Thoughts on the Superman casting

By now, comics fans and Superman fans are well aware of the news that British actor Henry Cavill won the coveted role of Superman in Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder's 2012 relaunch of the franchise. Since the news broke, it appears that the big complaints can be broken down into three categories: He's not Tom Welling. He's not Brandon Routh. He's not Jon Hamm. And he's not American. Valid complaints? Maybe at face value, but not on a deeper level.

He's not Tom Welling. Reading through the talkbalk on Ain't It Cool News' article about this casting, I came across one poster who called Welling "our generation's Superman." If that's the case, I'd like to change generations. Welling is not our generation's Superman. He's not any generation's Superman. While it seems that he's done a perfectly passable job on Smallville, Welling will never be the man to carry a franchise of this magnitude. Smallville isn't an audition. It's a CW soap opera that uses characters from DC's superhero universe.

He's not Brandon Routh. When it comes down to it, Routh got a raw deal. No matter what anyone says about his acting skills, Bryan Singer cast him in Superman Returns because he looked like Christopher Reeves. Sadly, Routh's shot at Superman came in a failed reboot/continuation. Nolan and Snyder's Superman is a fresh start, a clean break. Casting Routh in this film would only further muddle the mess Singer left behind.

He's not Jon Hamm. I wanted Jon Hamm to be Superman. I really did. A Superman story like Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman would be perfect for Hamm. We've seen origin story so many times now – it would have been something to see the end of Superman instead. Apparently that's not what this Superman story is going to be though. When it comes down to it, Hamm never really seemed too enthused to included in the Superman talk anyways.

He's not American. OK, I've gone on about this to other people before. We have Brits playing Batman and Spider-man. Our best action heroes seem to be British or Australian now. Marvel's best choice of an American actor for Captain America was Chris Evans. Steven Spielberg has even cast two non-Americans (Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis) in his attempt at an Abraham Lincoln movie. If Cavill delivers an amazing Superman though, I could care less what his nationality is. If we want American actors in these great roles, let's stop paying money to see Zac Efron and Michael Cera in movies ... it's only encouraging them.

As is the case with the recent Dark Knight Rises castings, I trust Christopher Nolan. So many people questioned Heath Ledger being the Joker. After that, Nolan should have a blank check for trust.