10 Reasons Why Richard Donner's Superman Is Still Awesome

Hugh Jackman, Robert Downey Jr., and now Gal Gadot join the ranks of actors who are the definitive on-screen versions of their respective superheroes, but Christopher Reeve started it all. When you think of Superman, you still think of Reeve and, unless Henry Cavill suddenly gets a shot full of charisma when he comes back from the dead in Justice League, you probably always will.

Casting Superman was probably the hardest job Donner had in making the film, with big names like Robert Redford and Jon Voight being thrown around the Warner Bros lot. But Donner felt a big-name star would distract the audience from the character.

He wanted them to see Superman on screen, not an actor in a Superman suit. So he insisted on finding an unknown actor and, after much insistence, cast a scrawny Reeve and put him through an intense work-out regimen to get him up to superhuman size.

But what makes Reeve so brilliant in the role is that he's just as good, if not better, in the Clark Kent persona. So many people make fun of how no one can tell Clark and Superman are the same person because of a pair of glasses, but Reeve makes it believable.

He subtly alters his voice, his hairline, his posture, and even his smile. Just watch the scene where he considers revealing his identity to Lois and how quickly he changes personas. That isn't just changing a costume.

That's real acting.