10 Weird Early Appearances By Iconic Film Characters

7. Big Fat Depressed Superman

The prototypical superhero, the Man Of Steel has appeared in everything from comic books to American Express commercials (co-starring Jerry Seinfeld) over the course of his 75 year history. His enduring popularity can be put down mostly to his on-screen appearances, however, from the wartime Max Fleischer animations to the seventies Christopher Reeve blockbusters that made audiences believe a man could fly. Before we got to the grimdark Superman of today - in Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel and the forthcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice - though, there were many other attempts to bring the iconic character to the masses. And boy, do we feel bad for bad mouthing Henry Cavill's version now. The Adventures Of Superman was a very early, very cheap attempt to bring the excitement of movie serials to television. It starred George Reeves in the title role, a man of considerable bulk in a different sense to the musclebound Kryptonian, and who had to wear a costume not of blue, red and yellow but grey and brown, to show up better in black-and-white. The old Superman TV show has barely any production value and several infamous instances of the indestructible hero shrugging off bullets and then ducking when he gets empty pistols tossed at him. It's frankly embarrassing, and only really notable because Reeves became heavily depressed whilst making it, eventually taking his own life (although there's still theories that he was murdered by a jealous ex).