The only actor I could think of for Daily Planet editor Perry White in the upcoming Superman movie Man of Steel was Clancy Brown; Perry was the only character I didn’t have at least a few good casting ideas for.

But, as has become the standard for casting on this film, director Zack Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan are doing just fine on their own.

Entertainment Weekly exclusively reports that Laurence Fishburne, who has made an incredible career playing characters from affable Cowboy Curtis on Pee-wee’s Playhouse to hard-as-nails mentor Morpheus in the The Matrix, has been cast as the big boss at Metropolis’s best newspaper. And I love this. I can just imagine a younger Fishburne as a younger, hungrier Perry, and how awesome he’ll be at reflecting Perry’s love for old-school journalism against the changing face of the newspaper industry and the decline of print media.

And then, of course, Superman will show up and change everything.

Fishburne joins Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon and Antje Traue as Kryptonian villains General Zod and Faora, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Clark’s adoptive Earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, Russell Crowe and Julia Ormond as Clark’s Kryptonian birth parents, Jor-El and Lara, and Christopher Meloni and Harry Lennix as American military generals.

No word yet on whether we’ll get a Lex Luthor. (I suggest Luke Goss, but nobody asked me.)

Man of Steel will believe in Truth, Justice, the American Way, and YOU on June 14, 2013!

Our new Superman, Henry Cavill, won’t be soaring into a theater near you in December of 2012 as originally reported. Warner Bros. announced yesterday that the new release date for the awesomely titled Man of Steel is June 14, 2013.

Henry Cavill from Entertainment Weekly

On one hand, I’m crestfallen. The thought of new Batman and Superman movies in the same year was massively exciting, but I think this makes more sense. Now it won’t have to compete with WB’s other big December 2012 release, The Hobbit, and director Zack Snyder and his cast and crew will have a lot more time to take their time and get it right.

My guess is that we’ll see a teaser before The Dark Knight Rises next summer, a full trailer before The Hobbit, and probably a Super Bowl spot, too.

It’s time for Superman to fly in a film that celebrates everything I’ve ever loved about the character. And I really think this is going to be it.

Big article wrapping up all the casting news coming soon!

Variety has the exclusive!

And congratulations to Latino Review for confirming Faora in the first place.

And so we get our second piece of official Superman movie casting — lovely Diane Lane is joining the cast as the Man of Steel’s adoptive Earth mother, Martha Kent.

Here’s Warner Bros.’ press release:

BURBANK, CA, March 2, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Oscar®-nominated actress Diane Lane will play Martha Kent, the only mother Clark Kent has ever known, in the new Superman movie to be directed by Zack Snyder.

Snyder stated, “This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman. We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination.”

Lane will star with Henry Cavill, who was recently announced as the new Clark Kent/Superman.

Lane earned an Academy Award® nomination for her performance in the 2002 drama “Unfaithful.” She most recently starred in the family hit “Secretariat.” She next stars in the HBO feature “Cinema Verite,” opposite Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini. Lane’s long list of film credits also includes “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Hollywoodland,” “Must Love Dogs,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Perfect Storm,” “My Dog Skip,” “Chaplin,” “The Cotton Club” and “A Little Romance,” to name only a portion.

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

Slated for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

So I wonder if we’ll be seeing any flashbacks in this, or any scenes of Clark as a child? After all, Lane is only 19 years older than Henry Cavill, who’s playing Clark.

Kevin Costner is in negotiations to play Martha’s husband, Jonathan. Lane and Costner are phenomenal actors, and this kind of castings bodes remarkably well for the new movie.

Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Day-Lewis are also reportedly being courted for roles, as well; Mortensen as General Zod and Day-Lewis presumably as Jor-El.

That’s a lot of talent. Can’t wait to see how this one continues to come together!

That was fast!

Last night, I wrote an article compiling all of this week’s Lois Lane movie rumors and wondered what it all meant in light of Variety’s report that Alice Eve, Diane Kruger, and Rosamund Pike were competing for a “female lead” who was NOT Lois Lane.

Now, Latino Review says they know who this mystery character is.

Ursa.

Ursa was General Zod’s lieutenant in Superman II, where she was played with cruel, sexy authoritarianism by Sarah Douglas, who would later star as a wicked queen (also a sexy authoritarian) in one of my other favorite childhood movies, Conan the Destroyer.

Latino Review knows their stuff. They broke the “Olivia Wilde for Lois Lane” story earlier this week and were the first to break Brandon Routh’s name when he was cast as Bryan Singer’s Superman in 2005.

The earliest whispers about this new Nolan/Snyder movie starring Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel named General Zod as the villain. Snyder was asked about this and said it was “a rumor for now,” which was NOT a denial, even though nearly every website on the planet reported Snyder’s words as a denial (including Latino Review yet again in their Ursa story).

I wrote this article back in October about how Snyder’s words were anything but a denial.

And now it seems that Zod is more likely than ever if Latino Review’s sources are solid (and we have no reason to believe they aren’t, especially given LR’s track record).

If Ursa is indeed the character, then I’m for Diane Kruger all the way — especially after her performance in Inglorious Basterds.

(I always saw a modern Ursa as Carrie-Anne Moss from the Matrix movies, who worked with producer Nolan in Memento.)

I love this news. Even though we’ve seen Zod in Superman II (played by the amazing Terence Stamp) and on an entire (and excellent) season of Smallville (played with barely contained depravity by Callum Blue), it would be awesome to see a wild, crazy battle between Superman and other Kryptonians filmed through the stylish, skillful, imaginative eyes of Zack Snyder.

My wish list for Zod would be Edward Norton, Oscar Isaac, and Kevin Durand.

Michael Clarke Duncan for Non.

(If you’re looking for a good Ursa story from the comics, check out Last Son by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. It’s the movie Superman Returns should have been.)

I’m really loving this news. Stay tuned!

UPDATE 2/8

We can count out Rosamund Pike; she’s been cast in the Clash of the Titans sequel, Wrath of the Titans, as Andromeda, replacing the unavailable Alexa Davalos (who deserved more screen time in the first one anyway).

UPDATE

Click here to read who the mystery female character might be! And it sounds like we’ll definitely have a Lois Lane, too. The original story remains below the line.

As our friend Jamie Williams pointed out on Think McFly Think earlier this week, the sudden (and on a Sunday, no less) announcement that Henry Cavill had been cast as Superman was a blessing that spared us weeks and possibly even months of speculation about who would portray the Man of Steel in the upcoming film directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch) and produced by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises).

Rampant concern and conjecture, however, have exploded around the casting of Lois Lane — if she’s even in the movie at all, which has come into question over the last 24 hours.

Let’s take it from the top.

First, What’s Playing released a list of actresses they said they’d heard were in contention to play Lois. They state that Anne Hathaway had been the top pick “from day one,” but of course she chose instead to play Selina “Catwoman” Kyle in Nolan’s Batman finale, The Dark Knight Rises.

(She’d have made an amazing Lois, by the way.)

That supposedly left a list including Malin Akerman, Dianna Agron, Jessica Biel, Rachel McAdams, and Kristen Stewart.

Akerman was the best part of the obnoxious Couples Retreat and worked with Snyder as the second Silk Spectre in Watchmen. She’s beautiful and funny.

I don’t watch Glee, so I don’t know anything about Dianna Agron, except for the fact that she looks nothing like Lois Lane. Moving on.

Biel looks like she was carved and molded out of a magical rock on Mount Olympus; her exotic looks make her almost too sexy for Lois Lane, but I really liked her performances in The Illusionist and The A-Team.

Rachel McAdams stole my heart in Wedding Crashers, stole lots more hearts than mine in The Notebook, and recently played reporters in the amazing State of Play (which I loved) and Morning Glory (which I’ll NetFlix when it hits home video).

The article also mentioned a “Winstead,” whom I’m assuming is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and I really like her, too.

Of this particular group, I’d pick McAdams and then Biel.

But then there’s Kristen Stewart.

I’ve seen two of the Twilight movies and feel that Stewart’s character, Bella Swan, is pretty pathetic. (It’s like she only defines herself by whichever boy she’s mooning over at the moment.) And though Stewart gets a lot of grief for her performances in those films, the weak writing and stilted direction aren’t doing her — or any of her fellow actors, for that matter — any favors. She’s a much better actress than those films suggest, but I just don’t see her as having the guts or the spark to convincingly play Lois Lane.

And yet she became the center of the most attention in the ensuing days, when The New York Daily News (who also snuck Mila Kunis into the initial list) reported that Snyder had offered her the part but that she’d turned it down to focus on “smaller, independent films” in the wake of being sideswiped by the success and attention brought upon her by Twilight.

Stewart’s people hastily contacted People to assure the world that their client hadn’t been approached for the Lois Lane role at all.

So who’s telling the truth? Clint Morris from Moviehole did a little digging and said on his Twitter that one of his sources at Warner Brothers told him that “Kristen’s reps denied her Superman talks because they didn’t want it to hurt her Snow White chances.”

Those “Snow White chances,” of course, being her likely involvement in Snow White and the Huntsman alongside Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen for Universal. So much for wanting to do smaller movies, right?

Not that it mattered. Meanwhile, a scooper told Ain’t It Cool that Biel had been seen having lunch with Snyder, too.

But here’s where the story gets particularly interesting to me. Latino Review, who famously broke the news that Brandon Routh had been cast as Bryan Singer’s Superman in Superman Returns (review here) way back in 2005, came through with another scoop stating that Olivia Wilde had also met for the part (while confirming that Rachel McAdams was under consideration, too).

I didn’t see Tron: Legacy and I don’t watch House, so I found this video of Wilde being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and fell in love with her immediately. She’s hilarious. And she’s intelligent. And she’s got a lot of spark. Those are all necessary ingredients for a great Lois Lane.

And at that point, Wilde became my top choice of all the names we’d heard up to that point.

(I’d also love to see Zooey Deschanel or Alison Brie get it, and I’d have gone with Carla Gugino or Rashida Jones if an older actor like Jon Hamm had been cast as Clark, but of all the names that have been rumored this week, Wilde is my number one gal, hands down.)

But things were about to get even crazier.

Variety seemingly threw everything out the window last night when they revealed that the film’s “female lead” is down to three entirely new names — Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League), Diane Kruger (who was so amazing in Inglorious Basterds), and Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day, Surrogates, An Education) – and that the character they’re vying to portray is not Lois Lane!

That’s when What’s Playing elbowed back into the fray with a new article suggesting that the casting of Cavill — who’s British — has affected everything from where the movie will be filmed to who’s under consideration for this mysterious “female lead” who isn’t Lois Lane.

And I think that’s ridiculous, by the way. Our current Batman (Christian Bale) and Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) actors are British, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are Australians, and their nationalities didn’t change anything about their movies.

I don’t know what all of this means, but you only need to look as far as the competing Hollywood spin machines in the Kristen Stewart situation to see that these things are always in motion and can change in a heartbeat.

And Variety’s bombshell doesn’t mean that Lois Lane isn’t in the movie at all. Maybe the role that Eve, Kruger, and Pike are up for is another character entirely, and that Lois will still be accounted for (and hopefully played by Olivia Wilde). It has long been rumored (with zero proof of any kind) that the film would follow a young Clark Kent as he travels the world as a journalist, so maybe the mysterious female character is another journalist he encounters along the way. There’s precedent for this, given that the screenplay was written by David S. Goyer from an idea by Goyer and Nolan, who created the character of Rachel Dawes for the Batman movies. Maybe they’re taking a page from their own book and creating a similar character for their Superman.

Maybe the mystery female role is a villain. Maybe it’s Clark Kent’s Kryptonian birth mother, Lara-El. Maybe it’s Lana Lang (though I hope not; we had enough of Lana Lang on Smallville, and I’d hate to see the new movie tread similar ground).

And maybe there’s so much secrecy surrounding the project that all of the conflicting inside sources are confused. I don’t doubt the reporting behind the stories, but maybe everything isn’t necessarily what it seems to be here.

With so many rumors flying around, Warner Bros. may announce the actress and character soon just to get us all to simmer down.

Stay tuned! The new Superman movie is scheduled to hit theaters in December 2012.

(In the meantime, what I do know for sure is that I’ll love every second that my all-time favorite Lois, Erica Durance, is on camera in tonight’s new episode of Smallville. Oh, Erica.)

So, there’s a scene in The Count of Monte Cristo where James Caviezel’s Count delivers a birthday toast to young Albert Mondego, played by Henry Cavill, after witnessing the boy’s selfless courage against assailants in the dark catacombs below Rome.

“Life is a storm, my young friend,” the Count begins. “You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm, and shout as you did in Rome, ‘Do your worst. For I will do mine.’ Then the Fates will know you as we know you, as Albert Mondego, the man.”

As of today, the whole world is about to get to know Henry Cavill, the Man … of Steel.

The 27-year-old actor has signed on to play Kal-El, Clark Kent, and Superman in Warner Bros.’ December 2012 big-screen extravaganza to be directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan.

From today’s official press release:

HENRY CAVILL WILL TAKE ON THE DUAL ROLE OF CLARK KENT / SUPERMAN IN THE NEW FILM FROM WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND LEGENDARY PICTURES

BURBANK, CA, January 30, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill has won the coveted role of Superman, the iconic superhero.

The film will be directed by Zack Snyder, who stated, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

Cavill recently wrapped production on “The Cold Light of Day” and stars in the upcoming “Immortals,” opening this fall.

Targeted for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

I am so, so, so happy about this. Ever since my own favorite actor for the role, Jon Hamm, confirmed he was out of the running due to his age, and because I know Tom Welling from Smallville was simply never going to make the leap from TV, I’d been hoping for Armie Hammer while worrying it might end up being Joe Manganiello, who’s been very vocal to the press about wanting the role and at the center of a fresh round of rumors last week naming him as a potential front-runner.

(As I wrote quite some time ago, if the werewolf from True Blood was cast as Superman, I’d have stuck my face in a bag of real werewolves. No offense to the towering Manganiello, who’s as manly as they come and in excellent physical shape, but I think Superman needs to exude a certain kind of goodness and charm that I see coming more from a guy like Cavill.)

(For that matter, I also wanted James Caviezel to get it for a long time, too, especially after he and his family sat near me at the gate in the Los Angeles airport in 2008. I couldn’t believe how much he looked like Superman in person. It was his role in The Count of Monte Cristo that had made me think it years before, so it’s only fitting that the young man who so capably played his son in that film is now stepping into Superman’s boots.)

Cavill’s look is equally regal and rugged, and his acting talents are beyond reproach. Better still, he’s long been a fan favorite for the role with a huge and loyal online following. Those folks are undoubtedly very, very happy today, and I’m as thrilled for them as I am for Cavill.

Congratulations, young man. This is a huge opportunity; you’ve already earned it, and I know you’ll put in the hard work to deserve it.

Up, up and away to December 2012! I hope to hear much more news about this movie soon.

And big thanks to my friend Kareem for delivering the news via text today!

(For those of you who love homework, here are Mr. Cavill’s previous credits.)

UPDATED on 12/7!

I knew it! Zimmer debunks the rumor in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter!

Zimmer: I met Chris Nolan once and he knows Zack Snyder and therefore I’m doing Superman. You know that’s all it is.

THR: It may stem from the fact a lot of people would like to see you take that project. Based on the Batman films.

Zimmer: How can I say it: My heart belongs to Batman. I wouldn’t even know how to go and give voice to it. I haven’t thought about it.

THR: Not to mention following in the footsteps of John Williams.

Zimmer: Right! John Williams, the greatest living composer — full stop. And that happens to be one of his greatest themes. So no. And I’m not thinking of rewriting Beethoven’s ninth either. It just sounds like a thankless task, you know? So that’s unequivocally a no. I have never spoken with Zack Snyder.

Score one for vindication! I’m glad I stuck to my guns on this one. My original article follows.

Nearly every news site on the Internet is reporting it as fact, but I keep reading the original source and I’m just not convinced it’s as “official” as everyone thinks it is.

Hans Zimmer co-composed the music for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with James Newton Howard and most recently worked with writer/director Christopher Nolan again with his massively awesome score for Nolan’s equally awesome Inception. Nolan, in turn, is producing Warner Bros.’ new Superman movie that’ll be directed by Zack Snyder.

So it makes sense that Nolan would ask his go-to music man to score the Man of Steel. But I’m not with the rest of the Internet — yet — in declaring it a given.

The comments heard ’round the world were spoken by Zimmer to NBC San Diego at a DVD release party for Inception. Here’s a quote from their article:

Given that Nolan is also overseeing the development of a renewed revival of “Superman” helmed by Zack Snyder, Popcorn Biz had to ask Zimmer’s opinion on a burning question, whether he works on that film or not: do you re-employ John Williams’ theme for the Man of Steel, one of the most lauded scores in film history, or do you start anew with a fresh, fully original score?

Source: Composer Hans Zimmer Talks Theme Music For Nolan, Batman – and Superman? | NBC San Diego

Exhibit A:

“whether he works on that film or not”

Exhibit B:

The conversation was initiated not by Zimmer himself but by NBC’s reporter on the scene. “How do you,” rather than “How will you.” Which leads to …

Exhibit C:

NBC’s article title has a question mark after “Superman.” Had Zimmer confirmed that he was indeed scoring the new Superman movie, would NBC’s headline need a question mark? I’m convinced — for now — that this is a hypothetical conversation being reported everywhere elsewhere as fact. Not even NBC presents it that way. And even Entertainment Weekly –published by Time Warner, which owns Warner Bros., who’ll be releasing the movie — references only the NBC piece in their story declaring this as truth. No other source. Not even themselves, and you’d think they’d know if the news were indeed official.

Still, let’s see how Zimmer answered NBC’s question:

“It’s a hard one,” mused Zimmer, “but I followed one of the most iconic things on ‘Batman’ with Chris as well, and it’s the same thing. You are allowed to reinvent, but you have to try to be as good or at least as iconic and it has to resonate and it has to become a part of the zeitgeist. That’s the job. On ‘Gladiator’ I remember people always talking about ‘Spartacus’ and I kept telling them, ‘When you saw “Spartacus” and how it affected it you, that’s how I want a modern audience to be affected by what we do now.’ So I think ultimately you’re supposed to reinvent.”

An excellent answer — and a generality. He never says he’s actually doing it. He’s just answering a question.

I’d certainly be just fine if he did — just take a look at his credits, or better yet take a listen to one of his soundtracks, and you’ll be as convinced as I am that he could do an incredible job.

And I also agree that it needs to be something entirely new. John Williams’s original Superman score is my favorite movie theme of all time, but this new film really needs to establish itself as its own thing. Even Smallville has employed those famous notes (most capably in the legendary “Rosetta” episode starring Christopher Reeve), and the Williams theme (re-purposed by John Ottman) was the only rousing thing about Superman Returns — a film that most certainly didn’t deserve it.

Even though I can’t imagine Superman without that music, a new score is necessary for the new take.

But how can you top Williams? You can’t. You just have to hope you can come up with something just as memorable, and that’s going to be the nearly impossible challenge for Zimmer or whomever else gets the big job.

More news as it happens.

One of my favorite perks of being born in 1975 is that I was just old enough — or more accurately, just young enough — to experience Christopher Reeve’s Superman movies as they happened. My parents had already taken me to see Star Wars at the Georgetown Drive-In by the time I saw the first one, so my little imagination was already overflowing with spaceships and heroes from galaxies long ago and far away.

But Superman was different. Yes, he was just as alien as Chewbacca. But he was our alien. He lived with us on Earth, right here, right now, and he could fly.

And as majestic and as powerful as his abilities made him, his heart and humanity shined through it all like a beacon even brighter than the big red “S” on his chest.

He wasn’t just our hero and guardian. He was our friend.

And now he’s about to fly again.

I know that isn’t news around here — I’ve talked a lot about the new movie being produced by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Sucker Punch), and I’ve offered a few of my own casting suggestions and reported on other Superman bits and pieces that you can browse through here.

But now, things are about to get real.

Deadline says Nolan and Snyder have officially begun searching for their Man of Steel. The age range reportedly being considered is 28-32, but when Deadline names names, it’s seemingly a list built more from conjecture than actual reporting. (Lois Lane would be ashamed.)

Joe Manganiello, a lifelong comic book fan and a 33-year-old, 6’5″ mountain of sleek, solid muscle, has long been campaigning for the role. He played bully Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and can currently be seen as werewolf Alcide Herveaux on HBO’s True Blood. He says he’s been talking to Warner Bros. about being their new Clark Kent, and if cast I have no doubt that he’d give it every bit of his effort and then some, but I just don’t see him as Superman. Height and muscles are not everything. He might look great wearing the red, yellow and blue in a still photograph, but I’ve seen nothing in his acting or demeanor to suggest the power and majesty and goodness that say “Superman.” Even more than that, I can’t begin to even remotely imagine him as Clark Kent. He seems like a nice guy, but … eh.

Deadline also mentions Armie Hammer, whom I’ve written about previously. Hammer also has size on his side, along with a voice I can really hear coming out of Superman. He looks a lot more like a Captain America to me than a Man of Steel, but I like the guy’s demeanor in interviews, and he has the spark that I just don’t see in Manganiello.

I’m not sure how Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) made it on Deadline’s list; his inclusion seems nothing more than the authors’ suggestion. He’s got a good look for Superman, and he was on Smallville for a while a few seasons ago, but why the hell would you cast someone who’s been on Smallville who isn’t Tom Welling?

I watched this season’s episodes of Smallville again with a friend the other night, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to see beyond Tom Welling and Erica Durance as Clark and Lois because they really are that good. I do realize and understand that Nolan and Snyder are going for a new direction with their Superman movie. That’s entirely fine and massively exciting, because we’ll get something new while Smallville will always still exist as its own amazing thing.

And I get it that casting Welling would be regarded (however unfairly) as Smallville: The Movie rather than as a true Superman film. But Welling has played the character longer than anyone else. And while I’ve always enjoyed him as Clark, his acting has been on an entirely different level this season as the writers continue to release the chains they’ve regrettably kept around the character in previous seasons. Welling has really taken to this year’s stronger material, giving us an iconic Clark with the best Lois Lane ever by his side. (Seriously, by my estimation, Erica Durance is winning about seven Emmys per episode this season.)

I know I’ll never get my Tom Welling Superman movie, but my point here is that I hope Nolan and Snyder look at what Smallville is doing right this season and realize their Clark and Lois need to be at least as good as Welling and Durance if not better.

I look at a list that includes names like Manganiello and Somerhalder and I don’t see guys who’d make a better Superman than Welling. They’re not even in the same orbit. Season Ten has offered some amazing little Superman movies so far, along with the definitive portrayal of the Clark/Lois romance. Anything less than that just isn’t going to cut it.

Smallville musings aside, my number one choice for a new cinematic Superman has long been Jon Hamm, best known for his role as Don Draper on AMC’s Emmy juggernaut Mad Men. Hamm is a classic, ruggedly handsome man’s man with great presence and strength. But he’s also hilarious, making a spectacular fool of himself in several episodes of 30 Rock and in three Saturday Night Live hosting gigs so far. He’d nail the affable charm of Clark Kent and the staggering power of Superman in ways that would take the character to his highest heights ever.

I’ve had my fingers crossed ever since Think McFly Think reported that Hamm was under consideration. But alas, his age (39) seemingly knocks him out of the bracket reportedly being looked at. And that’s a shame. Because, as I’ve said before, I don’t want to see any angst or uncertainty in this movie. If I want to watch a young Clark learning the ropes and trying to figure out his place in the world, I’ve got ten seasons of Smallville for that.

I want the movie to give me Superman, and I want to see him doing Superman things with confidence and control. I don’t want to see him pining over Lois Lane from afar. I want to see them happily married like they are in the comics, and I want to see how a true partnership between two happily wedded thirty-somethings can still be fresh and fun and sexy and exciting. I don’t want to feel sorry for Superman, and I don’t want to see Superman moping around like he did in Bryan Singer’s terrible Superman Returns. No more sap or sadness, please. Just super, and lots of it.

In the end it doesn’t matter what I think, and it never did. I do trust Nolan and Snyder to find the right man for the job. I just hope they cast someone who embodies everything that makes the character so special. We’re bound to hear all kinds of names being tossed around in the coming weeks as the casting process swings into action; some of them will be good, some will leave me terrified, and some of them we’ll never even hear. After all, Ryan Reynolds seemed to come out of nowhere and nab Green Lantern at the absolute last second, just as Andrew Garfield was cast as Spider-Man despite barely if ever being mentioned by the press.

(I’m also going to go out on a limb here and say that I really think Jake Gyllenhaal could do something interesting with it. And we know that Nolan and writer David Goyer like him; he was almost Batman in Batman Begins before the role went to Christian Bale.)

I know I take these things too seriously, but Superman (who’s been around since 1938) is just as much a piece of American mythology as any other classic hero of literature. He remains popular for a reason. The movie needs to show us why he’s necessary and relevant because he knows what to do and not because he’s still trying to figure out what it all means.

The talent behind the camera is everything we could possibly ask for. But what’s really going to sell this movie is the man in front of it.

It may not seem that important in the grand scheme of things, but it’s important to me.

Thrill me.

Inspire me.

Make me believe a man can fly again.