.

Yeah but I'd argue that Superman has the best consistent live action adaption out of any comic book hero and is always filling the void. If he isn't in a movie then he certainly is in a tv show.

It's very interesting that Superman has had so many tv shows considering how larger than life he is yet Batman hasnt had a tv show since Adam West.

[Jeffrey2]

Yeah but I'd argue that Superman has the best consistent live action adaption out of any comic book hero and is always filling the void. If he isn't in a movie then he certainly is in a tv show.

It's very interesting that Superman has had so many tv shows considering how larger than life he is yet Batman hasnt had a tv show since Adam West.

I was mistaken as to the count. The latter Reeve films happened in the 80s. Adding several hours to the 45-year film total. You make a good point but IMO it's the TV adaptations that define Superman as opposed to Batman where it is the film adaptations that define Batman. IMO Smallville, Superboy, S&L and L&C (not a big fan) are more definitive adaptations of the character. To be fair a TV series has the freedom to fix what isn't working (as happened between seasons 1 and 2 of Superboy and 1 and 2 of L&C) which is a luxury a film does not have.