Superman & Lois: 22 Super-Actors We’d Like To See
Ever since John Wesley Shipp appeared in the premiere of The Flash back in 2014, it’s become an Arrowverse tradition for actors from previous comic book projects, especially DC projects, to show up in that world. Supergirl gave us such Super-luminaries as Erica Durance, Lynda Carter, Teri Hatcher, Dean Cain, Helen Slater, Sarah Douglas, Sam Witwer, and Laura Vandervoort over the years; last year’s Crisis on Infinite Earths dug even deeper, giving us such folks as Burt Ward (Batman ’66) and Tom Welling (Smallville).
Even before the Arrowverse did it, Smallville brought back folks like Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder; Lois & Clark gave us 1950’s Lois Lane Phyllis Coates and Jimmy Olsen Jack Larson; and Superman: The Movie featured Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill, not to mention how Superman Returns and Superboy gave us Neill and Larson as well.
With Superman & Lois coming on, there are more opportunities to revisit our Super past, with a lot of guest star roles to fill at one point or another so for this list of actors we’d like to see on the new show, we are limiting it to people who have not appeared in the Arrowverse as yet. So, none of those people listed above would qualify. No Brandon Routh. No Tom Welling or Erica Durance. No Teri Hatcher, though we’d love to see her or Erica Durance opposite Elizabeth Tulloch. We wanted to put Colin Salmon who was so brilliant as Zod on Krypton on this list, but he’s already been in the Arrowverse in another role, as Walter Steele.
Folks currently involved with the DCEU movie universe are also off limits for the sake of this list, as we are [mostly] sticking to TV. So… let’s get started, yes?
It’s not an insult to other great Lex Luthor actors like Jon Cryer to suggest that Michael Rosenbaum may very well be the best Lex Luthor actor ever. It’s more that Michael is that good.
Michael was unable to make it back as Lex Luthor for Crisis on Infinite Earths, so he’s fair game to make this list. Who could he be? A Lex Luthor from another world? A good guy? A podcast host who does really great interviews? Whatever Superman & Lois could get from him, Michael’s face would certainly be welcomed again on our television screens.
It’s too bad Superman & Lois just cast Morgan Edge because that is basically the character the legendary Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) played on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. So instead of Edge, may we offer up Bruce Campbell as an icon like Perry White — a role that has probably already been cast? Great Caesar’s Ghost, that would have been cool.
Ah, Cassidy Freeman. One of the best parts of Smallville’s later seasons, she has worked so consistently that she likely hadn’t had time to head up to Vancouver to be in an Arrowverse show! But if she did get that opportunity… she’d be wonderful. Bonus if she could interact with Katie McGrath’s Lena Luthor. Cassidy is such a versatile actress, we’d love to see what Superman & Lois could come up with for her.
Superman & Lois is the first series since Smallville to regularly have a Lana Lang, and for the past generation, this has been Lana Lang. Kristin Kreuk has expressed an openness toward appearing in the Arrowverse if the right role came along, and maybe an appearance could be some promotion for The CW’s airings of Kristin’s other series Burden of Truth. In any event, we’d love to see Kristin showing up on Superman & Lois one day.
Speaking of Lana Lang actors… no one from Superboy has ever been invited back for later Super-TV series. Isn’t it time that streak has ended? Stacy Haiduk did appear on Heroes, but it was probably not as a nod to her Super-past. She still looks beautiful 30 years later, and it’s high time she gets her due.
And on that note… Gerard Christopher has also aged well and has been available to meet fans at conventions and events, back when such things existed. But, again, he hasn’t appeared in the Arrowverse… even though he was rumored to be the dead Superman on Earth-75 (it wasn’t him). With his Super-resemblance, maybe he could even still be a Kryptonian relative of Kal-El’s….
Yes, we said “no DCEU” and then here we go, throwing in someone who was recently in Shazam! But, the main role he is known for is Smallville’s Lionel Luthor, despite his many other DC connections (including voicing The Riddler and being Dr. Jason Woodrue in Batman and Robin). Glover always made Smallville better whenever he walked through the doors of Luthor Mansion, and if Superman & Lois found anything for him, they’d surely get similar results.
Seeing Brandon Routh as Superman again in Crisis on Infinite Earths, we really saw what he was capable of at a more appropriate age to be playing Superman. Kate Bosworth’s Lois Lane suffered a similar fate: She was classy, she looked great…. but she looked a bit… young. Honoring her Super-legacy with a Superman & Lois guest shot would be fun and may be as redemptive as Brandon Routh’s original Arrowverse casting as Ray Palmer had been…. when they get good material, they can shine. Let’s see Bosworth shine.
“Who the heck is that?” you may ask. That was the kid from Superman Returns. Superbastard, if you will. Feel old, because he is 21 years old now, and he played the role of Reed Hellstrom (no relation to Daimon) for about five years on The Young and the Restless, so he’s still acting. This might be the most deep-pull person on this list, but an actor of his age could be beneficial to a show like Superman & Lois, as he is only a few years older than Jonathan and Jordan, while at the same time being an adult like Clark and Lois.
Superman: The Animated Series voice actress Dana Delany always had a “live action Lois Lane” look even though we’ve never actually seen her play Lois in live action. Elizabeth Tulloch has shown herself to be a fan by requesting that Lois be seen in purple like the animated show. Like some of the others on this list, Delany has never been brought back for a later live-action project… perhaps it’s time that they do something about that?
Much like how Dana Delany is the spitting image of a Lois Lane, her Superman: The Animated Series costar Tim Daly is also a dead ringer for Clark Kent when he has glasses on. While he has done a comedic sketch with other Superman actors, Daly hasn’t appeared on any of the live-action series, and it would be fascinating to see him in this world. *cough*Jonathan Kent*cough*
Yes, we are still stuck on Superman: The Animated Series actors here. Lauren Tom‘s character of Angela Chen has mostly been restricted to the animated world, but the actress — who was prominently seen on Supernatural a few years ago — is a joy to watch, and it’d be fun seeing what she would do in a show like Superman & Lois. Maybe she can be a live-action Angela Chen? Or the mother of Ryan Choi from Crisis — she does have some experience with a role like that.
Speaking of great actresses who have played mothers, we stan Annette O’Toole in this house, and the one-time Lana Lang who later played Martha (why did we say that name?) Kent for several seasons of Smallville is one of our absolute favorite TV moms. Heck, if Superman & Lois wants to just get her as Martha, we won’t tell them that she’s already done it before.
I’m old enough that Bo Duke was one of my childhood heroes, and it was a treat when Smallville cast John Schneider as Clark’s father Jonathan Kent, instilling authority and care when interacting with his Super-son. A character much like this original Jonathan might be beneficial to Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent as he raises a Super-son of his own.
Appearing only in the first season of Lois & Clark, Michael Landes got screwed, apparently looking too much like Dean Cain for audiences and not bringing in the teenage-girl fan mail that seaQuest‘s Jonathan Brandis did. So, after Season 1, when show creator Deborah Joy LeVine, John Shea, and Tracy Scoggins all departed, so, too, did Michael Landes. It’d be fun to see him revisit the world of Superman. And if he’s not available… then someone can call up Justin Whalin, who offered his own spin on Superman’s pal.
It may also be surprising that John Shea who was so magnificent as Lex on Lois & Clark never made his way to Smallville or any Arrowverse show since. Like Landes, we’d love to see him back in that world.
Lois & Clark fans will get it when all we have to say about this one is “Duh.”
We didn’t get her as a recast Kate Kane, but that’s okay. What we do want, though, is more Wallis Day on our TV screens, and if you haven’t seen her on Krypton, you are seriously missing out.
He did make a Smallville appearance, and yes, that is Marty’s brother from Back to the Future, but fans of Superman: The Movie know Marc McClure best as the iconic Jimmy Olsen for that generation. He even appeared in the Supergirl movie when her cousin didn’t! He’s definitely not a teenager anymore, but it’d be fun if he was a townsperson in Smallville or something like that.
Jeff East played the young Clark Kent in Superman: The Movie and like many others, has continued to embrace his Super-history. What better way to embrace it than to appear in a new Superman project?
Like Tyler Hoechlin, Dylan Sprayberry is an alum from Teen Wolf… and like Hoechlin, he’s played Clark Kent, as he was the young Clark Kent in Man of Steel. (We said no current DCEU actors; it is unlikely he’ll be playing Young Clark again anytime soon). Eventually, the whole Teen Wolf cast will end up in the Arrowverse at one place or another… and that other guy in the photo, by the way, is Tyler Posey, guest in Smallville’s “Subterranean.”
He played Jimmy Henry Olsen for a few seasons of Smallville and then became an official part of the canon as Henry’s little brother, also going by “Jimmy” we assume, in the Smallville series finale. Aaron Ashmore has done quite well for himself, starring in Killjoys for a while there, and he, too, would be fun to see back in this world.
And no, he wasn’t Iceman in X-Men. That was his brother, Shawn, who himself appeared in the Smallville episode “Leech.”
You’re not going to get a better Brainiac than the one Blake Ritson played in Krypton. So, why not just take the character and the actor? Please and thank you.
We admit it: We purposely put Cameron Cuffe this far down on the list so he’d keep browsing in order to find himself. Hi, Cameron!
But, to be serious, we were robbed from getting more Krypton so the least the Superman & Lois can do is bring in the man who once played Superman’s grandpa Seg-El.
Jason Connery, son of the late Sean Connery, played Luthor assistant Dominic Sanatori in early episodes of Smallville, and the Superman villain Vartox was clearly based on his dad’s look in Zardoz. So, this one we’re making a direct casting suggestion for… mostly because we want to see if they could pull off this costume in live action, and in Vancouver at that.
And this marks the end of this feature! Thanks for reading, and while we know some of your favorites might not be included in this list (or currently under house arrest), we sincerely appreciate your taking the time to read. Got some suggestions for more? Leave some comments below!
Superman & Lois premieres February 23 on The CW.
Superman & Lois: 22 Super-Actors We’d Like To See
Craig Byrne has been writing about Superman TV since 1995, when the "Lois & Clark Krypton Club" launched. He founded KryptonSite.com in February 2001, becoming the first fan site for The WB/CW television series Smallville. He also wrote the Official Companion books for Smallville seasons 4-7 as well as the Smallville Visual Guide.
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I would like to see Michael Rosenbaum reprise President Luthor and lead the Council of Luthors.