"Brendan Fraser On The ‘Superman’ Movie That Never Was"

Well I don't really know about Brendon playing Superman. I believe he would have done a better job than BR IMHO

The comments after all kiss BR butt oh how great BR was and yuck. Blech.

I would have rather had him than BR. Oh well more water under the bridge.

i remember his name tossed around years ago, at that time i was like he would have been terrible choice since he was mostly doing comedies then but looking at him now he probably could have pulled it off. It would be cool to see his screen test. But downfall of that superman film would have been the jj abrams script i remember it got leaked out and it was god awful.

I still haven't read the script. Just a plot overview. I didn't like it.

You just have to love those comments on the MTV blog. It's a big Brandon Who lovefest. Sometimes it feels like the entire frackin' Internet is populated by Steve Younis'.

I want to know how the 5 ppl who liked BR in SR know whenever anyone posts about him so they can go on there and say how great he is.

Ooops I just realized it must be they are all related to him. His mom, dad, granny, grampy, and he goes on there and posts how great he is.

I know it isn't anyone who comes on here saying he is the next best thing to having a million dollars in your pocket.

The movie was a huge success did I actually hear that said in the interview???? Where did they get that screwed up information? I normally like Sci-fi, fantasy, but posts like that stretch even my ability to believe. LOL

I must be reading a different mtv thread, because there are only 3 posts that say anything positive about Routh. He must have some core fan group, but if it stays at only 3 pro-Routh posts, then it's not a very active group IMHO.

LOL delphi I really didn't count how many, but I figured that 5 sounded about right. Three may be more realistic, but you have to count the person doing the interview that sounded like he was fawning at BR feet. Made me kinda ill.

Ooooh aaaahh the film was so great and you did such a great job. What a huge success!!!

Did they watch the same movie as the rest of us? LMAO

Let's not forget that BJ Routh comes from a do-nothing town in IOWA. So they hear the name Superman, and they right away have to spout off due to being HOMERS.

Brendan Fraser would have been a great Superman, and honestly could pull it off in JLA NOW. When the new Mummy movie comes out, you'll see that he has aged well, and still has that "action hero" look to him. Unfortunately for EVERYONE, Hollyweird (and WB in particular) seem to think that people want their male leads to look 18, scrawny and effeminate.

You know, like BJ Routh?

Anyhow, I get a George Reeves type of vibe from Fraser. Most people go for Chris Reeve.

What was that movie he did recently with Kevin Costner. I didn't see the movie yet, but from the previews he looked awesome.

I believe that was a serious role too, no funny stuff.

He probably would have done a very fine job, but like AP said they chose BR for some ungodly reason. Wanted an unknown WTF kinda reason is that. Go with someone who can do the darned job, and do it right.

Singer did that to AGAIN copy STM, he wanted to cast an unknown exactly like Donner did.

Stupid just plain and simple, stupid.

That was one of their reasons for not casting Welling too. They didn't want to confuse the GP, My rear end. They had their reasons but none of them had anything to do with the GP.

I only hope they wise the heck up, and cast Welling for the movies. His fanbase on playing Clark Kent alone is huge. A weekly average of over 3.5 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at. And this from a relatively small TV channel. Not one of the major ones, probably lots of places don't even get CW. That would cut down on the viewers I am sure.

...and don't forget Welling is known internationally as Clark

Your absolutely right, Father. I had meant to mention that, but I was in a hurry and left that part out.

Yes he has a very large fanbase all over the world. The DVD's of Smallville include several languages. And if you want you can get copies of Smallville dvd's from China relatively cheap on EBAY

If WB ever had the cajones to do Kingdom Come for the big screen, Brendan could play Supes with EASE. But, like I said, he could ALSO do JLA right this minute.

Would I pick him over Tom Welling? Obviously not. Over BJ Routh? Unless I needed a bowling alley bartender, 100 times out of 100.

Singer cast BJ due to his own persuassions...Welling and Fraser are too much old school manly...you know...like Superman. Metrosexual is as close to manly as Singer can muster.

That was one of their reasons for not casting Welling too

I recognize your point but you could've packed SV's entire cast into Singerman and the movie still would've sucked. It was just ill-conceived from the outset.

As to some other guy's point, you're absolutely right, the metrosexual Singerman didn't help matters.

Your right colors. The whole premise behind SR sucked. The whiny boy Superman, the illegitimate kid, the underage looking Lois. All bad ideas.

I was only saying that was one of their reasons behind passing over Welling or anyone else who had worked as an actor at all. We need an unknown! Well I guess that means they can still use BR for that because he still is an unknown. Brandon who?

He still doesn't qualify as an actor. Let me see... one movie that made everyone hate him to his credit... wow we should use him again. WTF

I have never understood the entire thought process of having Superman being eternally 19 years old. I feel like SM should be late twenties, early thirties. He should have some wear and tear on his soul, he should have seen humanity at both its brightest and its darkest. He should be built like and NFL defensive lineman with dark hair and a strong chin. I also agree witht the producers who made Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Although Dean Cain didn't have the build I see for Superman, he had an exotic look to him. A more "Alien" look. The problem is finding a 26-34 yo 6'5" 250 pound stud who can carry a movie. I think the mindset isn't so much so and so can't pull off Superman, it's more to the point, Dwayne Johnson, for instance,couldn't pull of Clark Kent. It is a delicate balance. Oh, well.

I'm willing to cut actors in superhero films a LOT of slack. As this applies to Superman, I might've been willing to accept Brandon Routh had he been physically larger and (considering the continuity he was asked to participate in) somewhere in mid his to late 30's. By contrast, I might also have been willing to accept him (body type aside) if he was playing a rookie or intermediate Superman in a brand new continuity where he was still learning the ropes of his calling.

I own the Singerman DVD thanks to that mega boxed set. I re-watch sometimes in a vain attempt to force myself to recognize the elegance and beauty the Apologists continually gush about.

I'm sorry, but it simply isn't there.

Routh simply wasn't weathered enough to feel like the veteran Superman we were supposed to accept him as, nor did he have the physicality to make me believe he carried incredible power. This isn't strictly a physical size issue, it's also in how he carries himself on-set. Dean Cain often goes overlooked in exhuding a sense of purpose and authority to the role. Routh? He ambled aimlessly around, both as Clark and as Superman, lacking any sense of those qualities in any scene. That would be acceptable if that's what the script called for, but even in scenes where he was CLEARLY meant to impose himself, he often simply looked shaken and uncertain. And that's when he wasn't stiff as a board.

Further, the (remarkably few) scenes he has in the film are a mixed bag in terms of making me believe he truly is either Clark or Superman in the given scene. One major example is the scene in Kansas where he's supposed to be reminiscing about growing up. His face looked blank. Rather than journeying through his memories to recall a simpler and happier time, you'd have thought he was staring at a production crew... oh wait!

The confusion mixed with the freedom, the JOY of DISCOVERY we are supposed to believe he experienced is executed with deftness by Stephan Bender, the young Clark actor. Routh, for his part, simply cannot match that same standard.

That scene is followed by Clark watching TV news. The subtext of the news footage collage is clearly intended to convey Clark's discomfort and outrage that mankind has not moved on in the slightest during his absence.

Routh simply looks annoyed in the scene, as though he's watching Fran Drescher reruns. His face exhibits zero moral outrage. For all the emotion he brings to the scene, you'd think he'd just looked expectantly into the fridge, only to discover Martha and Ben drank the rest of his beer.

His voice is something of an improvement over the rest of his performance. He affects a somewhat deeper baritone as Superman, while Clark's voice is more of a reedy tenor. It plays... until Routh's inexperience with carrying himself and using his body to assist his vocal performance completely trips everything up. Which is frequent.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg.

Compare that to Tom Welling. Welling probably won't ever win an Academy Award, but he has three things going for him that Routh will never have- (1) conviction; when the script allows him, Welling's Clark acts with purpose and maturity. He doesn't need to convince others that he's making the right choice and he certainly doesn't need to grandstand in front of a roaring baseball stadium, seeking the vain affirmation and approval of faceless spectators. He does what needs to be done and then he retreats. (2) physical stature; 'nuff said. (3) Chris Reeve's endorsement; ditto.

But those are all Superman qualities. For his part, Welling is a better *Clark* as well. Through out the show's run, Clark has consisently been forced into emergency situations in which he doesn't completely feel comfortable. Ten years later while wearing a red cape, his Superman would be a LOT more in control of situations such as a hostage crisis in Luthorcorp tower or being stalked by dirty cops.

In the first season, Welling's Clark, backed into a corner by the man who'd just framed his father for murder, lashes out. His emotions, already frayed from the morning's ordeal, boil over when he sees the man responsible for his family's suffering. It takes every ounce of willpower not to snap the cop in half, to break him into a thousand pieces and scatter the splinters to the wind. Welling conveyed not only Clark's casual ability to do so, but his THIRST to do so. He then immediately sells Clark cooling down and restraining himself as well as his disappointment with himself for losing control like he did.

In a second season episode, Welling believably portrayed Clark as nervous and uncertain as to what his next move ought to be, in spite of the fantastic powers he's already honed, about rescuing his mother. When the script called for it, Welling was able to shift gears and believably impose himself upon his mom's captors, and even his own father. Once the crisis is averted, Clark's sense of relief and gratitude for his mom's safety is almost tangible on the screen as he takes his family into his arms.

In other words, Welling has believably conveyed a righteous sense of moral outrage, personal uncertainty, anger, a satisfaction with justice, a sense of fear and also concern for his family, all with a dexterity utterly foreign to his bigscreen counterpart. He made me believe he was a 16-year old Clark Kent. At the best of times, he's also made me believe that he's psychologically capable of growing up to be Superman as well as proving that he was a strong contender to do so and carry with him the dignity and respect the character, as an institution, has earned. Insurgence is what sold me on Tom Welling's right (as well as that of his Clark) to wear the uniform.

It's not simply a matter of being "anti-anybody-but-Welling", it's respect for the work Welling (originally not an actor by trade or by desire) has invested in his character over the years along with the acknowledgement that few other contenders for the role exist. It's not that Welling is the best candidate (although, in my opinion, he is) it's that he's apparently the ONLY candidate on the map at present. If a better option presents himself, I'll give him a day in court.

Whoever that person may be, I can confidently say it is not Brandon Routh.

Sorry to yammer so much.

well said the colorsblend...well said...

Routh simply looks annoyed in the scene, as though he's watching Fran Drescher reruns. His face exhibits zero moral outrage. For all the emotion he brings to the scene, you'd think he'd just looked expectantly into the fridge, only to discover Martha and Ben drank the rest of his beer.

LMAO...that's good....

And I agree...on all points.

Tom Welling has done 150 episodes and at least 3 movies....he is learning his craft. BR doesn't know the craft...and that is just the way it is. TV actors don't get enough cred....you can't do a show for a couple hundred episodes and not learn the trade.

Brendan Fraser are funny, but he isnot Superman. Tom Willing is Super!

"Brendan Fraser are funny, but he isnot Superman. Tom Willing is Super!"

One things for sure, BJ Routh ISN'T Superman.

He was barely Singerman....

Yes! Him arms are too small and his hair go wrong way. :(

"Yes! Him arms are too small and his hair go wrong way. :("

And he has the same charisma and personality as you possess:

None.

Why are you be a mean? You are like bully. :(

Before this gets out of hand, how old are you "Monkey"?

I just don't want any personal attacks.

I are fifteen almost.

"I just don't want any personal attacks."

This guy is basically mocking the website.

I know you want to be fair, but watch and see if I'm not right.